In Progress: Sumpless 55g Tank

[hhoang]

I would paint the tank black. Its easy, cheap, and you won't need to do it again. Plus you could always easily razor blade it off if you want.

Sounds like a good plan. I'm sumpless and run HOB reef octopus skimmer. I used to run a canister and biowheel too but to be honest your skimmer will do it all. It will remove gunk from the water not allowing it to break down and dissolving into your water effecting your parameters. Just empty the collection cup and you're good for a few days. Plus you save money on equipment. I have koralias in my 75 and they're more than enough.

T5 or led lighting sounds good. Get that back painted and get some water in there!

We're gonna go for a canister and hob skimmer our guy at my lfs recommended a psk-100h to use along with my canister and I decided to go with the fluvalsea led light and a t8 actinic bulb with the stock lighting. We bought a background
I think all we need now is a test kit, koralias, sand, rock, water test kiss and the other misc stuff. Am I missing anything?
I'll post a pic later is my birthday so I'm getting spoiled

 

[hhoang]

+1 on the sump. Did you get that from petsmart? I almost bought that. I believe it is non-tempered (if it is the Top Fin model) so you can drill it.

There's a big orange sticker that says do not drill so I think it's tempered haha

 

[h8z2luze]

There's a big orange sticker that says do not drill so I think it's tempered haha

Dare you to drill it lol jk. :rollface:

 

[zamboni200000]

I set up a similar tank about 4-5 months ago.... Mine is 50g, no sump. It's doing great. I run a hob skimmer, 2 koralia powerheads (850,1150). The key is to go nice and slow. My nitrates are about 1ppm. My phosphates are a little high for comfort at .36ppm.... So ill probably be adding a hob aqua clear filter soon to run gfo. Anyways, long story short I don't think a sump is necessary, however, a sump makes everything look much cleaner! No wires and heaters and filters and skimmer etc etc etc hanging everywhere. My next tank will have a sump. Good luck!

 

[hhoang]

I set up a similar tank about 4-5 months ago.... Mine is 50g, no sump. It's doing great. I run a hob skimmer, 2 koralia powerheads (850,1150). The key is to go nice and slow. My nitrates are about 1ppm. My phosphates are a little high for comfort at .36ppm.... So ill probably be adding a hob aqua clear filter soon to run gfo. Anyways, long story short I don't think a sump is necessary, however, a sump makes everything look much cleaner! No wires and heaters and filters and skimmer etc etc etc hanging everywhere. My next tank will have a sump. Good luck!

Thank you!
It's good to know I'm headed in the right direction

 

[hhoang]

I'm going to post what we've done here in the next post. I can't wait to get things going in there finally!

 

[hhoang]

​

So we went and got a background, it's hard to tell but it goes from a medium blue down to a very dark blue.
I talked to our guy at the LFS store and he recommended a PSK100-H skimmer, I've been hearing a lot about the octopus HOB skimmer too so I'm going to look into that also.
Lighting we went with the FluvalSea LED reef light and I put a t8 actinic bulb in the stock housing. It actually looks really good in person. Since I'm starting out with a fowlr tank I'm sure I can switch it out to a t5 50/50 bulb/housing later when I feel comfortable adding some soft corals in there.:bounce1:

 

[Pigpen17]

That looks sweet. I had not thought of keeping both lights once my LED arrive. Hmmm.

I looked at the Fluval as well. The only reason I went with the marineland was the built in timer. I don't know why, but it's been so long sinced I bought tank gear, the new stuff is too friggin cool! Digital readouts on my tank! Whaaat!

Can't wait to see water in this thing.

 

[hhoang]

I was considering the Marineland also, but I totally forgot that it had the timer, in my head I thought they were both manual switches :/ Oh, well. I definitely want to see how that looks compares to the Fluval. After looking at the lighting, I think mine gives off A LOT of blue, not sure how I feel about it right now. We'll see how it looks once sand and rock are in there during cycling, I think if it's too much I probably will switch it to a 50/50.

Have you thought of stocking options yet Pigpen17? I've been looking at it and there's a lot of swimming area that I might be able to get away with 1 or 2 fish that need more room.

 

[hhoang]

That looks sweet. I had not thought of keeping both lights once my LED arrive. Hmmm.

I looked at the Fluval as well. The only reason I went with the marineland was the built in timer. I don't know why, but it's been so long sinced I bought tank gear, the new stuff is too friggin cool! Digital readouts on my tank! Whaaat!

