I'm going to be setting up my first reef tank and I'd like to make sure I do it right, so I thought post here and get outside opinions.
Tank
150 Gallon Glass Tank - 72" long x 20" wide x 24" tall - Already owned.
Sump
50 Gallon Converted Acryllic tank into Sump - 48" long x 13" wide x 16" tall Tank is already owned, but this is just my current design that I'll be putting together in the next week or two, let me know if there's anything I should change
I just saw a sump design that I hadn't seen before, they had LR rubble in the first portion of the sump, is there any good reason not to do this in my design??
The return pump for now is a Catalina Aquarium 2200 that I got free with the tank, but I'm thinking about upgrading to either a MagDrive 12 or 18 which with the 5-6 feet of headloss should put out about 950-1120 or 1125 - 1200 gph respectively vs the CA that currently puts out about 660 gph with the 6 ft of headloss. Would either one be too much water flowing over/through the fuge? The two 1 1/2" DIY Overflows should be able to handle about 1350 gph each minus the frictional headloss for each of the elbows in the design, but between the two of them I believe they should be able to handle it, but if you know/think otherwise please let me know.
Lighting
Deciding between a 72 in. Nova Extreme Pro T5 HO Lighting Fixture - (12) 39 watt lamps or two of the TEK LIGHT T-5, 36" Light Fixture 6 x 39W lamps by Sunlight Supply If you've got comments or suggestions I'd be glad to hear them, I'd like to be able to keep a mixed reef of LPS/SPS, and Softies, my girlfriend and I love the giant clams too, but I don't know if those will be enough lighting?
Protein Skimmer
This is one thing that I'm completely lost on, I've read quite a bit about the different types of skimmers, downdraft, pinwheel, recirculating, etc, but I still don't really know what exactly to look for in a skimmer aside from something that will go in my sump and that's rated for at least my total system volume with the general consensus being that the more the better.
Heaters
I've heard great things about the Jager heaters, but I'm a bit worried that they're glass, in my other tanks I've use the Marineland Stealth Shatterproof heaters and have had good success with them. Is there any reason that I should go with the Jagers over my usual? I've also read good things about the Titanium heaters as well and was wondering about those.
Refractometer
Do you guys have any recommendations on one specifically? What makes one better than another?
Powerheads
I'm planning on using 4 x Seio 1500s with the magnet mounts, again if you've got any comments or suggestions I'd greatly appreciate them.
Salt
This is another topic that I'm kind of lost on and not sure what makes one better than another. I've seen Tropic Marine Salt, Kent Sea Salt, & Crystal Sea Marinemix mentioned as better quality salts, but I'm curious what makes them better or more suited for reefing?
Substrate
I've read that aragonite is pretty much the go to, and seen the CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand almost unanimously recommended, so I've pretty much decided on using that, my only question is how deep of a sandbed do I want? I've read that certain Goby/Jawfish need a deepers sandbeds, but it didn't really give any specifics as to the required depth. It also mention the seagrasses that provide shelter for seahorses, pipefish and feed upside down jellyfish needed at least 6 inches of sand, but I'm not really interested in keeping them so that's not a concern, is there anything else I need to take into consideration when deciding how deep to make the sand bed?
Also I know that most live sand off the store shelf is pretty useless, but I was wondering if anyone had any experience using Garf Grunge?
Live Rock
There's a LFS near us that sells LR, but they want $6/lb which I think is a bit high. International Marine Fish has Fiji Live Rock for $3.75/lb with free shipping and
Do you guys have any other suggestions on places to buy live/base rock from?
I've been keeping an eye on craigslist as others have mentioned but I haven't really seen anything other than people trying to sell their whole setup.
RO/DI
Just ordered an Air, Water & Ice RO/DI unit called the Dual Home Reef with Tank & Faucet for under the sink and will be setting it up when it comes in the mail.
Test Kits
I've already got aTetra Laborett Master Aquarium Water Test Kit, which can test for Freshwater PH, Saltwater PH, Carbonate and general hardness, Nitrites, Ammonia, and Carbon dioxide. If I'm not mistaken I also need to be able to test for Calcium, Nitrates and Phospates? Do you guys recommend one kit over another? Anything special that I should look for aside from making sure to get liquid reagents not powder/strips.
Quarantine Tank
20 Gallon Glass Tank (Too big? Too Small? Any thoughts or comments?)
Some PVC Elbows for shelter (recommended in this Guide to setting up a Quarantine Tank)
100w Heater(See above questions about heater, still not sure which brand to go with)
Sponge Filter - (If I kept this running in the main tanks sump to keep the bacteria alive would it be fine?)
Air Pump to power the sponge filter(One of the extras I've got at home should work just fine)
24" T5 HO Lighting(To keep the sps/lps/softies happy while in quarantine)
Airline Tubing to drip acclimate
I'm still in the process of reading about calcium reactors, chillers, wavemakers, and doing some research on controllers/monitors. I've kind of got my eye on either a ReefKeeper, but still need to read more about them.
