New Oceanic 58 Reef Ready

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schmidsa

New member
I am about to place the order for my Oceanic 58 Gal Reef Ready, and wanted to get some feedback from people before I start accumulating my other gadgets. I currently have a 28 Perfecto that is serving as my reef and it is going to be banished to a dark corner in the house. I am not planning on SPS, but don't want to eliminate the possibility completely.

My plans for equipment right now are as follows.... (any recommendations would be appreciated)

Lighting:
Current Orbit HP 36" (4 x 96W) - My LFS keeps pushing this, and I am trying to avoid any heat issues.

Filtration:
Sump - Any recommendations on minimum size?
Return Pump - Recommendations on size and brands would be appreciated, especially in respect to noise. I was thinking Danner Mag-7

Skimmer:
Read Sea Prizm Pro - I currently have this, so I would like to use it if possible

Powerheads:
I currently use Maxi-Jet 1200's, but I can't say I like them too much


Thanks for everyone's input
 
[welcome]

I would get the largest sump that you can. Having alot of sump/fuge space it useful if you upgrade or get a skimmer, ect. The return pump size will be determined by how much the overflow can handle. For a skimmer, you would be MUCH better off getting a new skimmer. A good skimmer will help keep the tank much cleaner and you will agree once you get a new one. Two Tunze 6045 or 6055 nano streams would be perfect for a 58 gallon tank. :)
 
Get an Eheim pump. They are double the price, but are dead silent. You will have to put your hand on it to see if it is running. Check out the 1250. Their flow rates are lower than you will actually have and the MAG flow rates are much higher than you will actaully receive.

For lighting...I am not a huge fan on PCs, but they can serve their purpose. Maybe look at some T5 lights, Premium Aquatics or Hellolights (both RC sponsors) have a nice selection of T5s.

I also second upgrading your skimmer. Premium also has a Euro-Reef promo on a skimmer that would work great on a tank your size, I think the promo price is around $180.

Good luck with everything! A 58 gallon is a perfect size tank too!!!

HTH,
William
 
I'll 3rd the upgrade the skimmer sugestions. I would also look at t-5's. I'll bet you can purchase a really nice t-5 system online for less than the lfs wants to charge you for pc lights. Lfs's serve a purpose and I do shop with one, but for major things like lights and a skimmer go online. You'll have far more choices and will save a ton of money.
 
Thanks for the info on the skimmer. I needed to buy a new one and was trying to figure out whether to buy a new one for the new tank or a new one for the old tank. I assumed everyone would advise a new one.

For the lights.... I would never consider buying them from my LFS.... they recommended the lights, and I have found them online for 1/2 the price. I will look into T-5's as well
 
I think the Ehiem 1250 return pump, 20gal AGA long tank as a sump, RS-80 skimmer, and either a TEK 6 bulb T5 fixture or a 36" outer orbit MH/t5 fixture would be a great set up. There are several posts on MH Vs. T5's, do your own resurch now so your happy with your purchase. You could keep just about anything and not have to upgrade down the road.

If you still have some money left over, I would look at a Auto top off system for evaporation, and a controller(I love my ACjr, best purchase ever made).
 
I've had the same Oceanic 58RR that you're looking at for 8 or 10 months. I use a 20L for a sump with an Eheim 1260 for return. Here's my suggestion, though, FWIW--get a different tank. Don't get me wrong. It's a great tank, well put together and all that. The problem is the huge center overflow. It makes aquascaping tougher and it's just sort of in the way. Specifically, I wanted to install a Wavysea on my sump return. Well, you have to put it on one side of the overflow or the other. Either way, there's a huge area that wouldn't get flow.

I know that's more specific to my plans than yours. I'm just saying to think through your plans for the tank. If I had it to do over again, I would've gotten the Perfecto 65RR. Same footprint, more volume, corner overflow. Hope this helps.

