New salt water aquarium

[katdawg16]

I am interested in starting a saltwater aquarium. I have bought a couple of new books and and have finished one and am looking into starting my aquarium, I was wanting to know what is the largest tank I can get without setting up a sump. I want to get started and go slow. Any ideas?

 

[jdragunas]

You really don't have to have a sump for any size tank IMO, as long as you have enough LR and LS to keep up with the bio-load. You could really get away with just having the LR, LS, and a protein skimmer, but you'll be doing a lot of water changes.
There's pros and cons of large tanks and small ones: Large tanks are easier to keep, because there's more water, and therefore a larger margin of error to work with. however, larger tanks require larger everything else, and are therefore much more pricey to run. Smaller tanks, on the other hand, are much harder to care for, because there's a smaller margin of error you have to work with. However, they are also much cheaper to have. It all depends on what you personally want with the tank. if you want as little maintenance as possible, you should go with a larger tank, but if that's too costly, go with the smaller one. It's really six in one hand and half a dozen in the other.
I hope i answered your question. I tend to ramble...
Jenn

 

[katdawg16]

I am planning on doing a 50 gallon tank, with live rock and sand. If I have to change the water alot, I can always add a sump right?
Thanks for your reply

 

[jdragunas]

Yes, you can really add anything to your tank at anytime (this excludes fish!!!) just remember that with saltwater, anything you do must be done slowly, and with a LOT of patience. If you're planning on having no filter at all, you must have a LOT of LR and LS, and you definately need a protein filter! If you decide to get a sump, make sure it's capable of handling more than your tank.
Hmm... this may help too. I have a 55 gallon tank. I have 90 lbs of LR and about 20-30lbs of LS. I have a wet/dry filter, meant to handle 75 gallons, with a built in protein skimmer. I haven't done a water change in 2 months, and my water parameters are PERFECT! A lot of people will tell you that wet/dry filters are things of the past, and that they're nitrate factories. This is definately not true. Most people think that if they have a filter, they wont' have to do water changes, or as many, and then when the nitrate spikes, they blame it on the filter they have. i would suggest a wet/dry filter to anyone willing to listen!
Another kind of filter you can look into, which is better than a wet/dry is a refugium. This is basically a wet/dry filter, but with LS, LR, and a few kinds of microalgae. The algae lives on ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites, so when the water passes through it, the algae sucks all of those bad things out of the water. It's a great thing to have, and it also has so many other benefits. Do a search on this forum for refugiums, there's a lot of useful information.
There i go rambling again.
Jenn

 

[seahorse11]

Jenn,
You have some great ideas! I am setting up a 125 gallon and was only going to have a 50 gal sump, just enough that if the tank drains, it will only drain up to the overflows. Do you think I need to go bigger?
I also didnt REALLY want to go with a sump, but it seems like the sumps keep the tanks cleaner than just a filter and a protein skimmer.
What kind of skimmer and filter do you have on your tank?

 

[jdragunas]

Well if you're going with a sump, i'd suggest doing a refugium instead. This is basically the same as a sump, but it holds filtration media such as: miracle mud, a 5-6 inch deep sand bed, LR rubble, chaeto, and other mircoalgaes. This will keep your system cleaner than anything, and is the best investment! The microaglaes thrive off of ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites, so when the water passes through it, the algae sucks those bad things out of the water, like a vampire.
I have a 75 gallon Proclear Wet/dry filter with a built in protein skimmer. I add activated charcoal once a week, and phosphorous sponge once a month. This keeps my water pretty clear, but i regret not knowing about a refugium before i did that. I'm planning on adding a 15 gallon refugium to my current setup.
From what i understand, a sump is just somewhere to store all of that equipment that you don't want crowding your tank, such as the protein skimmer, heater, etc...
General rule of thumb is that the sump/fuge should be at least 10-20% of your tank size, so with a 125 gallon tank, you would be ok with a 20 gallon fuge. However, the bigger the better. The more water you have in your system, the easier it will be to work with. With more water, you have a larger margin of error to work with. For example, if you had 40 ppm nitrates in a 30 gallon tank, that same amount of nitrates would be 20 ppm in a 60 gallon tank. This would make a world of difference in the long run.
Hope i've been helpful!
jenn