Is there anything else I absolutely need?

[GregJames]

Tank info: Red Sea Reefer 250 with 10gal sump and 3gal ATO.
Equipment:
Reef Octopus 110int skimmer
Mars Aqua 300w LED light
2 powerheads with 1 wave maker
200w heater
RO/DI unit

I'm looking to grow a LPS with fish & inverts.
What other equipment should I plan to add in the near future, or am I pretty much done with equipment?

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Test kits.

 

[BlackTip]

controller, dosser, supplements

 

[ScienceRulez]

Patience. Lots and lots of patience. When the algae goes nuts and your tank turns red from the cyano-bacteria, and you want to add fish now! Patience will be your key to sanity. Let things take their time to settle down and not throw technology or chems at every problem that shows up is going to take a lot of patience.

patience, grasshopper, patience...

 

[CStrickland]

That's a nice little setup. I think your good to go for gear. Might wind up needing a larger ato reservoir if you only want to make water once a week. That depends on how dry your house is so time will tell.

 

[hkgar]

Not sure you have enough heater watts for 250 gallons. A basic rule of thumb is 3-5 watts per gallon

 

[GregJames]

Is there anything else I absolutely need?

I have the API test kits and supplements, I was speaking more towards actual equipment.

I had a spell of Cyano for a week or so and put some chem-clean in there. It worked perfectly and cleared it all up in about 24hrs; however, now my skimmer is foaming like crazy...
I've done several water changes, but it's only calmed down a little... That's the last time I do that!

 

[GregJames]

Not sure you have enough heater watts for 250 gallons. A basic rule of thumb is 3-5 watts per gallon

Sorry, I should've specified.. The Red Sea 250 is only 65gal

 

[hkgar]

Never mind, just discovered that a Red Sea 250 is only 54 gallons. Who knew? Not me.

 

[GregJames]

That's a nice little setup. I think your good to go for gear. Might wind up needing a larger ato reservoir if you only want to make water once a week. That depends on how dry your house is so time will tell.

I agree. It empties about every 3rd day or so. I can add some to the sump without overflowing the filter socks, but that only gets me up to 4 days

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I have the API test kits and supplements, I was speaking more towards actual equipment.

I had a spell of Cyano for a week or so and put some chem-clean in there. It worked perfectly and cleared it all up in about 24hrs; however, now my skimmer is foaming like crazy...
I've done several water changes, but it's only calmed down a little... That's the last time I do that!

I haven't heard good things about API test kits, but I've never used them so I can't confirm. I use Salifert and Hanna for Alk and Phosphorus.

For the Chemiclean, I've found that stuff works great for Cyano. I timed my treatment with my water change as someone in a thread recommended. When the cyano was gone, I ran Carbon for 24 hours along with Polyfilters. After that, I hooked up a tube to my skimmer overflow and stuck the other end in a bucket. After a couple buckets, it stopped overflowing and I refilled with fresh saltwater. Water change complete and Chemiclean gone.

 

[GregJames]

Awesome, I'll try the bucket approach tonight!

 

[GregJames]

So canister filters.... How beneficial would it be to run a canister along with filter socks and a skimmer?