36g Bowfront

garick

garick

Member
You should be able to get Koralia power heads for around 22-25$ each for the smaller ones online if you look maybe less and I read they do the best job of all current power heads.
The older style jets have a tube which sucks in water which can be hazardous to fish, inverts and anything it can yank into the propeller. The Koralia's just have a turbine which spins inside a cage and propels a much larger volume of water so it helps the entire tank move. Whereas the rest tend to simply jet really hard in one spot and it would require more jets to cover you and might be overly strong for anything to last long in directly (just my opinion).
 
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deadly_legend

Guest
alright, well i will go out and get one or two of them, or however many i need, i just got some more spending money from my dad since im visiting him, how many should i get? i would be thinking about 3? and if they are safer, then they are in the tank, because i really dont want a fish/invert. to get destroyed in my current.
 
garick

garick

Member
You kinda have to figure out what volume you want to move. To much current can be problematic, just as to little.
I'll give you a basic layout of the stats on the different koralia pumps that I know of.
Nan 240 gph 3.5 2" x 3"
1 400 gph 3.5 2-1/4" x 5"
2 600 gph 9 2-7/8" x 5-7/8"
3 850 gph 10 2-7/8" x 5-7/8"
4 1,200 gph 12 3-1/4" x 6-1/4"
5 Magnum 1,650 gph 8 4-1/4" x 6-1/2" 110-180 gallons
6 Magnum 2,200 gph 10 4-1/4" x 6-1/2" 150-250 gallons
7 Magnum 2,700 gph 12 4-1/4" x 6-1/2" 180-300 gallons
8 Magnum 3,250 gph 19 4-1/4" x 6-1/2" 220-360 gallons
They typically range in price starting at $22 for the nano and reach $98 for the very large magnum 8 ones. Also they come apart for EASY cleaning compared to the rest that I have looked at.
However if anyone thinks this is not right (about using Koralia over the others) feel free to chime in!
The flame angel might nip at your corals and possibly pick on your other fish. Clowns can be territorial and stress others around them.
As for the Corals. Those will require a bit more effort. Some require spot feeding. All tend to require supplements in their water and lighting that can penetrate the depth of your tank. I do not know much on lighting but I do not know if t5's can penetrate depth very well unless you've got a good reflector and quite a few bulbs.
Personally I'd suggest low light softies. Leathers and such.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by Deadly_Legend
http:///forum/post/3196158
alright sweet, and so far i do have a top, until i can upgrade my lights to the T5's im wanting.... but thats going to be a while before i can do that, only make $7 an hour and have only worked twice in the past two weeks lol. and i really appreciate the help with the CUC, and is there another shrimp that would be willing to pair up with a goby? i think the pairs of things is rather cool, and think it would be fun to watch lol.
I should also mention this is my Senior Project for High School, so this is basically my second semester final examine lol. so i want to make sure everything is perfect, or atleast as close to it as i can lol.
Pistol Shrimp will pair with just about any watchman goby, shrimp goby or yasha goby. I have a Randalli Pistol Shrimp with a Yasha Goby. It's not a guarantee that they'll pair up, I have two pistols in my tank and I'm almost positive that my yasha goby is not sharing a burrow with them.
What type of lighting are you thinking about? PM me, I can probably help you out
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by Garick
http:///forum/post/3196161
Oh and an important thing. Powerheads.. those things make a saltwater tank the best it can be since water movement seems critical even for the fish. They LOVE it and it helps keep your bottom clean of any dusty debris. Just FYI try Koralia those seem to be the best around for the buck and will be pretty important to your corals since some filter feed a bit and love the feel of water movement over themselves.
also my brittle's actually come out and chase down their food. They are Extremely fast and have sticky arms, they have even tried grabbing me several times.
as for goby and shrimp pairs. I believe pistol shrimp and watchmans can pair up.
+1

Koralia's are by far the best power head for the money. I just upgraded to the EcoTech Vortech, but Koralias are great.
For the corals you're looking at and in your size tank I'd recommend two Koralia #2 models. You could do a #3 and a #2, but I think two #2's and a good pump would be plenty of water movement.
As for goby/shrimp pairs, pistols are the only ones that pair up with gobies. Watchmen, shrimp gobies and the yasha goby are the most likely to pair. Some will not pair at all as I stated above. The other thing, if you do decide you want one of these pairs, buy them already paired, or buy a small plastic critter cage (like they put hamsters in) and put the fish and shrimp in there for a few weeks in your tank to make them more likely to pair. If you buy them separately, you must make sure that the shrimp isn't too small that the goby may think it's food, rather than a friend.
 
garick

garick

Member
Also for lights. You do not ALWAYS have to go with commercial stuff. Consider a DIY project and a visit to a local electrical store.
The fixture itself will cost you A LOT more in most cases than building your own since many places will sell caps and ballasts that can handle the wattage you need a fair bit less than what you'd pay for it else wise. The bulbs themselves won't be very expensive and can last around 1-2 years before replacement is needed.
Remote ballasts can be sweet and at $200 for a 600 watt remote ballast that can use 120 or 240v that's a lot of light and Less heat.
PS. Some corals have little stinger things at the bottom of them to fend off and do chemical warfare with one another so giving each of them space can be very important for long term health and growth.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
I have to apologize for ten million posts, I just wanted stuff to be organized when I was including quotes. My responses are in RED below.

