46g bowfont what all do i need

ash71089

New member
I am about to get a 46g bowfront for my birthday. I have been reading about how to set up a reef tank for months and I think the more I read the more confused I get. I know basically what i need, but I want to know what people would recommend. I am not wanting to get the cheapest, but I am also not wanting to pay 600 bucks for a skimmer. What would everyone recommend?
 
I am also looking into a fuge and sump and was wondering how to set one up and how big would be big enough? I have an extra 20g tank lying around that I am not using.
 
I would recommend a canister filter unless you have some where to put a wetdry filter. You can also buy a skilter its a power filter with a protein skimmer on it also. You would need to modify the skimmer since the stock air line wont create enough bubbles. what you do is buy a real cheap aerator drill a hole on the top the skimmer resivoir feed some air tubing into the hole attach a wood aerator for saltwater and that will create enough bubbles. You will only want to turn the skimmer part on maybe 1-2 times a week depending on how many fish you have any how often you feed. I have a 46 BF and i have just a Peguin power filter and a skilter and it does the job but i think im going to up it a lil with the canister filter
 
You can get a wetdry with a refug built in. it will have 3 sections the refug will be in middle. You can also just use a reg wetdry and just have chateo and other things where the pump returns the water you'll just need to get a refug light.
 
I would not even consider a skilter. IMO they are junk.

that sump you listed from ebay will work well but you will still need the tank, light, overflow box, return pump ect. IMO just buy a 10 gal. tank and build your own. much cheaper. check out www.melevsreef.com for some good sump info.

as for a skimmer check out ASM, octopus, bermuda, ect. they are all fairly cheap and work well.

next you will also need LR, for filtration, LR and a skimmer is all you will need.
 
Save yourself some money. Skip the canister filter and buy yourself a good skimmer (rated twice the water volume). Take the extra 20L and install some baffles (simple to do). Now you have a DIY sump/fuge. Two things you can't skip on in this hobby, 1) good skimmer and 2) lighting. Skip now and pay later. Do it right the first time.
[welcome]
 
No skilter, no filter at all unless you are going to do fish-only. If you want corals, best get 45-60 lbs of live rock, 45 lbs of medium-grade aragonite sand (which the rock will colonize in a week or so) and a sump with no filter, no wet-dry, no bio-balls, nothing of the sort. Ideal is one with a big middle chamber you can convert to a fuge.
A pre-drilled tank is the best if you can swing it: that means the box that drains water to the sump is internal to the tank (no leaks!) and water will flow smoothly to your sump, where your skimmer will remove proteins and your return pump will deliver the newly cleaned water back upstairs to the display.

The reason for not using filters: if you are running a fuge, they stop the copepods you are trying to breed; and worst of all, they trap the stuff that should be going into the sandbed/rock, which can reduce it to harmless nitrogen gas. If it stalls out in a filter, it is just nitrate-rich sludge that will not be beneficial to corals.

You will want to set up with ro/di water, and owning your own ro/di filter is a real moneysaver in the long run.

You will want to choose lighting based on what you want to keep. Lights range from moderately pricey to quite pricey. SPS coral and crocea clams want mh lighting, though certain sps do fine with less. That's very generic advice: this point deserves a lot of research before you buy.

Consider a good gently-used system. You find a lot of people upgrading to a larger tank, and you can sometimes get a great system in your area for a considerable savings. You just have to know what kind of system you want and pass up one that's not quite it.
 
I suggest either a dual 150-175 watt MH or a tek or icecap T5HO retro. either one of those will allow you to keep anything.
 
T5s (individual reflectors) i would say. Most and some will tell you MH. The clams will have to take a backseat for quite some time. Tank needs to be well established to maintain a clam (1year+).
 
ive read that the MH can get really hot and that i would have to make a custom hood to fit a fan? is that right?
 
A little hint: most of us oldtimers put our equipment list in our sig-line. Cruise the various forums and look at people with tanks in your proposed size range...that will give you some brands and model #s.

I use mh. I don't have to. I happen to like the sparkle, I do raise sps, and a crocea clam, and with a wedge-corner tank I can get away with one bulb (cheaper.)

One mistake I made: I underbought the skimmer. I ran with an Urchin (Aqua C) and it wasn't enough. I replaced it with an Aqua C Ev 120 (rated for about that many gallons, though my tank is a 54g) and my tank is a lot happier. Corals have really grown.

If you don't buy the right equipment the first time, you end up rebuying, and that's just a pain. but if you have a good lfs, they'll take it in trade or sell it on commission, and that can get you out of some mistakes.

Just be sure whatever you buy used was used only for saltwater by somebody who knew what they were doing: translation: be sure nobody has ever ever ever put copper into the tank as a medication. That's the nastiest stuff.

White vinegar can clean off lime deposit so well something can look brand new in 24 hours.
 
Or you can just hang the light above the tank.
I have a 9" fake formica rim around my tank: I just set my light kit on it, and the light fixture came with its own pair of fans, plus glass shield. 9" is the proper separation between mh light and water surface. So it makes a nicelooking sub for a hood. And keeps fish from jumping out.
 
wow.. so much to look into.. i have a feeling that its going to take a long time just to get everything i need
 
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