Newbie looking for some advice

[new2sea]

First of all hello all! Looks like I found another great forum!

I am totally new to the hobby and just purchased a tank today. I have been reading and reading and I am grasping everything but its all the equipment that creates another learning curve and I want to get it right the first time or at least buy the right equipment. All of my LFS's are horrible, they dont stock more than one product each and nobody knows a thing so I have written them all off. Here is what i have planned and what areas I would like to here some peoples input.

I just bought a tank today with a canopy and stand, it's a 37 Gallon High. I am planning on using an in sump refugium setup with an AquaC Urchin Pro w/Rio 1400, a CPR S50 overflow box, 1200 wavemaker and thats about all I have figured out so far.

Can anyone point me in the right direction on a refugium And what size I should go with and where I could buy it.

Here is the space I have available:

Stand Inside space – 29 X 11 ½ X 25 Revel doesn’t come out but back is open.

Another thing I would like some help on is lighting, I want to do corals and more and believe Metal Halide is the way to go but once again i'm running into tons of options and having problems making decisions. The tank is 20" high

My lid space is:

Lid Inside space – 30 ½ X 12 ¾ X 5

Oh! Suggestions on a heater too please.

I would appreciate any input if anyone has the time.

Thanks in advance

new2sea

[Blown 346]

A Sump/refugium will be your best bet, but trying to find one small enough is the problem. You could use a regular sump for the filtration, and a hang on refugium that would hang on the back of the tank. That will free up space under your stand. You will also need a protein skimmer. I would look here plus they are on sale...http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3618&Ntt=refugiums&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1
Lighting is very important, halides are the way to go. http://www.aquariumlight.com/ I bought my setup here, they have great prices. I would go with a titanium heater.

[bertoni]

[welcome]

Protein skimmers are a big unknown. There's no good object data available. For that size tank, you could also look around for comments on the CoraLife SuperSkimmer series. The Urchin gets a fair number of good reviews.

I use 2 Tronic heaters and a temperature controller to prevent overheating. I've never found a brand of heater I trust, but Tronics so far have failed off, rather than cooking the tank. The temperature controller I use is the "Hofer thermal shield", plans available at seabay.org, but there are commercial products as well.

Metal halide is a fine choice, but lighting is a very personal thing. I think a 250w MH bulb would give you a lot of options for animals, and you might want VHO or PC actinics to help get a look that you like.

You could see what size tank might fit in your refugium space, if any, and adapt a small aquarium as your refugium, or perhaps divide your sump.

[new2sea]

blown and bertoni thanks for the input!

I called aquarium lighting and they were extremely helpful

I ended up with 250W Metal Halide canopy with pc actinics and moon lighting, I chose the ice cap upgrade and I canopy cooling kit oh and a 3 way timer. I think I have lighting all set!

Yeah the refugium is becoming a real hassle, I was thinking on a 10 gallon one but it looks like i will have to make it myself unless anyone knows of a place. I want to do the 3 chamber deal and keep everything below. I am anti HOB

[arozz7]

new2sea you can also consider getting a 15g High for your sump. Has the same dimensions as the 10g just a bit taller.

[jedimike]

Great choice on lighting! I think 175's would have been OK, but with the kit you got heat shouldn't be an issue.

Maybe you can hide your sump/fuge somewhere besides inside the stand. There is no reason that it can't be located in another location.

Fitting everything inside a 10G is impossible I think. I have a 20G sump with a skimmer, heater, return pump, and filter sock and it is crowded.

[WaterKeeper]

Ah, young grasshopper welcome to RC. Here are two threads to guide you along the path of enlightenment-
The New Tank Thread (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=239848)
The Lighting Thread (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=550860)

[new2sea]

Waterkeeper, Jedi and Arozz thanks! When do I add the salt! :-)great articles!!

Jedi unfortunately I am in a very limited space for a tank and underneath is my only choice. I am especially trying to stay away from a lot of plumbing and keeping this whole thing as simple as possible, I know sounds like a pipe dream :-) I stumbled across melevs website - holy cow he is a maniac! I love his sump/refugium work, maybe I should ask him to build me one??? I think he mentioned that he sells them??? This hobby is gonna definitely be some work but totally rewarding if success, its just hard after doing all of this research and then putting the faith into yourself at first, does that make sense? Well i gotta get back to figuring out my sump /refugium issue.

[Mrs.kbmdale]

Originally posted by new2sea
blown and bertoni thanks for the input!

I called aquarium lighting and they were extremely helpful

I ended up with 250W Metal Halide canopy with pc actinics and moon lighting, I chose the ice cap upgrade and I canopy cooling kit oh and a 3 way timer. I think I have lighting all set!

Yeah the refugium is becoming a real hassle, I was thinking on a 10 gallon one but it looks like i will have to make it myself unless anyone knows of a place. I want to do the 3 chamber deal and keep everything below. I am anti HOB

We had pc's until about 2, or maybe 3 weeks ago, we upgraded to VHO'S. MAN OH MAN, vho actinics are the way to go!!!! If you can change your order, I would, but this is just my opinion. You might wanna do some searching in the photography forum for people who have vho actinics, they make EVERYTHING just POP out at you!!!! I would show you some myself, but my stupid cheap digital won't capture my actinic lighting properly.Sounds like your on the right track, don't forget to budget a digital camera in there somewhere, cuse we all like to see pictures!!!!! and keep us posted!

FWIW,
Brianna:rollface:

[new2sea]

Brianna thanks for the input, i am going to look for some info now, I have the camera part all taken care of and I plan on taking pics every step of the way.

[new2sea]

brianna I am a newbie but from what i found out PC's hold their spectrum much longer than VHO's and in most cases are brighter. The PC technology is newer therefore it's more efficient.

Who knows! I sure dont, I have an empty tank! :-)

[ianmoede]

welcome

[Mrs.kbmdale]

I don't know about all the spectrum and technology and stuff, that's my husbands department! :D I do however know that the VHO'S are LOTS bluer, LOTS prettier, and everything seems to be liking it MUCH better. It was just an opinion, if you feel better with pc's, then by all means, go for it.

Brianna:rollface: