Newbie Researching Equipment....Ugghhhhh HELP!

[Tiffany Garcia]

Sorry this is going to be long =)

Holy S#$%! There is so much information out there my head has been spinning for a few months. I don't have my setup yet as I am still doing research and have been actively searching on line for used/new equipment.

I want to build my setup around housing a mandarin, soft and lps corals, clean up crew and maybe a couple other fish that won't compete with the mandarin for pods. I plan to let the setup run for as long as needed to build up a healthy pod population and I plan to culture, dose if needed and refugium.

I am looking at a Red Reefer 170/250 (expensive though), 55/75 long or 60/65 cube, live rock, caribsea life rock, live sand, refugium/sump, ro/di setup and will have a qt tank (pros/cons on qt'ing a mandarin).

I would love to hear your recommendations for equipment, if I'm missing anything and any other advice to get my setup started. Of course I would like to keep the cost down but I will be looking for quality over price ultimately.

1) Skimmer

2) Heaters ( will have at least 2)

3) Test Kits I will need (salifert, api, ph, tds, cal, mag, alk etc... )

4) Dosing or Reactors

5) Lights for DT and refugium ($300) good for corals and wattage/kelvin level I should look at

6) Filters for sump

7) Powerhead/Wavemakers (do I need more than 1 in tank? Plan to have backups) DC?

8) Return pump that runs coolest, energy efficient and quiet

9) Salt Mix (Instant Ocean, Reef Crystal)

10) Sand (Natures Ocean Samoa Pink #1 is what I like so far)

11) Dry Rock (Caribsea Life Rock/Life Rock Shapes)

12) Recommended Sump/Refugium size (looking at 20 gallon or larger long)

 

[Peace River]

Sorry this is going to be long =)

Holy S#$%! There is so much information out there my head has been spinning for a few months. I don't have my setup yet as I am still doing research and have been actively searching on line for used/new equipment.

I want to build my setup around housing a mandarin, soft and lps corals, clean up crew and maybe a couple other fish that won't compete with the mandarin for pods. I plan to let the setup run for as long as needed to build up a healthy pod population and I plan to culture, dose if needed and refugium.

I am looking at a Red Reefer 170/250 (expensive though), 55/75 long or 60/65 cube, live rock, caribsea life rock, live sand, refugium/sump, ro/di setup and will have a qt tank (pros/cons on qt'ing a mandarin).

I would love to hear your recommendations for equipment, if I'm missing anything and any other advice to get my setup started. Of course I would like to keep the cost down but I will be looking for quality over price ultimately.

1) Skimmer

2) Heaters ( will have at least 2)

3) Test Kits I will need (salifert, api, ph, tds, cal, mag, alk etc... )

4) Dosing or Reactors

5) Lights for DT and refugium ($300) good for corals and wattage/kelvin level I should look at

6) Filters for sump

7) Powerhead/Wavemakers (do I need more than 1 in tank? Plan to have backups) DC?

8) Return pump that runs coolest, energy efficient and quiet

9) Salt Mix (Instant Ocean, Reef Crystal)

10) Sand (Natures Ocean Samoa Pink #1 is what I like so far)

11) Dry Rock (Caribsea Life Rock/Life Rock Shapes)

12) Recommended Sump/Refugium size (looking at 20 gallon or larger long)

It can certainly seem to be overwhelming at times! I have my product preferences, like the Reef Octopus skimmers, but I would recommend that you dig into the BRStv videos on YouTube for their thoughts. A great place to start is with their 52 Weeks of Reefing video series. Good luck!

 

[PYRU]

Yep watch brs. They have done every vid you can imagine.

You need to break this down into one section of focus at a time. Pick say flow figure what flow you need then iron out what power heads you want. Then move onto your filtration. As a whole its overwhelming but if you break into the different parts its really pretty simple.

Each part has its own set of questions that need to be answered. It hard to answer you're whole setup at once.

 

[SeaJay]

A lot of what you’re asking is preference. Ask 100 people and you’ll get 50 different answers.

I love the simplicity skimmer and finnex titanium heaters. Dual Sicce syncra silent 3.0 return pumps have been working great for me for a year, but I’m soon going to move my sump to the basement and run a single reeflo pump. If I had it to do over again I would have gone ahead and spent the money on a controller up front which I will probably be doing soon.

