do I need a sump or refugium?

[ti6al4v_15]

Just in the process of setting up a 90 reef. Do I really ned a sump or refugium? If I don't do I need any extra equipment? If I do what size do you prefer?

thanks,
Lane

 

[Anonymous]

Sumps are great. They give you more water volume, and allow you to keep a lot of equipment out of the show tank.
'Fuges are nice, but not necessary.

As to the extra equipment - what do you have now. The more specific you make questions the easier they will be to answer.

 

[ti6al4v_15]

well I have a dual bak-pak skimmer and an emperor 400. what else do I need? I also have a UV sterilizer. Should I use it on the reef?

thanks

 

[M_Phobos]

Well..what do you want to keep in this reef? It helps to know going in so that you can design the system to meet the needs of its future inhabitants.

I would always advocate having some sort of sump/'fuge space in a system..it just makes everything infinately more convenient (but also expensive..lol).

If you can tell us what you want to keep, we can probably better tell you what you will/may need/want.

Cheers,
Fred

 

[ti6al4v_15]

To tell you the truth im really not sure at this point. I want everything. :roll: I would like to do an SPS tank but as I am new don't know if it is such a great idea yet.

 

[M_Phobos]

You're right, SPS are (VERY generally speaking), the hardest corals to take care of. However, the flip side to this is that, if you want an SPS system, why setup something for other corals, just because they're easier? I did that with my first system, and had a beautiful tank full of softies that I really didn't care to look at..lol. "Difficult", to me, just means, "I need to read more and be more careful"...so by all means..do just that. Research your butt off for a few months before you setup. (thats always good advice anyway)

Now then, assuming you want an SPS tank, you're looking at two major factors...flow and lighting. For SPS, again, generally speaking, you want a lot of both. (multiple 400w MH bulbs and Tunze Steams to back up a nice fat system pump come to mind) I'd also definately go with a sump setup...for a 90 gallon tank I'd say something in at least the 55gal+ range. It'll give you plenty of room for your skimmer, heater, and miscellaneous sump "junk" lol.

The best advice I could give would be to look into other people with 90gal setups, see how they do it, see how successful each method is, and then ask "why?". Read, read, and read some more, and then come back with a good general equipment proposal for others to read and give you feedback on.

Cheers,
Fred

 

[Anonymous]

They say(experts) that SPS are not for the beginner, however, if you do want to keep SPS, treat your tank even without SPS, like you have SPS..Itll make things easier on the transition of adding SPS to your tank when the time comes...also PM Len, one of the Admin guys..ive seen his tanks and his SPS, very pretty and he'd be more than willing to lend the advise on what he has done...

 

[krullulon]

Just in the process of setting up a 90 reef. Do I really ned a sump or refugium? If I don't do I need any extra equipment? If I do what size do you prefer?

thanks,
Lane

i have a 3-month old 90g reef with a 30g sump... in my perfect world, i'd actually have a 90g sump (actually, in my perfect world i'd have a 1500g tank and 500g sump that lived in a large equipment room, i wouldn't have to work and i'd have unlimited funds to buy more tank crap and make art... but that's another story. ).

IMO, when you start hitting the 90g display tank range a sump is a huge help just to hide all of the equipment, and to have a good location to manage water changes and topoffs... and if you want to get really into it, you can use a section of your sump as an easy macro-algae refugium.

i'll eventually house SPS -- but i'm waiting to hit the 6 month mark minimum... the tank needs to mature and stabilize, and i want to make sure i've gone through the various algae cycles and startup gotchas first. there's plenty of other stuff to keep you busy for the first 6 months.

for things you need: MH lighting for a 90 SPS tank is probably a must (although i think M_phobos's "multiple 400w MH and a tunze stream for high-flow" recommendation is a bit excessive -- i have a single 250W MH with an additional 300W of actinics and that should be fine, and you can get enough flow with a few maxijet 1200's on a wavemaker in addition to your main return pump without dropping 500 bucks on a few tunze streams).

i'd kill the emperor filter from your list (i haven't seen anything that suggests a power filter adds a benefit in addition to LR and skimming, and the consensus seems to be that you'll just end-up introducing additional nitrates into your system from the biowheel). if you do keep the emperor, you might want to nix the biowheel and just use the carbon filtration.

i also agree with lord nikon -- design for SPS, but then wait and learn. once you're more confident with the basic stuff, then you'll be ready to move on to SPS.

 

[ChrisRD]

There are plenty of hardy species of SPS corals you could get started with, but I agree that the tank should be mature first - at least several months old, although 6+ months would be better.

I also agree that on a tank your size, I would plan on a sump and a real skimmer (beckett, Euro-Reef, etc.). As much flow as you can get, (Tunze Streams, closed-loops, surge devices, etc.) and strong lighting (a pair of 250 or 400 watt halides) would also be highly recommended. You could get by with less, but may not be happy with the results.

Also, plan on a calcium reactor (you can build a DIY one to keep costs down) and/or a good 2-part Ca/Alk additive (again, you can DIY to keep costs down, see this article ) to keep up with your Ca/Alk demand. An SPS tank that size, once stocked and growing-out, will really suck up the calcium/alk.

HTH

 

[down&dirty]

I would never setup a tank without a sump and a fuge. The sump makes evaporation less of an eyesore, and the fuge helps me sleep at night. Remeber this is an ecosystem that you are building. Think about the oceans, they have coral reefs, open water, and large and I mean large amounts of alge to help clean out toxins. Plus I have to say, the fuge gives me something to look at when the tank lights are out. It is really neat to watch all the critters that live and thrive in the fuge. I also let it double as a place to put things that are being picked on in the main tank. I combined the fuge and sump into a single 20 gallon tank, but will be upgrading it to a 55 gallon setup when I move next month. It just keeps my tank more stable, and stable is definitly a plus. Good luck and I hope all goes well in your persuit of a living reef.