Specific questions for beginner

ccampo · 12/06/2007, 01:09 PM

I started reading this RC site since late September and joined in October, I've learned a lot, but since I'm still a beginner I have some specific questions about my current setup.

This is what I currently have :
Rectangular 75G SW Tank (48"L x 18"W x 20"H) with no holes.
EHEIM Professional II External filter (2028)
==> http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewit...product=EH2028
2 pumps and a heater
Basic lights, No MH, No T5 and No moonlights
Also No skimmer, No UV sterilizer, No Sump, No ...

The tank is already setup with about 60 pound of live sand and 80 pounds of live rock.
I have 36 small hermit crabs, 36 snails, 2 percula clowns, 1 small blue tang and 1 small yellow tang (my children called them Nemo & friends)
No Corals or anemones yet.

So, knowing that I want to have a complete reef eco-system I have some questions :

Can I use a sump even with a tank with no holes in it? How?
If sump is not an option (I do not want to drill holes) can I still use the same EHEIM filter referenced above?
Do I still need to install a UV sterilizer with the filter?
What about a Skimmer ? I have Prizm Skimmer but it is not installed since it makes to many small bubbles which I do not like.

I got all of these except the fishes from a friend who was moving to a small apartment and couldn't take her tank with her, so all of this was already setup.

Also for the lights I'm planning to have the following:
48" 2 x 54w T5 HO Retrofit Kit (48254)
$105.00
http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp...OD&ProdID=1369

250W HL MH Retrofit Kit (HQI) (25035)
$135.00
http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp...OD&ProdID=1325

Combo T5 & MH: (250254)
48" 2x54W T5 Fluorescent
2x250W HQI Metal Halide
$359.95
http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp...OD&ProdID=1358

Optional moonlight

What do you think of these lights and the $$$ ?
Is it too much or just enough ?
Do you recommend something else ? or another site to buy from ?

This will be installed on a DIY Canopy I'm currently designing so I can start putting some corals and create my reef.

Thanks in advance for your help and recommendations,

heyfredyourhat · 12/06/2007, 02:21 PM

Quick answers are You can use a sump with no holes in the tank, I guess it is called a siphon fed sump?? Maybe not called that but you get the picture. Search for the calfo style overflow box and you may get some good ideas on feeding the sump. Also I am not an expert, but I have read that UV is good, but also bad...So I cant really help you on that. As far as the eheim filter, honestly it looks like it would be more hassle than anything. I think if you get a sump, throw in a skimmer and with the LR you have you should be fine.

Sk8r · 12/06/2007, 02:36 PM

Little Dory is [at nearly 2 feet] going to be too big for that tank.

You can get a HOB [hang on back] downflow box, which will gravity-feed to a sump [where you could put your skimmer. Use this instead of a filter]

I don't use a filter at all, but I have corals. I don't like filters because you have to clean them every week or oftener or see your tank start declining.

YOu should have between 75-140 lbs of live rock in that tank.

There is no need for MH lights unless you are doing stony coral, and you cannot do corals well with a filter in the system. YOu might look at T5's. They don't, however, have the sparkle you see with mh.

Your skimmer is very essential. They will make microbubbles especially when new; piping the outflow of the skimmer from the skimmer to the first chamber [downflow] of the sump will break them up before they get to your tank.

Here's a reading list that will help a lot: go to the top of the threads in this forum and read the two that have a * by the title. It's long. You may want to print out certain parts.

HTH.

ccampo · 12/06/2007, 04:48 PM

Good to know that I don't have to drill holes on my tank to use a sump which is what I want, that way I can use the skimmer and the UV sterilizer with the sump.

About little Dori, I know she will grow big, but my children wanted to have one and since my LFS says that they will take it back when it is too big that shouldn't be a problem, right now she's about one inch in size, still a baby, so it will take some time before I can take her back to the LFS and exchange it.

Yes, Excellent threads for newbies like me, full of good information, I've read those thread already.

I think I'll go with the Combo T5 & MH: (250254) described above for the lights, do you know of better retrofit kits? for around the same price ? or maybe a complete set like that ?
The reason I'm asking is because I'm designing a canopy and I need to know what's going to be inside.
Also if you go to that site it also ask for the bulbs and lamps, so which ones should I choose ?

Sk8r · 12/06/2007, 05:32 PM

You'll want those mh bulbs [good! they've got a safety glass on the underside!] to be 9" above the water, however you work it.

A covering on your tank may affect temperature: keeping these tanks cool, particularly in summer, requires a lot of evaporation. You may want to consider putting some fans into the ends of the canopy, something that will really put the air through, and either do a cutout around the wood supporting the lights, or cut out the back of the canopy. That will likely be your biggest headache.

