Very Confused

[ssud1245]

HELP.....

I've done the freshwater and the gold fish thing for years... I'm ready to move up to a reef tank...

I got the water ph cycling etc down....

what I need help with is equipment...... there isn't any good web sites on the hardware

I have a 46g bow front its glass..... how do i get the water to the sump??? do I drill out the bottom of the hanging filter... Can the tank be drilled (I dont think so) do I buy a canister... or just have a small pump pull a suction... has anyone had any luck with changing the side wall or back wall with acrylic...

is a 10g tank big enough for a sump or should i get a 20g

and what name brands to get for the return pump and skimmer or more importantly which ones to stay away from...

thanks for any and all help

[theplatypus]

Welcome to TRT

In order to get water to the sump you have a couple of options. Either buy an overflow box or have a lfs or glass company drill the tank for you. If you want to use an overflow box I would go with a lifereef overflow.
http://www.lifereef.com/frame.html
I would stay away from any overflow box that requires a pump to keep the u- tube clear of air bubbles. CPR comes to mind.
Go with the 20 gallon sump. You'll probably have problems fitting everything into a 10 gallon. A canister filter is pretty much only used to run carbon etc periodicaly. Filtration will be provided by the skimmer and liverock.Stay away from any pump made by taam/rio. You have several options when it comes to skimmers. Coralife superskimmer, ASM, Aquac remora, TurboFlotor MRC....................... If you decide against using a sump there are several quality HOB skimmers.

HTH

[whatevva]

Welcome to TRT ssud!!

There are a LOT of friendly intellegent people here that want to help. Don't be afraid to ask LOTS of questions.

[Geoff]

Welcome to TRT!!!



all you will need for equipment is a sump, a way to get to the sump, and a big skimmer. that is all that is necessary to keep a successfull reef system. if you can i would get the tank drilled. as long as it is not tempered you will not have a problem getting it drilled. call the manufacturer to double check.

what do you want to keep in the tank? BTW-a bit of everything does not count. you will quickly learn that this is impractical and makes keeping the tank very complicated.

G~

[zxcv123]

ditto what the platypus said, but you also could go with alot of live rock and a really good hang on skimmer if you dont want to deal with sumps.

[leveldrummer]

i have the same tank, its tempered on the bottom, so you cant drill it, but you can drill the back or the sides if you would rather have an overflow like that, but i use a overflow box, they work good. and the bigger the sump the better, because the more over all water volume you have, the harder it is for your water parameters to shift. good luck and welcome to TRT!

[tdwyatt]

Welcome to TRT, ssud!

Pix of Andy';s system will help you see what you need...


If you have a stand, you may want to consider a 29G tank under the tank placed so that the back half sticks out of the base of the stand, then use a Geoff skimmer built tall enough to return water to the tank, with the base or the skimmer standing in your sump...


I am going to try and talk Cath into doing this with her new tank so we'll have pix.




(Andy: hint hint wink wink nudge nudge...)

[ChrisPrusha]

Welcome aboard!! w0000000000000000000t!!!