Newb, let my student talk me into this! :/
- Thread starter ozzyoyo02
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Cpr and Remora make great hob skimmers. You will not need a cannister filter. You will need to use ro/di water no chlorine remover needed. Live sand and fuji rock+ Heater+ Salt+ Powerhead+ Cycle the tank first and the get a test kit before adding any additives. Get it going with the rock and salt and then we can go from there. Oh almost forgot you will need a hydrometer to measure you salinty.
ionix
Community Member
Hi there, welcome to the forums!!
I am not sure how interested you are in saving money but I am cheap and will try to guide you in this way.
-Don't bother with the Eheim filter, they help, but spend the money on getting more live rock. These are better suited for fresh water in my opinion.
-Hydor powerheads are great! I would suggest you get a few!
-I use the corallife skimmer. It takes a bit of breaking in, but entirely is worth the money. It does the job I need it to do, very adequately on my 40g (the 65 super).
-I would suggest a Deep Sand Bed, so 6" of sand on the bottom (inspired by the local sticky somewhere).
-Buffers? pH test your water, if it is 7.7-8.2 then start looking into what a buffer is.. otherwise there is not much point, at this point.
-Declorinator... uhhh. No one told you that you will need reverse osmosis or bottled water. Unless you'd like to use tap water and have algal walls (which is great if you like sea urchins and other algae eaters (lawn mower blennies love it)).
-I can't find those LEDs on google, so I am just going to put this here and say 4 work very well for me. Sunblaster 1 Lamp 39w (3') T5 High Output Fluorescent Fixture w/ Lamp | Hydrotech Hydroponics
-On the earlier parts about refuges and sumps.
1) Refugiums are great, I suggest you look at a hang on the back one. It isn't entirely important to get going until you really finish cycling your tank. Essential for some species of fish, and great for absorbing excess algae causing nutrients (once you cut it down from growing and throw out the excess).
2) Sump is something you can get right on and probably should be considered before water is in any tank. You will want to get this tank drilled if you want a sump, or it most likely will be at least a few migraines.
-A sump, is an additional tank connected to the "Show tank" and used to hold any equipment that is unnecessary. May be employed to house injured fish, macroalgae (removing the need for a refugium), and also remove micro-bubbles.. depending on the design.
On the side, I think you could probably find a lot of the stuff you need on Kijiji for much cheaper.. just sayin'. :tongue:
Hope I helped a little, kind of just jumped on the bandwagon at the end! :xd:
tidus10
Active Member
welcome to R2R! i have a new 40gal breeder with 42lbs of rock in teh tank and about 10lbs in my sump and about 80lbs of sand in it. check out marcorocks.com (hes a sponsor here as well) but his rock is awesome and check.. i got the 40 rock 40 sand and i added another 40lbs of live sand. besides that id go with a sump... 20gal sump adds at least 12 gallons to your system and a clearner look thats more enjoyable in the long run...
tidus10
Active Member
A sump gives you greater control over your reef or fish-only display tank. The benefits far exceed the risks, and thus most successful aquariums you'll see utilize a sump. Some even incorporate a refugium as well. Here are the numerous benefits derived from incorporating a sump into your current setup:
- Increased total water volume - This dilutes your water of accumulating pollutants, and helps avoid issues that occur quickly in sumpless tanks.
- Skims the surface - No more surface scum, just crystal clear water.
- Lowers temperature - I've observed a 2° F drop after the sump is installed.
- Hides equipment - Heaters, protein skimmers, monitoring probes, grounding probes and more can be moved to the sump & out of the display tank.
- Consistent water level - The display tank will maintain the same water level all the times; evaporation occurs in the sump over time (see auto top-off).
- Safe place to pour in additives - Adding chemicals or new (Reverse Osmosis De-Ionized) water in the sump allows it to mix before entering the display tank.
- Increased circulation - The return water from the sump is yet another way to move water in your tank. You can point the return outlet(s) in different directions to create flow, instead of putting more powerheads in your display tank!
- Increased oxygenation - As water drains into your sump, air mixes in the water, allowing beneficial gas exchange, releasing CO2 and adding fresh O2.
