Getting back in after many years out! Things seem to have changed :/

[mikez104]

Hi all. Just starting to get the itch for this hobby again after being out of it for ten or twelve years. I had a 65 that worked very well for me for a few years. I made my skimmer, ATO, sump and such. Plumbed it through the basement to a 55 gallon sump and a 55 gallon grow out tank. Attached pic of main tank. Had to move the tank for living room remodel and it never recovered. I got sick of losing coral and critters and just sold everything off. I loved that tank :/

Well here I am many years later. Kids grown, wife gone and I find myself obsessing about this stuff and want to take the plunge again!

This time I'd like to take a more methodical approach (my age is showing). I used to tend to just jump into things and this time I want to plan things out a bit more. Looking to do a 40 gallon breeder with a 20 gallon sump. Totally starting from scratch and want to keep some zoos, LPS and small interesting fish. Since I've been out of it for so long, I'm looking for some thoughts on my plans.

Tanks - 40 Breeder from Pet Shmow. I'll drill the back for overflow and return.
Sump - 20 gallon aqueon that I have on hand and sump kit by Jax Racks on ebay.
Overflow box - 1000 gph from jax racks on ebay.
Carib Sea Arag-Alive 20-Pound Fiji Pink Sand - An inch or so. I like sand and eventually want a diamond watchman goby. I love them.
Dry rock - I ordered some from ebay. I'll see how that works out...
Reef Octopus S-130 Skimmer
AI Prime HD LED Reef
or
Kessil A160WE
or
Kessil A360w-e
Some kinda return pump. Not sure. Suggestions?
I guess I'll build a stand to accommodate the tank and sump.
Thoughts? Am I missing the boat on any of this gear? I'm going off of what I've read so far and videos I've seen. I know I'll probably find a million more things as I move through this process.

Thanks!

 

[I’ma tempermental coral]

Looks like you have a good game plan! Are you planning any kind of controller? Welcome to R2R!!! And welcome back to the addiction!!! lol

 

[KingTideCorals]

Sounds like you know you can make the recipe work! Have full faith this will work out looking at your past tank!

Welcome to R2R

 

[JR Bodyman]

Welcome back!!!

 

[BlennyTime]

Welcome!!

You probably don’t need that big of an overflow, unless you just want one for some reason. BRS recommends 10x the tank size.

A good sized return pump would be 3x-5x your tank volume.

Looks good otherwise, keep us updated!!

 

[Fakegolfnews]

Dry rock can be really hit or miss, the wrong kind can really stunt a tank. Have you looked into carribsea shapes at all? They look better cause they are purple so you avoid the uglies, not to mention they come is cool shapes so aquascaping is easy. They also come with bacteria on them that activates when it hits water, it really helps the cycle alot. Just throwin it out there! Kessil is a good light from what i hear, i have had great experiences with ai primes myself. Cant really go wrong with either. Another cool new gadget alot of people are using are inkbird temp controllers, you plug the heater into it and it keeps the temp within half a degree all the time, but the kicker is it will shut down the heater if it fails, avoiding a heater frying your tank because of failure. Have fun! Reefing has gotten ALOT easier, dont let people on here over complicate it cause they WILL! haha

 

[mikez104]

Thanks all! Is anyone familiar with that skimmer? I want this setup in my livingroom and am worried that it will be too loud.
@I’ma tempermental coral, Nope, no controller yet although I did do a DIY Arduino based controller back in the day. They look so much better these days.

@BlennyTime, I guess I'll go with the smallest size then. I wasn't sure and didn't want to go too small. They have a 700 gph.

@Fakegolfnews, I already ordered the rock so we'll see how it goes... I have had a Kessil tuna sun on a planted freshwater for several years and have been very happy with it. Wasn't sure about the AI prime reef. I've not heard of them but people seem to like them. I use the inkbird temp controller on my daughter's leapord geko heat mat. It's been going for quite some time. Love it.