I also used Caribsea dry rock and Fiji pink live sand, both of which I’m happy with. Also using instant ocean, but switching to reef crystals as I plan to convert from Fowlr to reef. Eshopps sump is great too, but I wish I had gotten the one with space for a refugium.

The only major upgrade I’ve found myself needing is lights. I have Fluval sea 3.0 which are a great product, but not sufficient. Switching to a T5 hybrid as soon as I decide which one.

 

[Tiffany Garcia]

A lot of what you’re asking is preference. Ask 100 people and you’ll get 50 different answers.

I love the simplicity skimmer and finnex titanium heaters. Dual Sicce syncra silent 3.0 return pumps have been working great for me for a year, but I’m soon going to move my sump to the basement and run a single reeflo pump. If I had it to do over again I would have gone ahead and spent the money on a controller up front which I will probably be doing soon.

I also used Caribsea dry rock and Fiji pink live sand, both of which I’m happy with. Also using instant ocean, but switching to reef crystals as I plan to convert from Fowlr to reef. Eshopps sump is great too, but I wish I had gotten the one with space for a refugium.

The only major upgrade I’ve found myself needing is lights. I have Fluval sea 3.0 which are great, but not sufficient. Switching to a T5 hybrid as soon as I decide which one.

Thank you! I have looked into controllers as well but going to wait a bit on that one.

 

[Tiffany Garcia]

It can certainly seem to be overwhelming at times! I have my product preferences, like the Reef Octopus skimmers, but I would recommend that you dig into the BRStv videos on YouTube for their thoughts. A great place to start is with their 52 Weeks of Reefing video series. Good luck!

I have watched a couple of the episodes and will keep it up

 

[rsumner]

There's so much to learn and you will undoubtedly buy stuff that you'll never use again. I think the only thing on my tank that I haven't replaced, swapped out, or stuck on a shelf because I'm not using it anymore is my skimmer, display lights, and my Apex controller. Since these are likely going to be the most expensive items you buy, I would suggest investing most of your research time here.

 

[Tiffany Garcia]

There's so much to learn and you will undoubtedly buy stuff that you'll never use again. I think the only thing on my tank that I haven't replaced, swapped out, or stuck on a shelf because I'm not using it anymore is my skimmer, display lights, and my Apex controller. Since these are likely going to be the most expensive items you buy, I would suggest investing most of your research time here.

Thank you and I have looked at the Apex and the GHL Profilux...pricey but I think they will be good investments

 

[Bubbabobobbrain]

There is a ton to learn and so many products out there that it can be a bit mind boggling so research will definitely be your best bet. My personal recommendation on flow would be to check out the ice cap gyre pump. It isn’t super expensive and you can run only 1 in a decent sized tank with no worries.
For return pumps I run a small reef octopus dc pump on my 40 breeder tank and love it. I can’t really say it’s better than other brands since it’s the first return pump I haven’t cheated out on but so far I love it.
For lighting check out reef breeders. They aren’t crazy expensive and I have several lfs in my area that run them exclusively over their coral tanks and grow tons of coral. Plus the customer service there is amazing. The owner, Logan, is really quick to reply to all emails sent to him.
Skimmers are a tough one because most of them work really well. It’s gonna end up falling to personal preference in that department. But if you are looking to keep a budget skimz and simplicity skimmers are both run on dc pumps and are very reasonably priced but nothing, IMO, can compare to a reef octopus if it’s in your budget.

 

[Matt groves]

I had a reef tank for a few years. I broke it down when we moved about 2-3 years ago. I'm just now getting back into setting it back up. I literally have a notepad full of crap. Best advice is breakdown your list of needs and research them one at a time. When you get each piece of equipment figured out move to the next one. The brs videos are a life saver. i will be buying everything from them even if it cost a bit more just due to the help they have given me.

after previously having a tank. I wouldn't run one again without a controller apex ghl whatever they are so very handy.

also don't skimp on things unless needed. I have bought so many things on the cheap to only turn around and spend more later on the thing I should of bought the first time.

My goal is to have my complete list researched and ready soon as black Friday hits so i can buy it all on sale.