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eventingpony

Member
Jun 25, 2012
24
5
New to reef tanks - from Western NSW
Hi Everyone!

My name is Elise, and I am 23 years old - I currently work as a Veterinarian in Dubbo NSW. I have always loved salt water aquariums and have kept quite a few different freshwater aquariums over the years. I have never had the time or money to get started in saltwater fish and reefs, but lately have been really missing not having a tank!

Well today I bought a tank after getting a great discount...
I now have a gorgeous Aqua One - Aquience 1200 rt in black. Dimensions: 120 x 45 x 66cm Litres: 300

It came with a Aqua One 1250 Series II canister filter - is this something that can be made useful for a saltwater tank? Can alterations be made, or do I need to look for a different filter?

It also came with a Aqua One 300W thermosafe heater. I will also need to do more research into heating requirements.
It also comes with 4 x fluro lights - in the shop two were blue and two were pink? Will get more details of these when the tank gets here, but I am guessing I will need to buy a different lighting system.

But at least this is a start. I am very new to these forums, so have a lot of reading to do. I am now going to let this tank sit empty while I find out how to start off my tank the right way. I will have to look for aquarium suppliers, most likely in sydney so I can purchase my substrate, first piece of live rock and start getting things ready to go. :)

Any hints and tips for where to start looking for good aquarium suppliers for people like me out in the middle of the state would be more than appreciated. Also hope to make some friends and see some gorgeous tanks on here!

- Elise
 

eventingpony

Member
Jun 25, 2012
24
5
Are you saying I might be a little crazy too?

Tank was supposed to be delivered today, will have to chase it up!

I am hoping to make a trip to Sydney this weekend in order to purchase some live rock. I also hope to start looking for a sump tank/skimmer - but given the stand I have this is going to be a bit difficult, will have to be narrow to fit into the stand - thinking 3 x 1 foot? (will need to measure stand when it gets here. Is this even possible?
 

eventingpony

Member
Jun 25, 2012
24
5
Wow, thanks for the welcome everyone!

I hope you are all ready for a pile of stupid questions, I am very new to this but eager to learn and also eager to start out the right way.

There are no shops selling marine fish or supplies unfortunately. It looks like a 5 hour drive to the closest marine stores!

What do you all think about for my sump/skimmer setup, is it possible to do with the stand on this tank, or do I need to do something a little different? I know it is possible to set up skimmers that hang on the tank - might that work?
Do I need to get wave makers or pumps in addition to the filter setup?

The lights this has come with is 4 x 49W fluorescent t5 lights, two blue and two pink. Will this be ok to start, or do I need to look at upgrading the lights as well?


I am hoping to make a trip to Sydney this weekend - hopefully get some live rock and also what I need to make my artificial salt water - Dubbo is a little too far from the coast!
I am hoping to pick up as many things as I can in one trip, so hoping to get as much planned as possible this week.
 

megsez

Member
Apr 29, 2012
534
167
sunshine coast
Hey Elise :welcome


Sounds like an impressive tank. You will here lots of different ideas and ways to run your tank. Not one way will be rite or wrong just got to use what you want and can accommodate. You can put a fuge on anything you want just need to get an over flow or get holes drilled. Also depends on what you can fit in the stand if you want it hidden (sorry not familiar with that set up). There are lots of very helpful people on here that can make suggestions on how to achieve a nice and easy set up.

With the live rock consider making your own a lot cheaper and you can make it in to the shape you like and just get a few from a LFS to seed the tank. Here is a link of a post i made and some good mixes http://www.thereefuge.com.au/board/threads/how-to-diy-live-rock.3505/ .I may be wrong and some one will be able to correct but i would change the bulbs especially the pink ones as you want to avoid the red spectrum of light its not good for marine.

Have fun
 
V

'vspec'

Guest
Hello eventingpony
Welcome to our reefing forum.


I wasn't familiar with your system ether. This is it correct, just bow front and black?
awww.petmart.co.nz_images_stock_bigimages_24633_1.jpg


The Aquience 1200 Aquarium is supplied with Aquis advance 1050 external filtration, 4 x 39w fluorescent lighting tubes and a 300w heater. This stylish rectangular aquarium is the combination of modern design and classic rectangular aquarium shape, a powerful external filter for great water quality, and extra clear glass for undistorted viewing. A top quality, taller than average, viewing experience.

The Aquience 1200 Rectangular cabinet's elegant design matches those of the aquarium, completing the stylish overall appearance. Manufactured to a high standard these cabinets are built to last the test of time.

Aquience Rectangular 1200 - length120cm x width 50cm x height 66cm
Volume 300 litres
Glass thickness 10mm
Cabinet Height 74cm, overall height with aquarium 140cm
Dimensions Cabinet: 120W x 50D x 74H cm

Aqua One Aquience 1200 Aquarium, equipment and Cabinet complete
http://www.aquaone.co.uk/documents/rectangle12001500.pdf

Work calls, but TBC for sure.
Try not to get ahead of yourself on the purchases yet, we have much to discuss. This will be a retro fit, so will need to break it down to see what can be done, and done correctly.;)
Once again, Welcome to the reefuge
 

MagicJ

Moderator
Jul 11, 2011
9,650
3,761
Hobart, Tasmania
Whilst you are not within the Aussie Post Next Day Delivery area, you are within the NSW area and so mail order from Sydney suppliers may be a possibility.

