Yet another Newbie w/ set-up Questions

[fishtankbabe]

I know you guys get these posts all the time, so I’ll try to ask as few stupid questions as possible. I’ve been lurking on this board for about 6 months, and I think I’m finally ready to take the plunge, so to speak. Anyway, here’s my planned set-up:

 

29 gal AGA

10 to 18 gal sump/refugium in stand underneath tank (haven’t quite decided on the size yet, it depends on what will fit.) I plan to DIY it by having some glass or acrylic baffles cut which I’ll glue in with silicone.

150 watt Ebo Jager heater in sump

Cool Works Ice Probe chiller in sump

AquaClear 200 HOB on the sump for carbon or whatnot

Lifereef’s continuous siphon overflow box

Powerheads for return and for water movement in the main tank (I need help with this. Brands? Sizes? Placement?)

Protein skimmer (need help with this too, can anyone recommend a good skimmer for this size set-up?)

45 lbs. Live rock

? lbs. sand (is it 1 lb. per gallon? I don’t want a DSB. What type should I use?)

Some kind of auto top off device, which could also be used to dose kalk.

Tropic Marin salt (I will be using RO/DI water from the LFS)

And, the thing you’ve all been waiting for… lights.

I’m new to saltwater, so I’m going to run it as a FOWLR for about 6 months before I try to put any corals in. However, I’m planning it with my ultimate goal in mind of eventually keeping SPS and clams. Hellolights has a “design your own clam lighting” retrofit which goes something like this:

 

175 watt MH 20,000K with electronic ballast

2x55 watt PC 10,000K

Aluminum reflector

2x3.5” fans

 

I’m also planning on some kind of moonlight set up; either a regular NO fixture with a “moonlight”, or a few blue LED’s. Oh, and also lighting for the refugium. Would 20 watts PC 6700K be enough for macros in a 10 to 18 tall tank? Or should I plan on better lighting so I can keep frags in there too?

 

I guess my biggest questions concern this lighting set up. I was planning on installing them in my wood canopy, which has about 4” or 5” of clearance above the top glass. Is this going to be a problem? Will I fry lower light corals like mushrooms with this? Or is the concern more about heat than intensity of light? I’ll have fans and a chiller to keep things cool, but if you guys think the MH will be too close to the tank this way I’ll have to ditch the canopy and go with some kind of hanging pendant set-up. (BTW, the tank is 18” deep)

 

Okay, that’s enough to start with, I guess. I’m sure I’ll have roughly 1 million more questions as this progresses, so I’ll try not to bombard you guys all at once!

 

P.S. – This is a really good site, I learn at least 3 new things every time I visit.

[Crakeur]

whew. long post. lots of q's.

 

the lighting is fine for the tank. could even go with more if you wanted. Don't worry about lower light corals as you can keep them towards the bottom of the tank.

 

the light you are looking at for the fuge is also fine. alternate photoperiod from the tank hood by the way.

 

look into a scwd for the return line. as for a return pump, I'm not even going to venture a guess as I only know from large pumps for large tanks and all powerhead things. I will be picking up a pump for a closed loop system in the near future (assuming the god of electrical circuits shines on me) so I'll be learning more about the smaller pumps soon enough.

 

It sounds to me like you've got the setup well researched. You might want to look into a teclima instead of the heater and the iceprobe. They work great.

 

Top off system. I know of only one - californiareefs.com (cameron is a member here and I would imagine he can help alter the system to add a doser).

 

Skimmer. search these threads for skimmer. It has been brought up a ton of times. The cpr backpak is great for smaller tanks but you might want to step up to the bigger ones. You'll see suggestions for the larger skimmers if you use the search feature.

 

Welcome aboard. Say goodbye to your money.

[Reefer_Buddha]

well at least youre a newb that knows good products

 

for powerheads id go maxijet. for live rock id make sure you get premium not the overcured fiji with zero on it then you just get to look at white rock all day and pray for coralline. Find southdown at your local home depot if you cant then just break down and buy aragonite sand at a lfs. Ive always wanted to try tahatian moon sand, do that so i can live vicariously thru you Your lighting sounds good, id never go under 6500k even for a fuge. I use instant ocean but i hear good things about tropic marin salt. As for skimmers id say get an aquac remora pro and put it in the sump, or just go with a sump skimmer your choice. They all do the same thing just some do it better. And just ask if your confused everyone here is cool about helping you.

