210g setup need help please

[strykker]

Hi everyone i have a few questions that i was hoping some one can help me with. i am not new to aquariums but only small ones i was going to start a 75g reef
and actually ran into a great deal 210g oceanic and stand came with a huge uv sterilizer large pm sump or fuge not sure which by the look of it is odd looking compared
to others and came with a big skimmer and waste collector on the side. tank is already drilled and has over flows and 1 return and supply on each end. apparently it
was in a corporate office and they took it down i got it for 300.00 sold my other tanks 275.00 and basicly paid 25 bucks for it!

what i need to know is what type of setup i should use. looks like it had 3 pumps 2 returns and skimmer pump. should i go with one big pump like a dart and break
down to my equipment or take and go back with 3 smaller pumps.

also should i use this pm sump/fuge and or add the another and have both

also lighting should i go with t5 or led.
i am wanting pretty much easy going stuff not exotics, only cool fish and corals

i have had a small 40 saltwater for 2 years with no issues just want a big one also i am tackling it big time and putting it in the wall i have a small room on
the other side of the living room and gonna make it my fish room/den

i plan on 200lbs of sand,around 250lbs of rock i have a nice couple of heaters and and 2 korila 1050s
any suggestions and advice would be much appreciated!!!!! thanks

[shaginwagon13]

Originally Posted by strykker

Hi everyone i have a few questions that i was hoping some one can help me with. i am not new to aquariums but only small ones i was going to start a 75g reef
and actually ran into a great deal 210g oceanic and stand came with a huge uv sterilizer large pm sump or fuge not sure which by the look of it is odd looking compared
to others and came with a big skimmer and waste collector on the side. tank is already drilled and has over flows and 1 return and supply on each end. apparently it
was in a corporate office and they took it down i got it for 300.00 sold my other tanks 275.00 and basicly paid 25 bucks for it!

what i need to know is what type of setup i should use. looks like it had 3 pumps 2 returns and skimmer pump. should i go with one big pump like a dart and break
down to my equipment or take and go back with 3 smaller pumps.

also should i use this pm sump/fuge and or add the another and have both

also lighting should i go with t5 or led.
i am wanting pretty much easy going stuff not exotics, only cool fish and corals

i have had a small 40 saltwater for 2 years with no issues just want a big one also i am tackling it big time and putting it in the wall i have a small room on
the other side of the living room and gonna make it my fish room/den

i plan on 200lbs of sand,around 250lbs of rock i have a nice couple of heaters and and 2 korila 1050s
any suggestions and advice would be much appreciated!!!!! thanks

My preference is to have one pump. I use the Reeflo Barracuda-Hammerhead Hybrid for my tank and it supplies the display tank for the return lines, and it also have enough power to supply my chiller, calcium reactor, additional reactors for carbon/GFO/etc, refiugium, etc. I see there are 3 holes in the sump. One of those holes is for the return pump, one may have been for a pump for water changes and one for the skimmer.

You might have others who go with more then one pump, but I prefer to have only one pump. IMO unless you have a massive tank, one pump is more then enough if you buy a pump that best suites your tank. Having one pump adds less heat to your tank, it frees up space under the tank for any other equipment and you can always have a back-up pump in the case of an emergency situation or routing maintenance. You can also tee a line off the single main pump for water changes and as you mentioned your planning to have a fish room so this really would not be hard to do.

For your lighting, unless you want to keep SPS corals or clams that require very strong lighting, I would go with T5. I personally enjoy the look of halide bulbs, but I also have a few LED pendants to add to the light during the day (however I have an SPS tank which requires very strong light). One neat feature about the LED fixtures is the option and flexibility to program the fixture to ramp up, ramp down and use the moonlight settings for night. It gives the reef a very unique and much more realistic look as apposed to the simple 'light on - lights off' options you have with metal halides and T5.

[tkeracer619]

Cool good deal.

The skimmer should run with its own pump. They work on pressure so giving it all it can get will result in better performance.

I would get a controller.

[shaginwagon13]

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

The skimmer should run with its own pump. They work on pressure so giving it all it can get will result in better performance.

I would get a controller.

+2

The skimmer should have its own designated pump and I would also get a controller (although you can always add a controller after your tank is up and running its not a 'must' right from the start.

[strykker]

cool thanks im gonna start rounding stuff up
i was thinking on getting one big pump and later get the ocean swirl or something like that after its all established
plus i am a major diy i can build basiclly anything and have major electrical exp so i was thinking of building and led setup just not sure how to know if i have enough

[strykker]

my major question is who has the best deals on the big pumps,leds,and dry rock the rest is minimal cost i think!

[strykker]

also i was wondering about this as a pump i dont want to make a costly mistake and under buy or over buy does this look usable!
http://www.amazon.com/Neiko-HP-Strai.../dp/B000PBONYS

[shaginwagon13]

Originally Posted by strykker

my major question is who has the best deals on the big pumps,leds,and dry rock the rest is minimal cost i think!

The best deals are the ones you can find on this forum or form local reefers in your area. You can't see the classified section on this forum (you need to be a member for 3 months and also need 50 posts) but when you can you will find great deals, and most of the products are very well taken care of.

All the aquarium stores need to follow MAP pricing (manufactured advertised pricing) which differs from product to product, but basically they are not allowed to sell a Vortech MP60 for less than a set price. That's why no matter where you look, they usually have the same prices. They are told what the cheapest price is they can sell a product by the manufacture. Kind of stupid IMO, but thats another discussion.

The easiest way to save on Live Rock is to buy 'dead rock' for $2/lbs and sick it in your tank or a Rubbermaid container and then go any buy 5-10 lbs of live rock from a local reefer or aquarium store. In about 6 months your 'dead rock' will have been seeded from the 5-10lbs of live rock, you get the same final product, have a reduced chances of getting unwanted hitchhikers, and save a fortune on money. That's also just my opinion.

Originally Posted by strykker

also i was wondering about this as a pump i dont want to make a costly mistake and under buy or over buy does this look usable!
http://www.amazon.com/Neiko-HP-Strai.../dp/B000PBONYS

I don't have any experience with that pump. For my old 200 gallon I used a Reeflo Dart which was fantastic:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...o+dart&x=0&y=0

But like I stated above, you can find them used for around $150-$200

[strykker]

yea that was my plan on the rock but like 150 or 200 lbs of dry and about 50 of live
and let it run its course
and hell if i could find a deal on a pump like that i would love it !
and your right pretty much everywhere have the same lowest price and some are so high for the same items its stupid they could even sell
thanks for the info i cant wait to get started but i keep telling myself what everyone keeps saying take your time do it right the first time and thats my plan cheap as possible with the right stuff will get me what i want