Newbie w/ a 210 gallon reef ready tank on the way

J

Jgodam

New member
Hellooooo everyone:wave:.. so i took the plunge.. Picked up a 210 gallon tank for a lfs... a complete noob when it comes to fish keeping.. I have tried to do as much research as i can on equipment .. am planning to go with a mixed reef setup.. Not sure about skimmers.. lightning... heaters .. :eek1:so much info out there not sure what is what ..

any help would be appreciated .. whats the best skimmer heater lightning for this setup.. where should i go for more research? thank you guys
 
That's jumping in with both feet :lmao:

Best thing you can do is to go to the Large Tank forum and read all threads with tanks about the size of yours and to read this thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031074

It's the sticky in this forum called Setting UP with the big red arrow.

After you have done some research and have specific questions we'll be more than happy to help. There are many good brands of products out there but when it comes to skimmers make sure you get one that is for no less than 1.5 x your total gallons including your sump. As far as lighting goes it depends on what you intend to keep, FOWLR Fish Only With Live Rock or a reef. Makes a big difference in what you buy.

Anyway for now enjoy reading that Setting Up thread and the Large tank forum.
 
Jgodam said:
Hellooooo everyone:wave:.. so i took the plunge.. Picked up a 210 gallon tank for a lfs... a complete noob when it comes to fish keeping.. I have tried to do as much research as i can on equipment .. am planning to go with a mixed reef setup.. Not sure about skimmers.. lightning... heaters .. :eek1:so much info out there not sure what is what ..

any help would be appreciated .. whats the best skimmer heater lightning for this setup.. where should i go for more research? thank you guys
Click to expand...


I had the same tank about 6 years ago. I went with a OCTOPUS NW 200 skimmer and combo MH/T5 lighting, lightly stocked tank. Doing it again today I'd go LED lighting and look at the aquamaxx skimmers. I used a 55 gallon tank for a sump with fuge which had plenty of space.
 
Thank you .. looks like i have some reading to do this sunday.. First question i have is about setting up a sump.. what size return? how to plumb it? :/
 
a 210 may be a bit much tank to start out with. probably should gone significantly smaller. id say dont keep much livestock or coral until youve learned how to maintain stability. you could lose thousands overnight. also for a system that large id look into getting an apex system for monitoring and control
 
Jgodam said:
Thank you .. looks like i have some reading to do this sunday.. First question i have is about setting up a sump.. what size return? how to plumb it? :/
Click to expand...

I'm in the process of building my first big tank. I would strongly suggest you look into a saltwater mixing station. I set up two 40 gallon containers and can make salt water all day long. I plumed it so that salt water can be pumped directly to my sump. I also have an auxiliary hose that I can fill QT tanks, a frag tank and a container to cycle my rock. You'll appreciate being able to move thousands of gallons of water and never touch a bucket.


 
Thanks guys.. i do plan to stay light.. load wise on the tank in the start.. what size skimmer would be best? im also having trouble figuring out the return pump ... how do u figure out what gph u need in a return?
 
You want something that will pump the display's volume 3-5 times every hour. So for a 210g tank you want a pump that will push 650-1000gph after head loss's.
 
username in use said:
You want something that will pump the display's volume 3-5 times every hour. So for a 210g tank you want a pump that will push 650-1000gph after head loss's.
Click to expand...

Or for sake of a little redundancy, two. Personally I would run a pair of Syncra 4s wide open or maybe 5s, or Eheim 1262s.

Ordered a 210 and never ran a salt tank before - color me impressed! Just please, take things slow. As hard as it may be, take this slow.
 
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