Quote:
Originally Posted by wingedfish
K, I'll go against the grain here. For a fowler tank, aragonite sand and dry rock is fine. No need for live rock but a little seed wont hurt. Treat as you would a fresh tank for cycling. either hardy fish or add amonia/fishfood/ect to start because there won't be enough die off of live rock to get it started. monitor parameters. the nitrates aren't as much of a concern with a fowler but do water changes when they (or ammonia, or nitrite ) creep up. eventually the nitrate eaters will establish on the rock and they will fall also.
Go for the glass top if you want. T5's don't put out much and the skimmer gives tons of gas exchange.
my 2 cents
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theres a few points here i disagree with the first being the liverock.....you need liverock because the bacteria will eat up amonia as fast as it is produced via your bio-load(your tank inhabitants) your gonna need min 1lb/gallon in a folwr but the more the merrior. you can seed the dry rock you have but it will take a few months to seed fully which is ok if you keep your bio load low so that you can keep up with the amount of amonia that is produced.
t5's are great and many people rather them over halides they can be as strong as you need them to be and can grow any coral just the same as halides. its the maintanance and heating and cost you need to decide on.
dont use the glass top as pat mentioned yur gonna need to have some sort of sir exchange and this is especially so in larger aquariums.mesh works fine
nitrates and phosphates are very important in fowlr as they are food for algae and if its there then so will algae.its easiest to get your nitrates low in the beginning and keep them there via water changes and good maintance.use ro water and invest in some reactors.
some key points 1) lots of live rock the more the merrior
2) invest in a controller or at least a timer for your lights
3) invest in a reactor for carbon and one for phosphates
4)water changes once a week or at least every two and this is very important
5)set up a quarantine tank for new fish
6) ask here for every move and you cant go wrong were all here to help
cheers on the new tank im looking forward to some pics