begginer questions

[petey Z]

Hello everyone,
I just had a couple questions about starting my saltwater REEF tank.
Its a 38 Gal, and i wanted to know what i should for filtration. The tank isnt drilled, but could i still put in a sump? Maybe an over flow box, but can i just put one in there?

thanks
pete

 

[maestro]

For flitration you need live rock and good circulation from powerheads, to compliment this you will need a portein skimmer.

You can add an overflow box and sump but to be honest as its your first reef tank id keep things really simple so theres less to go wrong.

 

[steelhealr]

I agree with maestro. If you want, you could add something like an AquaClear HOB filter and just use that to hold your filter media...that keeps things very simple. SH

 

[petey Z]

alright cool so do u think this would work

1. prism protien skimmer
2. Fluidized Bed
3. like 3 or 2 power heads
4. marineland bio-wheel power filter
5. live rock, like 20 pounds?
6. live sand

let me know if this is suitable

thanks everyone

 

[billa_bong]

i would at least go with 40lbs of liverock if thats going to be your filter.

i would go with 2 seio m620's for powerheads, very powerful compact little buggers, pumps about 600 gph....shold work great and IMO look very good in the tank.

than, i would buy some type of HOB skimmer, deltec are usually the favorite around her e but i have a corallife skimmer 125 (rated for a 125 gallon tank, but they make a 65 gallon one which would work on your tank)

that skimmer works insump and hang on and its really working good for me, here is a link on some info:

Clicky - Skimmer


BUt I would definitely look into getting like 40lbs of liverock and those powerheads.

Get a nice mix of rock, get like 3 peices of fiji that measure out to like 20-25lbs and the rest tonga branch to build some cool arch ways and aqua scaping features...

hope that helped, pm me if you need any more info...

 

[petey Z]

hey thanks billa bong,
but i wanna know if a fluidized bed would be good to have, ive heard that there very effecient and good for reef tanks. i mean im def willing to spend the money for one.
And how about the marineland Bio-Wheel power filter, that wont hurt to have right?

and also my local dealer told me that the prism protein skimmer was really good, its also cheaper where i can get it, so would that work? i kno u said that the deltec are good but , just wondering about the prism.



THanks alot

pete

 

[superman]

hey thanks billa bong,
but i wanna know if a fluidized bed would be good to have, ive heard that there very effecient and good for reef tanks. i mean im def willing to spend the money for one.
And how about the marineland Bio-Wheel power filter, that wont hurt to have right?

and also my local dealer told me that the prism protein skimmer was really good, its also cheaper where i can get it, so would that work? i kno u said that the deltec are good but , just wondering about the prism.



THanks alot

pete

[snapback]887393[/snapback]​

Fluidized bed filters are generally better for larger marine show tanks like public aquariums have. The problem with them is that if the power goes out the pump for the fluidized bed filter stops turning over the sand with oxygen rich water. Then your bacteria die (rather quickly actually) and then your tank goes through a massive cycle once the tank starts back up. Fluidized bed filters are great, but in our applications they are something that really isn't needed. focus on just a couple things for filtration, flow in the main tank is a must, more flow the better, at least 30x turnover. The skimmer your chose is a big deal as well, forget the prism, they are very touchy, and have mixed reviews all over the place. I would personally look into an AquaC skimmer in order to stay on the less expensive side and easy to maintain as well. Live rock is a great filter as well, though people do give live rock a lot more credit than it really deserves (I won't get into this now since this is a thread that is more tuned to a beginner tank set up) Focus your funds on the above (flow, skimmer, and live rock... in that order) and you will be starting your tank out on the right foot. The biowheel is not needed, so save some money there and just don't get one. If you want to keep corals then we can talk about different lighting schemes, but for now just worry about the filtration. I hope that I've been of some help.