New 37g tank - Need to equip

C

ctaylor81

I was on the hunt for a large tank (75-100g), but I could not find exactly what I was looking for. The wifey is putting her foot down and not wanting a "science lab" in our living room, so my choices were left only to tanks with a canopy. I've hunted for weeks now and been unable to find something that fits both of our needs, so last night I decided to get a smaller tank and put it in my man cave so I can get going on a tank. I'll keep an eye out for a larger one, but this one will suit me just fine for now. I found a pretty affordable 37g setup, but it has an acrylic tank and is not drilled. I'm not against this setup for my first tank, and going the "affordable" route to start with is the best option for me right now.

So, I need a few recommendations:

HOB protein skimmer - I'm considering the Reef Octopus, any other suggestions for this size tank?

Chiller - the man cave tends to be a bit warmer than the rest of the house, so are there any affordable chillers? Will an IceProbe or MicroChiller work on this tank?

Lights - the setup came with a Coralife 65 watt, 24-inch setup, which lights up the room. It has a 65-watt blue actinic and a 10k day light. Sufficient to host a tank with fish, live rock and some coral? The white puts off a little heat, adding another reason for a chiller. Maybe fans too?

Powerheads - I'm thinking maybe 2 Koralia 750's? Need more flow?

I'm excited to start working on my setup and will definitely document the process as I go. Any help you guys can provide is appreciated!
 
I think you should got ahead and drill the tank. So you can setup a sump to put all you equipment. It makes the look of the tank look not so cramped. If you need help drilling the tank I can help you with the drillling

The reef octopus skimmers are great for the price.

For the lights I would go t-5. Pc bulbs will be fine but if you decide to put more demanding corals you will probably need to upgrade. If you got with a good light now no need to upgrade later
 
The stand I have has no room whatsoever for a sump, so I don't think I'll drill this one. I ended up picking up a AquaC Remora this weekend, so I think I'll be good to go for a while with this setup.

I want to order a few power heads today, but still debating on how much flow I need. My tank is 20x18x25, so it's taller than a regular tank. I was thinking maybe a 750gph and a 240gph? Think that's enough flow?

I should have this thing up by Wednesday at the latest, so I'll have more to report this week.

Thanks again
 
On my 29gal I ran one k2 an. One modded maxijet on a wavemaker for turbulent flow. But I think 2 koralia 2s should be fine or maybe 2 koralia k3s are good too. Koralia makes the evolution pumps that can work on a wavemaker also you might want to think about those but best bang for your buck I think is koralias or maxijets with sureflow mods.
 
I think you can go a cheaper and better route in a tank this small. Instead of getting T5 get a single 75W metal halide.

You will only have to replace one bulb, the fixture will be cheaper, you will get shimmer, you will grow any coral out there, and there will be good coverage.

I would only do T5 if the tank is bigger to where metal halides start creating spotlights (not that you can see them, but your corals will be able to see them through the usable light (PAR) )
 
So I've had my tank up and running for a few weeks now, I had my water checked at the LFS on Friday night and my water parameters were great, just a lil high on salt content. I added a few crabs and snails, they are alive and trucking. I did a 30% water change 2 days ago, no issues with that.

I have one problem though. Pre-water change and post water change, my water is a bit cloudy. From across the room you can see little particles floating around and they look like sand or salt. I let my salt dissolve in the new water for a few hours prior to completing the water change, so I don't see how it could be undissolved salt. My powerheads are not too close to the sand, so I can't see how they could be stirring things up. I believe this all started when I put the crabs in there. I have one hermit crab and several small crabs. A few hours after putting them in there, the water got cloudy and hasn't really ever cleared up. I figured my sand had settled and the little amount of stir-up that they did would go away, but it hasn't yet.

What to do? Do I remove the crabs and just have snails for a clean-up crew? Any other thoughts on what the problem could be?

Any help is appreciated.
 
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