Can't wait to see water in this thing.

By the way, I just noticed we live in the same city, hi neighbor! haha:wavehand:

 

[SS_Sean]

Looks good. Have fun. Make sure you quarantine any new additions to you tank!!!!!:dance:

 

[hhoang]

Looks good. Have fun. Make sure you quarantine any new additions to you tank!!!!!:dance:

Definitely will do that. I'm going to set up a temp QT tank...should I QT my clean up crew or should they be fine going in right after the tank is cycled?
When it comes time should I QT corals, anenomes etc too?

 

[maddmaxx]

i would hold off on getting a HOB skimmer for now honestly. they arent as effective as an in sump. and youll be throwing away money buy purchasing multiple skimmers. however someone said paying under $600 for an LED isnt worth it, is totally wrong, the reefbreeders programable photon 24" w/ 120 degree optics at $330 would work great for your tank. they have great customer service, very very good reviews, you could grown softies, LPS, SPS, clams, anemones, everything with them. if your just setting up the tank, then i would pass on the T5s cause your gunna have to buy bulbs every six months. with the LEDs, you dont have to do anything but program then and leave them alone. they can be set for complete sunrise and sunset and lunar lights, the fixtures comes with everything you need, heres the link...

http://reefbreeders.com/product/photon-24/

no you dont have to QT the clean up crew, just toss them in....

QT corals is a good idea, but a normal coral solution dip to prevent pest is usually more then enough...

QT an anemone is a good idea also, but you will need strong enough light to keep the anemone alive during the QT time period...

i would also ditch the koralias and look into two jebao wp10s. you will only wind up upgrading them later on anyway for coral demands. so look into the jebao wp10s for your size tank....

go with the proper equipment first so your not double spending for things in the future.

and if your tank is running and ur gunna add a sump. obviously your goin to have to go with a HOB overflow box which can be noisier and louder. so research HOB overflow boxes to find the quietest...

 

[Pigpen17]

I was considering the Marineland also, but I totally forgot that it had the timer, in my head I thought they were both manual switches :/ Oh, well. I definitely want to see how that looks compares to the Fluval. After looking at the lighting, I think mine gives off A LOT of blue, not sure how I feel about it right now. We'll see how it looks once sand and rock are in there during cycling, I think if it's too much I probably will switch it to a 50/50.

Have you thought of stocking options yet Pigpen17? I've been looking at it and there's a lot of swimming area that I might be able to get away with 1 or 2 fish that need more room.

Hey! T town!

I'm thinking the same thing, but it's a strange size tank. I love Tangs, but there is just no way it's going to happen. I have been looking at the Bristletooth Tomini Tang. It is the smallest, and least swim driven Tang, but I will probably give up on that idea. As well the Double Saddleback Butterfly is the smallest Butterfly, but again, it would outgrow the tank at some point. The Yellow Angel, Rusty Angel, and Flame Tail are all 3" fish, so they are on my maybe list.

Maybe a Clown Goby. Bicolor Blenny. The more I read up on keeping a pair of Blue Dartfish, the more I think they would be a lot of fun.

And I love my HOB skimmer. Couldn't see running without it, but Maxx is much more exp than I am. The only thing I would change in my setup right now is running two smaller powerheads instaead of the one big one. My sand is constantly moving atm.

 

[hhoang]

i would hold off on getting a HOB skimmer for now honestly. they arent as effective as an in sump. and youll be throwing away money buy purchasing multiple skimmers. however someone said paying under $600 for an LED isnt worth it, is totally wrong, the reefbreeders programable photon 24" w/ 120 degree optics at $330 would work great for your tank. they have great customer service, very very good reviews, you could grown softies, LPS, SPS, clams, anemones, everything with them. if your just setting up the tank, then i would pass on the T5s cause your gunna have to buy bulbs every six months. with the LEDs, you dont have to do anything but program then and leave them alone. they can be set for complete sunrise and sunset and lunar lights, the fixtures comes with everything you need, heres the link...

http://reefbreeders.com/product/photon-24/

no you dont have to QT the clean up crew, just toss them in....

QT corals is a good idea, but a normal coral solution dip to prevent pest is usually more then enough...

