Im New To The Hobby And Have Q's

[Polojoe12]

Hi, im planning on getting a 50 gallon tank for LR LS & a couple fish later on. im going to let the LR sit in the tank for 6 months before i put anything else in it to let all the bacter and such grow. is that too long? also what is a sump and refugeium? ive seen picture of them but no clue to what their purposes are other then to hide skimmers and heaters. Also i'd like to know what are the essential items ill need for JUST the LR and LS since im in college and poor i can only afford the basic stuff for the LR like... a heater :)

Sorry for all the question but any help is greatly appreciated.

[marius03]

wow. 6 months! that is a long time to be waiting. especially if your a poor college student (like me). after the tank has cycled which usually takes 4-6 weeks would be fine to start adding fish. but a cleaner crew would be fine to add after your initial set up. the purpose of a sump would be the following... Increased total water volume - This dilutes your water of accumulating pollutants, and helps avoid issues that occur quickly in sumpless tanks.
Skims the surface - No more surface scum, just crystal clear water.
Lowers temperature - I've observed a 2° F drop after the sump is installed.
Hides equipment - Heaters, protein skimmers, monitoring probes, grounding probes and more can be moved to the sump & out of the display tank.
Consistent water level - The display tank will maintain the same water level all the times; evaporation occurs in the sump over time (see auto top-off).
Safe place to pour in additives - Adding chemicals or new (Reverse Osmosis De-Ionized) water in the sump allows it to mix before entering the display tank.
Increased circulation - The return water from the sump is yet another way to move water in your tank. You can point the return outlet(s) in different directions to create flow, instead of putting more powerheads in your display tank!
Increased oxygenation - As water drains into your sump, air mixes in the water, allowing beneficial gas exchange, releasing CO2 and adding fresh O2.
and the purpose of a fuge is a lighted area that can grow macro algae, which takes up nitrates from your water. The plants also add oxygen, and help maintain pH levels when the display's lights are off. This predator-free zone will allow good growth of copepods, ampipods and other microfauna that eventually end up in the display tank as food for your inhabitants.
some essential elements that would need to be added would be calcium, iodine, strontium and moleybdemum (spelling). good luck

[Reefmedic79]

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

6 Month isn't necessarily too long for a tank to cycle but you may need to add a pinch of food 2-3 times a week to help maintain the bio-filtering bacteria.

Sump=High flow area to hide as you said heaters and skimmers. Also increases the volume of the system which inturn increases parameter stability.
Fuge=Low flow area with no predators for Macro Algea to grow and a place for Micro-fauna such as pods to thrive. Also adds to over all volume of system and exports extra Nitrate through the algea. Prevents heavy fluctuations in pH when display lighting goes off since lighting on fuge is opposite of the display or on 24/7