-
Jesse3979
Bridget
It is also advisable to think about where to get desalinated water for preparing water and for topping up the evaporated water. And be sure to buy a cooler, otherwise the filamentous algae will not let you live peacefully.
Erin
Thank you for the answers. Should the aquarium maturation occur with live rocks or without? How important is light during maturation? What does desalinated water mean? What is caulerpa? Can tap water be used for topping up and preparation?
Cynthia
Without stones, the stones are added after the nitrites drop. Light is not important, caulerpa is a type of algae, tap water cannot be used, distilled or reverse osmosis filtered water is needed (desalinated).
Thomas
In general, if you have a sufficient amount of rock—at least 10% of the aquarium's volume—you can do without external biofilters, as live rock serves as an ideal biofilter. As for starting the aquarium, it is done with live rocks, since with a sufficient quantity, the spike in nitrites is very short-lived. Naturally, live rock also requires good lighting so that its light-loving inhabitants do not perish.
Tracey
In short, here is a rough scheme for a hassle-free aquarium:
- live rocks should be at least 10% of the aquarium volume
- strong lighting, preferably metal halide or T5 fluorescent tubes
- a good protein skimmer
- a refugium
PS It's even better to make the protein skimmer yourself. Although it's currently unrealistic to buy a Venturi tube here, in Moscow, Beckett injectors are freely available, and skimmers based on them are the most effective today. Schematics can be found online. The cost of the injector is about $20-30, plus you need a pump with a capacity of 4000-4500 liters per hour, plus acrylic tubing and small plastic plumbing parts. It's a very effective solution.
Jeanne
The minimum for fluorescent lamps is at least 1 watt per liter, preferably 1.5-2.