QT an anemone is a good idea also, but you will need strong enough light to keep the anemone alive during the QT time period...

i would also ditch the koralias and look into two jebao wp10s. you will only wind up upgrading them later on anyway for coral demands. so look into the jebao wp10s for your size tank....

go with the proper equipment first so your not double spending for things in the future.

and if your tank is running and ur gunna add a sump. obviously your goin to have to go with a HOB overflow box which can be noisier and louder. so research HOB overflow boxes to find the quietest...

Awesome advice, thank you!
I bought a fluval led reef light system. I'm not ready for corals and anemones just yet, but when I am and set up the 10g qt tank, do to think those lights will be good enough? I'll be upgrading my lighting adding a sump, etc and moving a lot of stuff over from the main to that qt when I am ready to move up from a fowlr tank.

 

[hhoang]

Hey! T town!

I'm thinking the same thing, but it's a strange size tank. I love Tangs, but there is just no way it's going to happen. I have been looking at the Bristletooth Tomini Tang. It is the smallest, and least swim driven Tang, but I will probably give up on that idea. As well the Double Saddleback Butterfly is the smallest Butterfly, but again, it would outgrow the tank at some point. The Yellow Angel, Rusty Angel, and Flame Tail are all 3" fish, so they are on my maybe list.

Maybe a Clown Goby. Bicolor Blenny. The more I read up on keeping a pair of Blue Dartfish, the more I think they would be a lot of fun.

And I love my HOB skimmer. Couldn't see running without it, but Maxx is much more exp than I am. The only thing I would change in my setup right now is running two smaller powerheads instaead of the one big one. My sand is constantly moving atm.

Do you go to aquarium paradise off Pacific hwy?
That's where I've been going a lot, dom is really helpful.
We really want to get a juvenile flame Angel and then move him into a bigger tank later once this one is done, what do you think?

 

[Pigpen17]

Do you go to aquarium paradise off Pacific hwy?
That's where I've been going a lot, dom is really helpful.
We really want to get a juvenile flame Angel and then move him into a bigger tank later once this one is done, what do you think?

I do. In fact, it's the only good LFS I know since Indoor Reef closed. I was in there yesterday staring at that 300 gal tank they got for sale. One day. One day! Their huge shallow square coral tank is the best tank I have ever seen!

As far as the Angel, I'm not sure. It's the fence I am on right now as well wit this tank. From what I have gathered on here, upgrades rarely happen. For me it was education through ignorance. I had a 65 gallon set up and housed a Yellow and Pacific Blue Tang. It was a way undersized tank for mature fish, but they did fantastic for about 5 years. I mean fantastic. Happy, healthy, swimming. Fantastic. But towards the end of that tank, I could tell they were getting too big. I was going to go bigger, but I actually ended up breaking down the tank and giving the fish to Indoor Reef. Were they fine. Sure. Could I have kept them. No. Did I upgrade. No.

Personally, I could see a 3" Angel doing well in this tank, depending on tank mates. I am not sure how aggressive they would get though as time goes on.

The "Check intended purchases" sticky at the top of this forum is awesome for these types of questions, but your tank size will be an issue, but they can tell you exactly why.

One other fish I was looking at was the Saddle Valentini Puffer. Again. Tank mates are an issue.

 

[hhoang]

I love that shallow tank! The Ray tank they just finished is awesome too.
We don't plan on a lot of stock in the tank. Thought maybe a pair of clowns, CUC, and a small school of pj cardinals or a couple bright and small fish then one main fish. A few inverts maybe venture into some easy corals down the road.

 

[Odysi]

i would hold off on getting a HOB skimmer for now honestly. they arent as effective as an in sump. and youll be throwing away money buy purchasing multiple skimmers. however someone said paying under $600 for an LED isnt worth it, is totally wrong, the reefbreeders programable photon 24" w/ 120 degree optics at $330 would work great for your tank. they have great customer service, very very good reviews, you could grown softies, LPS, SPS, clams, anemones, everything with them. if your just setting up the tank, then i would pass on the T5s cause your gunna have to buy bulbs every six months. with the LEDs, you dont have to do anything but program then and leave them alone. they can be set for complete sunrise and sunset and lunar lights, the fixtures comes with everything you need, heres the link...

http://reefbreeders.com/product/photon-24/

Dont meant to thread jack but think this light would be good for a 40B? Im looking for a fairly priced Led setup.

 

[Pigpen17]

Yeah, that light is awesome. Makes me regret the $180.00 I spent on the Marineland. Meh. What can you do? It's in the mail.