How do I start reefing? I have a fish only tank.

Ok so I have a basic sump/refugium setup that I think I will try. It will be made of a 10 gallon tank with three chambers separated by plexi-glass 1st chamber: drainage pump which will feed the skimmer in the second chamber. there will be a bubble trap which will fill the second chamber. second chamber: a skimmer, 5-8 inches bagged marine sand and some macro algae, perhaps some that chaetomorpha stuff? Then there will be another bubble trap which will fill the third chamber. Third chamber: return pump and and the heater.

I have a few questions though...
What skimmer would you guys recommend?
What pumps would you guys recommend?
Is Plexi-glass ok to use?
Is bagged sand ok to use?
What happens if the power goes out? Wont my tank just drain onto the floor?
Also what lights do I use in a sump? fluorescent?

Yup chaeto is the best algae for a fuge, since it is extremely hardy and has very little risk of going hormonal. You can look in to the reef octopus skimmers if you have some extra money... I have a bubble magus skimmer witch isn't a very good quality on the outside but it does work really well, and is a little cheaper than the reef octopus ones.

And pumps as in powerheads? The cheapest ones that will do a good job are the koralias. Their only downside is that if you put them on a wavemaker they'll start turning on in reverse or not turning on at all. I have sicce voyager powerheads, which are a wee bit more expensive than the koralias but are fine on a wavemaker.

The only problem with plexi-glass panels is that silicon doesn't stick very well to them. I have plexi-glass in my sump and the baffles stay in place fine now that I used clear silicon instead of white. :roll:

Dry sand is fine...

Allow enough room in the sump so that by the time the tank has drained as much as it will, the sump hasn't overflowed. The level will be affected by the dimensions of the baffles...

On my fuge I have a 26 watt (not 23 watt D:<) CFL bulb in a lowes reflector, and my algae grows like crazy.
 
Alright! Tank almost established...I have one last question and you all will never have to deal with me again! When I give back my panther grouper, I need to invest in a cleanup crew, (My tank has a bit of algae issue right now). But do I need to have corals to house a clean up crew? My rock has been sitting in the tank for quite some time now..that means its live right? But I have no real "Reef" right? Its just rock with lots of live bacteria? What do you guys think?
 
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