Mini Reef equipment

[crow666]

Hello,
I don't know if this ? already been answered a million times,but I need help.
I plan on setting up a 40 gallon mini reef,the tank is a 40 gallon "breeder" tank it's short and wide.I plan on having 40 to 55lbs. of live rock.And the inhabitants will be a couple different zoo's,xenia,a couple mushrooms,and a kenya tree coral,maybe more? And I plan on a pair of Clowns and maybe some shrimp.
I really need help on what do I use for filtration,if you could provide brand names and places to search for these,that would be a major help.
I just bought a good used 75 gallon wet/dry filter,but everything I read say's it's not a good idea to use,so help is needed.
Thanks alot,
Cory

 

[fishygurl]

well you could buy a sump/refugium custom made to fit under your tank, maybe go to your LFS if u have any good ones around..
Live rock and live sand will also be part of your filtration system
a skimmer will also be good
im sorry i dont know brand names for you

 

[crow666]

Thanks,
Is that all you need?A sump/refugium,a protein skimmer,and live rock.Any other equiment?The hang on tank refugium is that the style?
Thanks alot,any other help would be appreciated,
Cory

 

[stanlalee]

the wet/dry isn't the best thing for reefs since its main purpose is converting waste into nitrates. I would just do a typical sump with skimmer and refugium section filled with cheato macro algae to replace the wet/dry. I just put my 30g back into operation and my sump is just a $10 walmart 10g tank with some plexiglass dividers siliconed in. the center section is where the cheato used to go (when I had it set up before) but with the larger skimmer requiring that space for the pump I cant do cheato algae this time around.
my skimmer is too big for the skimmer section I made(built/used to house a seaclone 100 which fit) so the skimmer pump is where the cheato should be. the return pump is in the last section

before with cheato

same concept, bigger tank (but same skimmer)

if you use a small sump like I have you may be limited for space. Some space efficient decent skimmers that wont utilize all your sump space are Tunze DOC, AquaC urchin/urchin pro (all that come to mind right now).

 

[crow666]

Cool info.,so use a 10 gallon tank with dividers.Where's the dividers gne to house the protein skimmer,and the rest of the area for cheato macro algae?
Where do you get the cheato macro algae from?
Thanks for the help,
Cory

 

[stanlalee]

I just bought fairly thin plexiglass squares from Lowes in the window/door section and cut it with a dremel. (plexiglass doesn't stick well to silicon so the trick is to heavily silicon both sides of the divider along the glass so its actually the silicon stuck firmly to the glass on both sides keeping the dividers from moving. glass dividers would be better but works well enough on a small hack up job like this. Mines help up for years now. I wouldn't do it on a 55g sump).
On mine the 1rst divider goes all the way down to the sump floor but the next one (same size as the first one) is an inch from the bottom for water to pass underneath and the third short one starts at the bottom (you can make this one as tall or short as you want as long as you make it lower than your planned sump water level (which should be lower than the 1rst baffle) and high enough to keep the fuge content in that section. With this three baffle skimmer/fuge division the skimmer section remains constant regardless of sump water level as long as you dont fill the sump past the 1rst baffles height (the first section is tall and basically fills up from the tank return and overflows the first baffle into the slightly lower water level of the rest of the sump. the rest of the sump level fluctuates with evaporation/filling but the skimmer section remains constant). this helps not having to constantly adjust the skimmer due to water level fluctuations (I still do since currently my skimmer pump is in the fluctuating fuge section). the last section after the fuge is the return pump section. the first baffle there blocks off the fuge section (should be identicle to the last baffle that divides the skimmer/fuge secion) and the second baffle is raised and inch off the sump floor for water to pass underneath and its basically just there to deflect bubbles from reaching the return pump ( you cant see that baffle in the pics). there are many ways to do this (you can see my "bought" sump on the larger tank just has one baffle between the skimmer and fuge).
I bought a bag of cheato off of egay (easy find) or you can get a ball from a fellow reefer (ask for a little on the forum from someone close). Once it grows and fills out the fuge section you remove a good portion (give it/sell it to fellow reefers) which allows it to grow again. Its the growing that saps up the nitrates and phophates so you have to export some once there is no more room for it to grow.

 

[crow666]

Thanks very much for all that info. I do appreciate everything.So thats all the equipment I need for filtration.Liverock/sand,protein skimmer and a refugium/sump,cool sounds good.If I need any other help i'll know what to do,
Cory

 

[crow666]

This is a little of subject but when you start putting your coral into the tank on the live rock,do you glue it on or do you just place it on?
Maybe a stupid ? but I don't know.
Thanks,
Cory

 

[crow666]

Is this a good refugium design?

 

[stanlalee]

Originally Posted by CROW666
http:///forum/post/2662835
This is a little of subject but when you start putting your coral into the tank on the live rock,do you glue it on or do you just place it on?
Maybe a stupid ? but I don't know.
Thanks,
Cory
soft corals and encrusting hard corals will already come on piece of liverock or plug if you buy a frag. non encrusting LPS (hammer,frogspawn, candycane, open brain ect) will have a hard base than can be wedged between liverock or placed as you like. Basically any coral you buy will be on something you can either wedge between the liverock or on a rock you can just place. Only traded SPS sometimes come just as a piece of coral itself which you would glue to a plug or rock. some corals like star polyps and colony zoas you can take it or a peice of it off the rock by carefully lifting the matt off the rock with a razor blade, then you can glue it to another peice of rock (out of the tank).
All you need for filtration is the liverock and circulation especially in smaller tanks where water changes arent that big of a hassle. everthing else helps or makes your mistakes/lazyness less critical.
I guess the sump design is okay. the most import part is making the skimmer comparment big enough for the skimmer you entend on using and same for the return pump (not too big but just big enough, the larger your skimmer/pump and space the more fuge space gets eaten up).

