New Tank to be done

[cza]

Im new to this site and would like to ask a couple of questions. I have done reef tanks before on little tanks but I just purchased a new tank that I want to start. Just to let you know this new tank will be FOWLR. No corals or anything like that. I was thinking of agressive fish. I bought the tank and the stand together for $180. That's all I have right now. The tank is a 60 gallon tank. It's 48'' long. I would like to know your opinions on which type of filtration should I use, skimmers, etc... All your info would be greatly appreciated. Remember all I have is the 60 gallon tank and stand, the rest is up in the air. Thanks guys.

[LowCel]

Are you planning on having a sump? If so I would definately recomend putting a skimmer in it. It is also a good place to hide your heater and anything else that you don't really want to be seen in the display tank. You can also add some macro algae down there to aid in filtration.

[cza]

Hmm never though of that. Would I need one even though im not doing coral?

[LowCel]

Hmm never though of that. Would I need one even though im not doing coral?

Not necessarily, but it does allow you to keep your display tank a lot cleaner since you can keep all of the necessities down below. It also gives you more water volume which is always a good thing.

[cza]

See I never done one so my question would be this. Is the sump the same as a Refuguim? If it is can I use a CPR? What about Filter? You think a wet dry should be placed for a tank that size?

[Poseidon]

Yes and No to the sump question. I have a sump and it holds all my macro algae, so it also a refugium. I don't even have any seperate baffles for the fuge part, just the ones to keep bubbles out.

As far as a Wet Dry goes, yes you could use it, but I personally like using Live Rock and a Deep Sand Bed. Very low maintinance and it looks good. So all you need is Good Live rock, 4" DSB and a good skimmer. That's it. No other filters are needed. I use "poly Fil" in my overflow every once in a while, when I scrape glass or something like that to clear the water more quickly!

[LowCel]

I completely agree with Poseidon. The only thing I did differently with my tank was I bypassed the deep sand bed. This is a very highly debated subject right now. You either like them or you don't. (For the record I am not against them in any way, shape or form, they just aren't for me.) One of the great things about running a sump/refugium is that you can add a deep sandbed to the refugium so you can still get some of the benefit of having a dsb without it having to be in the display tank.

When Poseidon said "good skimmer" that is very important. Don't just go out and buy a cheap one so that you have a skimmer. This will end up being one of your most important pieces of equipment you buy, bite the bullet and buy a good quality skimmer, you will be happy you did later. Trust me, I bought a cheapie in the beginning, that was one of my many, many mistakes.

As far as the wet/dry goes most people are getting away from them. It seems that the bioballs can become a nitrate factory after a while. I also had one of these for a while, another one of my mistakes.

Anyway, here is a pic of my sump/refugium. I just made it out of a 29 gallon tank. All it took was a few glass baffles that I had a local glass shop cut. The first chamber is where the water goes in from the tank. It also houses the skimmer and a heater. The second chamber houses live sand, live rock, a couple mushrooms, some xenia and macro algae (most removed prior to this picture and given away). This section is where most of my filtration occurs. The third section houses my return pump and the pump that feeds my calcium reactor (not shown). It also houses my ground probe, my temperature probe, and my top off sensor and alarm (tunze osmolator). This helps keep my display tank as clutter free as possible.



HTH's

[cza]

Wow sounds amazing thinking that the only thing I can place in there is LR and a good skimmer. The LFS guys says to me that with a tank this size, there is no other way to go but Wet Dry filter. Guess what he happens to have some there for like a grand total of $600? I know Dr Foster's go for about $200 depending on which one you get, but no more than $300.