New Guy with Setup Questions

[DadHeller]

Hello everyone,

Im one of the many new people that just joined here. I have been doing research and trying to get ready to set up what will be my first saltwater tank. I decided to do this because my son started his own freshwater tank and I wanted to do something to spend some time with him while not doing the same thing. I am currently out of town and plan on beginning the setup in about a month so I am starting to pick up equipment and I wanted to get feedback on what I am thinking with my setup. I plan on building my own tank stand, so I can kinda customize it the way I want. Nothing against the ones for sale, I am just the kinda guy who would rather build it for the experience. Here's where I am at right now.

Tank	40 gallon breeder	Done.
Overflow	Modular Marine 1200	Purchased not yet installed
Sump	20 gallon long	Done.
Stand	Build my own	Working.
Filter	ReefMat 500	Not purchased yet but fairly certain on this one
Skimmer	Octo 110-INC	or another DC option?
Other	Small refugium in sump	Baffles not purchased yet
Other	Small wave maker	Not purchased yet.
Heater	BRS 200w Titanium	Not purchased yet but fairly certain on this one
Heater Control	Helio	Not purchased yet but fairly certain on this one
UV	IceCap 27W	Purchased not yet installed
Return Pump
Bottom	Caribsea
Rock	Dry
Flow Inside	Hydor Korila
Lighting	(2) AI Prime 16 HD	Not purchased yet but fairly certain on this one

Couple notes: I was going to purchase live rock but changed my mind recently and really want to take my time with this build and let the calcium build up on my own and all that long painful yet rewarding stuff. I also plan on adding the Apex system in the future with the trident, DOS, and all that fun stuff in the future.

I am having a bit of a hold up on the return pump. I know I want to get a DC pump to make sure its dialed in correctly to the UV but other than that Im at a bit of a loss. I thought about the COR-20 but it's just so expensive and I think a SICCE or a Jebao might be a better option right now. Just not sure which one, model, etc.

Also, kinda lost on the skimmer. I keep going back to that one but I'm not 100% sold.

Any advice anyone could give the new guy making his first post would be awesome. I'll have pics of the build after I get home and start working in 26 days. For now, I'm about 20 minutes away from BRS and I still haven't visited.

 

[tikiTorch]

List sounds good but my 40gallon breeder is more of a budget build cough cough so can’t speak on all the equipment. All I can say is good luck with the dry rock and look forward to seeing future posts. I went with live rock and got lucky with only one bristleworm that I assumed got picked off by my neon dottyback because I haven’t seen any for three months. I still have a pest nem that I will be dealing with shortly but lots of good hitchhikers came with as well. Take lots of pics over time to document your progress and success. Wouldn’t mind seeing the freshwater tank progress as well.

 

[DadHeller]

List sounds good but my 40gallon breeder is more of a budget build cough cough so can’t speak on all the equipment. All I can say is good luck with the dry rock and look forward to seeing future posts. I went with live rock and got lucky with only one bristleworm that I assumed got picked off by my neon dottyback because I haven’t seen any for three months. I still have a pest nem that I will be dealing with shortly but lots of good hitchhikers came with as well. Take lots of pics over time to document your progress and success. Wouldn’t mind seeing the freshwater tank progress as well.

I appreciate it. I keep saying its going to be a bit of a budget build, but I look at things like socks and I know how work can be for me sometimes and I know I could miss them getting done. Just trying to match my time with my attempt to make it a budget build. Ill make sure to have a ton of pics.

 

[vpierce3]

I would encourage you to get a 75 gallon DT and us the 40 gallon breeder as your sump. Do research and make sure to set up a good refugium….they work great when tuned right. I’ve had a ton of skimmers over the years and I recently bought one of the new Maxspect models and love it.
I can also recommend the Aqua Ultraviolet sterilizers. I just got that too and it’s very well build. I’ve had others in the past and wasn’t impressed.
Make sure that at least your sand is live. I can recommend Dr Tim’s One and Only bacteria and also Microbacter7.
Also get your micro fauna going with a variety of copepods and live phytoplankton. I like Oceanmagik from Algae Barn.
And if you can find some live rock rubble (small crumbled stuff) that will really help create a good biodiversity.
I have a return pump from Simplicity that I bought after a power outage fried my other one a few years back. It was going to be temp but it has turned out to be a nice pump.

