# New 69 Gallon Setup, What do you think?



## Tony_3a (May 7, 2010)

Ok so i have the hagen osaka 260, I got the seaclone 150(bought that at setup thought it was ok). I have 2 hagen glo units with 2 marine glo(4x39w), and 2 life glo. I have a fluval 405. fluval e200 digital heater. Couple power heads, one 300gph and 2 smaller ones. 35 Pounds of live rock and i have like 4 fish in there just to cycle. 

Anything you think i should change? Its been running for about a week and Im pretty pleased with it.

Thanks a lot
Tony


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## hslee (Apr 29, 2010)

Is this cured live rock? I wouldn't recommend using any fish to cycle, much less 4. If the live rock was cured, then it might be fine as long as you take things slow going forward. I'd get an Ammonia test kit at the least, but it'd be helpful to know the rest of your water parameters as well

If this will be fish only, then you should be fine as is (unless you're really good with maintenance, maybe ditch the Fluval and go with more live rock for filtration). If you want to keep corals, then lighting will depend onw what kind of corals you'd like to keep.


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## Tony_3a (May 7, 2010)

hmmm the lfs guy said 4 was fine  and i do plan to do corals and get some other stuff in there more than just fish. Why would u get rid of the fluval? not good for saltwater or what?


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## fkshiu (Apr 22, 2010)

At some point I will re-post my "SW For Beginners" sticky, but for the time being suffice it to say that NO fish are required for cycling with live rock because the live rock does the cycling for you.

Secondly, a canister filter is not required with live rock because (guess what) the live rock does the filtering for you. A canister can become a nitrate sink unless you are very scrupulous are its upkeep. You can leave it in your system by simply adding live rock rubble to the media baskets and running filter floss every so often for water polishing. Just don't leave the floss in for more than a couple of days at the most.

You will have endless frustration with the Seaclone skimmer. It's called a Sea-Clown by the vast majority of those who have used it (like me) for good reason.


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## Tony_3a (May 7, 2010)

so would u suggest taking the filter back and buying a lot more live rock? and i bought the seaclone because a couple people said it would be fine for my tank. But o well i can return it, i just dont feel like spending 500 on a skimmer right now. Buying all this stuff at once has been costly and the wife doesnt exactly understand how 1500 can turn into 4 tiny fish in a fish tank hahaah.


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## Tony_3a (May 7, 2010)

And i also set up a 36 before all this, and then kind of got fish fever and wanted a bigger salt water. so the smaller tank was about 400 aswell. its fresh water tho.


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## Ron99 (Apr 22, 2010)

fkshiu is wise in the ways of salt. You would do well to listen 

As for a decent skimmer, you don't need to spend $500. I assume you are looking for a hang on or are you running a sump? Having a sump gives you more options as there are several great in sump skimmers at good prices ($250 or less for a Vertex or Bubble Magus). I don't have any experience with HOB skimmers but there are not many that work well from what I have read.


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## Tony_3a (May 7, 2010)

yeah i do not have a sump i was not able to get one with where i was putting the tank. Anyone know any decent hob skimmers? that are under like 300? ive went to oceanic corals and the guy there said i needed to spend like 700 and that was crazy.


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## upster (Apr 21, 2010)

The thing is, there may not be too many hob skimmers that can handle 70 gallons effectively. I would look into setting on a sump. This can be done cheaply if you have a spare 20g - 30g tank. Then you can pick up a good skimmer like a Vertex 100 for 250 bucks. 

Do you have any space under the stand? You don't need a huge sump. Definitely look into doubling the amount of rock you have now.


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## Ron99 (Apr 22, 2010)

As I said, I'm not an expert on HOB skimmers but I have a Bubble Magus in sump and lots of other people are happy with their BM skinners so you might want to check out one like this:

http://www.bubble-magus.com/en/productShow.asp?id=968

I think some people have had success with these as well:

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/ps-acremp/Aqua+C+Remora+Pro+Hang-On+Protein+Skimmer.html

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/DD-P0300/Deltec+MCE-300+Protein+Skimmer.html

This one isn't so much HOB as hang in the corner inside of your tank. I had a 9002 in a smaller tank and it worked very well.

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/tz-ps9005/Tunze+DOC+Protein+Skimmer+-+9005.html


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

A sump on an Osaka is not really an option. The canister can be run empty for circulation but fkshiu is correct, a lot of upkeep and not recommended for marine.


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## Tony_3a (May 7, 2010)

i would like to add a sump to my tank but i dont know if it is possible. Has anyone ever seen a osaka 260 with a sump? it has a weird 2 door and a shelf system on the stand, I saw someone that put 2 sumps in either side of it and connecting with tubes, but other than something like that it looks pretty hard to do.


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

Tony_3a said:


> i would like to add a sump to my tank but i dont know if it is possible. Has anyone ever seen a osaka 260 with a sump? it has a weird 2 door and a shelf system on the stand, I saw someone that put 2 sumps in either side of it and connecting with tubes, but other than something like that it looks pretty hard to do.


I have seen one, and although it was working fine, it is impossible to conceal. The aquarium is great but the stand is simply not designed to accommodate it.


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