Getting back into the hobby, advice on my setup, biopellets, etc

[BigAirHarper]

RC! I'm in the process of setting up a 186G Cylinder tank that will be mainly fish with some hearty coral. I'm in the process of building my equipment list/requirements. I'm buying the tank used so I will have some equipment, I'm just wanting opinions to make sure I don't miss anything during setup.

There have also been new techniques adopted that I'm trying to pick up on by learning the new methods. Fluconazole is one of those....

The tank will have a Bubble King Skimmer, Reef Octopus Biopellet reactor, filter socks, all in a custom sump with a water blaster return pump.

I've never run a biopellet reactor, so i'm a little unsure of how effective they are. Should I install a carbon/GFO reactor with the above setup? Or will it be unneeded? I'm not going to be running a refugium as I don't want to deal with it and have read about their lack of effectiveness.

Any help with finer details of the setup would be great. I'll be starting a build thread soon....thanks everyone!

 

[mcgyvr]

Everything you listed is "optional" equipment and none of that is needed to have a successful tank..
There are plenty of people that just rely on water changes/bacteria alone..

From my experience liquid carbon dosing (vodka/vinegar,etc..) is better/faster/cheaper than biopellets.
Also for me carbon dosing is really only needed for the first year or so until the bacterial population is fully established.. Then its not needed anymore.. but I keep my tanks fairly lightly stocked and do not overfeed at all and have sufficient rock/surface area/low oxygen potential areas for bacterial growth..

You can certainly run any/all of what you listed to attempt to help/reduce maintenance..
I will however caution against running a GFO rector unless you actually have a REAL phosphate problem.. Too little phosphate is just as bad if not worse than too much and GFO can work quite well at stripping a tank of phosphate..

 

[reefgeezer]

I would skip the biopellets. I'd use the filter sock (sometimes) & the skimmer. Liquid carbon dosing is more controllable and cheaper if your bioload gets too high and the system needs some help handling the nutrients.

 

[BigAirHarper]

I would skip the biopellets. I'd use the filter sock (sometimes) & the skimmer. Liquid carbon dosing is more controllable and cheaper if your bioload gets too high and the system needs some help handling the nutrients.

Awesome. Thanks for the feedback.