Tank Journal Archive

[hurlza]

So here is my first tank. My parents finally allowed to let me have one after I got one from a mate and set it up while they were away. Going to put water, sand and live rock in soon so I can start cycling while I am on holiday. Lights are coming as I either need to update the globes to marine or get an LED light.

 

[MagicJ]

@hurlza :welcome

My parents finally allowed to let me have one after I got one from a mate and set it up while they were away.

As someone once said "It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission." :p

Sometimes the smaller tanks can be a little harder to maintain stable water conditions - what's your experience with the hobby?

 

[Buddy]

@hurlza :welcome



As someone once said "It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission." :p

Sometimes the smaller tanks can be a little harder to maintain stable water conditions - what's your experience with the hobby?

His future wife is going to love him for this lol.

 

[CodyS]

Hey,

Those 380's can run pretty well as softy tanks. You won't want to keep much else in there though.

I used to have one with some Xenia a BTA some Peppermint Shrimp and a pair of Occy Clowns in it. I would recommend a similar type of system as overstocking will often lead to a disappointing tank in the end.

What filter media will you be running in the top?

What stock are you planning for this tank?

Good luck and don't forget, ask lots of questions and take it slow :-) .
Cheers
Cody

 

[riley]

following, have a very similar tank in my garage which needs an excuse to shake off the dust

 

[ezza]

I have 2 TMC Aquaray LED lights which could work (depending on the width). I recently upgraded and they are just collecting dust atm.

 

[hurlza]

Hey,

Those 380's can run pretty well as softy tanks. You won't want to keep much else in there though.

I used to have one with some Xenia a BTA some Peppermint Shrimp and a pair of Occy Clowns in it. I would recommend a similar type of system as overstocking will often lead to a disappointing tank in the end.

What filter media will you be running in the top?

What stock are you planning for this tank?

Good luck and don't forget, ask lots of questions and take it slow :) .
Cheers
Cody

Yeah, at the moment I plan to set it up as a softie tank with a pair of occy clowns. I think I'm going to be running marine pure for the filter media.

 

[hurlza]

@hurlza :welcome



As someone once said "It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission." :p

Sometimes the smaller tanks can be a little harder to maintain stable water conditions - what's your experience with the hobby?

None unfortunately. But I have a few close friends with thriving tanks and I'm going to be taking it really slow and making sure its all set up properly

 

[Darren S]

My son ran one these for a year or so, we found regular water changes are the key.

 

[MagicJ]

None unfortunately.

We all started with no experience, some longer ago than others ;)

Ask lots of questions and don't rush into anything.

I will link to a very good article when I get home tonight.

 

[hurlza]

Quick question, sand bed depth? Bit confused as there seems to be a million answers to this

 

[MagicJ]

I have posted up the link to the article I mentioned - you can find it here.

As for the sand bed - I prefer a relatively shallow bed of around 20mm. This is deep enough to look natural and give my nass snails somewhere to live, but shallow enough that it is easy to clean.

 

[chimaera]

I have posted up the link to the article I mentioned - you can find it here.

As for the sand bed - I prefer a relatively shallow bed of around 20mm. This is deep enough to look natural and give my nass snails somewhere to live, but shallow enough that it is easy to clean.

Same, I always go for a shallow sandbed of 1-2cm, mostly for looks but also for snails and worms etc to hang out, plus a bit of stability for rocks and corals

 

[CodyS]

There are a few things that come into play when deciding what depth sand bed is best. Looks, tank inhabitants, maintenance and risk. A shallow sand bed is the easiest to maintain and is accompanied with lower risk due to not building up toxicity.

For me the only reason to do a deeper sand bed is if you have inhabitants like wrasses, goby and shrimp pairs, Nassarius snails etc.

Since you may want some Nassarius snails and they don't need deep sand the 20-30mm as recommended above should be your best bet.

 

[hurlza]

Thanks everyone for the great advice. Sand has gone in and so has water. Got new filter media. Local lfs didn't stock marine pure but the person who helped me said that the aqua one ceramic noodles will be fine for the tank. Also managed to get a replacement marine globe for the tank, so that's the light problem sorted