Diving into the hobby!

[erm.chan]

After many weeks of contemplation, I finally decided to go ahead with this hobby :) ..and I have several questions before I buy any equipment.

I'm going to get a 90gal w/ built-in overflow either this or next week. I also want to make a 30gal (large enough?) sump for it..but I suck at plumbing.

I plan to have a reef tank with giant clams.

1) How do I link the sump to the tank?
I think i need some sort of return pump? Can anyone recommend a suitable one for me?

2) I would like an in-sump protein skimmer. My LFS doesn't seem to carry many brands http://www.bigalsonline.ca/catalog/parent_category.xml?category_id=3203;pcid1=
Are any of these suitable? If not, can you recommend one that i can buy online?

3) Please recommend a reliable reverse osmosis unit

4)For lighting, I would like to eventually get a Coralife Aqualight Pro (2 x 250W 10, 000K HQI MH, 2 x 96W Actinic 03 PC, lunar lights x 4). Will this allow me to house most types of coral?

5) I'd also like to set up a refugium. Although I would much rather hide it together with my sump, I heard that a gravity-fed one is much better. Is this benefit significant? How large does a refugium have to be?

These are all the questions I can think of for now...Thanks so much for helping :rollface: :rollface:

PS. How come I never got an official "Welcome to Reef Central"?? :sad1:

[jun_celis]

Think about on getting a better skimmer than that one. I've got an ASM G2 for my 75. I wish I would have gotten something A LLOTTT better.

[Amy83820]

1) If you get a premade sump, it comes with some of the plumbing. You can also buy a kit for the plumbing that goes in the overflow. I have a 90 overflow and use a mag7 as a return pump.

3) Try purelyh20. Look in the vendor forum here at reefcentral. They will give you a 10% discount.

[erm.chan]

I'm looking into a Euro-reef RC80 skimmer. It says max capacity 80+..what does that suppose to mean anyway? Do i need to go one size up? http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=ER1611

Thanks! I'll look into plumbing kits. I plan to build my own sump

[smcdonn]

h20tropicals.com sells euro reef blem skimmers at great prices. Do some reading, you will find that euro reef has a very good rep. I bought the ES5 and love it. airwaterice.com sells the typhoon III ro/di unit which I also own and love. There are other vendors that sell good ones like amy pointed out. The lighting you are looking at will do just fine for pretty much all corals including SPS corals. As far as a fuge goes, they are highly recomended. They allow for pod reproduction which will feed on of the most beatiful fish, the mandarin. Wish I could give you a welcome but I don't know how.

[yoboyjdizz]

For a sump anything is better then nothing yet the bigger the better. If your going for the 90gal may i suggest maybe take a look at the 120 same height and length added width would be best for a reef tank espically with large calms on the sand bed. But a 90 gal would be just fine. You will always wish you gone larger no matter which one you choose.

As far as hooking your sump to your tank is pretty easy if you get the standard aga reef ready tanks. As for a return pump shoot for 3-5x your tank for sump turnover. Mag 7 or 9 would be perfect or anything similiar.

I second the typhoon III for RO/DI unit!

For skimmers i think asm skimmers are the best bang for buck i would get Asm G3 just incase you plan on upgrading up to a 180gallon tank you can use the same skimmer or a G2 will work just fine if you dont want to go that route.

Lighting, that would work just fine if thats what you want do. THere is plenty i would spend some more time searching...

Refugium like sump can be as small or as big as you want.

Hope i covered some of your questions as best i could. Good Luck!

[yoboyjdizz]

And one last main advice. The key to succes in this hobby is patience and take your time. Read Read Read! There is plenty of infromation floating around here on reefcentral, use it to your advantage!

[smcdonn]

I will throw another tip in for good measure. DON'T BUY CHEAP STUFF. You get what you pay for and you will just be throwing your money away.

[erm.chan]

Thanks for the advice :)

It would be a lot easier if the search function worked :(

Being a woman, I'll "try" not to buy cheap stuff :p
jk, i'll spend where i will need to :)

[smcdonn]

DIY stuff is a good way to save money. I put dual 250watt MH's on my tank with electronic ballasts for just a little over $200. There are ways to save money, just do some research. Cheers