Please advise

[inawe]

Have yet to install Prizm skimmer...I'm hesitant to mess up the hood (it won't fit unless the hood is altered). I also really don't want to see the skimmer. I've seen many suggest sumps to put the equipment like the skimmer, heater, etc. in, but don't know where to start. The diagrams I see make very little sense to me. Can this be bought or built easily? What all is needed for the simplest of simple sumps?

 

[cannonman]

I don't think that there is an easy way to answer that. A sump is nice to hide things, that's for sure. But there is so many options as to how to go about it that I wouldn't know where to start, do you want to drill the tank, set up an overflow box on the back with siphon, etc. etc. Just out of curiosity, you said the skimmer wouldn't fit with the hood... what size tank and what kind of lights do you have?

 

[inawe]

It's a 37g Eclipse. The hood is solid with lights at the front and biowheel at the back. Other than a sump (this is definately too complicated for me), what other options do I have? (ie. different hood, lights, other filtration)

 

[cannonman]

These are the lights that came with the tank then? If they are you will probably want to upgrade. Depends what you want to do in the long run I guess... if you want to ever have corals you will have to get better lights. If you just want a fish only tank you might be okay but I would still want to get better lights. As far as filtration, yeah, for SW you're going to have to do something.. This is what I would do, this is just one opinion in an ocean full though. I would take the hood off and buy a metal halide light to go over the tank, most of these set ups have legs that rest on the ends of the aquarium so the rest is open and putting the protien skimmer on the back wouldn't be any problem at all then. I would also use live sand and live rock in my tank- then, with this very basic set up you would always be able to, down the road a ways and after you get some experience, be able to add some soft corals and what not to the tank.