 

[DadHeller]

I would encourage you to get a 75 gallon DT and us the 40 gallon breeder as your sump. Do research and make sure to set up a good refugium….they work great when tuned right. I’ve had a ton of skimmers over the years and I recently bought one of the new Maxspect models and love it.
I can also recommend the Aqua Ultraviolet sterilizers. I just got that too and it’s very well build. I’ve had others in the past and wasn’t impressed.
Make sure that at least your sand is live. I can recommend Dr Tim’s One and Only bacteria and also Microbacter7.
Also get your micro fauna going with a variety of copepods and live phytoplankton. I like Oceanmagik from Algae Barn.
And if you can find some live rock rubble (small crumbled stuff) that will really help create a good biodiversity.
I have a return pump from Simplicity that I bought after a power outage fried my other one a few years back. It was going to be temp but it has turned out to be a nice pump.

Yeah the sand will be live for sure and I did purchase some Microbacter and Vibrant as well. I will have to look into Oceanmagik that's something I have not spent a ton of time watching 100 videos on (yet). I swear thats all I do at night. Lets not talk about power outages. I had one a few years ago do close to 5k worth of damage to my home. NOT FUN. We got hit by lighting and it killed SO MUCH stuff.

 

[Jekyl]

I would skip the reefmat and uv and spend the money on lights instead.

 

[DadHeller]

I would skip the reefmat and uv and spend the money on lights instead.

Will the 2 AI Prime 16HDs not work?

 

[Jekyl]

Will the 2 AI Prime 16HDs not work?

They will work depending on what you want for coral. I just don't think UV or reefmats are anywhere near a necessity. Money better spent for lighting or elsewhere.

 

[vpierce3]

Yeah the sand will be live for sure and I did purchase some Microbacter and Vibrant as well. I will have to look into Oceanmagik that's something I have not spent a ton of time watching 100 videos on (yet). I swear thats all I do at night. Lets not talk about power outages. I had one a few years ago do close to 5k worth of damage to my home. NOT FUN. We got hit by lighting and it killed SO MUCH stuff.

If you are doing a 40 gallon tank, the primes will be more than enough. If you go larger, you can increase the number of primes for good light spread or look at something like the hydras.
I went years without a rollermat and I will never have a tank again without one. They are awesome.
UV filter not necessary, but a really nice thing to have. It makes things easier.
Please do a lot of research before you use Vibrant. There are a couple of good threads about that stuff. I won’t touch it.

 

[vpierce3]

As for electrical protection you can run your system through a battery back up (UPS) for a computer. That should provide the maximum protection available from power surges.

 

[Isaac Alves]

I love the 40 breeder size. I’ve got one in my office that’s been running a while now with a 20 gallon sump as well. I have a couple of Kamoer dosers for “all for reef” and one for carbon dosing. There’s a 99 cent store strainer basket to hold a felt poly fill pad instead of a filter sock — And a heater, skimmer and return pump.

i keep this one simple for myself. I need to do wire management since putting it all on a backup battery.

 

[DadHeller]

If you are doing a 40 gallon tank, the primes will be more than enough. If you go larger, you can increase the number of primes for good light spread or look at something like the hydras.
I went years without a rollermat and I will never have a tank again without one. They are awesome.
UV filter not necessary, but a really nice thing to have. It makes things easier.
Please do a lot of research before you use Vibrant. There are a couple of good threads about that stuff. I won’t touch it.

I heard so many people talk about how great the roller mat is and like I said I know my history so I figure it will be a good call. The uv I got a good deal on so that's why I went ahead and pulled the trigger on that. I planned on waiting. When you say vibrant, I didn't see that I listed anything of theirs. Do they go by another name as well?

 

[vpierce3]

Yeah, above you said you bought Microbacter and Vibrant. Do some research on Vibrant.

