Looking for input

[no694terry]

I have ponds and a 90g african cichlid tank. I'm getting interested in salt water mainly because of the variety of life in a marine system and the way nature seems to play a bigger role than in freshwater.

Any way here is my current "learner" setup. I don't want to get to fancy because i'm moving in a year or so, this is more for learning than anything and i hope to use my filter setup on a larger tank someday, thats why i went with a 30 gallon sump for a 29 gallon DT. the DT is temporary. And i ordered an oddysea ps160 protein skimmer, waiting for it to be delivered.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/-HwkXAIRxM2W9EuPA7rejQ?feat=directlink
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/8BWAS4JnyK_Xe7FAd8M6SQ?feat=directlink

The main question I have left is:

Will i be able to keep a 30 gallon reguim happy with a limited size DT, all my reading says bigger the better but never have i seen a bigger sump than DT.

I want to keep a couple simple fish like clowns or others and maybe start some simple corals.

 

[mgoblue]

Depends on what you mean by happy, and what is in your refugium. I don't see a reason that the size of the DT would matter much, other than the amount of bioload you will have and therefore the nutrients that will be available for any macro you intend to grow in the 'fuge. Since the whole reason for growing macro is to export excess nutrients, then I don't see an issue here. If you want a 'fuge to encourage a pod population that is protected from predators that may be in your DT, then it shouldn't matter. Worse case, you could sparingly feed your 'fuge if it became necessary.

But, I'm somewhat of a noob myself, so maybe someone will post an explanation as to why it will matter and we will both learn something....

 

[breiter3]

Your fuge will just serve to support the DT, it's the fuge's job to keep the DT happy, not the other way around. lol. (I couldn't figure any other way to put that).

The bigger the better viewpoint stems a lot from the fact that you are increasing you water capacity, so for you rather than it just being 29 Gallons, you're at 59 Gallon system. I've seen a couple systems where they put tubs in the basement for all the filtration, macro, pods, etc and they ended up being bigger than the DT, so it isn't un heard of.

 

[no694terry]

i wanted to get a 55 for a DT but learned they are hard to find non-tempered. anything bigger is getting hard to tear down and move when the time comes. since i already had a 30 and a 29 i figured thats what i'll use.

 

[breiter3]

You're probably better off. 55 Gallon tanks are notoriously difficult to design with rock and corals due to their height to narrow width ratio

 

[breiter3]

Also forgot to mention, and I'm really not criticizing here, but if you can return that oddysea protein skimmer and get something, anything else, you'll be glad you did. Do some searches and read the reviews on any of their products and you'll find that they don't live up to expectation, nor is the quality sufficient to get any longevity out of them.

I made that mistake when I started out, and it wasn't 6 months before I was shelling out more money on a new set of lights.

 

[no694terry]

i thought i read rather good reviews about them for the price. mines not making foam yet or even tiny bubbles for that matter but i figure its just because theres nothing but plain freshwater in it. i think im ready to add salt. and im going to need a bigger heater. my 100watt is maxed and the water is room temp. and i think im going to cut my lid across the center, it starting to be a real pain lifting the hole thing with all the hose and skimmer in it to get in there

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/KJJI0Q6k_VBDLFJL5OZ56A?feat=directlink
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/qWq9bA_YWLX_tCBBw7lpiQ?feat=directlink

 

[breiter3]

Protein skimmers don't work at all in fresh water, so yeah you can't measure their performance until you get salt and a bio load in the tank. Good luck with it, just passing on my experience. It didn't take me long to replace my oddysea skimmer with an AquaC.

 

[no694terry]

6 month update

think my bulbs are ready for a change becasue coral growth has dropped to about zero, and i could do a better job on water changes but overall a very healthy tank so far with no problems other being very thirsty, about half a gallon a day.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/iL_N3Tiw_nkLiu1TNIfGbw?feat=directlink

 

[no694terry]

changed out the 29 DT for a 30. my neighbor gave me a 30 and i planned on using it as a sump on my 90 cichlid tank for growing plants to reduce nitrates but the 30 didn't fit under the stand without moving tank, so i drilled it and changed it out with the 29 and now the 29 is under my 90.

i took all my testing kits in to my office for my 5.5, so i havent checked my home tank in a while.