Sand and Skimmer

[rburn99]

I have a couple questions I would appreciate hearing others thoughts on.. regarding sand and skimmers

About the substrate...
I've decided to return the bags of crushed coral I got with my setup and go with Aragonite Sand. Can I get some feedback about this? I've only used coral before and that was my last tank.. an undergravel.. a long time ago.

I'll be running a 90 gallon reef (soft corals and fish). What would be a good depth. 1", 2", 4"? Do I need to siphon it (I had to do it on every water change with coral) or stir it up? Is the sugar fine size good or should I mix in some rougher granuled (or even some small shell media) Should I put some Live Sand or Garf Grunge on top (or mix it in) or will the 100 lbs of Live Rock be enough?

About the skimmer... I can get a RedSea Berlin w/Rio 2500 pump for $175. But I like the description of the EuroReef ES5-3. It sounds trouble free (no tweaking other that setting height of water column?) But it is $270 and doesn't come with a pump. Is the Berlin good? Is it one that will require regular tinkering and adjusting?

Thanks a lot,
Robb

 

[keethrax]

I have a couple questions I would appreciate hearing others thoughts on.. regarding sand and skimmers

About the substrate...
I've decided to return the bags of crushed coral I got with my setup and go with Aragonite Sand. Can I get some feedback about this? I've only used coral before and that was my last tank.. an undergravel.. a long time ago.

I'll be running a 90 gallon reef (soft corals and fish). What would be a good depth. 1", 2", 4"? Do I need to siphon it (I had to do it on every water change with coral) or stir it up? Is the sugar fine size good or should I mix in some rougher granuled (or even some small shell media) Should I put some Live Sand or Garf Grunge on top (or mix it in) or will the 100 lbs of Live Rock be enough?

About the skimmer... I can get a RedSea Berlin w/Rio 2500 pump for $175. But I like the description of the EuroReef ES5-3. It sounds trouble free (no tweaking other that setting height of water column?) But it is $270 and doesn't come with a pump. Is the Berlin good? Is it one that will require regular tinkering and adjusting?

Thanks a lot,
Robb[/quote

Unless i was adding a fish that was likely to tunnel, I'd just run it at an inch or two for cosmetic purposes more than anything else. You could go the DSB (Deep Sand Bed) route, but theree are definite *potential* problems associated with them. Despite what some claim, they are not guaranteed problems, but I don't find the gains worth the risk. (or worth the loss of usable aquarium space for that matter). In fact with enough live rock I don't really believe there to *be* any real gains in most cases.

I haven't bought a skimmer in a long, long time, so I'll let someone else cover that.

 

[alkataz]

I would suggest getting a better skimmer. I would say a Aqua C. If you have some extra cash the go with a euro-reef. Both companines make some great skimmers.

 

[alkataz]

Oh yeah. I don't like DSB personally because I think they take up valuable real estate with little benefit. I have only an inch of sand in my 180 and 55 and the 70 is completely bare bottom. I had a tank with a DSB, but I siphoned it out. You are going to get alot of different opinions on the DSB thing though. It is quite a heated debate. Do alot of research and find out what method u like best. Both sides have pros and cons.

 

[shawnz28]

Go with the Euro-reef ES5-3 it is a extremely good skimmer and it is 270 like you mention but it DOES come with a pump so you would not have to buy anything else. The Es series of skimmers are really hard to beat on the performance for the dollar.

 

[Baianotang]

Yes I have to say that Euro-Reefs are the choice to go for and $270 they come ready to rock-and-roll. (with pump)

 

[rburn99]

Thanks everyone for your input.

I'll be going with 1-2" cosmetic sand bed (with CPW plumbing for water changes) and the EuroReef ES5-3.