Need some help

actually the floors on your trailer are prolly all steel supported unlike that of a normal house so it should hold quite a bit of weight but ya you can do a hang on back skimmer and maybe an emoror 400 or so as well for holding cheato to help with your nitrates. your going to want more water circulation than that though so you will need to look into some powerheads. such as a maxi jet or hydor koralia or tunze. there is alot of research involved and i suggest doing days on days of research before you even add any water and just make sure you do it right the first time around so you dont have to keep redoing things and having things die on you

 

DFS Powerhead Selection

 

Taavis has a 180 gallon display along with a frag tank, refugium tank, huge skimmer, and some other stuff I'm probably forgetting in his trailer. I don't remember if he reinforced his floor or not though. I'd definitely look into getting some kind of sump though, even if it's as small as a 10-20 gallon tank.

I would save your money on the emperor 400 and invest it into something else. Power skimmers tend to collect nitrates and aren't necessary, IMO. The koralia is a great idea though, I like them a lot better than the maxi-jets. The maxi-jets always come loose and fall off the glass, but the koralias have a nice magnet holding them in place. They also disperse the flow a lot wider and don't have a jet like flow like maxi-jets do. I have no idea on the skimmer, I've only used the wood air stone types in my first tank, then I moved up to a seaclone 150, then up to a Aqua-C Remora Pro with an upgraded pump. The Remora is one of my favorite skimmers...

Adam

 

First thing before deciding where to place the tank is get under the trailer and look for the steel beams. They'll run length wise. Place your tank close to one of those beams going perpindicular to the joists. This way your tank should sit on 2 or even 3 joists over the beam and it'll hold everything fine.

 

To start with if you are new to the hobby I would suggest reading a few books to help you fully understand what is needed and why. The different types of equipment and the different ways to use them.
Top of my list of good books:
An absolute must is Anthony Calfo's (Book of coral propagation) volume 1 edition 2. This book is easy to under stand and he goes into lots of detail on the equipment and tank maintenance of this hobby.
For the basics: look at ( The new marine aquarium step-by-step setup & stocking guide.) This book is a little out dated but still has some good info to relate to.
Hope this helps and welcome to Girs and this amazing hobby.

 

I would say research is the most important part of this hobby. If you don't understand what you are doing and why, you will just be blowing money. The Anthony Calfo books are indeed great. And for where to put your tank. As long as it goes on one of the I beams, you will be fine. Stay away from the sides of the trailer, that is where the floor is the weakest.
Where you located.

 

Posted By B-Rad on 06/05/2009 09:31 PM
To start with if you are new to the hobby I would suggest reading a few books to help you fully understand what is needed and why. The different types of equipment and the different ways to use them.
I totally agree with the suggestion to read before doing anything....another good book to consider - and it's very easy to read and understand - is by Mike Paletta called the New Marine Aquarium: Step by Step Setup and Stocking Guide.

 

Building your own sump is really easy. I would just buy a used 30g tank and then put some baffiles in. This link is kinda dorky, but will explain how pretty well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxnugJGiT3o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgNe_OYgoL8&feature=related

 

Don't be intimidated by DIY. I had NEVER done any work with acrylic before and I made a 10g sump/refugium out of a 10g walmart tank and some acrylic panels I got from lowe's. I used that limpitsreef video as a guide along with various pictures of sumps/refugiums. If you follow that video series, you really can't go wrong. I do wish I had measure better as my skimmer is in kind of a silly spot, but it does work nontheless. Plus, nothing beats DIY in my opinion. The satisfaction I get from doing the littlest tasks myself is worth it to me
By no means am I a pro, but if you need help making the sump I would be MORE than happy to help out. These things are a lot of fun for me

 

You won't have any problems with PVC in the tank. Most people do it, it helps lighten the load of live rock.

 

No, don't use any commercial cleaners or soaps...no lime away or windex. If it's had soap products in the tank, you might have some problems...they don't rinse completely. The only thing that I've ever used, or been told to use, is a diluted solution of bleach...about a cup per 5 gallons (although I'm sure others have used a different dilution). The bleach will rinse well with water and when the tank is left to dry for at least 24 hours, the chlorine will evaporate. You can also use white vinegar to remove salt or calcium deposits.

 

IMO i would just use the white vinegar. In the 55g i would just put a gallon of vinegar and fill the rest of water and put some kinda pump to keep the water moving and leave it for a few days then rise out with water.

 

I agree with Troy. I had a really scummy tank that cleaned up perfectly with a little elbow grease and white vinegar.

--AJ