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Dechlorinator removes chlorine, which isn't even a problem in saltwater systems. The major problems in tap water art trace contaminants like dry cleaning fluid, arsenic, nitrates, etc. You also typically have phosphates that will have you back here in a month complaining about hair algae taking...

Quote: Originally Posted by mauler Alright what would be a good sized pump or how many gallons a minute should I like The rule of thumb is 5-10 times the tank volume/hour. When you shop for pumps you will see a false number of gallons/hour on the box, and a graph or table that gives the true...

Eschopps makes an overflow box. Google it and you will see one design (there are many others, Google is your friend).

There is a pump - on the return side leading from the sump to the tank.

The overflow box works by siphonage, and you set the siphon break just below the surface - it's then automatic. If the power goes out the siphon breaks and flow stops...no flood.

It isn't difficult to raise your own pods. Google it - you can do it in a 3 liter Coke bottle.

You never want a pump to remove water from the tank - sooner or later it will either fail, and the return pump will cause your dt to overflow, or the return pump will fail, and your sump will flood. Divorce lies in that plan. To maintain your salinity fill the tank and sump, get everything...

I'm not clear how a valve would work, never seen one. The rate of evaporation depends on a variety of factors, including tank size and surface area, open or closed top, water temperature, etc. To give you an idea, in the winter, with the room temp at 69 and water at 80, with an open top I...

Quote: Originally Posted by mauler That's where I thought it would go just wanted to make sure and yeah I'll check it out. And also what can you tell me about the reverse osmosis and overflow box? Reverse osmosis is a water treatment procedure that removes dissolved contaminants in the water...

Quote: Originally Posted by mauler Wait so if I do the sump I don't need the HOB filters at all? And what would the fish I want eat cleaner shrimp? Right - if you have a sump then HOB filtration is unnecessary. If you want, you can put a filter sock on the end of the sump entry to trap...

The largest skimmer I can think of is the Aqua C Remora, which might not be large enough for a 210. I just don't trust hang-on skimmers since my in-sump units have all, sooner or later, overflowed at least once. In a sump this is not a problem, but my wife will tell you, in pretty crude terms...

Quote: Originally Posted by silverado61 I don't by any means swear by an HOB. I only used them because I didn't have a sump and needed filtration. I just thought that until he could reasonably afford any and all equipment, this hobby can be quite costly, that he could use his HOBs in the sump...

Quote: Originally Posted by silverado61 How's that going BTW? You haven't posted anything on it for a while. We've put the separators into the sump-to-be, I have the new return pump and new hose. Now all I need is the time (and nerve) to actually drill a hole in the living room floor and I'm...

I had one for 2 years, until a heater failure chilled the tank to 55 degrees. It was from ORA, and was supposed to eat frozen foods, but didn't (a common problem with the ORA-derived mandarins). Fortunately, I was a video of the ORA juveniles diving into a pile of prawn eggs, so I tried that...

Welcome to the hobby, and to the site. Feel free to ask lots of questions because you may find that there are considerable equipment and philosophical differences between FW and marine fishkeeping, the most important being that mistakes in SW are very expensive, so ask before you make a...

I know that some people on this site, and many in the hobby, swear by HOB filters for marine systems, but I got rid of my HOBs 25 years ago, and have relied on sumps ever since, and my water params are pristine, even when I have a heavy bioload. The sump, with rock in it, as well as some...

Quote: Originally Posted by Flower Hi, I'm delighted to see you use a quarantine tank, it will save you so much grief down the road. I couldn't agree more. It drives me nuts to see people obsessing on what $70 heater to get, or which set of lights to use, and not quarantine their new...

My experience with clowns is that once they stake out a territory they don't leave the vicinity. I currently have an ocellaris in a 40 gallon system who is never more than 4-5 inches from its anemone, and will skip meals if it doesn't feel secure enough.

Lion fish and aggressive triggers make especially poor tank mates - the trigger will nip the lion's fins until either the lion dies, or the trigger dies after becoming impaled in the lion's fins. While 4 fish may sound like a small bioload, it looks like you are headed for an aggressive tank...

Forget the cleaner wrasse - it is one of those fish best left in the ocean. They generally starve to death in captivity because they are obligate parasitovores, meaning that they must eat parasites to survive. You had better not have sufficient parasites in your tank to keep them alive!