Help needed picking out filtration

thereefer9

thereefer9

Member
Ok well Ive decided to buy a filter for my tank. First a little about my tank its got roughly 80-100 lbs of live rock in the tank it also has a 80 lbs of live sand. I plan on making the tank a reef and I want a filter that I wont have to upgrade and thats worth the money. The reef will have all types of coral and the tank will hold a full livestock. So again whats the best type of filter? Whats the best brand and model? A good skimmer to go with it? The filtration now is 4 gallon cpr hob refugium.
Thanks for the help,
Thereefer9
 
jpnewreefe

jpnewreefe

Member
Um I Was Going To Chime In Butlet More Experienced People Answer.
What Size Is Your Tank Anyway And Have You Already Got A Couple Your Thinking About? Also Are You Just Going With 1 Filter Or 2?
I Run A Wet/dry And A Canister Filter On All My Reef Tanks.
Anyway Cant Wait To See The Replies As Im Also Looking For A Filter For A New Set-up
 
thereefer9

thereefer9

Member
I have a 70 gallon. The problem with adding more then one filter for me is that its a 70 gallon tall so theres not much room in the stand. Only about 30 inches across. I was thinking a sump/refugium but im not sure yet.
 
thangbom

thangbom

Active Member
i would do a fuge/sump if you can fit it in.. measure the biggest size aquarium you can fit under your tank.. then decide on what skimmer you want.. imo .. most hob skimmers are junk.. they have too small of a reaction chamber... you get a lot more for the buck on in/external skimmers... anyhow.. after you find out those two q?s are figured out.. you measure the footprint of your skimmer ( so that you know how much of the sump area will be) and put baffles in a aquarium that fit in the given space under your tank.. the reast can be fuge space... ( it's a little hard and limiting when you dont have space though..you might just be better off with just a sump w/ good skimmer that w/ a small fuge..)
YzGYz
 
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dragonzim

Active Member
You really dont need a seprarate filter at all. If you've got 100 lbs of live rock and 80lbs of live sand, that is most of your filtration right there. Add to that the hang up fuge that you have the only thing I would add to that would be a good skimmer. The Coralife SuperSkimmer is supposed to be a good one. I have an AquaC Remora on my 75 and I love it.
 
thereefer9

thereefer9

Member
Originally Posted by DragonZim
You really dont need a seprarate filter at all. If you've got 100 lbs of live rock and 80lbs of live sand, that is most of your filtration right there. Add to that the hang up fuge that you have the only thing I would add to that would be a good skimmer. The Coralife SuperSkimmer is supposed to be a good one. I have an AquaC Remora on my 75 and I love it.

Really I could mantain a tank with just 80-100 lbs of live rock (probably actually about 80-90)? Do u have any pics of ur tank? Also if u dont have a sump or filter how do u compensate for all that lost GPH? Add more powerheads? How much are AquaCs?
Thanks for the help
 
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dragonzim

Active Member
If you've got that much live rock, live sand and a decent skimmer the only other thing you really need is a few powerheads or a closed loop system for some water movement. I have a maxi-jet 1200, a 900 and the 1200 on my Remora skimmer providing my flow. I do also have a hang on AquaClear 110 but I use it mainly for flow or if I want to run carbon. No canister, wet dry or sump. I will eventually be moving to a sumpfuge but money's been tight to get it all going. If I remember correctly the skimmer was around $160. I am using a TEK 6x54 watt T5 for lighting.
Here are some pics...
Hammer Coral

Red Mushrooms

New Zoas

Feather duster farm

Green Plate

Candy Cane

Full tank shot
 
thereefer9

thereefer9

Member
so right now im trying to decide what type of protein skimmer heres my two choices
Coral life 125
AquaC model which ones best?
ur opinons?
Thanks for all the comments.
 
D

dragonzim

Active Member
I dont have any firsthand experience with the Coral life skimmers, but an AquaC Remora with the Maxi Jet 1200 pump should work fine for your 70.
 
jkcrumb

jkcrumb

Member
I have the coralife 125 (hang on back) on my 125g and I'm pretty happy with it........it's a little tempermental at times but once you get the adjusments right it seems to do its job well...........only piece of advice I can give you is get rid of the sponge filters in the overflow box. The system seems to run better with out it (it will make sense when u see it)....Heres a pick of how it looks hooked up
top right hand side

and with a canopy you barley even know its there
 
jkcrumb

jkcrumb

Member
Originally Posted by DragonZim
Totally off topic, but I love your rockwork jkcrumb!

well thank you!!!!!!!!

I really wanted to do something a tad different then most of the other setup I've seen.
Happy to hear someone likes it!!!!!
 
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