 

[crow666]

Thanks alot.
I was wondering,i plan on having a 10 gallon refugium and plan on using a 300gph overflow.What size return pump do I use(gph)?Do I need to regulate the water comming out of the overflow into the refugium?And when the water comes out the overflow it's going into the proteinskimmer part of the refugium is this correct?
Thanks alot for all the help,
Cory

 

[stanlalee]

thats pretty slow turnover. I use a 600gph overflow and a 600gph return pump. you will want a pump about the same size or slightly larger than the overflow is rated. small size pumps (such as 300gph pumps. hell thats a maxijet 1200) are going to see a lot of height loss pushing water up to the tank so I would look for something in the 500gph range. No regulation required unless you buy a pump larger than the overflow can handle.

 

[matt b]

For that sized tank all you NEED is a skimmer if that. If you do weekly water changes you do not even need a skimmer. A refugium helps but get a good skimmer befor the refugium. The best way to do a skimmer is to have a sump and then put the skimmer in the sump then have a few baffles after it to stop the bubbles. OR you could do it the CHEAP way like me. Get a 700gph over a 600gph pump and a plastic bin that will fit under your stand and use the bin as a sump and do not use any baffles. As long as the skimmer output and the pump input are not close you should not have bubble problems (I dont). And I would get 2 koralia #2s for flow.

 

[crow666]

Thanks.What size skimmer should I try to get,like the kind of setup you have?700gph over a 600gph pump?Will the 300gph overflow stll work good with this?Do you have the same size tank?
I started building the sump/Refugium out of a 10gallon tank,i'll get pics.Do you have any paticular brand that seems to do well?
I'm just trying to get as much figured out before I go and blow alot of money$$$
Thanks again,
Cory

 

[stanlalee]

Originally Posted by CROW666 http:///forum/post/2665353
Thanks.What size skimmer should I try to get,like the kind of setup you have?700gph over a 600gph pump?Will the 300gph overflow stll work good with this?Do you have the same size tank?
I started building the sump/Refugium out of a 10gallon tank,i'll get pics.Do you have any paticular brand that seems to do well?
I'm just trying to get as much figured out before I go and blow alot of money$$$
Thanks again,
Cory
If you have a 300gph overflow you cant use a 600-700gph return pump (unless you buy a valve in line after the pump to throttle it back), they push more than a 300gph overflow can drain. Something in the 400-500gph range will work after head loss. How much money do you plan on spending on a skimmer? that would help with recommendations. My tank is a 30g with 10g sump. I just started it back up so all I have are 10 snails and two fish but I use to have it up for 3yrs https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/210615/tank-photography-hard-to-believe-it-would-be-here and went to a 100g now back to a 30g after "the incident". you can see I used a cheap seaclone 100 on the 30g and it was perfectly acceptable on that size tank and that skimmer was suppose to suck (I got pictures showing otherwise though). I'm using a coralife super skimmer 125 because I have it left over from my 100g. I looked for a used smaller higher end skimmer (Tunze nano, ASM mini, AquaC urchin) but after 3 or so failed attempts I just made the coralife fit (also suppose to suck but I managed to use it on a 100g with SPS, two clams, 4 anthias, 2 tangs on a tank fed twice a day. go figure). Its more than I'll ever need now (tank I used it on http://dubfidub.homestead.com/julyfi...hfullview1.jpg but its finicky). I would look into the Octopus NW 110, ASM mini G or Tunze nano. all good skimmers for a small tank and wont break the bank.

 

[crow666]

Thanks.That tank looked good(30g).I'll try looking for those skimmers.
So I want to stick with a 500gph return with the 300gph overflow,ok.I need to put a valve in the return to keep it from overlowing anyways right?Do you have pics. of your plumbing?
I appreciate all the info you given me.
Thanks,
Cory

 

[crow666]

I looked up those skimmers you suggested,not bad price at all.
Thanks,
Cory
My setup is going to be,
40 gallon breeder
10 gallon refugium(300gph overflow with 500gph return)
55 plus pounds of liverock
Octopus nw 110 protein skimmer
2 150watt mh with actinic blue t5's(lunar light's?)
and a pair of koralia powerheads(#2's?)
Does that sound good?
Corals are zoo's and ric. mushrooms,maybe a few more?
And a pair of clowns with 10?Turbo snails?
Thanks,
Cory

 

[matt b]

Originally Posted by CROW666
http:///forum/post/2666819
I looked up those skimmers you suggested,not bad price at all.
Thanks,
Cory
My setup is going to be,
40 gallon breeder
10 gallon refugium(300gph overflow with 500gph return)
55 plus pounds of liverock
Octopus nw 110 protein skimmer
2 150watt mh with actinic blue t5's(lunar light's?)
and a pair of koralia powerheads(#2's?)
Does that sound good?
Corals are zoo's and ric. mushrooms,maybe a few more?
And a pair of clowns with 10?Turbo snails?
Thanks,
Cory
With that light you can do any corals you want. Koralia #2s are good for that size. you want a slower return then the overflow or the overflow cant handle the flow.

 

[crow666]

Thanks.
I can just use a valve and slow it down right?
Or get a 300 or 400gph pump?
Thanks,
Cory

 

[matt b]

Originally Posted by CROW666
http:///forum/post/2666828
Thanks.
I can just use a valve and slow it down right?
Or get a 300 or 400gph pump?
Thanks,
Cory
if you put a valve on it that will put stress on it. If your getting a faster pump then T it off so the right part of the t goes to the sump then put a ball valve on that so you can just have some of the water put back into the sump