40-50 gallon Tank plan

[shoreliner11]

I currently have a 20 gallon fo tank that is not matured yet but I want to upgrade to a 40-50 gallon tank already. I wasn't sure what kind of filtration I should get compared to my measily 20gal and I went to a local Fish/reef shop and the guy told me that he likes thinks I could get away with only a protein skimmer if I have a sufficient amount of lr and ls. I could tell he aspires to the more natural kind of filtration. Is this a good idea or should I also look at another kind of filtration? I would like to start out with lr and ls but maybe upgrade to a reef tank down the road a bit. Thanks for your help.

 

[birdy]

I agree with your LFS, If you have enough LR and LS with a good skimmer then that is all the filtration you need, I would recommend a sump/refugium with macro algae, then you will have a great natural filtration system.

 

[shoreliner11]

Thanks for your reply. I am currently very new to salt water aquariums and I know this is a "newbie" question but what exactly does a sump/refugium do? Does it hang on your aquarium or is it stored below in your stand? Thanks for your help again.

 

[birdy]

It is typically stored beneath the tank, if you have a reef ready tank it will have a built in overflow that will send the water to a sump underneath the tank, if you do not have a reef ready tank this can be accomplished with an external overflow. Use the search feature and look up sumps or DIY sumps and refugiums and you will pull up a ton of pictures and diagrams, they can be made easily and cheaply with a rubbermaid container.

 

[shoreliner11]

Would you recommend going and buying a reef ready tank or puting one together myself. I am on a budget so any money I could save would be great. Do you have an estimate on what a reef ready tank around 40-50-60gallons would cost as opposed to doing it myself. I am planning on building the stand myself which will save some money. Thanks for your help.

 

[shoreliner11]

*bump*

 

[lesleybird]

You need more than just a protein skimmer unless you only want to keep corals. Fish create a lot of waste products, so you need some type of mechanical filtration too. Lesley

 

[naturelover]

keep your 20 until you buy everything that is needed for a saltwater tank like RO/DI unit, better light system and so on. do a search and you would find alot info on what you must have and what is good to have. depending on it you can push your bigger tank buy since you are on budget. HTH

 

[birdy]

I disagree that you need additional mechanical filtration other than a protien skimmer, I have a 46 gal and I just run a skimmer and a small refugium with a DSB and 90lbs of LR and I have perfect water conditions, now I do have a light bioload so that could be part of it, but I don't think that you have to have a wet/dry or cannister filter, If you put in a sump you can run carbon or phosphate sponge in it as needed. The macro algae in the refugium will process a lot of the nitrates and other nutrients in the water.
As far as the difference between a reef ready and a regular tank, you are looking at a difference of around $100.00-150.00, maybe more maybe less.
The advantage of a reef ready is that you do not have to worry about the siphon breaking and you can put your tank against the wall and not worry about all that junk hanging off the back of the tank.