Need advice!

[Partsman41953]

Hi all,

I am not really new to reef keeping as I have a 10 gallon and 28 gallon tank with mushrooms, pulsing Xenia and clown fish but I am in the process of setting up a 90 gallon reef tank with a sump and have no clue how to set it up, run the hoses or anything like that. I would also like some suggestions on a decent protein skimmer and programmable light that has the affects of day, midday and dusk lighting. I will be using a 20 long tank as a sump and would like to know how to set that up as well.

My other situation is that when I purchased my stand I thought that a short stand, 28" high, would be better to use so I could reach over to clean the tank and not have to step on a step stool to clean it but found that I may be short in space for a skimmer. I was wondering if I could put a piece of plywood on top of the stand and just cut the holes out I would need for the hoses.

I would really appreciate any advice on the skimmer, lights, sump, running the hoses and stand.

Thanks

 

[mcgyvr]

Is your 90G already "reef ready" with corner overflows or similar?
Or are you going to drill the tank?
The "best" system is to drill the tank and do a coast-coast overflow box just like this..
http://www.beananimal.com/projects/silent-and-fail-safe-aquarium-overflow-system.aspx

 

[Sk8r]

THe hose and pipe may look complicated, but it runs like this: an outflow hose goes down to the sump and just gravity-falls its water in. At the other end of the sump, a return pump runs a hose up to the tank and sends water in.

The pipe on the the down side is usually tall so that it means the water in the downflow box has to be a certain depth, but only SO tall, which means the water in the downflow box can't get any deeper. The downflow usually has a siphon (if a hang-on) that will break suction if it takes out too much water. Inbuilt downflow boxes generally have a double wall that will serve the same purpose and prevents your dt from continuing to lose water.

I prefer to fill my dt from the sump: I pump a little up---and cut it off and check the level; add more sump water, pump it up and check the level, and so on until I have filled the dt but still have enough room in the sump to receive the small drain-down from the dt in a power-out condition.

 

[SFish]

If you have room go with a bigger tank for a sump. A 20 gallon tank isn't wide enough for most skimmers. As far as stand height it depends on the skimmer but most of them only need a few inches of clearance to get the cup off. For a brand of skimmer I like Skimz or Reef Octopus. What style of light are you thinking about a T5, LED, or metal halide?