That or you can get a chiller, but those are pricey, noisy, and hard to figure where to put them, and a bit of overkill on a 75.

That tank should be able to evaporate over a gallon a day to ensure good cooling. I evap a gallon from my 54. The fact that I do allows me to do a kalk reactor to handle alkalinity and calcium dosing at one fell swoop. It shoves in a gallon of kalkwasser daily from a drum of ro/di water and a kalk reactor [a cylinder with half a pound of pickling lime powder] mounted beside my sump. Way easier than daily testing and addition of calcium and buffer. That lets you keep corals and clams healthy without much fuss. I test once a week or so, and I add more lime about once a month. It handles the demand of my tank, everything but magnesium, which doesn't deplete too fast, and it doesnt hurt to overdose it a little.

You have three choices in trying to fit a marine tank's support gear into a nice-looking arrangement in a civilized living room. 1. drill two holes in your floor and run the hoses/pipes to an easy messy arrangement in your basement [my choice]. 2. get an extra-long tank stand that will give you plenty of sub-tank room. 3. get a nice-looking armoire with doors, stand it next to your tank, and run all the lines and cords over there.

Putting your skimmer external to your sump will mean you will have room to establish a refugium, and I heartily recommend doing that. It tames the curse of algae in your tank and assists your skimmer, plus supplies copepods to eat algae and serve as food for small fish.

UV sterilizers generate quite a lot of pro and con talk on this forum: I personally don't use one. Some people swear by them; some swear at them. They are IMHO not proven to lower the incidence of ich. Only proper quarantine habits can do that. You might want to fly that item past the Lighting and Equipment forum and just see who puts their head up to discuss it.

Good that you've got an lfs that is willing to buy back specimens: that's a good, fair store. And you've done research. Good. You should have very minimal trouble.

mg426 · 12/06/2007, 05:52 PM

Heres a good overflow www.lifereef.com

12/06/2007, 01:09 PM	#1
ccampo ORCA Web***** Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 588	Specific questions for beginner I started reading this RC site since late September and joined in October, I've learned a lot, but since I'm still a beginner I have some specific questions about my current setup. This is what I currently have : Rectangular 75G SW Tank (48"L x 18"W x 20"H) with no holes. EHEIM Professional II External filter (2028) ==> http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewit...product=EH2028 2 pumps and a heater Basic lights, No MH, No T5 and No moonlights Also No skimmer, No UV sterilizer, No Sump, No ... The tank is already setup with about 60 pound of live sand and 80 pounds of live rock. I have 36 small hermit crabs, 36 snails, 2 percula clowns, 1 small blue tang and 1 small yellow tang (my children called them Nemo & friends) No Corals or anemones yet. So, knowing that I want to have a complete reef eco-system I have some questions : Can I use a sump even with a tank with no holes in it? How? If sump is not an option (I do not want to drill holes) can I still use the same EHEIM filter referenced above? Do I still need to install a UV sterilizer with the filter? What about a Skimmer ? I have Prizm Skimmer but it is not installed since it makes to many small bubbles which I do not like. I got all of these except the fishes from a friend who was moving to a small apartment and couldn't take her tank with her, so all of this was already setup. Also for the lights I'm planning to have the following: 48" 2 x 54w T5 HO Retrofit Kit (48254) $105.00 http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp...OD&ProdID=1369 250W HL MH Retrofit Kit (HQI) (25035) $135.00 http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp...OD&ProdID=1325 Combo T5 & MH: (250254) 48" 2x54W T5 Fluorescent 2x250W HQI Metal Halide $359.95 http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp...OD&ProdID=1358 Optional moonlight What do you think of these lights and the $$$ ? Is it too much or just enough ? Do you recommend something else ? or another site to buy from ? This will be installed on a DIY Canopy I'm currently designing so I can start putting some corals and create my reef. Thanks in advance for your help and recommendations, __________________ good luck, Cesar ---------------------------------------------------- 210g tank 72x24x29, sump with Refuge, Mixed fish and corals reef tank Current Tank Info: 210g SW mixed reef, 30g SW

12/06/2007, 02:36 PM	#3
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Little Dory is [at nearly 2 feet] going to be too big for that tank. You can get a HOB [hang on back] downflow box, which will gravity-feed to a sump [where you could put your skimmer. Use this instead of a filter] I don't use a filter at all, but I have corals. I don't like filters because you have to clean them every week or oftener or see your tank start declining. YOu should have between 75-140 lbs of live rock in that tank. There is no need for MH lights unless you are doing stony coral, and you cannot do corals well with a filter in the system. YOu might look at T5's. They don't, however, have the sparkle you see with mh. Your skimmer is very essential. They will make microbubbles especially when new; piping the outflow of the skimmer from the skimmer to the first chamber [downflow] of the sump will break them up before they get to your tank. Here's a reading list that will help a lot: go to the top of the threads in this forum and read the two that have a * by the title. It's long. You may want to print out certain parts. HTH. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

12/06/2007, 04:48 PM	#4
ccampo ORCA Web***** Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 588	Good to know that I don't have to drill holes on my tank to use a sump which is what I want, that way I can use the skimmer and the UV sterilizer with the sump. About little Dori, I know she will grow big, but my children wanted to have one and since my LFS says that they will take it back when it is too big that shouldn't be a problem, right now she's about one inch in size, still a baby, so it will take some time before I can take her back to the LFS and exchange it. Yes, Excellent threads for newbies like me, full of good information, I've read those thread already. I think I'll go with the Combo T5 & MH: (250254) described above for the lights, do you know of better retrofit kits? for around the same price ? or maybe a complete set like that ? The reason I'm asking is because I'm designing a canopy and I need to know what's going to be inside. Also if you go to that site it also ask for the bulbs and lamps, so which ones should I choose ? __________________ good luck, Cesar ---------------------------------------------------- 210g tank 72x24x29, sump with Refuge, Mixed fish and corals reef tank Current Tank Info: 210g SW mixed reef, 30g SW

12/06/2007, 05:32 PM	#5
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	You'll want those mh bulbs [good! they've got a safety glass on the underside!] to be 9" above the water, however you work it. A covering on your tank may affect temperature: keeping these tanks cool, particularly in summer, requires a lot of evaporation. You may want to consider putting some fans into the ends of the canopy, something that will really put the air through, and either do a cutout around the wood supporting the lights, or cut out the back of the canopy. That will likely be your biggest headache. That or you can get a chiller, but those are pricey, noisy, and hard to figure where to put them, and a bit of overkill on a 75. That tank should be able to evaporate over a gallon a day to ensure good cooling. I evap a gallon from my 54. The fact that I do allows me to do a kalk reactor to handle alkalinity and calcium dosing at one fell swoop. It shoves in a gallon of kalkwasser daily from a drum of ro/di water and a kalk reactor [a cylinder with half a pound of pickling lime powder] mounted beside my sump. Way easier than daily testing and addition of calcium and buffer. That lets you keep corals and clams healthy without much fuss. I test once a week or so, and I add more lime about once a month. It handles the demand of my tank, everything but magnesium, which doesn't deplete too fast, and it doesnt hurt to overdose it a little. You have three choices in trying to fit a marine tank's support gear into a nice-looking arrangement in a civilized living room. 1. drill two holes in your floor and run the hoses/pipes to an easy messy arrangement in your basement [my choice]. 2. get an extra-long tank stand that will give you plenty of sub-tank room. 3. get a nice-looking armoire with doors, stand it next to your tank, and run all the lines and cords over there. Putting your skimmer external to your sump will mean you will have room to establish a refugium, and I heartily recommend doing that. It tames the curse of algae in your tank and assists your skimmer, plus supplies copepods to eat algae and serve as food for small fish. UV sterilizers generate quite a lot of pro and con talk on this forum: I personally don't use one. Some people swear by them; some swear at them. They are IMHO not proven to lower the incidence of ich. Only proper quarantine habits can do that. You might want to fly that item past the Lighting and Equipment forum and just see who puts their head up to discuss it. Good that you've got an lfs that is willing to buy back specimens: that's a good, fair store. And you've done research. Good. You should have very minimal trouble. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%. Last edited by Sk8r; 12/06/2007 at 05:38 PM.

12/06/2007, 05:52 PM	#6
mg426 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: maryland Posts: 6,923	Heres a good overflow www.lifereef.com __________________ I found a way to make a small fortune running a reef tank. Start with a large fortune. Unofficial President of the SEACLONE haters club Current Tank Info: 125 mixed reef 110 lbs LR, 1x250watt XM 20K MH 2x175watt XM 20K MH on Magetics 2X96 watt actinic PC, 220 watt VHO actinic, 30 gallon refugium, closed loop system powered by Sequence Dart MSX 200 skimmer 38 gallon sump, Oceansmotions squirt

12/06/2007, 02:21 PM	#2
heyfredyourhat Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: BC Canada Posts: 963	Quick answers are You can use a sump with no holes in the tank, I guess it is called a siphon fed sump?? Maybe not called that but you get the picture. Search for the calfo style overflow box and you may get some good ideas on feeding the sump. Also I am not an expert, but I have read that UV is good, but also bad...So I cant really help you on that. As far as the eheim filter, honestly it looks like it would be more hassle than anything. I think if you get a sump, throw in a skimmer and with the LR you have you should be fine.