Suggestions Requested - New 90 Gal Saltwater Set-up Requirements

[Rigwald]

Hello!

My wife has had a small 46 gal bowfront saltwater aquarium for years. It is in the living room which is 2-stories tall with tall windows and faces north. Ever since moving into the house, she has had major issues with algae growth. With the death of her last fish, the tank has been unused. My idea for Christmas was to get her a new 90 gallon FO saltwater setup, thinking that having more water to dilute nitrates, etc... might help with the algae growth. (I also joked about covering it during the day like you can do with parrot cages, hehehe).

I have read a lot of stuff and watched many youtube videos, but I am not very knowledgeable in the area and could really use your help to come up with the setup that she really needs. She isn't an expert, either, but she has enjoyed having the aquarium. Currently I am looking at:

1) Summerville 90 Stand w/ Canopy (canopy probably not used, due to space)

2) Aqueon Model 3 to create a sump. I believe the wet/dry setup is what she will need for the fish only tank, so I would need bio media for the middle. I am looking to do a "Herbie" system, drilling to the back of the aquarium itself.

3) 90 Gallon Glass Aquarium (Still haven't found a source yet). Want to drill for the overflow system. Those already pre-drilled either are in the left corner (which will be exposed to viewing) and take up the full height of the tank, instead of allowing the pipes outside the back of the tank. Isn't it a waste of tank space to have the overflow full height? I am thinking we'd prefer the overflow in the middle of the tank.

4) She has a skimmer somewhere that she tried having hang on the back of the aquarium, but she never got it to foam, so put it in storage. (I couldn't locate it, but I think it is a SeaClone.

5) She had "live sand", but she had a lot of it and when the algae grew, it would get down in the sand and it would be nearly impossible to clean. She had at least 2" worth of it at the bottom of the tank.

I am open to ANY suggestions, comments, changes, WHATEVER, since I really am not an expert and don't have any experience in the matter. If any of my thoughts are wrong/misguided, please let me know. Suggestions for equipment would be greatly appreciated, since I don't know what I will need for pumps, lighting, etc.... She has always had canister filters (Magnum and I bought her a JBJ Reaction 4 stage a couple of years ago), so this sump thing is something new.

Thanks for ALL of your thoughts and suggestions. Budget is also something to consider, because I know she is cost conscious and won't want me to spend a lot on this.

 

[ReachTheSky]

Most of us no longer use wet/dry filtration due to it's tendency of collecting detritus and incapacity to house anaerobic bacteria. As a result, nitrates end up going sky high. Live rock is often viewed as a better alternative because it houses both types of bacteria and is virtually maintenance free. Skimmer technology has come a long way since the SeaClone. I would definitely recommend a good one, such as Reef Octopus, ATB or Bubble Magus.

 

[Mark Bianco]

First off the idea of covering the tank during the day is an excellent idea. My wife insists on having all the window shutters open everyday and it caused algae problems. I run my lighting cycle during he evening so I used the above method during the day. What I used was a length of black vinyl with a few velcro fasteners. Never again had any algae problems!

A premade sump is very nice and you can just put some live rock in it, but then again its expensive. You can accomplish the same thing buy buying a smaller tank that will fit under your stand and have some glass peices cut to install baffels works just as well if not better and a whole lot cheaper.

As others have stated Seaclone skimmers are not an ideal skimmer. Before I converted to a basement sump I ran a HOB AquaC Remoa Pro. Had excelent results!

As for the stand you posted very nice looking stand.

 

[Rigwald]

Most of us no longer use wet/dry filtration due to it's tendency of collecting detritus and incapacity to house anaerobic bacteria. As a result, nitrates end up going sky high. Live rock is often viewed as a better alternative because it houses both types of bacteria and is virtually maintenance free. Skimmer technology has come a long way since the SeaClone. I would definitely recommend a good one, such as Reef Octopus, ATB or Bubble Magus.

Thanks for the insight! Since she has always had a filter of some sort, I figured it was needed. After a lot of reading after your post, I see that it isn't necessarily the case!

 

[Rigwald]

First off the idea of covering the tank during the day is an excellent idea. My wife insists on having all the window shutters open everyday and it caused algae problems. I run my lighting cycle during he evening so I used the above method during the day. What I used was a length of black vinyl with a few velcro fasteners. Never again had any algae problems!

A premade sump is very nice and you can just put some live rock in it, but then again its expensive. You can accomplish the same thing buy buying a smaller tank that will fit under your stand and have some glass peices cut to install baffels works just as well if not better and a whole lot cheaper.

As others have stated Seaclone skimmers are not an ideal skimmer. Before I converted to a basement sump I ran a HOB AquaC Remoa Pro. Had excelent results!

As for the stand you posted very nice looking stand.

Hehehe, my wife laughed at me when I gave her my idea. It's great to see someone else had it and found it actually worked!

With regards to the sump, I don't believe I am knowledgeable to be able to go the DIY route. If I (or she) had more experience and know the pros and cons of various designs from first hand experience, I could see it, but at this point I better just shell out the money, hehehe.