AnemoneLover and I just picked up our 130 gallon acrylic tank, used with a stand and a variety of misc. parts. The guy had it set up for freshwater, so there is quite a bit of work to do to get it ready for what we want - a semi reef system with a broad range of life ... soft and hard coral, hermit crabs, live rock, anemone of course, and some manageable fish ie nothing too tempermental for the first year or so.
My first real questions are three fold - filtration, overflow and lighting.
There are three threaded 1" holes in the bottom of the tank now. He had two of the holes going into a Flueval filter ... one water outlet sticking 4 or 5 inches above his gravel bed, and one under gravel outlet. The other hole was used as a water return after going through the Flueval and heater, with water being dumped out of a pipe that stood an inch above water level. This just doesn't seem optimal to me, especially for a salt water tank. I am worried about cold spots in the corners, mostly, and a lack of filtration power.
How can I best use these predrilled holes for my salt water creatures? I was thinking of running a sump system potentially with a seperate refugium down in the cabinet, with glass heaters for the refugium and the tank, foregoing his inline heater all together and using that for a quarantine tank instead, but then what do I do with the holes? Three undergravel filter outlets and use an over the back return for warmed water, or powerheads in the corners? Two undergravel outlets and one inlet running to a spray pipe? How much filtration power do I need, and how much care do I need to put into getting an even flow of warm, filtered water to all parts of the tank? Will powerheads generate enough circulation to cover any cold spots?
If I go with the sump, how much volume should I shoot for? I noticed our LFS had a "complete" sump unit with bio balls and sponge-type filter on sale for $125, but didn't check it's total volume. I did notice that it didn't have a pump. We got a pump with the tank, but I haven't really checked its brand or flow ratings yet so I'm not sure if it will be of immediate use.
Is it ok to try and start up the refugium at tha same time as the rest of the tank? It seems like it'd be ok, but is that just asking for extra trouble?
Do I need an overflow? The tank doesn't have one now, but I've read all the how to's on the site and I don't see any real problems with making one, but if I use a sump do I really need one?
Since AnemoneLover wants to have a variety of corals, I gather that we'll need to go with the mh lighting. It's a 20" tall x 18" wide x 6' long tank, what kind of bulb setup are we looking at to properly illuminate our new little friends?
We also stumbled on a nicely kept, very friendly staffed LFS in Sunnyvale, if anyone is local. Only 3.5 months old, so very little stock, but they were very pleasant. Aquatic Lifeforms, Inc. on the corner of Mary and Fremont, on the opposite corner of the intersection from the Walgreens.
Dave
My first real questions are three fold - filtration, overflow and lighting.
There are three threaded 1" holes in the bottom of the tank now. He had two of the holes going into a Flueval filter ... one water outlet sticking 4 or 5 inches above his gravel bed, and one under gravel outlet. The other hole was used as a water return after going through the Flueval and heater, with water being dumped out of a pipe that stood an inch above water level. This just doesn't seem optimal to me, especially for a salt water tank. I am worried about cold spots in the corners, mostly, and a lack of filtration power.
How can I best use these predrilled holes for my salt water creatures? I was thinking of running a sump system potentially with a seperate refugium down in the cabinet, with glass heaters for the refugium and the tank, foregoing his inline heater all together and using that for a quarantine tank instead, but then what do I do with the holes? Three undergravel filter outlets and use an over the back return for warmed water, or powerheads in the corners? Two undergravel outlets and one inlet running to a spray pipe? How much filtration power do I need, and how much care do I need to put into getting an even flow of warm, filtered water to all parts of the tank? Will powerheads generate enough circulation to cover any cold spots?
If I go with the sump, how much volume should I shoot for? I noticed our LFS had a "complete" sump unit with bio balls and sponge-type filter on sale for $125, but didn't check it's total volume. I did notice that it didn't have a pump. We got a pump with the tank, but I haven't really checked its brand or flow ratings yet so I'm not sure if it will be of immediate use.
Is it ok to try and start up the refugium at tha same time as the rest of the tank? It seems like it'd be ok, but is that just asking for extra trouble?
Do I need an overflow? The tank doesn't have one now, but I've read all the how to's on the site and I don't see any real problems with making one, but if I use a sump do I really need one?
Since AnemoneLover wants to have a variety of corals, I gather that we'll need to go with the mh lighting. It's a 20" tall x 18" wide x 6' long tank, what kind of bulb setup are we looking at to properly illuminate our new little friends?
We also stumbled on a nicely kept, very friendly staffed LFS in Sunnyvale, if anyone is local. Only 3.5 months old, so very little stock, but they were very pleasant. Aquatic Lifeforms, Inc. on the corner of Mary and Fremont, on the opposite corner of the intersection from the Walgreens.
Dave