Tank
150 Gallon Glass Tank - 72" long x 20" wide x 24" tall - Already owned.
Sump
50 Gallon Converted Acryllic tank into Sump - 48" long x 13" wide x 16" tall Tank is already owned, but this is just my current design that I'll be putting together in the next week or two, let me know if there's anything I should change
I just saw a sump design that I hadn't seen before, they had LR rubble in the first portion of the sump, is there any good reason not to do this in my design??
The return pump for now is a Catalina Aquarium 2200 that I got free with the tank, but I'm thinking about upgrading to either a MagDrive 12 or 18 which with the 5-6 feet of headloss should put out about 950-1120 or 1125 - 1200 gph respectively vs the CA that currently puts out about 660 gph with the 6 ft of headloss. Would either one be too much water flowing over/through the fuge? The two 1 1/2" DIY Overflows should be able to handle about 1350 gph each minus the frictional headloss for each of the elbows in the design, but between the two of them I believe they should be able to handle it, but if you know/think otherwise please let me know.
Lighting
Deciding between a 72 in. Nova Extreme Pro T5 HO Lighting Fixture - (12) 39 watt lamps or two of the TEK LIGHT T-5, 36" Light Fixture 6 x 39W lamps by Sunlight Supply If you've got comments or suggestions I'd be glad to hear them, I'd like to be able to keep a mixed reef of LPS/SPS, and Softies, my girlfriend and I love the giant clams too, but I don't know if those will be enough lighting?
Protein Skimmer
This is one thing that I'm completely lost on, I've read quite a bit about the different types of skimmers, downdraft, pinwheel, recirculating, etc, but I still don't really know what exactly to look for in a skimmer aside from something that will go in my sump and that's rated for at least my total system volume with the general consensus being that the more the better.
Heaters
I've heard great things about the Jager heaters, but I'm a bit worried that they're glass, in my other tanks I've use the Marineland Stealth Shatterproof heaters and have had good success with them. Is there any reason that I should go with the Jagers over my usual? I've also read good things about the Titanium heaters as well and was wondering about those.
Refractometer
Do you guys have any recommendations on one specifically? What makes one better than another?
Powerheads
I'm planning on using 4 x Seio 1500s with the magnet mounts, again if you've got any comments or suggestions I'd greatly appreciate them.
Salt
This is another topic that I'm kind of lost on and not sure what makes one better than another. I've seen Tropic Marine Salt, Kent Sea Salt, & Crystal Sea Marinemix mentioned as better quality salts, but I'm curious what makes them better or more suited for reefing?
Substrate
I've read that aragonite is pretty much the go to, and seen the CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand almost unanimously recommended, so I've pretty much decided on using that, my only question is how deep of a sandbed do I want? I've read that certain Goby/Jawfish need a deepers sandbeds, but it didn't really give any specifics as to the required depth. It also mention the seagrasses that provide shelter for seahorses, pipefish and feed upside down jellyfish needed at least 6 inches of sand, but I'm not really interested in keeping them so that's not a concern, is there anything else I need to take into consideration when deciding how deep to make the sand bed?
Also I know that most live sand off the store shelf is pretty useless, but I was wondering if anyone had any experience using Garf Grunge?
Live Rock
There's a LFS near us that sells LR, but they want $6/lb which I think is a bit high. International Marine Fish has Fiji Live Rock for $3.75/lb with free shipping and
Do you guys have any other suggestions on places to buy live/base rock from?
I've been keeping an eye on craigslist as others have mentioned but I haven't really seen anything other than people trying to sell their whole setup.
RO/DI
Just ordered an Air, Water & Ice RO/DI unit called the Dual Home Reef with Tank & Faucet for under the sink and will be setting it up when it comes in the mail.
Test Kits
I've already got aTetra Laborett Master Aquarium Water Test Kit, which can test for Freshwater PH, Saltwater PH, Carbonate and general hardness, Nitrites, Ammonia, and Carbon dioxide. If I'm not mistaken I also need to be able to test for Calcium, Nitrates and Phospates? Do you guys recommend one kit over another? Anything special that I should look for aside from making sure to get liquid reagents not powder/strips.
Quarantine Tank
20 Gallon Glass Tank (Too big? Too Small? Any thoughts or comments?)
Some PVC Elbows for shelter (recommended in this Guide to setting up a Quarantine Tank)
100w Heater(See above questions about heater, still not sure which brand to go with)
Sponge Filter - (If I kept this running in the main tanks sump to keep the bacteria alive would it be fine?)
Air Pump to power the sponge filter(One of the extras I've got at home should work just fine)
24" T5 HO Lighting(To keep the sps/lps/softies happy while in quarantine)
Airline Tubing to drip acclimate
I'm still in the process of reading about calcium reactors, chillers, wavemakers, and doing some research on controllers/monitors. I've kind of got my eye on either a ReefKeeper, but still need to read more about them.