Originally Posted by Deadly_Legend http:///forum/post/3196014
Fish:
Firefish (1)
Clownfish pair (havnt decided what kind yet)
Flame Angelfish
* Hi Fin Banded Coby paired with a Red Banded pistol Shrimp
Get Ocellaris or Perculas, they're readily available and easy to care for. Maroons are mean and in a 36G tank, you're going to get nipped every time you put your hand in the tank, the same with Tomato Clowns. I would consider a smaller dwarf angel than a Flame for this size tank as well. For a 36G Reef/Fish tank, this is what I would do:
2 Ocellaris Clownfish (or perculas, they could even be the black and white percs)
1 Firefish
1 Blenny (Tailspots are great and stay small)
1 Coral Beauty Angelfish or another type of smaller dwarf angelfish, ADD THIS FISH LAST!
1 Goby (to pair with pistol shrimp)
Corals:Still working on these, but here are a few
Red Sun Coral
Frogspawn
Orange Ricordea Mushroom
Whammin Watermelon NG Zoanthid
Hollywood Stunner Chalice
Chalice requires higher lighting, you may want to rethink this coral. With T5's in a 36G, I would stick to softies and LPS. Below I'm going to give you the link of my 40G to give you some ideas
* = maybe
40G link: https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/365462/our-40gallon
It had:
2 Ocellaris Clowns
1 Green Spotted Mandarin
1 Lawnmower Blenny
1 Spotted Goby
1 Coral Beauty
1 SixLine Wrasse
10-15 Hermits
4 Nassarius Snails
2 Sand Sifting Starfish
5 Cerith Snails
10-15 Trochus Snails
5 Bumble Bee Snails
5-10 Astrea Snails
2 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
30G Sump - Eshopps with matching overflow (rated for 800GPH)
Mag 7 Pump
NO POWERHEADS (because the pump was so strong and we had an incredible CUC)
No Refugium
 
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deadly_legend

Guest
sorry if im responding slowly, im visiting my dad, and currently not at home until monday, and im basically texting my mom every 20 minutes asking about the tank lol, but shes taking pics every hour and a half or so, and sending them to me, and showing me how its clearing up and stuff, but dad lives in alabama, so i rarely see him lol.
BUT:
i will get the Koralia's and just pawn my current one or something, since i doubt i can return it since i used it already lol. Also, the CUC you posted BLTDreef i found a place that has basically a CUC for each gallon tank, its about $90 for the 40g one, free shipping too, but, if i pmed you the link you think you could tell me how well it would be and for the asking price?
And to reply to Garick,i know nothinaout electricity lol, and i dont really know anyone that does, unless i could find a teacher or something that could help me when im not working, which im sure they would...i'll email them tonight.
How much cheaper would you guess it would be?
Updated picture of the tank


sorry forepic large pic, i need to find a way to fix all that lol, maybe photoshop to resize it?
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
You can PM me the link, I'll take a look at it. I just responded to your last PM and sent you my e-mail address. You might be better off emailing me, I'll get it immediately and can respond immediately, this site only lets me respond to one message every 4 minutes or so, and sometimes it can be a real hassle.
 
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deadly_legend

Guest
ok so far these are two lights ive found.AquaMedic Ocean Light 250 Watt HQI Metal Halide Pendant for $110 oooor Metal Halide DIY Reef Retro/Retrofit 250W HQI Pendant for $50 lol, which do you all think would be better? and im still looking for better deals, but im going atm lol
 
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deadly_legend

Guest
ok well, heres a really really newby question, but, how long does it take for the tank to clear up and not be so cloudy? a day or two?
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by Deadly_Legend
http:///forum/post/3196674
ok well, heres a really really newby question, but, how long does it take for the tank to clear up and not be so cloudy? a day or two?
Probably...lol....do you have anything in there blowing it around?
 
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deadly_legend

Guest
yea i got a powerhead running atm, also have my filter and heater going lol.
 
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deadly_legend

Guest
im currently 2 hours away from my house so i have been having my mom take pictures and give me updates every few hours, and she said the water is moving, and i guess i angled the powerhead right also so that theres no buildup on the surface, but its still not any clearer or anything.
 
garick

garick

Member
Although some Hang on back filters can be damaged by sand. It gets into the impeller and grinds down the wheel until it starts to roar pretty loudly.
 
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deadly_legend

Guest
sooo should i have her turn the filter off till my pet cloud goes away?
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
I would just run the power head until you get home and can see first hand how much sand is getting into the filter. The last thing you want is for your filter to be jammed with sand before you even get the tank established.
Tell her to turn off the filter and just keep the PH running, aimed more towards the surface, the sand should settle a little quicker this way (at least it's worked for me in the past).
My 155 took 2 days to clear up after adding 100lbs of sand. It also depends how you added the sand, we were careful not to have too much stir up. It'll settle, just give it time. I know it's tough, but patience is one of the greatest virtues to possess in this hobby
 
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deadly_legend

Guest
so my salinity is 1.023 currently, which it was at 1.028 so thats good the its in the good range now, made me happy, im going to do some water tests after dinner, and the tank is still a pet cloud lol, rather funny, but my mom keeps telling me shes worried about it, but im just going to go with the answer that it takes it a while for me since things i do take a long time haha, if im wrong correct me :)
 
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