New to hobby and board

I was warned against starting a salt water aquarium but did so anyway. It is totally exasperating, but also rewarding when all goes well. I have a 56 gallon tank that I recently replaced the sump with a fluval g6. I know many say canisters are not good for saltwater but it runs very quietly and is easy to clean.

Today I ordered an entirely new setup since I decided a larger tank would be nice. The store manager convinced me if I wanted to start doing coral etc i really needed to go back to a sump Anyway $1500 later I purchased a 90 gallon tank, a reef octopus in sump skimmer a new sump and Lee lights.

The question is do I really need to get rid of the 3 week old G6 buy the e shops sump and a new pump?

I can sell everything I own but I am guessing I will get less than half of what I paid. Are canister filters really that bad for establishing a reef tank. My tak is about 7 months old and my nitrates are running over 20 even with 10 gallon water changes every week

 

In the long run, I feel a sump would be the way to go. I have never used a canister filter, but from everything I have read, you can be successful using one as long as you keep up on the maintenance. For a 90 gallon tank where you are starting off fresh, hopefully the tank you bought is drilled already (or at least can be drilled), and will make plumbing in a sump that much easier. That is the route I would go!

 

Welcome to the board. IMO, a sump is the way to go in the long run.

 

First thing I want to address is the reason for a sump. You have much better control of your filtering with a sump. You are able to control every aspect, water flow, whether or not you use GFO, and Carbon reactors, if you want bio balls or not, you can have a refugium in your sump to help feed your corals. In a sump you can do all your water changes there, your dosing, hide your heaters and equipment. It is, IMHO a very good idea to get rid of the canister filter and add a sump.

You can convert a 20g or 30g tank into a sump very simply and cheaply. A lot better than buying one. There are DIY threads on the subject, not only that but you can build it the size you need it and add a refugium. I believe that customization is key to success in sumps. You can possibly get more than half of the price of you canister, as many FW and SW aquarists use them.

From what I have read about reef aquariums, 20ppm Nitrates is to high. You want to keep that number near 10 or below. You can do this by adding a refugium and growing macroalgae, and mangroves in it, along with a DSB (deep sand bed) and doing water changes as needed.

In this hobby research is key. If you need any other info, ask you will be guided into the right direction. Word for the wise though, there is always more than one way to skin a cat, and my opinions is just that, an opinion.

HTH and Happy Reefing
Zach

 

+1 to what Zach articulates here. My nitrates have gone fom 20ppm to .2 since getting my fuge and chaeto up and running on a reverse lighting schedule.

My temporary canister I used before the sump install seemed to do little against nitrates.

 

Thanks

It looks like I will go back to the sump on my new tank. I originally ha d a sump in my current 56 gallon set up but liked the high tech look of the G6. A trip to a new(to me) store convinced me I wanted a bigger tank. Though I loved the 105 gallon rimless it was a LOT more money and decided to go with one I purchased. The manager of the store convinced me to go back to the sump. I guess the equipment I still own from my current tank-that I took out to add the G6 woul work, it seemed a bit small for the new set up. I own an ehopp 75 and bubble magus 3.5 and considered reusing them to save some money. Unfortunately the skimmer has given me lots of trouble and taking it apart over and over again probably killed the seals on the motor.

I think this will be my last attempt at trying to make the hobby run smoothly and if the larger tank doesn't help eliminate the constant(at least twice a week) water changes I will throw in the towel- literally since every time I do anything with my tank I end up with water all over the floor.

I think I have wasted 2-3k in equipment I will be getting rid of and at least 100 hours of time.

 

I hope I'm not misreading you here, but it seems like you may be pre-loading a reason to get out of reef-keeping.

There are challenges to this hobby and it does take a lot of time, but for me the time is never wasted. You need patience and to have measured responses to problems. It's part of what makes the hobby so fun for me. The challenge of learning and patience. If the hobby seems more like a chore to you than fun you may want to cut your losses now. :/

Again, I hope I'm reading too much into this.

 

Further new person questions

How do I know how many fish, plants and coral a tank can support.

My 56 has the following:
2 Clown fish
1 small yellow tang
2 gobies
2 chromus
1 red cleaner shrimp
1 coral beauty-added recently- reading tells me i may have to eliminate it to add coral. The store owner says it will be fine and has two in his 90 gallon tank.
1 small bubble tip aneneme- my small clown fish loves it

Will my new 90 gallon allow me to add more livestock as well as coral and polyps?

The store manager and his crew will be doing the tank changeover on Thursday. He has 30 years experience and should know what he is doing. I suppose I could do it, but he will come prepared just in case he runs into any problems as he switches everything over. I think the $400 this will cost is a lot of money, but if he does indeed need to spend all day with his crew I'd rather have him do it.

I know there are many opinions but the ones most of you can offer will be welcome. I want to make this work and probably should have joined here when I first started 7 months ago.

Lastly, what is the best place to sell all of my unwanted but not used equipment, and is there a general rule of thumb as to how much to ask? I have a long what to go before I have 50 posts and can list it here.

Thanks all!

 

Marty ,

Your response is not wrong. One of the reasons I think this hobby is right for me is because I do need to learn patience. In some ways I look at it as therapy. I find a lot of satisfaction in the fact that my fish seem to be thriving, but I do obsess about trying to get the water perfect etc. I plan to slow down. I want "the perfect tank" and realize that will take time.

The store I went to had a tank they said had only been up for 4 months and it looked ideal. It also probably had several thousand dollars worth of coral in it.

Anyway you aren't wrong about moving too quickly. My plan is to get the new tank set up and wait for everything and everyone( the fish) to get settled prior to spending any more time or money.

My ultimate goal is to slowly develop the tank and enjoy what is, or will become a fabulous hobby.

 

I wish you the best of luck and success.

Here what I do...I turn on some nice quiet music and go into my reef roof for about 30 minutes each day when off work. It relaxes me and is great therapy.

Again, best of luck and I look forward to reading about your experiences.