Hi all, happy to be here! I wanted to introduce myself, I am Italian but I live in Boston, MA with my family. I am a cancer biologist. I have build and maintained multiple tanks for for more than 10 years in Italy but I stopped once I moved to USA 7 years ago. Now I am ready to start again and I am eager to refresh my knowledge and continue to learn about aquariums. I would like to create a 60-65gal tank with sump, sps lps and just 2-3 fish, led illumination, good skimmer and probably classic Berlin method with great rocks. I was considering to buy the Tank+Support from RedSea (Reefer 250 G2+) but not sure about skimmer, light and pumps maybe ecotech. Please suggest and advise about bacteria method (any new ones that work well), technical equipment (whats your favourite skimmer, pump) and if you own the Reefer please let me know how it is. Thanks everyone!!!!
Back to the future…
- Thread starter DjPhato
- Start date
I don’t have a Red Sea so I can’t help with that, I will say be sure to look into seam breaks with Red Sea. Not sure how many apply to the G2 tanks, but I know G1 had quite a few issues.
With that said, it seems most of the popular bacterias do well. Dr. Tim’s or Fritz TurboStart. I believe @Dr. Reef uses the Fritz Turbo Start. I do always encourage getting at least a piece or two of live rock for seeding purposes just for the diversity.
I currently don’t run a skimmer, but I do have a Reef Octopus that worked well when I ran it.
For pumps I went cheap and run Jebao. A nice thing with the Ecotech wavemakers is you don’t have the cords in the tank.
Lighting, the Red Sea lights get good reviews, but today, pretty much any reef led fixture will do the job, it just comes down to what features you want or controlability with regards to sunrise/sunset features, spectrum adjustability, etc.
Hope this helps some!
With that said, it seems most of the popular bacterias do well. Dr. Tim’s or Fritz TurboStart. I believe @Dr. Reef uses the Fritz Turbo Start. I do always encourage getting at least a piece or two of live rock for seeding purposes just for the diversity.
I currently don’t run a skimmer, but I do have a Reef Octopus that worked well when I ran it.
For pumps I went cheap and run Jebao. A nice thing with the Ecotech wavemakers is you don’t have the cords in the tank.
Lighting, the Red Sea lights get good reviews, but today, pretty much any reef led fixture will do the job, it just comes down to what features you want or controlability with regards to sunrise/sunset features, spectrum adjustability, etc.
Hope this helps some!
Thanks! Last bacteria I was using was xaqua but i think they are not in the business anymore. As for the rocks, only one or two? I remember about 1-2lb per 1gal of water (maybe that is overkill but I think that was the last proportion i was using).
What about waterbox Nero pumps? They are cheaper than ecotech.
I will definitely look into lights and build quality of redsea tanks!
What about waterbox Nero pumps? They are cheaper than ecotech.
I will definitely look into lights and build quality of redsea tanks!
I agree with my friend Shane as always.
As far as skimmers go, I've been running an old eShopps cone skimmer since 2015. Besides having to replace the pump (one time), in the 9 years I've had it, I've had no issues with it.
So many tanks are started out with dry rock. The one or two pieces of live rock I was referencing, is just one or two pieces from the ocean to get bacterial diversity to the dry rock. You can definitely use all live rock.
Nowadays, many people go for a less is more approach while others stick with the 1-2lbs per gallon. The amount of rock is personal preference however the biggest thing is ensuring adequate hiding spaces for fish.
Also I’m not aware of any Waterbox branded pumps, however if you’re referencing the AI Nero, those get decent reviews as well. Jebao does make a “knock off” version of the Nero as well.
Waterbox aquariums though, seem to get pretty good reviews. I don’t recall seeing any leaking issues with them.
Waterbox aquariums though, seem to get pretty good reviews. I don’t recall seeing any leaking issues with them.
Yes I meant AI nero, they look nice. What would be a rule of thumb for wave pump? 30-40x the volume of the tank?
Ok understand having few live and most dry rocks, sounds good!
I checked innovative marine and cade systems, they look very nice but unfortunately I will not be able to see them in person. Any opinions?
Ok understand having few live and most dry rocks, sounds good!
I checked innovative marine and cade systems, they look very nice but unfortunately I will not be able to see them in person. Any opinions?
Turn over depends on what you want to keep, with the importance of trying to eliminate dead zones.
I honestly don’t have any direct experience with either brand, only what I’ve seen online. From my research, many seem to claim Cade is a superior quality and there’s apparently more “features” that can be added such as a built in control board in the stand (but I can’t find that upgrade and it appears algae barns site is currently down).
I honestly don’t have any direct experience with either brand, only what I’ve seen online. From my research, many seem to claim Cade is a superior quality and there’s apparently more “features” that can be added such as a built in control board in the stand (but I can’t find that upgrade and it appears algae barns site is currently down).
