Saltwater Tank Questions

RO/DI water is great. and a UV would not hurt. I have only had mine up and running for almost 2 weeks but I only have algae green slim on the glass some times. UV will kill only the algae that is in the water that passes through the UV filter it's self.

IMO a HOT filter is to small for this tank.
Are you going to use live rock?

[Matt Rogers]

Well you bring up a good point... at least, the TetraTec 300 is too small for it IMO. I wouldn't put it on anything bigger than a 20.

If I were him and wanted something hang on the back for a fish only tank, I would get a hang on wet/dry and skimmer combo filter. Still will be dead spots without powerheads or sea swirls or something.

[Craig Manoukian]

BB reefers are big on Tunzes and SCWDs for adequate water criculation and to avoid dead spots!

Hi,
Well, the tetratec 300 is supposed to be good for up to a 60 gallon tank. plus i plan to keep the bioload down by not having too much fish.
sorry to hear about the unusually loud noises with the tetratec you got. is that a common problem? it doesn't sound very well built if you have to get the impeller unstuck like that.
doesn't the tetratec have a feature that kinda turns down the filter for feeding? it's the round knob on the top of it, right? does that feature work good?
i also like the heater feature of the tetratec.
anyone else have any experience or comments about tetratec?
i have been using aquaclears for a while now. everythign is easy to clean and the media is easy to change, too.
never had any bad experience with them yet.
*knock on wood*
once in a long while the impeller might get stuck. but that's once in a very long while.
what kind of filter has a wet dry and skimmer combo?
is it one of those penguin bio wheel hot filters?

i'm not planning to run very much lighting in this new tank.
so hopefully, i probably won't have much algae problems.
the current saltwater tank i have has plenty of hair algae. aarrrggghhh!!!!!!!!

i went on a long vacation and all the sides of the tank and some of the live rocks are covered with hair algae.
i took a plastic credit card sized card and scraped some off the front of the tank so i can see inside.
that was a good way to get the hair algae off the sides of the tank.
how do i remove hair algae from the live rocks without killing too much of the beneficial bacteria?
take the rocks out and scrub? rinse with soda water or fresh water?
take the rocks out and put them in a bucket without light?
i am using metal halides so i have a lot of corralline on the live rocks and some of the live rock don't have hair algae on them.
that's one of the reasons why i'm wanting a bare tank for fish only.
i want a fish only tank because it is easier than my current tank to maintain.

[Matt Rogers]

You know, the more I think about it, the more I want to sell you on a wet/dry filter that goes in the stand.

Why?

1) It's the same money as a hang on the back model, but filters more with more filter media.

2) It's easy to use and will skim the surface of your water too.

3) You can put your heater, carbon, and skimmer in it.

4) You can buy a $15 float switch like I did and have a 5 gallon reservoir of freshwater for evaporation and be able to go away for a week while the tank remains stable.

5) You can buy a powerful pump for pretty cheap to run it and split the return with a scwd to alternate currents.

The tetratec 300 will not provide enough circulation for a 50 gallon tank, you will have to supplement it with more pumps which will make your tank look worse. Plus it won't even come close to the wet/dry in handling bio load.

I have gone all other routes before with fish tanks, you end up spending almost as much money and end up with something that is an inferior filter and clutters your tank.

Not sure why you don't want a sump, they provide more benefits as listed above and I think they are less stressful. Trust me, I have a sumpless setup now because my skinny hex stand won't hold a sump, and it's a pain. A major pain.

DITTO with Matt
With no LR Then I would use BIO Balls and a sump slash refugium.

More water volume is the key here.

[reefman_MC]

I agree with Matt and Nautilus.

i don't plan to use any live sand or live rocks for this tank.
if i decide to go with a wet dry filter, that means i would need a corner overflow and plumb it with a bulkhead.
the main reason i don't want a sump is because i want a very quiet system. the return pump on my current tank is too noisy for me.
so i decided to just go with a bare tank and a hot filter.
any suggestions on how to go about a bare tank?
how does your float switch for rodi freshwater topoff work?

Hope you are going to use allot of Power Heads.

yes i will use 2 powerheads for water movement.

is it ok to have a bare tank?
i don't feel i've gotten any good support on a bare tank.

maybe i'll just go back to freshwater.
but i'm so attached to my fish, clams, corals, and live rocks now. aaarrrrgggghhhhh......