confused!

A

addie

New Member
Hello All
I have recently got a 40g tank which I intend to use for a small reef set up. I used to have a 200g reef tank but that was ten years ago now and am only just getting back to it. Could anyone advise me what the score is with sumps. I'm hearing about refugiums, baffles, live sand, bio wheels etc and am in total confusion what all this is and which is best. In my day (I'm not an old git) the options were wet/dry trickle filters and that was about it. Anyway thanks in anticipation and all the best.
Addie
 
DeepBlue

DeepBlue

Member
Hi Addie and welcome to RS!:welcomera

I totally agree with you, so much has changed in the hobby over these years. Regarding the sump....
A sump is a great place to put your equipment such as a skimmers, reactors, heaters, pumps, etc. Sumps add water volume to your overall system which makes it more stable. Many also add refugiums into their sumps. A refugium is a lit section where you would have a deep sand bed, macro algae (which exports undesirable nutrients out of the water), live rock (the natural filter) and perhaps some snails (help remove waste).

For a system like yours (and mine), a 20 gallon tank can be converted into a sump. There are many DIY threads on here about this. A good one to read is www.melvsreef.com This site give a lot of info on making your own sump. Your tank will be happy you did it! Good luck to you!
 
A

addie

New Member
At last somewhere I can go and get all the advice I need and not get some dodgy salesman trying to sell me the most expensive item in his shop!
 
sasquatch

sasquatch

Brunt of all Jokes~
PREMIUM
Hi Addie! Welcome to RS. A 40 is a nice size to start over with, equipment is very reasonable and lots to choose from, maintenance is not bad especially with a sump/fuge.Ask lots of questions! see you in the posts. Steve
 
PhilOlsen

PhilOlsen

Has been struck by the ban stick
DeepBlue said:
Hi Addie and welcome to RS!:welcomera

I totally agree with you, so much has changed in the hobby over these years. Regarding the sump....
A sump is a great place to put your equipment such as a skimmers, reactors, heaters, pumps, etc. Sumps add water volume to your overall system which makes it more stable. Many also add refugiums into their sumps. A refugium is a lit section where you would have a deep sand bed, macro algae (which exports undesirable nutrients out of the water), live rock (the natural filter) and perhaps some snails (help remove waste).

For a system like yours (and mine), a 20 gallon tank can be converted into a sump. There are many DIY threads on here about this. A good one to read is www.melvsreef.com This site give a lot of info on making your own sump. Your tank will be happy you did it! Good luck to you!
Click to expand...

I agree 100%, the only thing I would ad is bigger is better for a fuge and you want to target the flow at 4-5 X tank volume per hour so the water will have enough time to benifit from the additional filtration the fuge will provide if LR, macro algae and / or LS are used.
 
lcstorc

lcstorc

Well-Known Member
Welcome to RS! As you can see lots of frienrly helpful people here so ask any quesrion you may have. Better to ask the question than make a potentially expensive mistake.
 
lgerold

lgerold

Active Member
The one big piece of advice I can give:

Buy the best equipment FIRST. Cheap, crappy equipment ALWAYS needs to be replaced later, by the best. I've learned this the hard way. Check with RS first!
 
S

subodh

Member
Hi Addie,
It is good to hear that you are back to the hobby. Lots of friendly help out here. I am also a newcomer and with the help of these guys was able to set my first marine tank successfully. I am further advancing in the hoby and make it a point to visit the site atleast once throughout the day. You too do the same it always helps to learn from problems that other people face so you are ready when you face a similar situation.
 
kyle1284

kyle1284

Well-Known Member
Welcome BACK! i jumped into the hobby 4 months ago and almost all of my information has come from the helpful people from this website!
 
A

addie

New Member
Thanks everyone for making me feel so welcome.
If I were to have a refugium, then would I be better off without trickling the water over bio balls etc. first.
Also what about lighting? Would two flourescent tubes suffice?
 
DeepBlue

DeepBlue

Member
I would not use bio-balls at all. I did at one time, but the great people here had corrected my thinking on that issue. If you have bio-balls, remove them slowly over the course of a couple weeks and then replace them with some live rock. If you don't have a system going yet, don't get the bio-balls at all. Just start with the live rock in the sump or refugium (if you choose to add one). Much better biological action without the worry of Nitrates being released back into your system.

Lighting really depends on the livestock you want to add. If you are doing corals like SPS or LPS, or anemones than you will need Metal Halide. If you are doing fish only, compact florencents or regular tubes would be fine. What is your stocking plan?
 
A

addie

New Member
Thanks Deepblue - the lighting question was meant for the refugium -sorry should have made myself clear.
 
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