 

[DadHeller]

Yeah, above you said you bought Microbacter and Vibrant. Do some research on Vibrant.

Awesome. Wasn't even thinking chemicals. Thank you! I will check that out tonight

 

[srobertb]

Hello everyone,

Im one of the many new people that just joined here. I have been doing research and trying to get ready to set up what will be my first saltwater tank. I decided to do this because my son started his own freshwater tank and I wanted to do something to spend some time with him while not doing the same thing. I am currently out of town and plan on beginning the setup in about a month so I am starting to pick up equipment and I wanted to get feedback on what I am thinking with my setup. I plan on building my own tank stand, so I can kinda customize it the way I want. Nothing against the ones for sale, I am just the kinda guy who would rather build it for the experience. Here's where I am at right now.

Tank	40 gallon breeder	Done.
Overflow	Modular Marine 1200	Purchased not yet installed
Sump	20 gallon long	Done.
Stand	Build my own	Working.
Filter	ReefMat 500	Not purchased yet but fairly certain on this one
Skimmer	Octo 110-INC	or another DC option?
Other	Small refugium in sump	Baffles not purchased yet
Other	Small wave maker	Not purchased yet.
Heater	BRS 200w Titanium	Not purchased yet but fairly certain on this one
Heater Control	Helio	Not purchased yet but fairly certain on this one
UV	IceCap 27W	Purchased not yet installed
Return Pump
Bottom	Caribsea
Rock	Dry
Flow Inside	Hydor Korila
Lighting	(2) AI Prime 16 HD	Not purchased yet but fairly certain on this one

Couple notes: I was going to purchase live rock but changed my mind recently and really want to take my time with this build and let the calcium build up on my own and all that long painful yet rewarding stuff. I also plan on adding the Apex system in the future with the trident, DOS, and all that fun stuff in the future.

I am having a bit of a hold up on the return pump. I know I want to get a DC pump to make sure its dialed in correctly to the UV but other than that Im at a bit of a loss. I thought about the COR-20 but it's just so expensive and I think a SICCE or a Jebao might be a better option right now. Just not sure which one, model, etc.

Also, kinda lost on the skimmer. I keep going back to that one but I'm not 100% sold.

Any advice anyone could give the new guy making his first post would be awesome. I'll have pics of the build after I get home and start working in 26 days. For now, I'm about 20 minutes away from BRS and I still haven't visited.

Very organized. That’s good. I had a 40B when I started and I love the dimensions and size.

You solicited advice (kind of) so I’m going to say you may find yourself replacing those lights in a year or two. Consider if your budget allows going up a step of if it doesn’t, go down a step so upgrading will be less painful down the road.
I also HIGHLY recommend using a gulf live rock to start your tank. Good, overnight shipped liverock raised and harvested responsibly from the ocean will allow you to leapfrog the first 6-12 months of your tanks start up where people are often discouraged, become frustrated, and sometimes give up.

 

[DadHeller]

Very organized. That’s good. I had a 40B when I started and I love the dimensions and size.

You solicited advice (kind of) so I’m going to say you may find yourself replacing those lights in a year or two. Consider if your budget allows going up a step of if it doesn’t, go down a step so upgrading will be less painful down the road.
I also HIGHLY recommend using a gulf live rock to start your tank. Good, overnight shipped liverock raised and harvested responsibly from the ocean will allow you to leapfrog the first 6-12 months of your tanks start up where people are often discouraged, become frustrated, and sometimes give up.

I have really been going back and forth on the live rock. I just checked Gulf Live rock and it looks like they are sold out now. I will check again when I get a little closer. Really nervous about live rock but from what im told I shouldn't be.

What light would you recommend?

 

[srobertb]

I have really been going back and forth on the live rock. I just checked Gulf Live rock and it looks like they are sold out now. I will check again when I get a little closer. Really nervous about live rock but from what im told I shouldn't be.

What light would you recommend?

on the gulf live rock thing- They were out of stock last week and probably yesterday. He just went diving a day ago and pulled fresh stuff. He talked me into taking some and it’s arriving today. I’m going to take pictures because I haven’t seen a fresh gulf live rock photo post. If you call (they seem to be phone people) and set up your order for the future, I don’t think you’d have a problem.

