Emperor 400 vs. Wet Dry?
- Thread starter tld15
- Start date
niger12
Member
I personally don't think thier is a better option than having a sump or sump style W/D. The skimmer box will keep the surface water crystal clear. It also give you a plce to hide heaters and an easy place to add chems and top off. I ran a Emperor on a small tank instead of running the wet/dry I already owned. I did not like the Emperor and have since reinstalled the W/D. If it is a good deal I think you would be very happy with it.
jlem
Active Member
The Emporer 400 is easy to maintain and gives you chemical, biological, and mechanical filtration. It is true that you can't hide heaters and skimmers but you also don't have pumps and hoses that could break or leak. remember that ir if is not broke then why change it. After the price for a decent pump and the proper size wet/dry filter depending on tank size you could be looking at quite a bit of money when what you have now is working just fine.
K
kpatrick
Guest
I am currently using (2) Emperor 400s and a protein skimmer on my tank and everything is fine. Its been that way for 3 years now. When I first bought the tank thats the setup they sold me and its been fine ever since. One of these days when the Emperors eventually stop working I may switch to a sump but as mentioned before -- If its not broke, dont fix it!
Many people out here like the sumps but if you dont have the money to spend then I wouldnt worry about the sumps yet.
Many people out here like the sumps but if you dont have the money to spend then I wouldnt worry about the sumps yet.
K
kpatrick
Guest
Hey Squishy,
roughly, what is the price of a sump for a 125g.?
Do you need a fancy one with built in skimmer (keep in mind I have a seaclone skimmer already).
Someone told me a sump for a 125g would be about $300, but if you wanted skimmer built in it would go as high as $700. For $300 I wonder if that includes hoses and all the accesories. what are your thoughts??
roughly, what is the price of a sump for a 125g.?
Do you need a fancy one with built in skimmer (keep in mind I have a seaclone skimmer already).
Someone told me a sump for a 125g would be about $300, but if you wanted skimmer built in it would go as high as $700. For $300 I wonder if that includes hoses and all the accesories. what are your thoughts??
niger12
Member
I am not squishy but a sump and sump W/D are very different. A sump is simply a tank under your tank to increase water volume. The W/D will have a biological chamber for bioballs. Do a search on ---- for W/D. Also do a serch on sumps at this site for ideas. Cost will be a hard one it will range from $100 to $500 depending on DIY or the Company you buy it from. BTW is this a reef for FO tank.
tld15
New Member
First thing is you notice I fixed that caps key.
The tank is a 75 gal. reef, nitrates seem to stay arond 10-20 I cant seem to get them to zero out? Doing 5 gal. water changes every two weeks ammonia is 0, ph is 8.2, nitrites 0, salinity 1.023.
I have a sea-clone hang on skimmer and (3) power heads totaling 1000 gph, 260 watt corallife compacts. I started noticing brown algae wanting to grow on the sand bed. I turned the lights to 8 hrs. a day about 2.5 months ago.
This is kind of why I thought a wet/dry would help me, (brown algae, nitrate readings). But now I'm not so sure does it sound like I'm on the right track or do you need more info?
The tank is a 75 gal. reef, nitrates seem to stay arond 10-20 I cant seem to get them to zero out? Doing 5 gal. water changes every two weeks ammonia is 0, ph is 8.2, nitrites 0, salinity 1.023.
I have a sea-clone hang on skimmer and (3) power heads totaling 1000 gph, 260 watt corallife compacts. I started noticing brown algae wanting to grow on the sand bed. I turned the lights to 8 hrs. a day about 2.5 months ago.
This is kind of why I thought a wet/dry would help me, (brown algae, nitrate readings). But now I'm not so sure does it sound like I'm on the right track or do you need more info?
tld15
New Member
Squishy
Sand bed is 2". I'm feeding once a day. Lights are (4) 65 watt
power compacts from coralife no hood they sit on legs about 3" off the tank
they are 4 months old. I have around 15 snails and 20 blue legged hermit crabs. Bio load is 70 lbs. fiji rock, 50 lbs. base rock. have colt coral,plate coral,branching hammer,xeania,gargonians,(4) clowns, one large bubble anenomie, polyps, and zoos. The trates seem to stay around 10 to 20?
I'm not really sure what you mean by phosphates? Hope this gives you better idea where I'm at.
Sand bed is 2". I'm feeding once a day. Lights are (4) 65 watt
power compacts from coralife no hood they sit on legs about 3" off the tank
they are 4 months old. I have around 15 snails and 20 blue legged hermit crabs. Bio load is 70 lbs. fiji rock, 50 lbs. base rock. have colt coral,plate coral,branching hammer,xeania,gargonians,(4) clowns, one large bubble anenomie, polyps, and zoos. The trates seem to stay around 10 to 20?
I'm not really sure what you mean by phosphates? Hope this gives you better idea where I'm at.
joemack
Member
I would recomend a refugium
http://www.billsext.com/refugium.htm
You can set a above tank fuge, hang-on, or one that takes the place of the wet/dry part of a sump
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/sump.html
Looks like you have plenty of LR and LS. Do you use RO DI water?
http://www.billsext.com/refugium.htm
You can set a above tank fuge, hang-on, or one that takes the place of the wet/dry part of a sump
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/sump.html
Looks like you have plenty of LR and LS. Do you use RO DI water?
jlem
Active Member
Originally posted by SquishyFish
I think its like alot of other things in this hobby...once you go sump, your not going to go back. .
I had sump for about six months and removed it because it was a hassle topping off so much and having to make sure that the overflow didn't get plugged or the pad getting clogged. Plus no matter how much you quiet it down it still is louder than without one. I am also military so I am gone alot and the easier it is mechanically wise for my wife the better. With three kids the last thing she needs is a broken pump or a fitting that springs a leak. I have nothing but a seaclone 150 on my 125 and I really like how easy it is without a sump. Granted I do have a light bioload and not a ton of rock. I have a very shallow sand bed and my nitrates are unreadable with the test kits I have used over the years. I am not saying that sumps suck and for high bioloads they definately let you put in more filtration to handle the water conditions. I am saying that they are not needed for a beutiful reef. your nitrates are not that bad even for a reef tank. People like to have zero nitrates but you don't need to have zero nitrates for a successful reef. How old is your tank? If your tank is reletively new then give it some time and see if your nitrates drop on their own.
jlem
Active Member
I wanted to post a picyure of a very simple system that did not cost a lot compared to what most people spend. I am not saying that my way is the only way but just one that has worked very sucessful for me and that did great while I was gone for over three months overseas and my wife doing only waterchanges and cleaning the glass with a Mag Float. This a picture before I did my cleaning today and now the skimmer looks nice and new and the back glass is much cleaner