New Tank Questions

[robinsrp]

Ok I am new to the site but so far I have come to love what I see. I can find alot of information here but I have to say it's a little much to read when you are just starting. Ok here goes, I am moving from FW and looking to start a SW setup. I have looked around and think I will be going with a 125g drilled tank, 55g sump, marineland in sump PS, set of 8 14K t5 lights, UV sterilizer 9W, 150lb's live sand, and about 100 to 150lb's of live rock to start. I would like to start getting the parts to get this started soon so I am asking for advice and or suggestions on my new project. I know that one of the biggest factors when starting a SW system is the setup cost, with what I have listed so far I have priced out at about $2500+.

So let it rip guys tell me what you think and hopefully I will be putting up a builg thread soon.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[cr500_af]

Welcome! Sounds like a good setup... if I were going to make any suggestions, they would be
1. I would use a combination of bulbs, rather than all 14KK. There are plenty of options, but IMO a good starting point would be 4 white, 3 pure actinic and one of the purple-ish actinics... I forget the name, maybe it's Fiji Purple?

2. I would personally get a better skimmer than a Marineland... even if, budget-wise, it means not adding the UV until later. A UV is a nice piece of equipment, but not essential. I'd look for a Reef Octopus recirc if you are going to run it in-sump, or an MRC (MR2 maybe) if external. I'm sure others have their favorites, but you'll be hard pressed to find a negative opinion of those two.

What are you doing for flow? It's a very important consideration.

Again, welcome and looking forward to seeing what you put together.

 

[dakota9]

Welcome and happy reefing!

I'm impressed with that list, but I would beef up the UV. I run a 9watt on my 30 cube. You'd need a 36watt at minimum, IMHO

Enjoy!

 

[drnecropolis]

Speaking from experience.. Make sure the stand is super tall if you are using a 55 for a sump.. I had one under my 180 and the sump only had about 10" of clearance.. If I dropped anything in the bottom of the sump there was no getting it back..

 

[mockery]

I'm with the Dr. on the stand and sumo thing. Look into the 40 and 50 gallon breeder style tanks. I use a 40 breeder for mine and it works great.

 

[robinsrp]

cr500_af;499969 wrote: Welcome! Sounds like a good setup... if I were going to make any suggestions, they would be
1. I would use a combination of bulbs, rather than all 14KK. There are plenty of options, but IMO a good starting point would be 4 white, 3 pure actinic and one of the purple-ish actinics... I forget the name, maybe it's Fiji Purple?

2. I would personally get a better skimmer than a Marineland... even if, budget-wise, it means not adding the UV until later. A UV is a nice piece of equipment, but not essential. I'd look for a Reef Octopus recirc if you are going to run it in-sump, or an MRC (MR2 maybe) if external. I'm sure others have their favorites, but you'll be hard pressed to find a negative opinion of those two.

What are you doing for flow? It's a very important consideration.

Again, welcome and looking forward to seeing what you put together.

What do you mean about flow? I have not heard anything about that yet.

 

[robinsrp]

Dakota9;499970 wrote: Welcome and happy reefing!

I'm impressed with that list, but I would beef up the UV. I run a 9watt on my 30 cube. You'd need a 36watt at minimum, IMHO

Enjoy!

Thanks for the heads up on the UV, I know it's better to go bigger when dealing with SW.

 

[robinsrp]

DrNecropolis;499973 wrote: Speaking from experience.. Make sure the stand is super tall if you are using a 55 for a sump.. I had one under my 180 and the sump only had about 10" of clearance.. If I dropped anything in the bottom of the sump there was no getting it back..

I will take the sump stand space issue into question by going a looking at the space and getting the measurements as well.

 

[jdabs]

robinsrp;500044 wrote: What do you mean about flow? I have not heard anything about that yet.

Water flow in the tank is essential. You need to have power heads or a closed loop system or something to get the water moving in the tank. I think I've heard flow should be anywhere from 10 to 15 times your water capacity.

 

[robinsrp]

Oh i get it, the tank has four power heads for water flow to keep things moving for the reef.

 

[cr500_af]

robinsrp;500488 wrote: Oh i get it, the tank has four power heads for water flow to keep things moving for the reef.

What kind are they? If you are gonna keep corals happy, enough flow is a must. Also, don't try to achieve the flow numbers by using too large a return pump. You want fairly slow flow through the sump. This allows more contact time for the skimmer to do its job well, and also helps macroalgae do its job (nutrient export) if you have a refugium section in your sump.

 

[robinsrp]

I will most likely use a closed loop system to get the job done, I do not recall off hand the model of the pump I was looking at but I will double check on the flow rate before I buy one.