Bought an Aqua Medic Perc 90. In Silver. Secondhand for a good price.
Would love some ideas on what to do with it now other then the obvious like live rock, sand, etc.
I am on holiday 16th april for a week so plan to pick it up when i come back. Its currently in Wocester so a lovely dive down. Also managed to get a free Juwel Delta 300 tank and cab as well from another chap but thats for another project.
Like Paul i am on a budget and need to set this up as cheaply and efficiently as possible. Not worried about monthly running costs but startup costs are an issue. Especially with my mortgage renewal on the horizon!
The tank comes with the origional Halide. I notice alot of people ad T5's is there a certain brand which do one which will fit on the front of the tank neatly?
I have also heard that the skimmers in these tanks are next to useless! any recomendations on a replacement? Plannning on using koralia 1 circulation pumps for inside for movement. Hopefully Wayne will sort these for me.
Would it be worth me adding a small tank under the tank for an auto top up system?
What would be the best salt to use? i was thinking red sea?
And lastly stocking suggestions!
Can i put a yellow tang in there? flame angel? what else? ....
Sorry for all the q's!
Matt
Hi mate, nice tank
Salt, I used to prefer reef crystals but there are other good ones too and probably more on the market now as it's about 8 months since I had the reef.
I had about 20kg of LR in mine which was from the vision 180. It looked lost but for the stock I had it was more than enough and gave LOTS of flow around and under the rock. I was more for sea fans than fish though.
A yellow tang will be ok, especially if bought small but you don't want to cram too much LR in as he'll get big and will need lots of swimming space, mainly around and inbetween. Maybe some kind of mound in the middle with a couple of archways. You don't have to get all the LR in one go but when getting more LR make sure it's properly cured and get it home ASAP to prevent dieback.
Flame angel is one of the "more reefsafe" of the angels but can still be destructive to corals. You either get a good or bad one but you won't know. I'd be tempted to hold off on an angel for a while and I'd probably put the tang in last or near the end of fish stocking .
Lighting, I'm not sure what T5 unit to use because you have to be careful how close they'll be to the water surface.
What power rating are the circulation pumps? The 2 in the right chamber were uprated on mine and it was like a washing machine lol
I didn't have a problem with my skimmer apart from it being very tight to get out to clean properly, cup comes off no problem. You'll also have to tinker about with the sliding weirs to get the balance just right.
Here is a link to the manual if you do'nt get it with the tank Perc 90
Auto top up, I didnt have one on but I know some people who did. As I was at the house everyday at some point i just topped it up daily myself. If you knock the weirs it will alter the auto topup so you'll have to be careful as it will cause SG swings.
who did you buy it off matt?
Cheers Richy, I think i will leave the autotop up as it is still a relatively small tank and will be no hardship to just manually top up.
Was planning about 35kg of lr, do you think that will be too much, i already have 10kg which seems alot, suppose i could just buy 10kg to start with and see how i get on.
A chap called Andy Price from ultimatereef.com
lol
i know andy.
hes like stu.
changes his tank every season lol
gettinga top up is advisable if you dont want to be topping up every other day. i would say see how it goes without and if you find you need it then you can invest.
when were you thinking of collecting it matt?
I shall be collecting it, the weekend after the 23rd or the one after that, depends on work load when i return from holiday. Have put deposit on it though.
dont forget to pop by the shop m8.
Is the shop in worcester? If so definately will!
Lol at si funny you should say that mate I just upgraded to a 5x2x2 mrs says this is the last time though. I know andy as well good bloke and its a nice tank.
see
i told ya.
nutters the pair of you.
i have seen the tank as well matt and it is nice.
the shop is near worcester. about 20 odd miles from andys place.
cool will pop in and say hello on my travels!!!!
Might be a good idea to pop in to see Si, have a rummage about the shop to see if he has any freebies for you I'm sure you could hassle him to give in
Another 10kg will be a good start, 20kg in total. 35kg should be fine but remember not to go overboard like I said and try to keep plenty of open swimming space.
If it were me I'd be tempted to set the new tank up with some of your old water (i know it won't be much) then place the new 10kg rock in and have it running to make sure the LR is ok first as doubleing the LR quantity is a big jump, especially if you get dieback. Maybe leave it a week and check for ammo/nitrite etc then add your old stock when happy. Saying that, it depends how mature the new LR is and how quick you can get it home. Think I've ased before but how long will the LR be out of water before it's in your tank?
My policy has always been, Never get all the LR at once as when you start to sculpt it you'll get idea's of what you want design wise so when it's running properly you can look for the specific shapes/sizes you want to finish it off
not doing marine yet richy so he would have a job.
it would be good to see you if you have time.
Tank1: 125L Tropical. 1 male betta, 4 scissortail rasboras, 3 neon tetras, 4 glowlight danios, 1 candy stripe loach, 1 female bristlenose, 6 amano shrimp.Tank 2: 65L Nano reef. 6kg live rock, 96w T5 lighting, 3 x turbo snails, 5 x red-legged hermits, 1 x peppermint shrimp, 1 small pistol shrimp (hitch-hiker), two percula clowns, 1 neon goby, 1 sun coral, 1 clove coral & 1 tree coral
imustbedreamin:not doing marine yet richy so he would have a job. it would be good to see you if you have time.
I pressume you mean't Matt but if you mean't me then I best save up for a high petrol bill lol