2 questions refigum/lighting

[troublesx10]

my tank is 210 gallons with a wetdry, and protein skimmer rated for 300+, i would like to dedicate 1 overflow to the wet dry and one to a refigum and have both retun via pump inbetween. question is
what size would i need for an eco refigum, how many gallons/measurment of appropriate size to get good bio filtration, what kind of substrate?
i have been seeing a lot of stuff about the miracle mud vs other. have any comments re light-
i have 3 250 mhs, and 2 96 watt power compacts 36inch attinics and currently it goes 4.5 watts per gallon, i was intrested in putting use powerbrite leds or 2 more power compacts 96watts at 36 inches. the powerbrite goes 60 lumens per watt with 4 watts/bulbs per 12inch bar, so i would use 3 to cover tank, 12 bulbs x 60 lumens

 

[Chago09]

ok first of all wet dry???? Seriously chuck all its contents. I'm gonna assume because the size of your tank, you can come CA Cichlids and your going to use same equipment??? Don't worry I did exact same thing.

Ok SW is not like FW where a wet dry is the hobbyists best friend. In SW a wet dry is your enemy. It will build up sooo much detritus and will eventually give you a nightmare of algae and will always have a tough time with nitrates.

My set up and I suggest you follow is a sump. Basically a empty tank with a skimmer, heater, phosphate reactor and return pump inside.

If it's a big enough container you can even make your refugium in the sump, many people do this.

Ok for the refugium, I am not sure if you have a proper understanding for what a refugium does. Its main purpose is not bio filtration. Yes it helps but its main purpose is nutrient export and pod breeding grounds. Its kinda a sub hobby in reefing. For bio filtration like you asked you should be aiming at 1+lb of rock per gallon in your system. Put it in the tank, sump, refugium etc. Live rock is all the fitration you need, hence why I said chuck the wet dry contents. Basically buy live rock, add water flow and presto you got yourself bio filtration.

As for lighting in refugium, you don't need to get fancy. I bought those cheap shop lights from home depot. Bought two of them and added PC swirly bulbs and my chaeto grew great.

 

[THE ROOK]

Got to agree 100% with Chago. Wet/dry's are expensive junk for saltwater. Been there, I've got one collecting dust in the closet.

Build a large sump to accomodate all your needs & equipment. Makes for easier plumbing, less pumps & less leak points. I paid $50 for my 48" long sump on craigslist.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Let's take a step back.

What are your goals for this tank? What type of livestock do you want to keep? What's your experience in marine aquariums, and what's your budget for implementing or changing the equipment list you've presented here? Do you have any equipment beyond what you've listed?

 

[1DeR9_3Hy]

The powerbrites do nothing for useful lighting, they are just for adding a nice coloration. Those metal halides you have will be nice for just about all the coral you may want to grow, so dont worry about lighting anymore. Also, make a plan now as to how your going to handle topping off the tank. I could imagine with 210 gallons and metal halide lighting your going to be evaporating gallons a day! I use a auto top off from autotopoff.com with a toms aqualifter pump. Its been great and very accurate!

And as for the LR, its really up to you how much you use. There is no standard rule of thumb for how much to add anymore. As long as you keep up on water changes and have a nice skimmer, add rocks to make the tank look like you want then stop

Wetdrys are not that bad (the net has a way with rumors), but for reefing i would avoid them. Fish only is a different story...

I would use just an empty tank, or remove all the baffles and bio balls from your wetdry and then add a skimmer/heater/retrun pump down there. You could even use a micron sock to polish the water.

As for the refugium (fuge) i use some sugar sized sand, some small chunks of live rock, and a 18 watt power compact (small fuge) with chaeto (macro algae). My tank is a 50 gallon, and the fuge is about 5 gallons. You really do not need much fuge to make things work well, that is why some people suggest that you integrate a fuge into your sump. Some people also stack a 5 or 10 gallon tank on top of there sump if there is room, then have that fed by either a small pump or a "y" of the retrun line. This setup then drains into the sump, and everything goes back into the tank like normal.

 

[troublesx10]

i plan to do fish only for a period of time so i can grow and become proficient with all that a marine tank requires. eventually i plan to add corals however only soft as i grow in my passions for this marine world of life and color. this will be my first marine tank, so that is why i need all of you, and all the reading resources i can find. thank you for all your comments and instruction.

i think i miss spoke when i used the term bio filtration, i understand the principals of the live rock, however i have been reading about the benefits of a fugium and alge to use, dispose of phosphates and nitrates. i don't know if there is a specific size for phosphates and nitrates to be accurately reduced to healthy levels in a fugium.
i dont know how to calculate how you find a sump or wetdry other than it should hold 20% of tank total water, how do you calculate a fugium? how do you know what is adequate flow thru fugim so that you max that benefits of the alge in the fugim. i wanted to used only a fugium, however the tank i bought already came with wet dry so i started thinking how do i include a fugium. so i started looking at hybrid systems so that i could use both.
i want to maximize the fugium so that i can grow a food source too in the tank pods, and so forth.
interms of topoff, tanks for the website, the tank i bought comes with a ro system, but i need to decided if i can get a water source to run it, or look into a cistern to hold ro water and just use topoff switch.
the lighting, i think i want to minimize how much mh i use. at 250 x3 x4-6 hours plus the heating effects of light with the use of chiller to cool water, plus evaporation rate----- makes me want to use mh as little as possible hence possible use of more power compacts. that is what led me to look into leds.. eletrical rate + less heat generated, resulting in less need for chiller use. however i don't want to hang up 10 power compacts in canopy to get job done. any way to decide or make conservative guess.