- Automatic top-off device - Install an automatic float switch to add new water, as needed, from a nearby holding tank to keep your system filled up. Example
- Refugium - This lighted area can grow macro algae, which takes up nitrates from your water. The plants also add oxygen, and help maintain pH levels when the display's lights are off. This predator-free zone will allow good growth of copepods, ampipods and other microfauna that eventually end up in the display tank as food for your inhabitants.
Water drains from the display tank into the sump container beneath. The water is pushed back up to the tank with a "return" pump, which is either submerged in the sump or run externally (which involves bulkheads and plumbing, but avoids adding as much heat to the water). As the water rises slowly in the display tank, it flows into the overflow box (or chamber), and this drains back into the sump. It is a constant cycle, and the goal is to pump as much as the tank can drain. Most people aim for 10 to 15 times the volume of the tank for total circulation. The sump's return flow would be a portion of that total circulation, maybe 3 to 5 times the total circulation, and the rest is provided with powerheads and/or a closed loop system.
borrowed from melevsreef.com
tidus10
Active Member
innitial cost with be a bit higher due to the nature of setting up a secondary smaller tank to house water and other things but i'll be honest once its up and running it will save you headache and heartache in the long run
link to more info
Google Image Result for http://www.melevsreef.com/plumbing/refugium.gif
link to more info
Google Image Result for http://www.melevsreef.com/plumbing/refugium.gif
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ozzyoyo02
Community Member
Ok so now I follow what its about..I like the idea of hiding things to make the display tank look much better..here's another question for you..does all the equipment stay the same and just add a sump pump and second tank??
PaulKreider
Valuable Member
You can get the skimmer for $90, look on amazon or google shopping, that will save you several hundred $$ right there. Aim for just fish at first, I wouldnt hop into corals for several months.
+ dont worry about a sump, your first tank dosn't need one. Worry about a sump when your designing a pre-drilled tank. My 55gal is just fine without one. I run the Coralife 65g superskimmer also. Worry about parameters right now, lighting and getting used to regular feeding of fish ect. Before you jump into much deeper. It's better to take things slow than rush into them and end up wasteing hundreds of dollars on problems you could have avoided by reading up on saltwater tanks. Check books in library just for starters.
+ dont worry about a sump, your first tank dosn't need one. Worry about a sump when your designing a pre-drilled tank. My 55gal is just fine without one. I run the Coralife 65g superskimmer also. Worry about parameters right now, lighting and getting used to regular feeding of fish ect. Before you jump into much deeper. It's better to take things slow than rush into them and end up wasteing hundreds of dollars on problems you could have avoided by reading up on saltwater tanks. Check books in library just for starters.
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ozzyoyo02
Community Member
Thanks I have been told by several people to wait on a sump. See if I like it then go with a bigger tank and use the 40 as the sump. Does that sound fair. Also, someone mentioned I need to break in the filter, how do I do that??
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PaulKreider
Valuable Member
When you first turn on the skimmer it will create tons of bubbles in the collection cup and will overflow pretty fast, no matter how much you turn down the flow, just pour the first few cups back into the tank since it will just be clear bubbles anyways. This ushually lasts 2-3 hours, fillin the cup every 30 mins. Thats just the break in cycle though, after that youl notice an actual head to start to form on the bubbles, you trim that down and your spot on. Youl get the hang of tuning your skimmer, Look on youtube for some coralife 65g specific tuning videos. You'd be supprised on how much you can learn from just youtube.
EDIT: And you'l only have to break it on once!
EDIT: And you'l only have to break it on once!
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ozzyoyo02
Community Member
It's funny you say that..I was just watching YouTube videos on the skimmer when you responded..now all I need to do is find this at a reasonable price..LOL
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Michael Sylvester
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Here is what I did in school.
FishGuyBri
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Just FYI my skimmer took three weeks to break in, so if it takes longer, don't worry
beaslbob
2500 Club Member
Now that you have the awesome system all setup and running I'll (finally) reply back.
Yes macro algaes in a refugium help the ecosystem. For the same exact reason the algae in the live rock helps the tank. But then you grew the mangroves also.
looks like an awesome and very successful project. the learners are very lucky to be at that school.
