new reef tank advice

Ok...I have narrowed down some pieces of equipment to set up my new 55
gallon reef tank.

The things I do know I need and will be getting a

60 to 70lbs live rock
Precision Marine HOT-1 protein skimmer
2 Hydor Koralia circulating units
Proper lighting level for corals and maybe one anemone

Now for the part I don't know. I was considering a canister
filter...someone advised against that.

I thought about a refugium, but my only reason for doing so would be algae
control, but I don't know if I want to mess with all of that.

So besides the live rock, the skimmer, lighting and calcium based sand...is
there anything else?

Would someone recommend a canister filter? Is a refugium a must?

Or will the things I have settled on so far do the trick?

You should have a 4 deep sand bed with your life rock placed on top.The LR
will go though a cycle where your ammonia levels will spike, this is normal.
Keep the water circulating and wait until your Ammonia and Nitrites are zero
before you add any fish/ corals to your tank. (This may take several weeks).
A canister filter is fine just make sure its big enough for your tank. You
want a filter that will turn the water at least 3X the tank size. (50 gal
tank you want a filtration of 150 GPH minimal) A refugium is nice but is
not essential at first.
Before you begin, get a book and read up on a reef tank so you dont make too
many mistakes and kill your stock.
"ONJ" wrote in message
...
Ok...I have narrowed down some pieces of equipment to set up my new 55
gallon reef tank.

The things I do know I need and will be getting a

60 to 70lbs live rock
Precision Marine HOT-1 protein skimmer
2 Hydor Koralia circulating units
Proper lighting level for corals and maybe one anemone

Now for the part I don't know. I was considering a canister
filter...someone advised against that.

I thought about a refugium, but my only reason for doing so would be algae
control, but I don't know if I want to mess with all of that.

So besides the live rock, the skimmer, lighting and calcium based
sand...is there anything else?

Would someone recommend a canister filter? Is a refugium a must?

Or will the things I have settled on so far do the trick?

I have a 46 gallon reef/fish tank with a Fluval canister filter that seems
to do fine. You have to keep up with filter maintence though and keep the
filter cleaned frequently.

Susan
"Peter Pan" wrote in message
...
You should have a 4 deep sand bed with your life rock placed on top.The LR
will go though a cycle where your ammonia levels will spike, this is
normal. Keep the water circulating and wait until your Ammonia and
Nitrites are zero before you add any fish/ corals to your tank. (This may
take several weeks).
A canister filter is fine just make sure its big enough for your tank. You
want a filter that will turn the water at least 3X the tank size. (50 gal
tank you want a filtration of 150 GPH minimal) A refugium is nice but is
not essential at first.
Before you begin, get a book and read up on a reef tank so you dont make
too many mistakes and kill your stock.
"ONJ" wrote in message
...
Ok...I have narrowed down some pieces of equipment to set up my new 55
gallon reef tank.

The things I do know I need and will be getting a

60 to 70lbs live rock
Precision Marine HOT-1 protein skimmer
2 Hydor Koralia circulating units
Proper lighting level for corals and maybe one anemone

Now for the part I don't know. I was considering a canister
filter...someone advised against that.

I thought about a refugium, but my only reason for doing so would be
algae control, but I don't know if I want to mess with all of that.

So besides the live rock, the skimmer, lighting and calcium based
sand...is there anything else?

Would someone recommend a canister filter? Is a refugium a must?

Or will the things I have settled on so far do the trick?

If you put a few rocks on top of the sand that won't
be a problem, but if you start stacking the rock on
top of the sand, that's not a good thing. Instead
put base rock on the glass, and put sand around
that, and then stack the live rock on top of the
base rock. Otherwise you will have avalanches when
things start digging under the rocks.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets


Peter Pan wrote on 5/10/2007 3:49 PM:
You should have a 4 deep sand bed with your life rock placed on top.The LR
will go though a cycle where your ammonia levels will spike, this is normal.
Keep the water circulating and wait until your Ammonia and Nitrites are zero
before you add any fish/ corals to your tank. (This may take several weeks).
A canister filter is fine just make sure its big enough for your tank. You
want a filter that will turn the water at least 3X the tank size. (50 gal
tank you want a filtration of 150 GPH minimal) A refugium is nice but is
not essential at first.
Before you begin, get a book and read up on a reef tank so you dont make too
many mistakes and kill your stock.
"ONJ" wrote in message
...
Ok...I have narrowed down some pieces of equipment to set up my new 55
gallon reef tank.

