advice for my new 28 gallon

[myerst2]

Hi everyone. I really enjoyed my first meeting with the LIRS. I'm setting up a new 28 gallon tank and looking for some suggestions. The tank is 24" and acrylic. It has the built in sump in the rear (Amircle type). I have two 65 watt pcs for it. I plan on making a refugium above it. I was going to do a 29 gallon. What kind of lights do I need to get a good steady macro growth. I wanted to put a DSB in both the display and refugium. I picked up 50lbs of southdown. I planned on doing a really DSB in the refugium and a smaller one in the display. How much live sand do you think I need in proportion to the Southdown? If anyone is willing to bring a cup of you live sand to the next meeting, I would really appreciate. I want as much bio-diversity as possible. I was going to run a skimmer, but was interested in running it without one. Do you think the refugium will be able to handle the bio-load. If not what kind of skimmers do you guys recommend for a 28 gallon? I think I'm going to do very little live rock, I want to leave a lot of room for coral growth. Do you think it is risky to run a tank with a small amount of liverock? Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions you may have. Thanks Tim Myers:smokin:

[Corpus Callosum]

What type of corals do you plan on keeping in the tank, I'm just wondering. Also since you're going to have a good amount of sand in the refugium you could try some sea/turtle grasses in there if you like.

[MIKE NY]

Hi Tim, sounds like a plan. Unlike me when I first started years ago underground filters with crushed coral and wet/drys was the way to go. But IMO one thing hasn't changed a good quality skimmer. Also depending on what type of corals you want to keep you may want to upgrade your lighting.

Good Luck
Mike

[myerst2]

thanks for the advice. How deep do you think my sandbed should be? What kind of lights should I use on the refugium? I would love to trade frags for live sand? Any takers let me know. Thanks again for any advice. Tim :smokin:

[myerst2]

I think I'm going to do all lps. Frogs, torchs, alveos. Thanks again for any advice. Tim:smokin: