western MASS mentor/club!

Originally Posted by 3lilbrats
Thank you Caspian! I have to say, I really don't need a person to hold me by the hand but rather serve as a guide and maybe answer some questions. You are right saying there's no right or wrong questions but sometimes the questions get misunderstood. On my short experience I have only seen one saltwater tank setup on a house and that is mine. I seen couple of fresh water tank but the people that have them don't know half of the stuff I know. I've been reading since before I decided to start my tank and that's probably why I got confuse so much(LOL) but I keep reading when I can. If you look back on my threads you can see some of the stuff I have and done. At some point I got overwhelm(I guess) and its taking me longer to be where I would have hope to be by now(but that's how it is) it sucks for me that I have two LFS near and I can't get a clear answer from neither.


I will ask this but before I'll give you an scenario. I have a 60gal cube and an empty 10 gallon tank inside the stand. Can I use that tank as a sump/refuge? If so, how big or small I need my pump to be?

10 gal is too small in my opinion; a 20 is good, a 29 tall is better if it fits!
The pump you choose will depend the type / how much the maximum your overflow can handle. ... I assume you're 60 gal is not drilled so you're prob thinking of a hang on overflow? Those make me nervous, I'd never use one because if the siphon breaks for whatever reason, you're sump will continue to pump water up until its dry.

my stand is less than 23x23 on the inside so I have not find anything bigger than a 10gal that will fit there(yet, i'm still looking). No, I do not have a drilled tank and I did not know I could drill it before and did not feel confortable doing so my self neither. (I guess I can put my rocks on 30 gal totes and my two fish that I got left on the 10 gal and drill the tank(whats better? on the back or the bottom?)...


you can continue to run it sumpless too...

I think the bennefits of the sump outwheights not having one. for what I've reed


I have two hydro koralia a 1400gph pump and one 1050gph. I also have one Aqueon 75 HOB filter. I want to get rid of the filter and will like to know the equivalent or the minimum amount of return I need to do so properly.

See above

Do I got too much/too little circulation on my tank?

Sounds OK but that question is also dependent on what you plan to put in it.

what about if I get the controller for the Koralia EVO and alternate between the two to create a more "natural enviroment" with the "current" change?

I got one two bulb T5 light and I will like to house some corals at some point but I guess I can't do it right now.

I know I want at least another T5 but rather have one fixture instead of 2. But again, I can put two 10,000k, one atinic and one 50/50 for more color.


Sounds like you maybe could do some LPS if your cube isn't too high but that really doesn't seem like much light for a 60 cube... What are the dimensions?

24x24x24 I like soft corals more than the hard ones. I know the ligh is not enough and I can see it on my tank.


You're lighting needs are dependent of what you want to grow, so it really depends what kind of tank you ultimately want...

I'll love to have the AI Sol but(or something like that) but, I cant afford them now.

I'll pm you the name of a top notch local place that is super knowledgeable, they've been into coral for about 20 years.

What you guys think?

 

Boston reefers... I was referred to them by a member but got denied...

That's weird..how long ago was that? I am a member and I just joined back in March wihtout any inssue (didn't need a referral or anything) I am also from Western Mass, near Springfield, but also just starting out. I am a member of CTARS (CT area reef society) and they are a very knowledgeable, helpful group of people. I would look into joining them, their meetings are in Manchester CT which is about 35 minutes from Springfield. I have gained quite a bit of knowledge on this forum as well

 

What I meant is that a member told me about it. I went to the website and entered all the info, I got a message that my info was submitted and waiting review or something like that. I tried logging in but it's aid I was not a member and days later I got an email saying I was denied for some odd reason.

That was towards the end of last year/ beginning of this one.

You like that club?

 

As far as your lighting goes, you say your tank is 24 x 24 x 24 two t5 bulbs should be more than enough for softies. Seeing as how I'm running two T5 and growing LPS just fine softies don't require that much light if it wants more just move it closer to the surface. I prefer 1 super blue actinic and a 14,000 to 20,000k bulb over the 10,000k Gives a nice cool blue white purple mix.

Koralia have different wave makers make sure you get the right one, i know that they make one that only fits a special plug and it's not a standard wall plug, BUT the good news is they do make a unit that supports a standard plug! Also Make sure your koralia are the kind that don't have the issue with reversing when you plug and unplug them several times. If they do have that issue your gonna want to contact hydor and they'll work their magic.

Sumps and refugiums are a wonderful tool, but if you don't have the space to put one I wouldn't recommend it. Do you have a skimmer running by chance? Skimmers will greatly help with the excess protean from fish waste and food.

As far as drilling a tank I'm guessing your running a glass tank. So you'll FIRST need to find out if it's tempered glass. IF it's tempered glass you CANNOT I repeat CANNOT drill it. You will ONLY get a broken tank. There are some others in the DIY thread that know a lot about this and can help you with what you should look forward too if you do decide to drill your tank. I'd think bottom drilled is the best but I wouldn't know truthfully as I'm not a sump kind of guy.

I'm personally thinking about heading to make my self an Algae Turf Scrubber.

 

My koralias are the the EVOLUTIONS with goes into the wall and the now have a controller made for them.
this one does not reverse. they actually isolates instead of spinning.

No, I do not have a skimmer, I wont be able to place it there unless I re-aquascape my tank and I'm not to fond about having the skimmer hanging there. I guess that's what the sumps main task will be.

 

You like that club?[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I definitely like the club, and you can go to the meetings without being a member, just an FYI. The only problem I have is that sometimes the meetings are too far away from me. They have some great speakers and an auction every year which is a great opportunity to pick up either frags or equipment at very reasonable prices.

 

I will like to revive this thread but this time I will like to see how many people from MA is here. No need to say cities or towns just sound off.

Oh and BTW I found a "mentor"

 

Central MA here

 

Western mass here too (during the school year) besides 3reef the owner of aqua dreams in agawam has helped me with my spec pico reef a few times. He genuinely wants to sell you what will actually work for you. Highly recommend that LFS.