tangale

Senior Member
Location
Murray Hill, NYC
Rating - 100%
36   0   0
Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to get your opinion on this tank setup I did. I guess I set it up more for the heck of building than really thinking if it was beneficial to the system or not. Anyways...this is what I did.

I have a FOWLR setup. It's a 55 gallon that overflows into a 29 gallon tank. Though the 29g isn't really a sump, as I have some smaller inhabitants in there...i.e. 1 clown, 2 damsels, and 2 shrimps. There's about 40lbs of live rock there...and a bed of crushed coral (no sand). On the 29g will be the skimmer (CPR...yeah I know), and the heater. Not much additional current besides what the overflow and skimmer brings. In the 55g sitting above, I just have about 20lbs of live rock, and 3 hermits, and a 3.5" Lionfish.

The biological filtration is the live rocks. No chemical. And the mechanical is just the sponge pre-filter in the overflow.

On the 29g, I have some room to add one more equipment. I can either get an extra small protein skimmer or I have an extra power filter with bio-wheel. Which do you recommend? Also hope to get about another 30 lbs of rock in the near future.

Also, please feel free to make any other suggestions. I'm from the freshwater world, and somehow, I feel like I'm missing a whole lot of mechanical filtration. Let me know what you think.

Your opinion is valued. Thanks.
 

bad coffee

Inept at life.
Rating - 100%
27   0   0
I'd get the best skimmer you can afford. And get more LR as well. That will do your bio filtration. Also, remember to clean out your prefilter sponge at least every other day. They can become a real nitrate source if not kept clean.

Mike Marrone has 2 HUGE fish only tanks. I forget all the details/filtering, but if you ask him, i'm sure he'll give you a rundown of his equipment.

B
 

jawwad2004

Senior Member
Location
Queens, NY
Rating - 100%
37   0   0
I def. agree with BC, get the best skimmer you can afford. I went from a seaclone, to a remora to an Aquac EV120, and the ev120 def. gave me improved water quality. Nitrates are less then 5ppm, and water clarity is at its best. Nuisance algae is low and it just makes my job much easier. From what I have been hearing on the CPR backpak, is that its an OK skimmer. If you are using a 29g below your tank, you have many options for a larger and more efficient skimmer and also build a refugium in there while your at it. Since your doing FOWLR, you wont even have to add any trace elements, etc.
 

tangale

Senior Member
Location
Murray Hill, NYC
Rating - 100%
36   0   0
Question though...since the 29 really isn't a sump...and if I put a in-sump skimmer (usually the better type), is that ok?

I mean to have a in-sump skimmer and then have live rock, fish, etc. It'll almost be putting skimmer inside the main tank.

I don't mind the slightly awkward look, but is it good for the fish in the 29?
 

Deanos

Old School Reefer
Location
Bronx, NY 10475
Rating - 100%
194   0   0
I think putting an in-sump skimmer in the tank w/fish will give you more than an awkward look. You may have microbubble issues, fish stuck to the skimmer pump, etc. I'd go with a hang-on skimmer if you must have fish in the 29.
 

marrone

The All Powerful OZ
Staff member
Location
The Big City
Rating - 98.8%
80   1   0
First off what are your plans for the tank, do you plan on additional alot more fish or just the fish that you currently have. If you plan on adding alot more fish your going to need alot of live rock probably more than you can have in the tank to keep the nitrates low. Also if you don't plan on placing any corals in the tank then I wouldn't worry about keeping the nitrates very very low as fish can handle the higher nitrates also with more fish your going to have to feed more than you would in a reef tank.

Remember alot of rock takes up space in a tank and cut down on swimming area for your fish not to mention on the size of the fish that you can have. A skimmer would be a nice additional but it's not some thing that is required. You could make the 29 into a full sump or even add a hang-on filter to run off of it. I currently don't have a sump on my large tank and run canister wet/dry filter on them. This is because I don't want the extra weight and the chance of the sump over-flowing.

Once you decide what your going to do then you can lay out a # of different senarios and then you can decide what is best for you.


Michael
 

jhale

ReefsMagazine!
Location
G.V NYC
Rating - 100%
52   0   0
samksy said:
You can use the filter to move water, but DO NOT use the bio-wheel, trash the bio-wheel...It won't do your tank any good. Your live rock will do the job.


sams correct the bio-wheel will raise your nitrates.

and I'll second the increase in live rock.
I had a 55 FOWLR set up for six years, about 120 pounds of live rock and a decent skimmer in the sump, that's it.

unfortunately my nitrates were through the roof due to a nice crushed coral bed :rolleyes: thanks to NWA for that one.
good thing is was fish only.
I never could figure out what I was doing wrong to keep the nitrates so high. :banghead:
 

Sponsor Reefs

We're a FREE website, and we exist because of hobbyists like YOU who help us run this community.

Click here to sponsor $10:


Top