Building my first tank!

[Cobrasvt1999]

Hello all!

After a month of lurking in the background and reading alot more than im sure ill remember, I have finally decided to actually start my planned project. :bounce3:

My plan so far calls for a Marineland 56 Column tank (is this a good choice?) as its probably the largest tank I can get to nicely fir in the 35 inch space for it.

I would like to drill out the back and use a Herbie overflow to either a 10 or a 15 (biggest I can fit in the bottom cabinet) sump. What I would like to do in the sump is add a skimmer as well as a canister carbon filter to keep the water from yellowing. was also thinking about getting two 200W neo-Therm heaters (i know its overkill, but I like the idea of a backup if one fails and I live in Alaska. if the heaters go out its gona need every Watt)

my questions now are:
Is my tank a good choice considering my size requirement of about 35 inches?
Which skimmer & Carbon canister should I investigate for the sump?
any recommendations on the return pump and lighting?
(for the sake of sump design) is it possible to have too many bioballs and or biomedia plate?

Once I have the equiptment I can start the process of cycling the tank with live rock from my lfs, but I much prefer to have my T's crossed and my i's dotted before any water begins to flow.

Thank you for the words of wisdom!

 

[reefer1970]

Skip the canister and place a bag of carbon in a high flow area of the sump, use live rock rubble instead of bio balls, if you can't afford a "good" LED light get a small T5 light with Actinic and White ATI brand bulbs. Just my 2 cents

 

[Cobrasvt1999]

Skip the canister and place a bag of carbon in a high flow area of the sump, use live rock rubble instead of bio balls, if you can't afford a "good" LED light get a small T5 light with Actinic and White ATI brand bulbs. Just my 2 cents

Thanks for the tips! for some reason I hadn't considered the rubble... What would you define as a "good" LED? are the Aqua Illumination Hydras in that category? or would I need to go all the way to EcoTech before a T5 fixture would be the worse choice?

 

[Reef908]

I have an SCA-301 skimmer and I really like it for the price. You can get it on Amazon right now for under $100. I got it two years ago around this time of year, at a discount as well, and have had zero issues with it. Its suggested for up to 65 gallons, but I have used it when I had a larger bioload and it worked like a charm for me.

 

[reefer1970]

My first light was a junky T5 and had great results with my corals. Just bought my Kessils mainly for the shimmer off a guy who thought the AI Hydras were better. Just seems like a lot of $40 LEDs are out there these days and you wouldnt be happy with them

 

[Cobrasvt1999]

I really like the looks of the sca-301 skimmer. And more than anything I like the price. So far as the lighting goes, is there any difference between fixtures really (as side from dimming, timing ect) or is it the bulb fixture that makes the real difference?

 

[rfurst]

Yes,one bioball is too many. Bioballs (or any mechanical filter typically used in freshwater) are typically not used in marine aquariums given their tendency to keep junk stuck in the water column. As stated by others, no need for the canister and maybe not even the carbon altogether. Little chance of water yellowing and most use it as necessary to remove certain unwanted chemicals unrelated to coloring.

Not sure how deep that tank is which would impact appropriate lighting. MH, T5, LED's can all work. have always used t5's on my tanks although if I was setting up a new one I would go with high quality LED's for sure. My personal bias if for Kessils.

For me, there many fine return pump brands so it is really about sizing it right based on your drain size, return line size, and desired flow rate through the sump.