Equipment/System Plans Advice

[fender4string]

I'm getting ready to set up my first salt water tank-180gallon FOWLR tank.
So here's the equipment list that I've come up with (and estimate prices)

Reef ready tank and stand ($1200)
55g sump/fuge ($100)
55g quarantine tank ($100)
2 heaters ($50 for both)
2 powerheads, Koralia ( $60-$80)
ASM G4 skimmer ($430)
Return pump ($50-$100)
80 lbs of Eco Rox (to be seeded with 10lbs or so of Live rock) ($80)
RO/DI unit ($100-$200)

I'll know that I'll also need a HOB filter for the QT tank and a heater but I haven't looked into that yet and am not too worried about the cost.
Oh an Lighting but that won't be much of an issue since it's fish only.

So here are my questions:
1. What brand do you recommend for heater and a return pump?
2. How many pounds of live sand should I get for this system? Can I go a cheaper route and buy sugar grain sand and seed it with live sand?
3. How many gallons per hour should my return pump be rated for? Keep in mind the QT will obviously be seperate from the whole system. How many Gallons per hour should the powerheads be rated for?
4. What kind of lighting do you recommend?
5. How does my list look? Can I cut cost anywhere or do the figures look about right?

 

[phenom5]

Re: Equipment/System Plans Advice

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13311959#post13311959 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fender4string
I'm getting ready to set up my first salt water tank-180gallon FOWLR tank.
So here's the equipment list that I've come up with (and estimate prices)

Reef ready tank and stand ($1200)
55g sump/fuge ($100)
55g quarantine tank ($100)
2 heaters ($50 for both)
2 powerheads, Koralia ( $60-$80)
ASM G4 skimmer ($430)
Return pump ($50-$100)
80 lbs of Eco Rox (to be seeded with 10lbs or so of Live rock) ($80)
RO/DI unit ($100-$200)

I'll know that I'll also need a HOB filter for the QT tank and a heater but I haven't looked into that yet and am not too worried about the cost.
Oh an Lighting but that won't be much of an issue since it's fish only.

So here are my questions:
1. What brand do you recommend for heater and a return pump?
2. How many pounds of live sand should I get for this system? Can I go a cheaper route and buy sugar grain sand and seed it with live sand?
3. How many gallons per hour should my return pump be rated for? Keep in mind the QT will obviously be seperate from the whole system. How many Gallons per hour should the powerheads be rated for?
4. What kind of lighting do you recommend?
5. How does my list look? Can I cut cost anywhere or do the figures look about right?

1. Lots of options here. I've had good luck with Jager heaters. Return pump depends on if your planning on running it submerged or external.

2. Depends, are you planning on running a DSB or a SSB in the display? Yes you can, and I would suggest going with dead sand and seeding it with live sand.

3. I would shoot for 5x turnover through your sump, so your looking at ~1200gph after head loss. And 20x turnover in the display.

4. Depends, if you think there is any chance you may want to add some corals down the road, I would buy lights accordingly. Otherwise, for a FOWLR it doesn't matter too much.

5. List looks good, to cut cost, I'd look at the equipment selling forum & your local club forum here on RC, and craigslist to see if you can find some good deals on used equipment.

 

[crvz]

1) I like the jager heaters too. I'd recommend them. For return, I'd highly recommend eheim pumps (especially if it's a submersible). Look at the 1262.

2) I would not purchase the live sand marketed in the hobby, just get dry sand and go with that. you can seed it with the live rock or from a handful of sand from a friend's or store's tank. The livesand is a waste of money in my experience.

3) I like to aim for the 5x system turnover in the sump as well, and then the main display can be anywhere from 10x total to over 50x, depending on what you're keeping. For a FOWLR, 10-20 should be fine.

4) a cheap light for now (shop light from home depot even), and then upgrade to something you like when you decide to go for corals.

5) Most things look to be in line, I'd recommend shopping used as well, and maybe consider the octopus line of skimmers over the G4. I think you could save a couple hundred on that and get the same performance.

 

[Jay180reef]

+1 vote for the Octopus skimmer, great price for an amazing skimmer.

 

[fender4string]

Thanks- I'll check out octopus skimmers as the ASM is easily my most expensive piece of equipment. Also both of you said to go for 5x turnover in the sump and 20x in the display. How is that regulated? Since it's the same pump wouldn't the waterflow be the same in both tanks? I must be missing something here-if you could explain this I'd appreciate it

 

[phenom5]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13313619#post13313619 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fender4string
Also both of you said to go for 5x turnover in the sump and 20x in the display. How is that regulated? Since it's the same pump wouldn't the waterflow be the same in both tanks? I must be missing something here-if you could explain this I'd appreciate it

2 sources of flow. Return pump pumps 1200gph after head loss (as an example), that's 5x turnover through the sump. Powerheads or a closed loop move ~3500gph in the display tank, that's 15x turnover in the display, with the additional 5x turnover from the return, that's 20x turnover in the display.

Hope that helps. :thumbsup:

 

[fender4string]

Oh and yes the return pump I plan to get will be submersible

 

[fender4string]

Oh duh :rollface:
I wasn't thinking about the powerheads so the different flows make sense

 

[fender4string]

another question as now I'm overthinking things . For the skimmer I want 5X turnover in the sump which is 275 gallons per hour. So, do I want a skimmer that turns over that amount of water or is rated for that amount of water?
Here's an example:
http://oceanhomesetc.com/products/Octopus_Needlewheel_200_protein_skimmer-10605-56.html

 

[crvz]

Some people do like to match their skimmer input (particularly for needlewheel skimmers) and return flow, as they feel it gets the best performance. I feel as long as you're in the ballpark, you'll be fine. You don't want a skimmer rated for twice or half the flow rate of the return pump, but if it's 10-20% different one way or the other I wouldnt worry.

Careful with skimmer ratings, though, as many manufacturers like to over-rate their skimmers.

 

[fender4string]

ok that's not exactly what I meant but you answered a question that I didn't think to ask. To rephrase what you just said, the skimmer's gph should closely match the gph on the return pump right?

Lemme try to rephrase what I meant to ask. On the link that I posted above it said the skimmer was "rated" for 250 gallons. It also said that it "pumps" 750 gallons. Which of these are the number that I should be looking at?