Newbie needs help with filter and power head

[shuguley]

I am so confused here, can somebody give me a reccomendation on filter and power heads?.
Here's the setup on working on.

- 4' long 55 Gallon
- 82 lbs live rock
- 55 lbs live sand
- large cleanup crew (blue leg hermits, snails, sea cucumber, cleaner shrimp, serpant star)
- AquaC Remora Protein Skimmer w/ maxi jet 1200 pump
- Nova Extreme T-5 Fixtures w/Lunar Lights 48" - 216 watts
- 2X 150 watt heaters

My question is, what filter and power head combination would you add to this setup? I know a sump/fuge is desirable, but not really possible right now with my setup/location/plumbing skills/budget.

[chaderic26]

I'd throw a couple Koralia 2's in there and call it a day. I wouldn't ad any filter. What you have is fine.

[FranktheTankTx]

Filters are not appropriate for reef tanks. So 86 the filter. All you need is LR & a good skimmer.

As for powerheads... 2x Koralia #3's or 2x Koralia #4's would be adequate. The #2's give you about 31x flow while the #3's give you abotu 43x flow. 31x flow is fine... 43x is great!

[shuguley]

Thankyou so much, I was thinking no filter but wanted to get some verification, I'll go for the pair of Koralias.

Can't wait to get this thing started!

[mfinn]

Originally posted by shuguley
I know a sump/fuge is desirable, but not really possible right now with my setup/location/plumbing skills/budget.

I agree with the advice so far, but I'd rethink your last statement.
The benefits of a refugium/sump are huge.
It's not really hard to do.

[birdman1979]

Sounds like a nice set-up. Only thing I'd add is to make sure you have a powerhead near the surface that creates lots of surface agitation.

[Reeftank3]

It may be worth getting 3's too as your stock grow the flow will slow and you could always direct flow to glass or divert until u need it. HTH

[shuguley]

Originally posted by mfinn
I agree with the advice so far, but I'd rethink your last statement.
The benefits of a refugium/sump are huge.
It's not really hard to do.

I would like to eventually do a sump, I can fit a 10 gallon glass aquarium in my stand. I keep reading how easy and cheap it is to configure a sump, but I have yet to find directions I would consider easy and affordable, I'm already about $500 over budget and I don't know if I can talk the wife into the added cost of a sump right now. Seems like a lot of plumbing and I don't really want big ugly PVC pipe running up and down the back of my tank. IMO that would look just as bad, if not worse than a hang on skimmer, and heaters. If any body has truly easy to follow sump plans for a 55 gallon tank/10 gallon sump, I'd love to see them.

[mfinn]

If a 10 gallon tank is the biggest premade tank you could fit under your stand, then I'd consider a custom acrylic or glass tank that uses every inch of space.
With a 10 gallon sump, which is extremely small, you would be doing top-offs a couple times a week which is a pita.
Here is some excellent reading.
http://www.melevsreef.com/links.html

Oh by the way, the hang-on overflows and drains don't have to be "big ugly PVC pipe",,,, unless that is your attitude going in.

Most people with great looking tanks have sumps/refugiums of some sort. The benefits are worth the hassle of learning new ways.

[Mikeeal]

Should you decide on the Koralia's, definitely go with the #3's, I'm not too impressed with the #2's I got, they're pretty weak.

[Davidd2324]

whats IMO mean ?

[shuguley]

Originally posted by Davidd2324
whats IMO mean ?

IMO= In My Opinion

Welcome to the internet Davidd2324! JK, LOL. :-)

[FranktheTankTx]

Originally posted by Mikeeal
Should you decide on the Koralia's, definitely go with the #3's, I'm not too impressed with the #2's I got, they're pretty weak.

Yep, I didn't even recommend the #2's. While 600gph sounds like a lot... when it's dispersed over a wide pattern like the K's do... it's not that much flow. I am using 2 x K#3's in my 36g corner.

[FranktheTankTx]

Let me add, doing a sump & refugium is not that difficult.
First of all... all your sump is for is to get equipment out of the DT. You could easily use a 10g tank to build a sump. This would allow you to place a skimmer, heater, and return pump below.

May I suggest a HOB refugium... (you might be thinking what does HOB mean?) Hang on Back of DT. I have a CPR AquaFuge 2 "the small version" hanging on the back of my 36g. They work great for growing chaeto & pods.

The AquaFuge 2 will cost you $150 while the sump might cost you $20 at the most. All you need is an overflow box and return pump to get it going. It's something I recommend you work towards.

Finally, you don't have to use hard pvc to plumb your tank. You could use drain spa flex hose and flex pvc back to the return. Most, if not all is under and behind the tank and out of eye's sight. You can even purchase fancy return U tubes for your outputs. Everything looks nice in the end!

Think on it! There's many advantages to this idea.