Allow me to introduce myself.

[itsaNYthing]

Im new to the forum and this will be my first saltwater/reef tank so il be posting here often here for advice. I just picked up a 72 bow off of craigslist in MINT condition and borrowed a friends R.O pump to start filling it up yesterday.

Progress:


I have about 130 lbs of fiji white live sand in it, and Im gona start piecing together live rock as soon as my power heads come in.

Im stuck between the fluval 405, and the Rena Xp3, and an eheim, which one would you guys recommend for a good canister filter? And also i need some recommendations on a good protein skimmer. Thanks in advance.

 

[jaa1456]

Welcome for starters. But first did you do a leak test on the tank? I would always do that especialy with a used tank. I haven't used a canister filter in years, but when I did I always used Ehiem. 130 lbs of sand is a good amount of sand, My general rule of thumb is 1lb per gallon of water.

 

[bizzarro]

I have use the Eheim Pro 3, XP 3, and an Eheim W/D filter on F/W tanks.

I find the XP is the easiest to deal with when cleaning vs the Eheim Pro 3. The top of the Eheim is bulky and usually when remove the canister to clean the inside I spill some water on the floor. When the XP 3 is not prime that's also a pain in the ass to start vs the Eheim with self priming.

I'm not sure which one you'd getting but I don't think you can go wrong with either one depending on your needs.

 

[itsaNYthing]

Welcome for starters. But first did you do a leak test on the tank? I would always do that especialy with a used tank. I haven't used a canister filter in years, but when I did I always used Ehiem. 130 lbs of sand is a good amount of sand, My general rule of thumb is 1lb per gallon of water.

Absolutely, we went outside and put the tank on the lawn and filled it up to the rim with his garden hose.

 

[itsaNYthing]

I have use the Eheim Pro 3, XP 3, and an Eheim W/D filter on F/W tanks.

I find the XP is the easiest to deal with when cleaning vs the Eheim Pro 3. The top of the Eheim is bulky and usually when remove the canister to clean the inside I spill some water on the floor. When the XP 3 is not prime that's also a pain in the ass to start vs the Eheim with self priming.

I'm not sure which one you'd getting but I don't think you can go wrong with either one depending on your needs.

Im actually going to pickup the fluval 405 now, my cousin and one other person I know has it, and theyre happy with its performance and reliability, so based on what they say and the reviews ive read I decided to go with the fluval.

 

[NYreefNoob]

better yet would be getting a sump and a over flow box, canister filters if not kept clean constant will become a nitrate factory

 

[roc5288]

+1
Welcome to MR.
Sump all the way.

 

[fallenlordz]

welcome to MR also :bablefish

got that same tank - but its fresh water :lol: NICE tank

 

[dj ze]

forget about the canister filter and invest the money on a sump if you don't buy one now you will in the future so just do it right the first time you could put all your equipment inside the sump plus if you don't want to spend a lot of money just start out with a 20 gallon long tank you could do a lot with it and you could pick one up really cheap

 

[noelskii]

you should get it drilled.

 

[TheDumbSter]

welcome to MR!
go with a sump, it will save you $$ in the long run.. And if you decide on getting overflow, i do drill tanks.

 

[itsaNYthing]

for the time being im going to run it with the canister filter and then add a refugium. and at that point when i go with a sump il just hookup someone with a good price, with the canister to get them started with there tank.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Welcome to MR

 

[NL146]

Welcome to MR and good luck with your tank. Out of curiousity, in your pic - is that the fiji white in the tank? And if it is, are you filling the tank directly from the ro/di filter? I'm know my observation must be wrong, but if that's sand in the tank and you're filling directly from the ro/di output you've missed the step of mixing the salt into the water.

 

[itsaNYthing]

Welcome to MR and good luck with your tank. Out of curiousity, in your pic - is that the fiji white in the tank? And if it is, are you filling the tank directly from the ro/di filter? I'm know my observation must be wrong, but if that's sand in the tank and you're filling directly from the ro/di output you've missed the step of mixing the salt into the water.

yup its fiji white... and were putting salt in as we go as per the recommendation of my cousin who has a decent ammount of expirience with reef tanks.

 

[NL146]

...were putting salt in as we go...

What do you mean by putting it in as you go?

 

[Sputnik]

Hello all, new guy!

 

[pauliwalnuts]

Welcome to the hobby and MR. Your going to be throughing your money away with any canister you buy. It will turn into a nitrate compartement. Why don't you pick-up a sump from CustomKing, very nice design and afordable. you also said that you were going to be setting up a refiugium. Well, his sumps are hybrid refiugium and sump altogether. I've been using this type of sump with great results. Good luck

 

[albano]

... And were putting salt in as we go as per the recommendation of my cousin who has a decent amount of expirience with reef tanks.

what do you mean by putting it in as you go?

+1 ????????????