First Reef Tank - Please Help :(

[Perth_reefer]

A sump definitely makes life easier, it serves a couple of purposes. First of all it keeps your display clear of equipment, giving you more room for rock and coral, secondly it allows you to have bigger equipment which is accessed for maintenance far easier, I would never run a reef without one....However it can be done.

 

[bobbychullo]

Is a sump necessary? I never quite got the purpose....

A sump definitely makes life easier, it serves a couple of purposes. First of all it keeps your display clear of equipment, giving you more room for rock and coral, secondly it allows you to have bigger equipment which is accessed for maintenance far easier, I would never run a reef without one....However it can be done.

it also adds additional water volume (for more stable water parameters), more surface area (for more aeration) and more flow (detritus settles in there and can easily be vacuumed out when doing water changes). I have a lot of room for filtration in my sump: filter sock, filter pad, protein skimmer and carbon when needed. i also have additional live rock in there, i have 60 pounds of live rock total in my system and 60 pounds of sand in a 50 gallon display (with sump, i have 60 gallons total system water volume).

you can't cut corners in this hobby, it will come back to bite you later when your system starts to mature. I spent over two and a half months researching, planning and building my system before I even put water in it. And i've had a reef tank before! Let me tell you, it makes a huge difference.


edit: i've tried to link a good article about starting a reef tank but it will not let me link outside forums...

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I'm sure about it but definitely just looking to get started right now. I'm a marine bio student and have been obbsessing about my own reef tank since i was five lol

This should be even more of a reason to have a sump

Is a sump necessary? I never quite got the purpose....

A sump definitely makes life easier, it serves a couple of purposes. First of all it keeps your display clear of equipment, giving you more room for rock and coral, secondly it allows you to have bigger equipment which is accessed for maintenance far easier, I would never run a reef without one....However it can be done.

it also adds additional water volume (for more stable water parameters), more surface area (for more aeration) and more flow (detritus settles in there and can easily be vacuumed out when doing water changes). I have a lot of room for filtration in my sump: filter sock, filter pad, protein skimmer and carbon when needed. i also have additional live rock in there, i have 60 pounds of live rock total in my system and 60 pounds of sand in a 50 gallon display (with sump, i have 60 gallons total system water volume).

you can't cut corners in this hobby, it will come back to bite you later when your system starts to mature. I spent over two and a half months researching, planning and building my system before I even put water in it. And i've had a reef tank before! Let me tell you, it makes a huge difference.


edit: i've tried to link a good article about starting a reef tank but it will not let me link outside forums...

The reasons behind having a sump are many, but to me the biggest advantage is being able to increase your biological load on the Display tank. I'm not sure what the number is but there is a reason at least 95 out of 100 saltwater tank owners have a sump system, they just make sense :thumbsup:

 

[Einin]

it also adds additional water volume (for more stable water parameters), more surface area (for more aeration) and more flow (detritus settles in there and can easily be vacuumed out when doing water changes). I have a lot of room for filtration in my sump: filter sock, filter pad, protein skimmer and carbon when needed. i also have additional live rock in there, i have 60 pounds of live rock total in my system and 60 pounds of sand in a 50 gallon display (with sump, i have 60 gallons total system water volume).

you can't cut corners in this hobby, it will come back to bite you later when your system starts to mature. I spent over two and a half months researching, planning and building my system before I even put water in it. And i've had a reef tank before! Let me tell you, it makes a huge difference.


edit: i've tried to link a good article about starting a reef tank but it will not let me link outside forums...

Maybe you can message it to me? I'd be interested in reading it. 8 want to go into this as prepared as I can be

 

[Einin]

it also adds additional water volume (for more stable water parameters), more surface area (for more aeration) and more flow (detritus settles in there and can easily be vacuumed out when doing water changes). I have a lot of room for filtration in my sump: filter sock, filter pad, protein skimmer and carbon when needed. i also have additional live rock in there, i have 60 pounds of live rock total in my system and 60 pounds of sand in a 50 gallon display (with sump, i have 60 gallons total system water volume).

you can't cut corners in this hobby, it will come back to bite you later when your system starts to mature. I spent over two and a half months researching, planning and building my system before I even put water in it. And i've had a reef tank before! Let me tell you, it makes a huge difference.


edit: i've tried to link a good article about starting a reef tank but it will not let me link outside forums...

Maybe you can message it to me? I'd be interested in reading it. 8 want to go into this as prepared as I can be

 

[Einin]

So a friend of mine bought someones old set up and it came with a Coralife 30in Aqualight that she doesn't want and is willing to sell me for 20$. It needs new bulbs apperantly but I was wondering how is that as far as lighting goes for a reef tank?

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Is that a 4 bulb HO T5 setup with timer? If so Jump all over it.

 

[bobbychullo]

it will not go thru in a message either. I can send it via email if you like...

Maybe you can message it to me? I'd be interested in reading it. 8 want to go into this as prepared as I can be

 

[LazyWaterkeeper]

The biggest things that will be different from freshwater will be maintaining additional water variables such as salinity, alkalinity, pH, and temperature. You will also have additional variables such as flow, lighting, bioload, and tank maturity to consider.

A sump is useful as it allows you to put all your filtering equipment out of the display tank. The overflow helps with water oxygenation and skimming proteins off of the surface water and into your protein skimmer. You don't need either if you are good at topping off for evaporation and doing regular, good water changes.

I just wrote an article you may find useful: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2512674

Most people want to spend all their money on tanks, lights, and organisms, but you need more than that to keep those organisms alive for many years. Focus on creating clean saltwater and freshwater at a moments notice, and everything else gets a lot easier.

Good luck and welcome!