[Ydav]

To many options, big confusion ! Maybe you can help me

I got 48*18*20, well 75 gal.. I want corrals and maybe fish.

Protein skimmer is a must, a big expesive one. What about the rest? Wet/dry, the 4 inches of sand on a mesh with live rock, or regular canister filter?

I do not want to run about adding chemicals every day, so I need something simple

thanks .

[Sueet]

Originally Posted by Ydav

To many options, big confusion ! Maybe you can help me

I got 48*18*20, well 75 gal.. I want corrals and maybe fish.

Protein skimmer is a must, a big expesive one. What about the rest? Wet/dry, the 4 inches of sand on a mesh with live rock, or regular canister filter?

I do not want to run about adding chemicals every day, so I need something simple

thanks .

You need to decide what type of tank you want (fish only, fish-only-with-live-rock/FOWLR, sps reef, mixed reef, soft coral reef..... or any other combo you can dream up) Then you would choose your filtration method based on that (for instance, wet-dry is ok for FO, or FOWLR, but is terrible for reef tanks, etc.)

Each type of filtration will have its' pros and cons... Do some research on each type before you commit.

[Ydav]

I am thinking 1/2 tank will have live rock with corrals, and 1/2 open spase for fish.

Afer reading about various filterations methods I got more confused then ever.


Thanks

[Reefland]

If you are going to be doing a mixed reef there are a couple of do's and dont's.

Dont's:
Wet/Dry Filter
Crushed Coral Substrate
Normal Output Lighting
Cheap Protein Skimmer

Do's:
Intense Lighting
Deep Sand Bed or Bare-Bottom
Sump
Powerful Protein Skimmer

[Ydav]

Originally Posted by Reefland

If you are going to be doing a mixed reef there are a couple of do's and dont's.

Dont's:
Wet/Dry Filter
Crushed Coral Substrate
Normal Output Lighting
Cheap Protein Skimmer

Do's:
Intense Lighting
Deep Sand Bed or Bare-Bottom
Sump
Powerful Protein Skimmer

So, Plenium with a Prizm skimmer would do ?

Do you know where I get more in-depth info on light ? All the books seem to be limmited by 1 page or so.

[Reefland]

No, I would not do a true Plenum and a Prism skimmer. I would do a Deep Sand Bed and a big AquaC or MRC skimmer.

There is a lot of information contained right here on lighting, what more specifically are you interested in?

[Ydav]

How deep is the dip sand bad? there is no egg-crate under it ?

Why is sump better then plenium ?

What do I need on light ? umm... ok !

I want to use as little as posible WATTS to conserve energy and money. The reef is going to take up probably 1/2 of the tank, the rest is for fish. Plus spending a $1000 on a lamp is just silly.

[Sueet]

Originally Posted by Ydav

How deep is the dip sand bad? there is no egg-crate under it ?

Why is sump better then plenium ?

What do I need on light ? umm... ok !

I want to use as little as posible WATTS to conserve energy and money. The reef is going to take up probably 1/2 of the tank, the rest is for fish. Plus spending a $1000 on a lamp is just silly.

Deep Sand Bed is minimum 3", though most prefer deeper.

Sump is better because it is a place to hide things like your heater, skimmer, etc. And it adds to the total water volume of the system, it isn't to be compared to the plenum, that is the other choice from DSB...

Lighting depends almost completely upon what livestock you will keep, and you should research each creature/coral/invert to find out what its specific needs are. The lower the wattage, the less creatures you will be capable of supporting.

[Ydav]

Well, I do not mean to be argumentative, but I am




The reasons you have described are the reason I was hoping for a Plenum, less water, less room, less mess to clean up... So I suppose I was hoping to hear something regarding water chemistry and proper filtration Sump V.S. Plenum.



Light:



The sea-creatures are rated by Moderate light and High, in terms of Lumens or what Watts, what's the difference?



What kind of watts and spectrum do Corrals need? and What is just for decoration? They say that 3k of lumens must reach the bottom, but at what spectrum? Also some articles on the internet claim that too much light is also bad.

[Sueet]

Originally Posted by Ydav

Well, I do not mean to be argumentative, but I am
The reasons you have described are the reason I was hoping for a Plenum, less water, less room, less mess to clean up... So I suppose I was hoping to hear something regarding water chemistry and proper filtration Sump V.S. Plenum.
Light:
The sea-creatures are rated by Moderate light and High, in terms of Lumens or what Watts, what's the difference?
What kind of watts and spectrum do Corrals need? and What is just for decoration? They say that 3k of lumens must reach the bottom, but at what spectrum? Also some articles on the internet claim that too much light is also bad.

Ok, well.. less water means more chance of mishaps... More water means more stability, less toxicity, because anything that does go wrong in the water is dispersed throughout a larger quantity of water... A sump also makes things like water changes easier, because you can siphon water directly out of the sump, and add it back into the sump without disturbing your main display. Also advantageous in having a sump is the ability to add extra live rock... especially rubble and pieces that maybe aren't as pretty as you'd like, but still carry the beneficial bacteria, therefore adding to the systems biological filtration.

The plenum is a different type of filtration altogether, in competition with the Deep Sand Bed, and/or Bare-bottom, or crushed coral (a bad choice for almost all system types, because of its ability to trap detritus), so it has really no comparison to/with the sump. You can have a plenum AND a sump, etc. You can also have a bare-bottom tank with a DSB IN the sump, for filtration... it's all pretty fluid, you just have to figure out which combination is best for you and your tank.

On lighting... well, approximate definitions:
low light=NO(normal output) fluorescent lighting or low wattage PC fluorescent.
moderate light=NO fluorescent IF the animal is placed high in the tank, or PC (power compact) fluorescent
High Light=HO (high output) fluorescent, or VHO (very high output) fluorescent, or Metal Halide or T-5 fluorescent
Very high light=Metal Halide

These all come in varying shades/colors ... all based on the Kelvin rating you asked about. I am no expert, but as far as I know, 5500K would be the least amount of K rating you would want to use (that would be bare minimum) for corals... The rest is based on the animals you wish to keep, and the depth at which you will keep them from the top. For instance, clams like the Tridacna Maxima need very strong Metal Halide light in order to thrive... Now I'm not saying that some animals can't survive in less than optimal lighting... but survival is a far cry from thriving if you get my meaning. (you could live on bread and water... but how healthy would you be? So what if it's cheap, if it doesn't do what's needed)

I probably didn't answer your questions as well as you'd like, but I hope I've helped in some way.

[orlandito]

to begin with ,if you don't wanna spend some money don't get into the hobby.

trust me .

almost everyone here stared with a cheap tank and then,boooom,second phase (upgrading)

i'm telling you man this thing gets under your skin,so i have an advise for you if you gonna spend your money spend it right ,don't buy anything cheap,buy top of the line stuff and buy it bigger than what you realy need because you may use it on the future for a bigger tank,in other words buy only once (if you know what i mean).

hey man good luck


p.d. and read some good books first.

[NoSump]

Scott:

On a new set-up, I made the mistake of putting a crushed coral substrate base covered with a sand top (the Aquariums for Dummies book recommended that substrate).

I now know that I should have gone all sand. I purshased several bags of very cheap tropical playground sand at Home Depot. I was going to wait until the crushed coral worked it's way to the surface and gradually replace it with all sand; however, since my tank is still in the early stages of set-up - it may be better to bite the bullet and make the change now.

My question is this - Since I have had live rock curing in my tank for approximately three weeks, If I replace my substrate, will I lose many of the beneficial critters that hitch-hiked on my live rock (and are presumably now in my sand)?