Need to Resolve.

I have done a ton of reading but still have got some questions maybe someone can clear up...I want to do it right the first time and not spend money twice.

I have a 55 gallon Bowfront tank..... I am going to do fish and live rock to start and then i will get into some corals........


1) Filtration - The tank came with a penguin emperor bio wheel filter....Is this sufficient....I was going to add a wet dry filter but then i got a message saying these are not needed...They suggested to add a sump?? What is the drifference between a sump and a wet dry filter?? Bottom line what is really needed.....Penguin / Wet Dry/ Sump/ Canister??????


2) What is the best substrate to use. Everyone says to use a fine substrate can someone put a name or brand on that......

3) Heaters - I am waiting to place the order for two 100w stealth heaters. Are these the correct size and a good heater.....


4) Power heads - I am waiting to place the order for two maxi jets 1200's is this sufficient.....



Any answers would be greatly appreciated.....Thanks

 

I'll see if I can answer a few of the questions, I run a wet dry/sump all in one combo and I also run a seperate fuge. I personlly do not like hang on back filters because usually they aren't sufficient especially when dealing with corals.

Carib sea makes some good substrates, I know a few people that use the Fiji pink and like it. (it's not really pink) ;D

I personally would not use a heater that doesn't have a seperate controller and temp probe. They're just not accurate, look into the Finex brands, they're titanium and will double as a ground probe. Good to have....

When I had a 55 I ran 4 maxi jet 1200's.

Hope this helps a little.

-Kris

 

I have a wet/dry sump. They hang on back filters are not big enough to hold a large load of benificial bacteria,etc.

I like the florida crushed coral and the price.

I have never used a heater. My only problem is with heat not lack of.

I love the koralia. They look cooler than the maxijets and they have great flow rate. I have two number 4 and I would not trade them for anythin. But with everything it is personal. Unfortunely it is mostly trial and error. What one loves another hates. Good luck.

 

Welcome to 3reef.

1.) A sump is a place you can put all your hardware as well as a place that adds a modest amount to your total volume as well as surface area WRT gas exchange. A sump is suggested. You will need an overflow box and a return pump to do this. It is something you can do later if you want. You can start without it.

Filtration: Just live rock and a skimmer should do you fine. That's all I use only my 75g. LR is about 1lb/gal in a fish only tank and about 1.5 to 2lb/gal in a reef tank.

2.) Aragonite sand. It has buffering capacity better than some other substrates out there. You will find differing opinions here. This one is just mine. A one inch sand bed should suffice. I would not go DSB in your main tank.

3.) I would go with one Stealth 200W heater. Some go with two heaters in case one fails. Again, there are differing opinions on the type of heater to use. Use the search thread option at the top and find a recent thread on the subject. Although I do not have one, in the future, I will be getting a controller, so "heaters gone wild" doesn't kill my tank"

4.) It depends on whether you want a sump or not. The return is going to add some flow. Your total flow is about 30 times your gallonage. So for you, it's about 1700GPH. Each MaxiJet 1200 only gives about 300GPH. I would not bother with the MaxiJets. I would go Korilia. If you are not going to go with a sump, then two Koralia-3s will fit the bill at 850GPH each. If you do go with a sump and say a Rio2100+ return, at about four feet the GPH is about 450, you would only need two Koralia-2s to finish off your flow.

So that's my two cents worth.......Peace.......John.