Well here it goes. We just got our first salt water tank. 90 gal on stand. Right now I have live sand and live rock in it, also the water that I mixed. A heater, one power head, and a Remora Pro Skimmer. After The water is done with the cycle, I'd like to add some fish and corral. I am confused on the filters. I have a sump box thing that goes in the stand,cabniet. I also have two more pumps. What else do I need as far as filtration?? And how does it all need to be hooked up??
Confused on what else I need
- Thread starter rammer
- Start date
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twilliard
What next?
How much rock do you have in it?
Krish
RF STAFF
Welcome to RF! Hope you enjoy it here
As for your setup, which sump do you have? If you don't know the name, any chance to get a picture? That will give us an idea of what you are working with which will enable us to tell you what needs to be done to hook it all up. As far as filtration goes, your live rock usually takes care of the biological aspect of it. Depending on how much you have (quantity and quality) will determine how much filtration it will provide. As far as any other filters go, some people use mechanical filters to trap waste, some use filters to simply run carbon, then there are skimmers which is highly recommended by the vast majority of hobbyist as well as a few other types of "filters". It all depends on what works for you and what you want to go with as there is no one way to go about things in this hobby. Water changes alone is a form of "filtration" in itself, but biologically speaking, your rock will eventually be consumed with all the beneficial bacteria you should need to successfully breakdown ammonia (highly toxic produced by waste etc) into nitrite and then into nitrate. Good luck with it all and let us know on the sump
As for your setup, which sump do you have? If you don't know the name, any chance to get a picture? That will give us an idea of what you are working with which will enable us to tell you what needs to be done to hook it all up. As far as filtration goes, your live rock usually takes care of the biological aspect of it. Depending on how much you have (quantity and quality) will determine how much filtration it will provide. As far as any other filters go, some people use mechanical filters to trap waste, some use filters to simply run carbon, then there are skimmers which is highly recommended by the vast majority of hobbyist as well as a few other types of "filters". It all depends on what works for you and what you want to go with as there is no one way to go about things in this hobby. Water changes alone is a form of "filtration" in itself, but biologically speaking, your rock will eventually be consumed with all the beneficial bacteria you should need to successfully breakdown ammonia (highly toxic produced by waste etc) into nitrite and then into nitrate. Good luck with it all and let us know on the sumpYou mention only having 1 powerhead. You'll need a lot of flow. You should be aiming for a minimum of a 10X turn over of your tank water every hour. For instance, if you have a 75 gallon tank, you need a minimum of 750 GPH of flow in the tank. Don't count the return pump flow. Several powerheads combined will create more flow, more random flow as they push current against and into each other and a much better environment for your tank.
fload
Active member
forums are a great way to get suggestions and quick answers but i would really suggest getting a book there are plenty of good books out there just look on amazon! http://www.amazon.com/Best-Fish-and...f=cm_lmt_fvlm_f_2_rlssss0/105-4019188-9698828
i really think this will shed some light on your journey ahead! Best of Luck!
i really think this will shed some light on your journey ahead! Best of Luck!
Haole
"Village Idiot"
Welcome to RF rammer
Here’s a three part article for you to reed that might help you to understand what you’ve got. hth
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sumps
Here’s a three part article for you to reed that might help you to understand what you’ve got. hth
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sumps
check out what other people have done here on RF
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10264&highlight=show+filtration
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10264&highlight=show+filtration
Scooterman
Well-known member
Welcome Rammer, may I suggest it is time to get into the reading, learning as much as you can before actually adding fish, also I know this isn't always the case but whatever your LFS tells you back the information up elsewhere, like here, & visa versa. It takes times to really understand what is going on in this glass box, don't rush your set-up & ask the questions as you go, take pictures for us to see what is going on, it really helps. Congrats on the new tank & please don't rush out to get fish & corals just yet, take time to really cycle your tank, hook it up properly & read read read!
Krish
RF STAFF
I goggled seal life systems sump and came up with this...
http://www.pbase.com/junxu95/image/72518600
Is that what you have or similar with the bio-balls? If so, then I'm afraid you will have trouble down the road with nitrate issues if you use it (alteast as a wet/dry with the bio-balls). Wet/dry's have no way of performing denitrification (turning nitrates into nitrogen gas) do to not having any anaerobic zones for the necessary bacteria to grow to perform the function so you end up with an accumilation of nitrates over time. The bad thing about nitrates is not only will it fuel nuicance algae to grow, but corals don't so well with any traces of nitrates in the tank and therefore you need to get them at minimum levels which people typically shoot for zero. Fish can tolerate quite a bit of nitrates which is fine for them, but not really for corals I'm afraid...Alot of people will convert their wet/dry's and use them as a regular sump without the "trickle" aspect of it, but I can't begin to tell you how many people get frustrated down the road for using a wet/dry because of the nitrate issues associated with it myself included being new to the hobby. So in any event, if that is what you have, then I'd re-think using it which I'm sure everyone else will
http://www.pbase.com/junxu95/image/72518600
Is that what you have or similar with the bio-balls? If so, then I'm afraid you will have trouble down the road with nitrate issues if you use it (alteast as a wet/dry with the bio-balls).
Wet/dry's have no way of performing denitrification (turning nitrates into nitrogen gas) do to not having any anaerobic zones for the necessary bacteria to grow to perform the function so you end up with an accumilation of nitrates over time. The bad thing about nitrates is not only will it fuel nuicance algae to grow, but corals don't so well with any traces of nitrates in the tank and therefore you need to get them at minimum levels which people typically shoot for zero. Fish can tolerate quite a bit of nitrates which is fine for them, but not really for corals I'm afraid...Alot of people will convert their wet/dry's and use them as a regular sump without the "trickle" aspect of it, but I can't begin to tell you how many people get frustrated down the road for using a wet/dry because of the nitrate issues associated with it myself included being new to the hobby. So in any event, if that is what you have, then I'd re-think using it which I'm sure everyone else willEwww bioballs???? If so...get rid of them. Another great book is The Conscientious Reef Keeper by Robert Fenner. IMO, it's a MUST for any reefer.
ecobalance
lifetaper
filters?we dont need no stinking filters
Freshwater tanks are filtered.Saltwater tanks are stirred.All u need is lots of circulation and the best skimmer you can afford.As for your sump,if you have it use it.Bio balls are good in salt tanks with very little rock and big fish,like a shark or stingray setup.
Freshwater tanks are filtered.Saltwater tanks are stirred.All u need is lots of circulation and the best skimmer you can afford.As for your sump,if you have it use it.Bio balls are good in salt tanks with very little rock and big fish,like a shark or stingray setup.
Krish
RF STAFF
Eco...If you read post 1 he wants corals as well so bio-balls wouldn't be a good thing, but rather sufficient rock of the right quality
Krish, Yes is perty much what I have for a sump. I was thinking about taking out the bio balls and and putting another pump in it to move more water. I have a second pump that came with tank, it is really noisy but works. Also I'am going to need lights. The hood is a Jebo. 48" I think I need 4 65 watt lights. two of one kind two of another??
Krish
RF STAFF
Yeah, not using the bio-balls would be your best bet. Eventually down the road you will regret it if you kept them. As for using the other pump for circulation, it shouldn't be needed in the sump. Incoming water should be sufficient. Infact, you don't really see anyone using an additional pump for flow in their sumps unless they have a refugium set up a particular way that requires the additional flow.
Yeah, 2 are probaly blue actinics and the other 2 a "white" bulb like a 10K. Using them all together gives a more appealing look than just the white's by themselves. As for you needing additional lighting, it all depends on what corals you plan to keep. Those lights will support some softies, mushrooms and so forth, but more light demanding corals like clams, sps and so forth will require much more intense lighting like metal halides. All depends on what you go with
When people say quality, they mean porous rock. The more porous it is the better it will be for filtration purposes. 100lbs of one type of rock could be equivalent to 200lbs of another so you look for the most porous rock you can find and you will be well on your way. How much, is hard to say which is why people typically say 1-2lbs of rock per gal I guess to give you something to shoot for, but like I said it all depends on the rock so it's hard to really give a number. I usually shoot for about 1lb per gal and usually works well for my bio-loads. Hope that helped some
Krish
RF STAFF
How the sump works, water is drained from the tank into the sump via the overflow and returned to the tank by a return pump so water is always circulating. So when I said incoming water, I meant the water that is drained into the sump by the overflow which will be at the same rate (gph) as the pump being used for the return
Here's a explainantion and a little animation on how the sump works. Quite cool
http://www.melevsreef.com/what_sump.html
Here's a explainantion and a little animation on how the sump works. Quite cool
http://www.melevsreef.com/what_sump.html
