Filtration for new tank

[marineboy]

hello!

I have been very succesful as some may know with my recent first saltwater tank. I have been so succesful actually, that i am thinking of moving on to a bigger tank. I have an 18g and houses a good sum of critters but I wanted to keep a ceph so I think I'll move up to a 50g and have the octo eat all my old things.

The thing is, I was using the berlin system for my 18g, but I dont think my SeaClone protein skimmer is going to provide the tank with all the mechanical filtration it needs. I was looking into sumps and such and Im trying to find the easiest and cheapest way to provide proper filtration for my new tank. I want all the pieces before I even buy the thing itself. Im young so drilling and such is not an option. I was looking at eBay and they have already put together sumps but they are pricy.

Thank you for your help!

 

[marineboy]

Also, if I did get a bimac, would they eat a frozen sardine? Sometimes my dad keeps them in the fridge for fishing (we surf fish ALOT) so I was wondering maybe I could slip him one of those since its basically a smelt and they eat those in the ocean.

 

[Nancy]

Check the local chapter of the Marine Aquarium Society (you might even want to join - not expensive). All MAS chapters have an online forum for buying and sellling things. People often move on to larger tanks and offer their old ones for sale, often completely equipped.
It's worth a try.

Also, octos can be fed only raw, unprocessed food - no salt, preservatives or anything else. I don't know about these sardines. The canned ones would certainly be a NO-NO. My bimac wouldn't eat fish at all, even though I was careful to buy her the best quality faw fish from the Pacific coast (fresh, not even frozen). You'd be better off buying a bag of frozen raw shrimp and thawing individual shrimps out as you need them.

Nancy

 

[marineboy]

ok, thanks.

Also, does anybody know how I can get my hands on some cheap filtration for a new 50g if I dont buy one of the ones MAS offers?

I was thinking about a Sump, or can I just buy a canister filter along with the protein skimmer? Can that be done also?