Salt water fish only tank - Filter?

Discussion in 'Filters, Pumps, etc..' started by SeaJuice, Dec 1, 2005.

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  1. SeaJuice

    SeaJuice Plankton

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2005
    Messages:
    7
    Location:
    Plymouth, MA
    Well I'm still up in the air about my tank, so any suggestions would be great.
    I had my eye on a 72 gal Oceanic Bow front, but a couple of people have had bad luck with these on this forum, so I am rethinking to a 90g straight front.
    Any suggestions?:confused:
    I was also ready to do a refugium with a plenum, when I happened to go into a local upscale fish store (they had a good stock of reef items) They were of the opinion that I should keep it simple with a canister (eheim) filter and a protein skimmer. That would certainly simplify things. But I really am not sure that's the way to go. I had a well running reef tank a few years back and really did not have any problems using a sump. But then again it does add another level of complexity, which I am trying to avoid with a fish only tank! I'll stop rambling...
    Thanks for anyones help!:thinking2
     
    SeaJuice, Dec 1, 2005
    SeaJuice, Dec 1, 2005
    #1

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  2. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2000
    Messages:
    13,466
    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    Go with the sump. Especially since you already have experience with it.
    You can put your heaters and filters in it and put an auto evaporation switch on it if you wanted to.

    Eheim's are nice canisters but they are still a canister. In my opinion, a bit of a pain to deal with.

    If you are going fish only, you could still do the refugium you are thinking about of some sort and a nice skimmer. Or a wet/dry and a nice skimmer. If you go wet/dry, you can always remove some bioballs later if you go reef and add a lot of rock. You can put carbon in both setups too.

    Either way, go with the sump.
     
    Matt Rogers, Dec 1, 2005
    Matt Rogers, Dec 1, 2005
    #2
  3. Blade_Runner

    Blade_Runner Gigas Clam

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2004
    Messages:
    851
    Location:
    Carpentersville, IL
    +1 on the sump. Don't forget, you will need a good skimmer either way. A sump also give you more options on skimmer selection.
     
    Blade_Runner, Dec 2, 2005
    Blade_Runner, Dec 2, 2005
    #3
  4. RobbyReefer

    RobbyReefer Plankton

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2005
    Messages:
    10
    Location:
    Peoria Heights, Illinois
    Can you recommend any good sumps for a 46g bow front? I'm not a DIY guy, so something commercial would be prefered. So far, I have only found Berlin and CPR sumps.
     
    RobbyReefer, Dec 9, 2005
    RobbyReefer, Dec 9, 2005
    #4
  5. Diver_1298

    Diver_1298 Eyelash Blennie

    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2004
    Messages:
    1,268
    Location:
    Lakeland, Fl
    Any way you look at it, you have to either pipe in some pvc plumbing or run tubing from you sump to your tank so why not buy a 20 long aquarium and use something like this
    http://www.aquacrylics.com/ put in a return pump and piping and you have a sump or a wet/dry for less than $200.00. Just my 2 cents :)

    Jim
     
    Diver_1298, Dec 9, 2005
    Diver_1298, Dec 9, 2005
    #5