my first mistake!!

First i had better say hello to you all, this is my first night on the forum, and its now 4am!!
why am i here, well... iv kept fresh water tropicals since i was a nipper, and up untill a year or so ago i had a 150 gal, fresh water stingray set up, which i had to let go due to circumstances .

But now my son is 2 and the misses says 'lets get him a LITTLE fish tank' so....
i managed to talk her into a 40G corner unit, and y not try marines!! little bit different to the goldfish in a bowl, she was thinking about! ;D

which brings me here, i want to do it all properly from the start, iv got quite a lot of stuff from my freshwater set ups, which i am going to try and use, but i have some questions that i hope you can help with?

my first mistake has been made, i thought.... 'i need a protein skimmer' so i looked on ebay and got, what i thought, was a nice seaclone 100, but now i see its far from nice!!,
so i would like to know what is a good compact skimmer?

i will tell you a bit about what i plan to do, and what i have so far,

main tank is an aqua one, windsor 66, 40g i am going to drill this for sump,
i dont have no roon in the cabinet as it is a corner item, so i have bought a nice 5 ft dresser cabinet to go along side this,
on top of this i now plan to have a featured refuguim tank 24"x12"x12" which will be split fed from the main tank, the other feed is going to go inside the dresser, which will house a wet dry filter( already purchased) which will have bio balls, and the other section will have LR, i am then going to add to this another two sections for PS, heaters, bubble trap, and return,and refugium return,

Sorrry for the long post, just want to see what you all think? i have so many questions, but i think i will be asking these as i go ;D,

the main question for now, is about my mistake on PS, as i dont have much space, what would you recommend? i would like one of these AQUA C ev 120-180? but these seem to take up quite alot of sump space? the seaclone seemed good as i could hang it on the side of the sump, can C'EV 's go outside? or sump only?

also i have a large canister filter, and a fluidised bed (sand) filter, could i use the canister as a pure mechanical filter, and run the fluidised bed just as an extra biological? as i can fit these under the tank itself,

well guys, i think thats enough for tonight!! lol am loving the site already, and i have soooo many questions, any help and advice will be much appreciated,

many thanks jay

 

Welcome to 3reef!!! you have come to the right place, many informative people with lots of experiance, unfortunately i cannot give you much help, as i have not had any experiance with the skimmers of your magnatude ;D. but im sure other people will chyme in with really good info for you. the best advice i can give you, is do research, research, and more research, ask questions, and learn from others mistakes

 

Hey Jay! Welcome to 3reef!



OK, you say fresh to salt. Ever used copper based meds in your fresh water tanks?

That would be my main concern. Copper KILLS Invertebrates. You will have to treat the whole tank for that. Expect a long time treating. It didn't get in there overnight and it won't come out overnight. You'll find that some of the EQ can be used. Others, depending on age and condition, can be sold on this forum, in the classified section.

My next helpful hint is to use the Search button. Use the Tags button. For those who don't know, Tags are one word descriptions that you can use to make a search easier. Chances are, your question has already been answered.

Hope this stuff helps.

Linda;D

 

hi yes you can plumb the ev on to the side of the sump . we need to know what the is tank will be for specialized advice. is it fish only? will it be a reef tank?

 

Welcome to 3reef dude. The Aqua-C 180 is probably overkill for your unit. We can find a more suitable solution for you that is quality. There are two units I want you to look at. They are both the hang on back variety. The Aqua-C Remora and the Octopus BH-100F. They are both good units that would serve you well IMHO.

Just do a google search and you will be directed. They are around $150 and $200 respectively.

Edit: I did not read your post completely it seems. You have a sump. This increases your choice of skimmers dramatically. You could still use the HOB skimmer and dedicate your fuge to be just that.....a fuge. You have many options.

 

The AquaC Remora will be all the skimmer you'll ever need for a 40g. I have one and within 4 hours of installing it on my 38 it was producing a nice dry skimmate. The Seaclone 100, which it replaced, was barely making any skimmate. HUGE difference. Buying anything else would just be a waste of money as the Remora will handle a tank your size just fine. If you want a sump version skimmer, buy the AquaC Urchin (it's the sump version of the Remora).

PS- you can buy the Remora/Urchin used for around $90-$100. I have two Remoras, both were purchased used, so there's no need to buy a new one.

 

HI THERE, thanks for the reply, and thanks for the welcome, i am looking at as much as i can , there is soooo much to learn! and its now 5 am lol!!
as for copper based treatments, not for quite some time, stingrays were very sensitive to certain treatments, and i tried not to use them, really, i would only use the heaters, fluidised bed filter if worth it? my ro unit, and mybe the off pump and power head? i have learned about the cooper intolerant inverts, and how live lock is a no no.. if its come from a copper treated system, i really am stuck now tho!! at first i just wanted a FO tank, but looking at some of these set ups, inverts and corals look so good!! i have a lot of thinking to do, but really i must treat it as a reef set up, and get it spot on, even if i do have just fish at first, do you agree?
thank you for your advice, regards, jay

hi there, thanks for the welcome, im hooked already, this site has so much info!! its great! and im not rushing a thing, research, research, research, is exactly what i am going to do thanks, again jay

hi there, thanks for the welcome, great to be on here, i have not looked at the octopus, although i have seen the remora, i do see what you are saying, about overkill, i was just thinking for the future? i know what i am like, always want to go bigger!! lol, im already having second thoughts now about a FO set up, im really thinking reef now!! just want to get thing rite first time round,
i do want to keep the fuge seperate, i want it on show, so want it to look nice, any ideas?, iv seen some pics of some really pretty looking fuge's,
there will be the main tank, the fuge on the dresser next to it, and the sump is going to be inside the dresser, the fuge is going to be a 15g tank with a hood and light, so will look like a second tank really, any info will be much appreciated, cheers, jay

hi there, thanks for the help, i was going to have a FO, but i might go for a reef? , prob get a few fish first, then think about which way to go?, i also want to buy for the future, so if a cev 120 is too big, i might just have to sqeeze it in, just incase i want to upsize in the future? knowing that i can mount it outside the sump is going to help decide, but i am not going to rush into this, iv got all excited tooooo quickerly, and ended up with a seaclone!! lol;D i am going to look about,


I must thank you all, it is very kind of you all, this is a great forum!! this is going to be a very nice and challenging experience, that hopefully myself and my son will enjoy for years to come ,

just hope you can all put up with the questions!! lol

 

Question away man, I think some of us don't have a good day unless we can answer questions, LOL. Sound like a cool setup. I would fix it so my tank drains into my sump the my sump pumps into my fuge and tank and the fuge drains into my tank. but thats just me. I love the idea of turning my fuge into somewhat of a display tank.

As far as skimmers go, there isn't anything wrong with getting a bigger one than is needed for your system especially if your going to get a bigger tank in the near future.

 

hi there, i was kinda thinking that, but was just thinking for the future? am i thinking wrong? or if i can fit it in, go big? i am so glad i found this place, or i would have hooked up me seaclone, anly to find out it was sea-crap!! lol, i dont mind spending a few extra pennies for a better/bigger PS, just want a good one, and i can see that these aquac items are top notch!! thanks, for the advice, jay

 

LOL Jay, only 3 posts in and your allready multi-quoting...all i have to say is nicely done!! ;D