The things I do know I need and will be getting a

60 to 70lbs live rock
Precision Marine HOT-1 protein skimmer
2 Hydor Koralia circulating units
Proper lighting level for corals and maybe one anemone

Now for the part I don't know. I was considering a canister
filter...someone advised against that.

I thought about a refugium, but my only reason for doing so would be algae
control, but I don't know if I want to mess with all of that.

So besides the live rock, the skimmer, lighting and calcium based
sand...is there anything else?

Would someone recommend a canister filter? Is a refugium a must?

Or will the things I have settled on so far do the trick?

I don't recommend a canister filter, but they are
not the end of the world, and they are easy to
remove should you later decide that you don't like
it. Some people like canister filters, but I have
never liked them.

Another advantage of a sump, is that you are able to
put all of you equipment down in the sump, so that
when you look in your reef tank, all you see is the
reef, and nothing else.

But, no you dont' have to have a sump, but for any
large system, it just makes sense to have a sump.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets


ONJ wrote on 5/10/2007 10:49 AM:
Ok...I have narrowed down some pieces of equipment to set up my new 55
gallon reef tank.

The things I do know I need and will be getting a

60 to 70lbs live rock
Precision Marine HOT-1 protein skimmer
2 Hydor Koralia circulating units
Proper lighting level for corals and maybe one anemone

Now for the part I don't know. I was considering a canister
filter...someone advised against that.

I thought about a refugium, but my only reason for doing so would be algae
control, but I don't know if I want to mess with all of that.

So besides the live rock, the skimmer, lighting and calcium based sand...is
there anything else?

Would someone recommend a canister filter? Is a refugium a must?

Or will the things I have settled on so far do the trick?

"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message
k.net...
I don't recommend a canister filter, but they are not the end of the world,
and they are easy to remove should you later decide that you don't like it.
Some people like canister filters, but I have never liked them.

Another advantage of a sump, is that you are able to put all of you
equipment down in the sump, so that when you look in your reef tank, all
you see is the reef, and nothing else.

But, no you dont' have to have a sump, but for any large system, it just
makes sense to have a sump.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Well other than getting the equipment out of the way...why else would I go
with a sump?

My plan is a hang on Precision Marine HOT-1 skimmer, live rock, live sand,
hydor koralia #2 circulators(one at first...maybe two)...and that is it.






ONJ wrote on 5/10/2007 10:49 AM:
Ok...I have narrowed down some pieces of equipment to set up my new 55
gallon reef tank.

The things I do know I need and will be getting a

60 to 70lbs live rock
Precision Marine HOT-1 protein skimmer
2 Hydor Koralia circulating units
Proper lighting level for corals and maybe one anemone

Now for the part I don't know. I was considering a canister
filter...someone advised against that.

I thought about a refugium, but my only reason for doing so would be
algae control, but I don't know if I want to mess with all of that.

So besides the live rock, the skimmer, lighting and calcium based
sand...is there anything else?

Would someone recommend a canister filter? Is a refugium a must?

Or will the things I have settled on so far do the trick?

ONJ wrote:

Well other than getting the equipment out of the way...why else would I go
with a sump?

One other reason is that it increases the effective size of the system.

George Patterson
If you torture the data long enough, eventually it will confess
to anything.

The larger the tank, the more practical a sump is,
and the smaller the tank, the less practical a sump
is. Now imagine if you owned a public aquarium sized
tank. I bet you would have a sump then :-)

A 55 gallon tank is not very big, but it is what I
would consider just big enough for a sump, any
smaller, and I would not go with a sump. Since you
already have a tank, I bet it's not predriled with a
built in overflow. If it were with an overflow, I'd
say put a sump down there, but since it's probably
just a plain tank you might want to go with a
canister filter for now, since you like them.

But if you ever upgrade to a bigger tank, then be
sure and get a tank with a built in overflow, and a
sump.


Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets


ONJ wrote on 5/15/2007 2:40 PM:
"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message
k.net...
I don't recommend a canister filter, but they are not the end of the world,
and they are easy to remove should you later decide that you don't like it.
Some people like canister filters, but I have never liked them.

Another advantage of a sump, is that you are able to put all of you
equipment down in the sump, so that when you look in your reef tank, all
you see is the reef, and nothing else.

But, no you dont' have to have a sump, but for any large system, it just
makes sense to have a sump.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Well other than getting the equipment out of the way...why else would I go
with a sump?

My plan is a hang on Precision Marine HOT-1 skimmer, live rock, live sand,
hydor koralia #2 circulators(one at first...maybe two)...and that is it.





ONJ wrote on 5/10/2007 10:49 AM:
Ok...I have narrowed down some pieces of equipment to set up my new 55
gallon reef tank.

The things I do know I need and will be getting a

60 to 70lbs live rock
Precision Marine HOT-1 protein skimmer
2 Hydor Koralia circulating units
Proper lighting level for corals and maybe one anemone

Now for the part I don't know. I was considering a canister
filter...someone advised against that.

I thought about a refugium, but my only reason for doing so would be
algae control, but I don't know if I want to mess with all of that.

So besides the live rock, the skimmer, lighting and calcium based
sand...is there anything else?

Would someone recommend a canister filter? Is a refugium a must?

Or will the things I have settled on so far do the trick?

Well...I am taking a good look at the sumps now...but I don't want to drill
any holes in my tank.

Is there a sump setup or website you can refer me to that possibly does
sumps without drilling?

"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message
link.net...
The larger the tank, the more practical a sump is, and the smaller the
tank, the less practical a sump is. Now imagine if you owned a public
aquarium sized tank. I bet you would have a sump then :-)

A 55 gallon tank is not very big, but it is what I would consider just big
enough for a sump, any smaller, and I would not go with a sump. Since you
already have a tank, I bet it's not predriled with a built in overflow. If
it were with an overflow, I'd say put a sump down there, but since it's
probably just a plain tank you might want to go with a canister filter for
now, since you like them.

But if you ever upgrade to a bigger tank, then be sure and get a tank with
a built in overflow, and a sump.


Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets


ONJ wrote on 5/15/2007 2:40 PM:
"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message
k.net...
I don't recommend a canister filter, but they are not the end of the
world, and they are easy to remove should you later decide that you
don't like it. Some people like canister filters, but I have never liked
them.

Another advantage of a sump, is that you are able to put all of you
equipment down in the sump, so that when you look in your reef tank, all
you see is the reef, and nothing else.

But, no you dont' have to have a sump, but for any large system, it just
makes sense to have a sump.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Well other than getting the equipment out of the way...why else would I
go with a sump?

My plan is a hang on Precision Marine HOT-1 skimmer, live rock, live
sand, hydor koralia #2 circulators(one at first...maybe two)...and that
is it.





ONJ wrote on 5/10/2007 10:49 AM:
Ok...I have narrowed down some pieces of equipment to set up my new 55
gallon reef tank.

The things I do know I need and will be getting a

60 to 70lbs live rock
Precision Marine HOT-1 protein skimmer
2 Hydor Koralia circulating units
Proper lighting level for corals and maybe one anemone

Now for the part I don't know. I was considering a canister
filter...someone advised against that.

I thought about a refugium, but my only reason for doing so would be
algae control, but I don't know if I want to mess with all of that.

So besides the live rock, the skimmer, lighting and calcium based
sand...is there anything else?

Would someone recommend a canister filter? Is a refugium a must?

Or will the things I have settled on so far do the trick?

ONJ wrote:
Well...I am taking a good look at the sumps now...but I don't want to drill
any holes in my tank.

Is there a sump setup or website you can refer me to that possibly does
sumps without drilling?

You can use an overflow box and a return.

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewIt...product=CR1511
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewIt...product=FT0011

I have this on one of my tanks. It works fine. If you keep it clean,
it's not unsightly, but it's really ugly if you allow algae to grow on it.

I just got a 29 gallon that I plan to drill. Wish me luck. :-)

--Kurt