[fishtankbabe]

Thanks for the reply, Crakeur!

 

I have been doing a lot of research, but it seems the more I do, the more confusing it gets!

 

Thanks for the suggestions, the scwd is a great idea. And I'll probably pick up a top off from californiareefs, those look pretty sweet. I just hope I have room for it under my tank, it's going to be pretty crowded in there.

 

Thanks for the welcome, and yes, I've written the goodbye letter, and enclosed a picture so my money will remember me fondly.

[birdman204]

fishtankbabe. Crak is right. If you need help with the pump stuff. I can help. I am in OC as well.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...20&pagenumber=2

 

Was just working on it, and the micro bubble problem is solved. 29 g ? hmmmm. how far down is the sump. Is the tank on a stand? If so, i would go with something in the neighborhood of 1200 gph. By the time you add the head height, and 90 degree turns, plus with multiple outlets on each side, your flow would be good. If you don't use the scwd, use a smaller pump. 900 - 1000 gph should do it. Remember, with all this though, you will need an overflow that can handle it. Maybe go smaller return pump with a powerhead in the tank.

 

HTH

[fishtankbabe]

Thanks Reefer Buddha!

 

How can I tell if I'm getting premium LR or not? I was looking at the Select Premium Fiji Live Rock on the drsfostersmith website, but i've also heard that their LR sits on shelves sprayed with salt water so you don't really get any hitch-hikers or anything.

 

Yeah, I've also been feeling tempted by the Tahitian moon sand. It seems like it might make the whole tank look dark though. Hmmm... (trying to picture it). On the other hand it might look killer! You might be able to talk me into it! No one else on this site has tried it? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

 

So, the lights themselves being OK, you don't think I'll have a problem mounting them in the canopy? It's only got about 4" of clearance. I'm kind of afraid it won't even fit. It would suck to order it and then find out it won't work.

 

By sump skimmer do you mean one of the ones that goes inside the tank, like the Lee's one? I'm just trying to get a sense of which brands people like and which to avoid. I've heard people complaining about certain skimmers needing constant adjustments and things like that. If you've had good experience with the AquaC Remora Pro then I'll put that on my "recommended" list.

 

Thanks for the input!

[fishtankbabe]

birdman, thanks for the offer. I'm sure I'll take you up on it when I start putting my set-up together.

 

Where in OC do you live? I live in Lake Forest, down the street from Petown. Which LFS's do you like/hate?

[Crakeur]

fishtankbabe (ftb from here on in),

 

that dark sand was brought up a little while back. I posted that I thought it gave the appearance of an ashtray. I still do. I was considering it for a while but I looked at a few tanks with it and decided the white turns darker anyway and not black. Not sure if the dark sand will have an impact on lighting (absorption) but assuming it doesn't, it's all aesthetics and you go with what you find to be most appealing to your eyes.

 

Make sure you have plenty of room for all the gear you're planning. I set my tank up (no sump, all hob models) and put my bucket under the tank, in the cabinet and then picked up a top off from cameron. My bucket is filled with supplies and there isn't enough room behind the tank for anything so I don't use the top off unless I am leaving town for long stretches (4 or more days) and even then I still end up getting a tank sitter.

 

When buying live rock, you have a ton of options. Where it comes from, cured, uncured, etc. If you go mail order, don't pay extra for cured because you will still have to go thru the cycle period and the shipping will result in some death. You can also mail order the base rock and then go hand pick some cured pieces from a lfs (once the tank has cycled - small secondary cycle might take place but nothing major).

[birdman204]

Yousump should house your Skimmer, the in sump model is better in your situation if you're limited on space, cuz then you can go with a larger sump. you can also put your heater , top off , graound probe, whatever else in there. If you get the big HOB overflow, then you can run 1 big pump back to the tank otherwise go with a smaller pump and a PH or 2 in the tank........wait I think I already said that..oops.

 

Yeah , Petown is cool. The people are nice. Hit or Miss on good stuff. Tong's goes through lots of stuff so they always are getting new things. Usually its all ###### pieces though and a little more expensive. I swear by Small Buisness mail order from now on. Really killer stuff you can't get at the LFS. Just call any one of them up to place an order. Talk to them. You will definatley be happy.