I tend to agree with 'vspec' - I wouldn't be buying any live rock this weekend.

There are a few things you need to sort out with your tank before it gets wet - the first one is your water.

Please be aware that with artificial salt you generally get what you pay for - I have access to natural salt water so some other members may be able to recommend some suitable brands to look for, at a reasonable price. What water are you planning to use to make up the salt water?? Phosphates are bad for marine tanks and most people will be using RO/DI water which has had all the unwanted elements removed. What is your local water supply like?

I am not trying to diminish your enthusiasm, but if you don't get things right to start with you are likely to be disappointed/disillusioned in a few months time.

Just so we can offer the best advice, what is your realistic budget for equipment ?
 

megsez

Member
Apr 29, 2012
534
167
sunshine coast
+1 Don’t rush out and impulse buy many aquarists have done this including my self and rushed it and it has cost me a lot of money when it should not have. A lot of the fun in this hobby is the planning and research and some of the hart ache :p
 

firechild

Member
Nov 8, 2011
354
188
Cromer, Sydney
Couldn't agree more with the above posts that recommend you slow down. Try to sort out your equipment first and start looking at live rock in a couple of weeks.

Well today I bought a tank after getting a great discount...
I now have a gorgeous Aqua One - Aquience 1200 rt in black. Dimensions: 120 x 45 x 66cm Litres: 300

It came with a Aqua One 1250 Series II canister filter - is this something that can be made useful for a saltwater tank? Can alterations be made, or do I need to look for a different filter?
Nice looking tank. Maybe not ideal for salt water but still very doable. The cabinet won't allow you to add a sump which is unfortunate but the frame around the top of the tank also won't allow you to add an overflow box so it's probably irrelevent. A canister filter CAN work but it has limitations. As a beginner, you're probably not going to want to keep anything particularly sensitive yet so the limitations are probably not too bad. Look at replacing some of the filter media with GFO (granulated ferric oxide) - a media used to remove phosphates and silicates in the aquarium which will help with coral health and minimise nuisance algae, GAC (granulated activated carbon) - carbon will help to remove organic compounds in the water which cause discolouration of water and affect coral health.

It also came with a Aqua One 300W thermosafe heater. I will also need to do more research into heating requirements.
That heater should be ok. It might be worth looking at adding a second heater depending how cold the room the tank is in gets in the middle of winter. 1W/L is a standard recommendation but it depends on the temperature difference between the air and the desired water temp (26-28C). A second heater also provides redundancy in case of failure.

It also comes with 4 x fluro lights - in the shop two were blue and two were pink? Will get more details of these when the tank gets here, but I am guessing I will need to buy a different lighting system.
The light unit should be fine for now but you may want to look at replacing the tubes. I don't use T5s but others could probably recommend a combination of tubes. In the short term, just look at replacing the pink tubes with some 10000K white tubes.

I will have to look for aquarium suppliers, most likely in sydney so I can purchase my substrate, first piece of live rock and start getting things ready to go.
Your local retailer obviously sells Aqua One products so I'd look at using this substrate:

awww.aquaone.co.uk_images_Aragonite_group_shot_001.jpg


I'll be using it for my new tank, it's relatively cheap and very nice looking.

Good luck.
 

Nath

Member
Jul 18, 2011
67
30
:welcomecouldnt agree on researching more before you get stuck with something you dont need/want
 

eventingpony

Member
Jun 25, 2012
24
5
Hey guys!

Thanks so much for all the helpful advice so far! I was just getting a little excited, but have now slowed right down and I really want to do this the right way. I am afraid I may have already done the wrong thing slightly with this tank/stand.. but I will make it work somehow!
I think it will still be possible to fit a small sump with skimmer, live rock/deep sand bed and return pump in one of the closed doors of the cabinet. But I might be dreaming a little!

It is a shame about the rim around the top (as much as I like the look of it) as looks like I will now have to create a weir/overflow within the tank - and that means drilling holes doesn't it? - very scary for a first timer! :) I had thought the overflow boxes might be useful, but they probably won't work with this tank!
Perhaps another option is cutting out the back of the rim to allow for an overflow box to be fitted?

Thanks for the info on the lights, will look into good T5 light combinations to fit into this tank.


Thanks again for all the help so far, and I look forward to learning a lot here! I am so glad to find somewhere with helpful people, I feel a little isolated here in the middle of nowhere!


So am I best to sort out the overflow, sump, skimmer, return pump + power heads/wave maker first?
Then do we go onto lighting, salt, sand, live rock, testing equipment, additives etc. next?

I put the stand together tonight, nice to have something set up where It will end up. Will take a measuring tape to it tomorrow and take some photos so I can work out exact measurements for everything.
 

eventingpony

Member
Jun 25, 2012
24
5
Unfortunately LFS here does not carry anything for marine tanks, including sand, salt etc.

I am on town water, so guess I will need to have that tested - what will I need to know?