napydred Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 over the past few days i've been setting up a 55 gl tank i bought used. so far the parts that came with the tank are crap. i am thinking of replacing all the pumps, the berlin skimmer (it isn't making bubbles all the way to the top of collection cup, not sure if it should be making bubbles to the top all the time but it isn't.) , over flow, plumbing, everything. the way it is plumbed and set up now isn't working well and i think i should just invest in some parts that work together instead of trying to get what he gave me to work. all the equipment is heavily used too. anyway, the tank is 4 feet long and the stand has these two middle bracers that won't allow me to get a very large sump underneath. the sump that is underneath is probably 10 gallons. i really have no idea where to start as far as getting new filtration for this system. if anyone has any suggestions on specific products please lend a hand and let me know. I got a really great coralife light for it i just need to get some kind of filtration for it. thanks Link to comment
msn711 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 We have to start with what you want to do with this tank. What kind of livestock do you have planned? FO, FOWLR, or full blown reef? What kind of fish? inverts? corals? Then build your filtration around that. It won't make any sense to just buy a bunch of fancy equipment if you don't first plan what your trying to keep and what equipment is necessary to accomplish that. What kind of lighting do you have? Really great and coralife never belong in the same sentence IME. Link to comment
napydred Posted October 12, 2007 Author Share Posted October 12, 2007 We have to start with what you want to do with this tank. What kind of livestock do you have planned? FO, FOWLR, or full blown reef? What kind of fish? inverts? corals? Then build your filtration around that. It won't make any sense to just buy a bunch of fancy equipment if you don't first plan what your trying to keep and what equipment is necessary to accomplish that. What kind of lighting do you have? Really great and coralife never belong in the same sentence IME. want to do soft corals, lr, inverts, maybe 1-2 fish the light is compact fluor with actinic, thanx for response ] I'm trying to get my skimmer to work properly, are there supposed to be bubbles to the top of collection cup constantly? Link to comment
msn711 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Well, for something simple like that, (and I love keep it simple), start with about 75lbs of live rock. I'm not familiar with the berlin skimmer, but usually, you can adjust the skimmer to get the bubbles to rise to a certain point. After that, they'll push the gunk being skimmed out into the cup, but the bubles themselves don't have to be at the top all the time, unless you're going for a wet skim. If it's just the live rock in the tank now, then there might not be much for the skimmer to do. With only a 10g sump, I'd just put the skimmer and a return pump in there. Marine Depot has a good chart on the mag drive pumps and how much water circulation that put out after head loss. That would be a good place to start in deciding on your return pump. After that, add some powerheads for circulation. I'd aim for about 25-30x total. Is this your first reef set up? Keep it simple and just concentrate on learning how to keep your live stock thriving. Don't worry about getting caught up in the latest/greatest gadgets/toys. Other than that, make sure you use RODI water. Link to comment
napydred Posted October 13, 2007 Author Share Posted October 13, 2007 Well, for something simple like that, (and I love keep it simple), start with about 75lbs of live rock. I'm not familiar with the berlin skimmer, but usually, you can adjust the skimmer to get the bubbles to rise to a certain point. After that, they'll push the gunk being skimmed out into the cup, but the bubles themselves don't have to be at the top all the time, unless you're going for a wet skim. If it's just the live rock in the tank now, then there might not be much for the skimmer to do. With only a 10g sump, I'd just put the skimmer and a return pump in there. Marine Depot has a good chart on the mag drive pumps and how much water circulation that put out after head loss. That would be a good place to start in deciding on your return pump. After that, add some powerheads for circulation. I'd aim for about 25-30x total. Is this your first reef set up? Keep it simple and just concentrate on learning how to keep your live stock thriving. Don't worry about getting caught up in the latest/greatest gadgets/toys. Other than that, make sure you use RODI water. thanx, i'll get some pics up soon Link to comment
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