Here’s my 2 cents on lights without picking a brand (trying not to). It’s a touchy subject here.

1. Always plan to run Kessils, Radions, and AI’s at no more than around 80% max power to increase lifespan.

2. Set your lights, then leave them alone. Like…Forever. Every time you tweak them, you’re resetting your coral’s parameters and they have to reacclimate to some extent. (Anecdotally speaking). A programmable light can absolutely set you up for failure. You set a color you think looks good but it doesn’t actually grow anything. This was/is a massive problem with LEDs. Too much control.

3. You’re not trying to “blast” anything with light or create spots of high intensity. You’re trying to blanket or saturate the tank in uniform light. Obviously there will be low spots for LPS and soft corals and high spots for SPS or more demanding coral.

4. Depending on how you plan on mounting them, a lot of options require $100 per fixture (give or take) in mounting arms. Factor that in while budgeting and comparing.

5. You don’t want to tip-toe. You want to strut. If you have to think “well…this should be enough light….” You’re doing it wrong. You want a “I’m going to have to turn these down to 50% lest the photons cause a chain reaction and cold fusion is born in my tank.”


There are cheap lights on Amazon (I use Wills brand) that have dials to set the color. You use your own timer; although there are other versions similarly priced with built in basic timers and ramps. These are fantastic lights to get started. You can’t ramp them up and down (the wills) automatically or set color spectrum but this can be an advantage. You set them, they come on, they provide stability. I’d splurge and get 2. It would set you back around $200. I have their light over my frag tank and it’s working beautifully. It’s easily tunable to find the color you like. I also have the 465w grow light version over my refugium. I’ve been very happy and if you ask a lot of reefers with frag tanks and multiple tanks, they probably have a black box light somewhere in their setups.

Traveling down the “cheap” path. Look at the A+ A8. They’re a Chinese light. The software is in Chinese (but there’s an easy solution if you have a tablet and a phone to program them). It doesn’t really matter if programming takes 30 minutes instead of 10 because you set them and forget them. I’d personally get 2 -or 3 of the A+ A7’s (which come with lenses and hanging arms for around $150).

If you want US support and apps: I would look at the Reefbreeders Photon 32-V2. This light will grow with your tank allowing you plenty of light. It creates that blanket of light and has several mounting options in the box.

What I would get: If it was my main display, I would get 2, Radion XR15’s. With the expectation I would need a 3rd possibly as my acros grew out. At this point I have Radions on all my main-floor tanks; freshwater and saltwater. I phased out my AI’s and Kessils and have been much happier. They are not perfect but they work, it’s a single app, I’ve never had one fail, and they grow everything for me. I just set it to AB+ (or the appropriate spectrum for mixed/LPS/SPS/soft and away I g.

I remember when AI came out with their first light. Our local reef club president got his hands on some of the first and ran them over his tank. I got a few shortly thereafter. They’re not bad lights (although comparatively to todays stuff they were pretty awful). For me I’d rather spend less for great coverage with less control or more for control and better coverage. Real or imagined, the number of “I’m thinking about upgrading my AI lights” posts seem to outnumber the “I’m thinking about upgrading my Radions/Kessils/Orphek/Reefbreeders” posts.

My 2 cents. Don’t discount personal taste. If you have seen the lights and like the AI’s, run with them!

​

 

[DadHeller]

on the gulf live rock thing- They were out of stock last week and probably yesterday. He just went diving a day ago and pulled fresh stuff. He talked me into taking some and it’s arriving today. I’m going to take pictures because I haven’t seen a fresh gulf live rock photo post. If you call (they seem to be phone people) and set up your order for the future, I don’t think you’d have a problem.

Here’s my 2 cents on lights without picking a brand (trying not to). It’s a touchy subject here.

1. Always plan to run Kessils, Radions, and AI’s at no more than around 80% max power to increase lifespan.

2. Set your lights, then leave them alone. Like…Forever. Every time you tweak them, you’re resetting your coral’s parameters and they have to reacclimate to some extent. (Anecdotally speaking). A programmable light can absolutely set you up for failure. You set a color you think looks good but it doesn’t actually grow anything. This was/is a massive problem with LEDs. Too much control.