Grant
 
I have the same tank you are ordering and I really like mine. I personally don't have a problem with the overflow being in the center. In fact, I requested one of the new Oceanic's just for the center overflow. The corner overflow to me just shows off things you don't really want to see-plumbing and hair algae.

As far as lighting goes, I have a 250 watt DE with 4 39 watt T5's for actinics. Since you're worried about heat it may be better to go with a 6 bulb T5 system. I was worried about heat too but I'm gonna take a chance on my metal halide/T5 combo. I have two fans in my canopy and am going to add a small fan on my sump. So far no major heating issues.

For a sump I went with a 30 tall. I looked at the 20 long but wanted the extra water volume and it fit nicely beneath my stand.


I agree with the upgrade on the skimmer as well. I have an ASM G1x but the Euro-Reef I hear is good as well.

I have a Mag 7 on my return. Its a little noisy but it does the job well. I had problems picking out my return pump as well. I hear the Eheims are great and are quiet. My problem with them is that they use a little more power than the Mag 7. I was worried about the extra heat so I didn't get one. I may end up doing it later anyway. I would also look at the Ocean Runner pumps. They use about half the power of the Mag or the Eheim. I don't have any personal experience with them but have heard alot of good and some bad things about them.

For powerheads I use one Tunze 6025. Paid about 65 bucks for it but it was well worth it. If you're not really going to do alot of SPS I think you only need one. My return flow with my Mag 7 plus the Tunze Nanostream 6025 provides plenty of flow for my tank.

Good luck with your tank man! Hope this helps.
 
i have an older 58rr so it has a corner overflow. its my softy tank so all i have is two 96watt pc for lighting. i built a sump/fuge out of a 29gal. i have a corallife 65 skimmer and a via aqua 3600 return pump. for circulation in the tank i have one seio 820 plus return from my sump. i have no complaints about the tank at all.
12018565_gal.jpg
120185000_0913r.jpg
 
For lighting I would go with the Current USA T5 Nova Extreme
4x39 watt's But it's T5. Also it's only 179.99 in the 36" version on Premiums website. This would be a great alternative to PC because it's just as cool, gives better quality light, and gives you a lot of options for bulbs.
 
Absolutely. Like tprize said you have more options on bulbs and the light they put out is way more intense. You could actually keep some SPS with a T5 system.
 
I would like to also recommend the eheim for a return pump. I had a Mag 9 for a return and I swapped it with a eheim 1260 and couldn't be happier.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9245011#post9245011 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by schmidsa
Thanks everyone for all the good info....

So, 4 x 39 Watt T-5's is better then 4 x 96 Watt PC's?
Click to expand...

A lot of folks are going to say, "absolutely, hands down t5s are better," and in a lot of cases, they are correct. However, I've seen cases where T5 bulbs, in the same configuration, have had less output (measured PAR) than PC lighting. It will really depend on the equipment that you chose. Here is a recent thread which tested a PC setup and T5 setup, where the T5s were the worse of the two.

http://thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93155

Don't get me wrong, though, I too have a t5 setup over my tank and very much enjoy it.
 
The Tek T-5 units put down more light than the nova extremes if that's what you want. They have individual reflectors directing the light down while the novas don't. Check out the equipment forum for more info.
 
i have my Oceanic 58gal RR and LOVE it. i have the older style w/ the corner overflow. pretty much piped. 2x400w MH's, 1xtunze turbelle, 1xtunze stream, mag 950 (throttled back a touch), DIY custom acrylic sump w/ fuge (used a 10gal for 2+yrs w/ no problems), Deltec 501 ca rx, Deltec APF600 skimmer, etc, etc, etc.

i love the size of the tank

i'd upgrade the skimmer as others said. i've never used an eheim return but i'd love to

what corals you planning?

Lunchbucket
 
I have the Oceanic 58 RR and love it. You can go with a 30"X12" sump. I used a Mag 7 for return but am in the middle of replacing it with a Om 3500.

Jeff
 
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