A Plan & Some Questions

Rcpilot

Rcpilot

Reef enthusiast
I'm sure that some of you know by now that I'm using a 30g tall as my first reef tank. I'd like to lay out my plan and list my equipment and see what you all think.

Please feel free to offer advise or criticism if you see a problem or room for improvement in my plan.

30g tall measuring 24Wide x 24Tall x 12Deep
Aqualight Deluxe Double 24" 130W Power Compact lights. One 10,500K daylight 65w and one actenic 65W.
2 -- 1w LED moonlights
3-4" bed of crushed coral that I ran through my blender to bust it up into finer sand. It's now almost identical in size to common "reef sand" that you'd buy at the LFS.
Current Fision Nano Skimmer
CPR medium refugium with CPR lighting system and stand on top.

Thats the basic setup of the tank right now.

Additional equipment that I'm not sure if I should use or not:
HOB Magnum Cannister 250GPH
200GPH powerhead
Whisper 20 HOB cartridge filter

The animals:
Non yet.
Live rock--I want a minimum 45lbs of live rock. I'd actually like to shove about 60-70 pounds of live rock in this tank, but not sureif I can put that much in there. I am planning to buy a 50lb box of "dry" lace rock from the LFS to start the "construction" of my reef. I may not use all of that immediately. I'll probably put in about 10-15 pounds of actual live rock for starters and let it mini-cycle again.

Only a few fish. A Clown and some bottom sifters. Blennies or Gobys. Maybe a Damsel. Maybe a dwarf Angel like a Lemonpeel or a Flame--not sure.

Eventually, I want a carpet anenome for my Clown. I want feather dusters and corals.

I DO think I should use the 200GPH powerhead in a corner to move water.

I am thinking about using the HOB canister. I was thinking I might fill it with activated carbon for water clarity and some filter media to support a small bacteria colony. Not really sure what to do with this canister. Paid too much for it at the LFS and just hate to chuck it under the stand and let it collect dust.

The HOB Whisper cartridge filter is REALLY close to being chucked in the trashcan. It's small. It doesn't move much water. It's ugly. Am I being stupid? Should I use EVERY cleaning filter and water-moving device I have at my disposal? Maybe take the cartridge out and just use it to move water?

I'm going to put some live rock rubble in my refugium along with a sand bed. I'm not sure what type of sand to put in there. I haven't bought any live sand yet. I could buy a 10lb or 20lb bag of live sand and put a couple inches in the fuge and the rest in the tank.

What type of plants am I going to need in the fuge? I see pics of large plants in refugiums. It looks like a wad of vines or long stemmed plant with small leaves. Not algae. Does this just grow all by itself? Will it appear out of my live rock rubble?

I know this is a TON of questions. Would REALLY appreciate any thought or suggestions. Thanks very much.
 
Whew! Let me see if I can try to get through this... ;)

Definitely use the powerhead.
I would skip the canister filter. They can lead to nitrate problems. You can use it every couple weeks or every month with carbon, but I wouldn't run carbon 24/7.
The Whisper filter is pretty much worthless.
You could put 60 to 70 lbs of live rock in your tank. I have around 2.5 lbs rock per gallon in my tank.
Stay away from the damsels. ESPECIALLY in a tank your size. They will likely kill any other fish since they are so territorial.
For macroalgae in your fuge, go with chaetomorpha (aka chaeto). It looks like a ball of brillo pad. Just a clump of strings. You could also use caulerpa, which looks leafy, but I prefer chaeto. You will need to buy macroalgae at your LFS or online, it won't come on your live rock.
 
Okay,let me gather my thoughts..........ha!
1)Use the powerhead.
2)Here I have a slight different opinion,use the canister to run carbon,replace floss weekly and carbon bi-monthly or use carbon for a week or two a month.The thing with canisters is clean often so they don't become a biological filter which can lead to nitrate/phosphate issues.
3)Save the whisper for a QT filter later on or maybe even mix saltwater.
4)The fusion nano skimmer I hear are worthless,It may be difficult to get it to skim.
5)I would skip the damsel too.How about a clown?
6)I skip the carpet anemone.....super difficult and you don't have enough light.
7)I like oolitic sand which is a very,very fine aragonite sand in a fuge.Miracle mud works well or a mixture of the two will work.
8)For that lighting,I would stick with soft and LPS corals.Not really enough light for SPS,clams,and most anemones.
9)Chaeto are the easiest macro for a fuge.They don't need much light nor care about the flow.
10)Most fish store sell Caribsea Arag-live live sand.Check the expiration date.

If I forget anything let me know...good luck.
 
I agree with the above here,
No anemone with that light , if you are set on one. I would save the money from the filter and put it twards T-5 lights. ( my next setup will have T-5's) you will also be able to keep more corals under them,
The power head is good
Im not to Skimmer smart yet, all i can say is I like my super Skimmer it gets alot of the gunk out.
I liked the Idea of your Crushed crushed coral Sand bed.
 
Oh yeah, I forgot to say my opinion on the carpet anemone :D. They're a difficult species of anemone to keep. And you don't have enough light. And the tank is probably too small. And if you do have one and it gets sick or dies, it will kill EVERYTHING in a tank that size. And they have been known to catch and eat fish, even their host clowns. I saw a carpet once catch and eat it's own clown. Traitor!!! Don't risk all your other animals for it.
 
Im going to agree with everybody else on this one.
Like Lion said.Get yourself a CSS skimmer.There not the most expensive,not the cheapest.But they work and give youo the option of hanging on the back of your tank or running it in a sump.
I would watch the sand sifters with your choice of sand.The grains may have sharp edges from being ground up,which could damage the gills of any sand sifting fish.
Just stay with more of the soft corals and a few LPS with your light.The deeper the tank,the stronger the light needs to be to penetrate the water to get to the corals.
Sounds like your gonna have a killer set up.
Remember to post pictures or we'll confiscate your corals.
 
Thanks for the help. Really appreciate it.

Using the HOB Whisper on a QT tank sounds like a good idea. Thats enough water movement for a 5 gallon QT Tank.

Sounds like a couple different opinions on the HOB canister. For now, I'll leave it off.

I'll skip the Carpet anenome. Didn't realize they were so aggresive. I've had animals eat other animals before and it ain't no fun to watch a new $60 Flame Angel disappear into the mouth of a large Snowflake eel. :frustrat:

Skip the Damsel too. No sense in stocking the tank with a bully.

I failed to mention that I'm saving for a MH light. Haven't picked one out yet. I'd like to keep this 130w PC fixture and just add a small 75-100w MH light in a couple months. Thats going to set me back a few hundred bucks.

Biff - Chaeto is EXACTLY wat I was thinking about. And also thanks for the heads up on the macroalgae. I thought it would just grow if I had enough light. See how much I don't know?

I'm going to give it a go with the Nano skimmer. I bought it because it was small and cheap. I'm fairly decent with mechanical devices and making stuff work. But, I'd better not toot my horn too much--I could very well be on here in a couple weaks blasting the quality and performance of this thing. If it sucks--ebay is a good place to unload it.

I'm worried about my turnover rate. My flow in the tank.

If I skip the canister, then all I've got for flow is a 200GPH powerhead and the pump in the refugium. CPR doesn't give very good descriptions on their website, and I had to dig and dig and dig just to find out exactly what size I wanted and what fuge light to put on it. I have NO IDEA what powerhead is included in this fuge kit. It could be 60GPH or 500GPH. :shock:

Let's say that fuge comes with a 200GPH powerhead/pump. Combine that with the 200GPH powerhead I have.

That gonna be enough water movement? I've been tempted to buy one of those powerheads that move back and forth to help with water movement.

All I have for filtration is the fuge and the skimmer.

All I have for water movement is the 200GPH powerhead and the unknown pump in the fuge.

Thanks for all the replies. You guys/gals are such a great source of info.
 
You might want to think about investing in a Koralia #2 or 3.To place inside your tank along with your other powerhead.
Turn over is the flow through your filter system.
Flow rate in the tank should be different than your turn over.
 
You'll want to keep the flow through your fuge kinda low.I'm not sure whats reccomended there,but I think its on the low side.
 
i'm not sure on the cost of the nano skimmer you are looking at. but, marine depot has the tunze nano skimmer for about 130.00 i think.
 
i'm trying current fission skimmer in nano tank it skims but not well have to get it in water at right level to work. Honestly remora hang on nano skimmer is probally the best way to go. Or do like i just did i found a remora skimmer on reef central for 70 bucks.
 
If you want more flow than why not use the canister.Run it empty just for flow.
Don't get a Power Sweep powerhead,they suck.After awhile they will stop rotating.They are also big and the flow is weak.If your not going to use the canister for flow,I recommend a Koralia #1 or #2.
 
I am a newbe... all I have learn is that you go slow and you can make all your equipment work the way you want... I have ask about some of the equipment at the FO store and they all have different opinions... So let me know how it works...
 
WOOT! WOOT! :bounce:

Got my CPR 2 refugium today!! I'm giggly!! :toothy12:

I hung it on the tank and filled it with water. Turned it on. Put my light on top too.

Right now, I'm using my Magnum canister filter to move water. It hasn't got any filter media inside or any cartridges. Just pumping water at 250GPH.

Also have a 200GPH powerhead going.

Both are adjusted for maximum surface disruption to help oxygenate the water.

I dumped about 4lbs or 5lbs of fine sand and 2 pounds of crushed coral into my fuge.

15lbs of sand into the tank--on top of my sandy coral that I crushed in the blender the other day.

I have about 4" of substrate in my tank right now.

It's cloudy now, but I'm confident it will be clear in a day or two.

My wife -- bless her little heart -- went to the store and I asked her to get me a couple shrimp at the deli so that I can cycle it. I'll have rotting shrimp in this tank before sundown. :Cheers:

I'm waiting on the stands for my Aqualight. In the next day or two, it will be all set up and ready for rocks. As soon as it cycles--couple weeks--I'll be adding lace rock and live rock.

:bounce::bounce::bounce:
 
Last edited:
How big is the hang on refugium?

what is your flow ratio?

Do not put in a lemon peel angel if you want coral. They love lps and polyps
 

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