3. You’re not trying to “blast” anything with light or create spots of high intensity. You’re trying to blanket or saturate the tank in uniform light. Obviously there will be low spots for LPS and soft corals and high spots for SPS or more demanding coral.

4. Depending on how you plan on mounting them, a lot of options require $100 per fixture (give or take) in mounting arms. Factor that in while budgeting and comparing.

5. You don’t want to tip-toe. You want to strut. If you have to think “well…this should be enough light….” You’re doing it wrong. You want a “I’m going to have to turn these down to 50% lest the photons cause a chain reaction and cold fusion is born in my tank.”


There are cheap lights on Amazon (I use Wills brand) that have dials to set the color. You use your own timer; although there are other versions similarly priced with built in basic timers and ramps. These are fantastic lights to get started. You can’t ramp them up and down (the wills) automatically or set color spectrum but this can be an advantage. You set them, they come on, they provide stability. I’d splurge and get 2. It would set you back around $200. I have their light over my frag tank and it’s working beautifully. It’s easily tunable to find the color you like. I also have the 465w grow light version over my refugium. I’ve been very happy and if you ask a lot of reefers with frag tanks and multiple tanks, they probably have a black box light somewhere in their setups.

Traveling down the “cheap” path. Look at the A+ A8. They’re a Chinese light. The software is in Chinese (but there’s an easy solution if you have a tablet and a phone to program them). It doesn’t really matter if programming takes 30 minutes instead of 10 because you set them and forget them. I’d personally get 2 -or 3 of the A+ A7’s (which come with lenses and hanging arms for around $150).

If you want US support and apps: I would look at the Reefbreeders Photon 32-V2. This light will grow with your tank allowing you plenty of light. It creates that blanket of light and has several mounting options in the box.

What I would get: If it was my main display, I would get 2, Radion XR15’s. With the expectation I would need a 3rd possibly as my acros grew out. At this point I have Radions on all my main-floor tanks; freshwater and saltwater. I phased out my AI’s and Kessils and have been much happier. They are not perfect but they work, it’s a single app, I’ve never had one fail, and they grow everything for me. I just set it to AB+ (or the appropriate spectrum for mixed/LPS/SPS/soft and away I g.

I remember when AI came out with their first light. Our local reef club president got his hands on some of the first and ran them over his tank. I got a few shortly thereafter. They’re not bad lights (although comparatively to todays stuff they were pretty awful). For me I’d rather spend less for great coverage with less control or more for control and better coverage. Real or imagined, the number of “I’m thinking about upgrading my AI lights” posts seem to outnumber the “I’m thinking about upgrading my Radions/Kessils/Orphek/Reefbreeders” posts.

My 2 cents. Don’t discount personal taste. If you have seen the lights and like the AI’s, run with them!

​

I really appreciate this insight. I think I will go with something similar with the Willis and save a few bucks until I purchase some Radions. I feel better about that decision. Thank you so much!!

 

[DadHeller]

I love the 40 breeder size. I’ve got one in my office that’s been running a while now with a 20 gallon sump as well. I have a couple of Kamoer dosers for “all for reef” and one for carbon dosing. There’s a 99 cent store strainer basket to hold a felt poly fill pad instead of a filter sock — And a heater, skimmer and return pump.

i keep this one simple for myself. I need to do wire management since putting it all on a backup battery.

Absolutely beautiful. I hope I can be that successful.

 

[vadryn]

I haven't seen any comments on the powerheads. My $.02 - The ability to change the output or add random flow has made life so much easier with coral placement, rock-scaping etc. Some units have a controller while others use a phone app. I don't think you will regret getting something like a Nero 3 or a Gyre that lets you tweak it's output to your current situation. You don't have to buy something the "right size." Get something a bit more than you may need and dial it in.

My experience with Koralia left me frustrated... Definitely keep your mind open to other options that (IMO) you will be way happier with.