Finaly diving into SW Aquariums & Need advice

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ElijahTurtle

I've been doing planted FW for some time now, & I've been wanting to add a SW reef tank to my addiction.
I have a 20L "Betta Condo" that I made & built a stand for. I was considering getting rid of the divided 20L & adding a 29G or 37G since they have the same foot print & will fit on the stand I made. I've been studying up on SW setups for a while in preparation for this...I can't afford to make to many mistakes. I read Fenner's CMA book. Loved it! But I know there are alot of advances that have been made in the hobby since he wrote it.

Here are a couple of things I've been considering:
1)Skimmers & Filtration
A) Skilters - - Are they any good?
B)Skimmers - If the Skilter is a poor choice what are my options for an
inexpensive skimmer for my setup?
2)HOB Fuge - Is this a good option for a small SW setup like I'm considering?
3)Or going with a DIY fuge made from an Aquaclear filter.
4) Under tanks sump/fuge - I have a 10G that I could turn into one, but I don't think there is any way to make it fit under the stand. Even though I'm kind of a DIY'er, I've never messed with acrylic so I'm not sure making one for my first tank will be a wise choice.
5)Lighting - Any good DIY recipes here would be handy.

Feel free to chime in on any & all the basics that I'm totally forgetting here. Really I need some solid advice on which direction to go with this.

Here's the "My Betta Condo" that I built. It would be pretty easy for me to take out the shelves & 2 rear supports to be able to add stuff under the stand.
 
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A) - No, they're pretty much absolute garbage IMHO
B) - Skimmers - Inexpensive is a relative term, but for a nano sized setup, I still like the smaller AquaC skimmers. Ones to avoid that you'll just end up having to replace with a better skimmer later anyway - SeaClone (More commonly called the SeaClown) and the Red Sea Prizm... There are many options for a good skimmer, but if you're able to run a sump or not will make a big difference on your options here.

2) A HOB refuguim is better than no refuguim, but if you can figure out how to plumb in a separate larger tank for a refuguim that'd be even better (I'm kinda funny on refuguims. Look at the tanks in my signature for proof of my insanity! :wink: )

3) Not familiar with this mod, but it sounds like it'd be awfully small... IMHO, for a refuguim to be optimal you want it to be around 20% of the main display volume. But, the more the better!

4) If there's ANY way you can finagle a sump under the tank, that's by FAR the preferable option. Your options get opened up so much further with a sump setup. (Plus, more water = More stable parameters, so the more water volume you can achieve, the more stable, and thus more successful your system will be)

5) MANY options on lighting. Honestly though, your best option is to probably watch the sell forums here. Do some research and figure out what kind of critters you want to keep, and work backwards from that to determine what kind of lighting you will use (T5, Metal Halide, PC are the main ones these days. I'm a big fan of metal halide, but it can be tricky to set halides up over a small tank and deal with the heat.)


Anyway, welcome to the site! Glad to have ya' aboard...

Biggest piece of advice I'd give you you seem to have already picked up on - Read, read, read, and read some more. Research, ask questions, go to LFS and look at their systems. If you're willing to drive, see if people near you will let you come over and look at their systems (Most will, we generally love to show our tanks off!), ask questions, etc... One more - Don't take any one person's advice as gospel. (Including mine!!!) Get as many opinions as you can, coalesce them in your head into what makes sense for you and what you want your system to be.
 
Thanks serk! BTW are you playing WMP? There is a pirate on there by that name.
Thanks for the info. I've got a low profile Jebo 240W PC fixture over my planted 55G. I think it has 2 separate ballasts in it so it may get gutted for use on both tanks, since I only run half of the light over the 55G plus I have 4 extra bulbs for it. Two 10K & two Actinic. It was a SW light system when I bought it on ebay & I just bought extra FW bulbs to replace them with. I figure 120W with a good aftermarket reflector would probably be sufficient over a 37G tank.
I figured to troll the trade/sell forums for anything else. I can get a sump under there, but it would have to be a custom sump, which I don't have the money for unless it's DIY, plumbing would be something I would need advice on if I go this route.
As for the AC DIY fuge, I'll see of I can find a pic of one of those. It's been about a year since I've seen the info online.
Thanks for the heads up on "Sea Clown" skimmers too.

Jerry it's good to see you over here too!

Here's an older shot of my Planted 55G with the light.
 
Aye, I the Serk on WMP and me are one and the same...

As you go along, feel free to ask more questions here, and someone will answer 'em...

If you're still working on it come spring, lemme know, I basically live at Scarborough Faire during Faire season, and could possibly swing by and help out some around then... Of course, hopefully you've got a running reef maturing nicely by that time, but.....
 
Aye.. I be The Village Idiot on WMP!
We just moved out of Waxahachie to Arlington so swinging by during the faire my be tough. I'll update my profile LOL. Always loved going to Scarborough though, got a few swords & battle axes stowed in my closet too. I'm a man of many interests it would seem.
 
serk here's a link to the aquaclear fuge
DIY Fuge
Basically I could run 2 of these on the back of the tank since it's 30" across & I already have 2 aquaclear filters. Even if I had 2 AC 110's it still wouldn't add any signifigant water volume though.

I found this online too has anyone used something like this? This one has a built in skimmer, I'm kind of leary of built in junk though, I think I would want to run a separate skimmer & just have the fuge be as long as the tank is if I did this.
I think this is probably the most likely way to go for me if adding a small sump under the stand wont work.
Hang on Refugium
 
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