That's a big tank!!!
Is the tank acrylic or glass?? This will determine some of the recommendations you will get for flow options. I personally wouldn't shoot for any less than 40x turnover rate which is still not a whole lot to my liking, but I'm retarded when it comes to flow :shock:
. I like tons of it, but I can do that because I like bare bottom tanks. Tanks with sand usually can't handle as much flow because of potential sandstorms
A 55 gal fuge is a really nice sized fuge. Should be more than adequet IMO depending on what you are using it for. Are you using it just for nutrient export (via macro algae) or do you want to use it for something else? Let us know..I personally wouldn't mess with adding any liverock or sand in there. Not totally necessary and may just add to your maintenance. People's opinions vary, but usually what you put in your tank (liverock and sand), should be adequet enough to filter your tank biologically.
A 55 gal sump is not bad either. Once the sump can house all of the equipment you will need (skimmer, uv sterilizer, or whatever you decide to put in there) then that is just fine. Between the fuge and sump together, that will add another 100 gals to your total system volume which is great! Increased water volume in itself is a plus as the more water volume you have the more stability you will have as things like temperature etc won't be affected as easily. Just think of dropping a cup of oil in a system with only a 10 gal capacity vs a 250 gal system. You can clearly see which one would be affected more quickly. Same thing as if you had a heater on both systems and the power went off. Obviously the 10 gal will get cold much quicker than the 250 gal so increased water volume is always a plus. Where too small of a sump is concerned, I never really think a sump can be too small only unless it can't house all of the equipment in it you need it to hold as well as if it isn't able to support any backflow it would recieve from the overflows when the return pump is turned off.
Lighting - On a tank 30 inches deep, if you plan to put high light demanding corals on the bottom of the tank, you will need lighting with a big punch. Probably something in 400w Metal halide range for every 2ft x 2ft section of your tank. If you plan to put the higher light demanding corals closer to the tank's surface, than you can go with a lot less. It all depends on which corals you go with and the placement of the corals. Color all depends on a personal preference to an extent. Some people like the "bluer" look while others prefer a more crisp white look. In any case, you want to use lighting that has the highest or a really good par rating which usually comes in the form of lighting from what I've seen, in the 10K range which would be a white looking bulb. In a case like this, people would just use supplemental lighting in the form of T5's, pc's, vho's etc to add in that blue tint as typically actinics don't provide the corals with a whole lot of useable light, but people still like that blue tint. Or..You can just look for a bulb (if going metal halides) that is in the 12-14K range which would have a nice par rating that will also provide you with that nice blue look. Keep in mind if you go with Halides, heat may become a factor. Here is a website you can check out to see some bulb comparisons and the par ratings of these different bulbs.
250Watt Bulb Comparison . It is interactive so just change the bulbs and watch the tank color change.
Sand depth and live rock, well, that is a toughy. Let us know your thoughts when it comes to sand as in, are you putting it there simply for looks and for a place for some of your critters? or filtration purposes? or what...It all depends on what you are after. Sand beds at different depths will require different care and will also dictate what kind of care it will require to maintain as well as which critters you can put in your tank because if you go with a deep sandbed for eg, you don't want any critters in there that will dig down into the lower anaerobic zones as it can cause some issues so let us know your thoughts. An easy one to maintain is a shallow sand bed if sand is something you want about 1-2 inches deep max. I don't use sand and keep my nitrates at zero so it isn't totally necesary, but does have it's cons. As for liverock, there was a general rule of so many lbs per gal, but that was thrown out of the window as you could have 50lbs of one type of rock and 50lbs of another type of rock and depending on how pourus one is than the other will determine which one will provide more filtration. Sounds like you don't plan on overstocking this tank so I'd toss in what you want to give you the look you are going after and see how that works. If you need a number to shoot for just for an idea maybe 150-200lbs??
Skimmers - TONS of options out there! You will have to determine if you want a skimmer to sit in your sump or externally. Let us know that, then we can know which skimmers to suggest. No sense suggesting a skimmer that can only work in-sump if you are after an external skimmer. All work the same so non is better than the other in terms of in sump or external. Just let us know which option works better for you.
On the canister filter, you won't really need it. You can just toss a bag of carbon in your sump seeing you only use the canister for running cabon and save yourself on a piece of equipment. Atleast that's what I do.
Lastly, on reactors, personal preference. I've never had a tank that big so couldn't say what the demand would be in terms of something like a calcium reactor. A phosban reactor might not be a bad investment. They usually run fo about $100 with pump.
Just a few personal thoughts and questions to get things going. I'm sure the others will chime in with their suggestions as well. Remember, more than one way to go about things in this hobby so weigh out all of your options and do what suits you best. Also, rest assured that we are here trying to help you out and I think I can speak for everyone when I say we all want to see one another succeed with their tanks.
