Equipment needed for reef tanks?

[Big Jim]

I am about to convert my 55 gal tank to a reef tank. I was wondering if my filtration was enough or if I needed more equipment. Here is what I have:

aqua clear 500 hang on back filter
seaclone 100 protein skimmer
fluidized bed filter
4X65 pc moon light by custom sea life
40-50 lbs of live rock

Can I get by with this? Thoughts?

[Condiman]

What kind of corals are you looking to purchase for your reef tank. Softies, SPS (Small Polyp Stonies), LPS (Large Polyp Stonies). This will determine if you should upgrade your lighting. As for your skimmer I would upgrade to something better but for right now it should be fine I have no experience with a fluidized bed filter so maybe some one else can help ya with that one otherwise you should be good to go. If you really want to go all out you could also get a sump and put that in your stand. This way you will have a little more room in your aquarium because the heaters and things will be underneith.

[Big Jim]

I was under the assumption that my lighting was in check. I just bought the fixture:
4x65 watt PC Moonlight by Custom Sealife
2 10,000k , 65 watts each
2 actinics, 65 watts each.

I'm just going to start with hardy inverts being a newb to reefs and all. Thanks.

[Condiman]

Then your lights should be fine then

[blackangler]

get rid of the feud bed for a reef thank, that is a fowlf and fo item.

[dlopes]

I Big Jim,

In my opinion the lights are ok just for the hardiest inverts (as you say) - if you want to go for LPS and SPS you should get some HQI (150W at least)

The hang on back filter is a mecanical one and I think that you shouldn´t have it. In a reef aquarium the better filtration is the Live Rock with a god Skimmer. A refugium to export organic waste is great to!

In my case I just have a big amount of Live Rock and an oversized Skimmer - all is doing great.

Here is a Scheme of my setup:

http://www.megagaleria.com/pictures/Pic_165_17.jpg

You shouldn´t forget that you really need some RO filter to perform the water changes and if possible some deonizer to! (I bought from the Ebay a nice RO device with the deonizer - it came from Canada!)

Concerning the water movement I think that tou must have at least 10 times the volume of your aquarium - at least 550 gallons an hour. This could be performed with some power heads and also with the help of a big return pump if you chose to have a sump (I strongly recomend that!!)

Sorry for all this "story" and some possible mystakes!!! I think that you should read a lot before start - you´ll get your reward!!
:) :)

If You Can Try And Upgrade Your Skimmer. The Seaclone Is Not That Great

[Condiman]

I Big Jim,

In my opinion the lights are ok just for the hardiest inverts (as you say) - if you want to go for LPS and SPS you should get some HQI (150W at least)


No I kinda have to slightly disagree with ya on this because I belive that he can keep almost all LPS corals with the current lights he has because I just has to place them closer to his light source. And for the SPS I will have to agree with ya because HQI dose a great job with these types of corals. I think the only SPS he could keep with his current light setup would be a Pavona but the growth would be quite slow.




Sorry for all this "story" and some possible mystakes!!! I think that you should read a lot before start - you´ll get your reward!!


I will have to agree with ya there because we all make mistakes and I know I probably wouldnt have made the mistakes that I did but I didnt have a computer when I started but if I did man I would have saved alot of $$$. So ask plenty of questions and your tank setup will go a bit smother.

[dlopes]

No I kinda have to slightly disagree with ya on this because I belive that he can keep almost all LPS corals with the current lights he has because I just has to place them closer to his light source. And for the SPS I will have to agree with ya because HQI dose a great job with these types of corals. I think the only SPS he could keep with his current light setup would be a Pavona but the growth would be quite slow.

I agree with you! You can keep almost all LPS with florescente lights but the growth will be shorter - I think that we all want them to grow :) :). I have some LPS and when I put the HQI´s they really expand their polips...and start growing!!! You can keep them but to amke them grow you should think ahead!!!

I will have to agree with ya there because we all make mistakes and I know I probably wouldnt have made the mistakes that I did but I didnt have a computer when I started but if I did man I would have saved alot of $$$. So ask plenty of questions and your tank setup will go a bit smother.

I recently wrote an article to a local magazin, where I put in some lines my experience with my reef tank - I also made lots of mistakes and I don´t really wana now how much money I spend!! As you say the truth is - we all make mistakes - but the point is that we should talk with each other and ask all the questions - even the ones that could seem absurd!!!

[Condiman]

Right on