Looking for advice

[cdorris]

Hi all im new to the forums although; I have been reading on the forums quite a bit.
My questions at this time is about equipment. I am wondering what would be the best tank, lights, skimmer, filter etc. Mainly what is the good brands to stick with to get quality products.
I'm trying to do this just right from the beginning and im not wanting to skimp on anything that I need, nor am I wanting to buy low end products.
I'm wanting to go with metal halide lights does these mean I need a chiller or is that just something time will tell?
Basically im planning on a 90 gallon tank with a sump, and I want to get a tank that is ready for a sump im thinking that a tank with an overflow is what I need to go with>? Also I want to go with a nice looking tank.
Also I know I have read several different things about sumps and refugiums, and im just wondering what is the difference in two?
Basically I'm wanting to set this thing up so that I have the most successful tank that I can have. Im not trying to rush this at all I would like to have it up and running or a good start within the next 3-6 months.
Thanks in advance for your help....

 

[tangs123]

well,
-the best tanks are usually All-Glass but any company will supply a nice looking tank
-coralife or other types of metal malides (coralife is just one of the more known brands)
-skimmer for a 90, well i am no skimmer pro, but i think the coralife super skimmers are pretty nice and do a good job but someone might reccomend a better one, skimmers are also limited by price, if you want a good one it will cost you but a decent and efficient one for a 90 gallon shouldn't run you over 120$
-filter you said you are going to use the sump/refugium (brings us to the next question)
-the difference between a refugium (fuge) and sump is that a refugium has a light and there is beneficial algea growing in it, a sump is basically the same except there isn;t any live rock and plants in there it is more mechanical filtration in there
-depending on where you live you will most likely not need a chiller, a simple fan blowing across the water will keep your water cool enought unless you live in the desert with out AC
any more questions feel free to ask,
-tangs

 

[cdorris]

The question I guess I was really trying to ask was in alot of the pictures there were tanks underneath with three compartments. The first having a protein skimmer, second having algae growth and the third being return, is this considered a fuge? Would it be a bad idea to have mechanical filteration on top of this? Or what would you recommend for the best set up for the most efficent tank? Your response was great thanks for the info.

 

[lilchris]

I have the coralife superskimmer w/ bio wheel. This skimmer is awesome and it has a great price tag on it, $145 from Dr. Foster&Smith. My friend and the guy who got me into this hobby has a 90 gal. reef and he runs the superskimmer and it cleans the $%^t out of his tank. If you are going to have a reef tank then metal halides are a must. If you are going w/ a FOWLR you can get away w/ some PCs (power compacts), coralife also. Remember have patience when it coimes to setting up your tank. This is the hardess part about this hobby. Let your tank cycle before adding any fish. Cycle w/ LR and you can add some raw shrimp to get things going. Welcome to the Aquatic experience.

 

[hatessushi]

I have a 90 gallon uniquarium which is essentially a tank with the back sectioned off for filtration. The water overflow is part of the tank wall and all water runs over into filtering compartments, with sponge, charcoal and then flows up to another compartment for skimmer the another for the heater and such, which overflows into a wet/dry with bioballs and then flows into the comartment with the pump that connects with the powerheads that are built into the back side. I changed mine a bit so I just have sponge, then skimmer, then probes that monitor temp/PH/Orp/calcium then when it would normally flow into the bio balls I removed those and put lots of small pieces of live rock also hanging in the area I put a phosphate reactor. I have a light attached to the back that you cannot see from the from for the fuge (live rock area) I have nothing under my tank which sit on a nice wine server cabinet. the tank is acrylic. Although glass is preferred by most I prefer acrylic since it won't break, and you just have to be carefull with scratching it but it is optically clearer than glass is and if I ever needed to drill it then it would not be difficult.
You can look these up in google but the brand name is Clear For Life. I am extremely pleased with the wat it looks.
I will post pictures as soon as I have a camera the takes nice aquarium pics.
Sorry for such a long post.

 

[cdorris]

Thanks for all the info guys, I guess the sump/fuge im talking about are a combination. What would be the best thing for me to do filter wise on this tank like a 30 gallon sump/fuge or what. If you where trying to set up a nice system what exactly would you do here?

 

[dw62]

IMO, the most important pieces to filtration are the overflow box, skimmer, and water flow. The overflow box is essential since most of your bad stuff is on the surface of the tank, and oveflow boxes use the water directly from the surface. The water leaves the overflow into the sump/refugium, where most tanks have their skimmer. Skimmers break down/get rid of the dead organic material. Reef aquariums need alot of water flow, so be sure to get some power heads to create 10-20X water flow for your tank. I keep chaeto (macroalgae) in my sump/refugium, and it eats up my nitrates.
If money is not a big problem, I would recommend having Metal Halide lighting. This gives the "shimmering" effect that looks great!! Also, many corals and anemones require this type of lighting.
If you are not in a hurry to get all your equipment, search the internet. Most of my equipment was purchased over the net, and I saved hundreds of dollars!! I bought a full hood from Hamilton (one of the best companies!) that has two 175MH bulbs and two 96W compact flourescents, ballasts, fans, brand new for $500 off the net. This would cost well over $1000 at the LFS.

 

[xdave]

I used to work at a distributor. All Glass brand tanks had about a 10% return rate, Perfecto tanks less than 1%.