Does this new tank setup sound OK?

[DanS]

I've been watching and reading 3reef for a couple weeks now, so decided to join.
My cousin gave me his old 55 gallon tank that I want to try and dive into (no pun intended) a salt water tank. Wanted to describe what I have and see if you guys think I'm off to a good start or if I need to do something different or get something different.
First, I have about 50 lbs of live rock and an argonite substrate that have been cycling for about a week now. Obviously still waiting for that to get further along.
I have 2 power heads - the 660 which moves 170 gph and a 1140 which moves 300 gph. These are connected to the uptakes from an undergravel grate and tubes, so it's pulling water through the substrate, in theory. These are in the back corners of the tank. The return from the wet/dry is in the center of the tank.
I have a wet dry filter, but have removed about half the bio balls because I've heard those can be bad and think I have a fair amount of live rock.
My protein skimmer is small, and I don't really know anything about it, but my cousin used to keep an eel in the tank and he seemed to think it was fine for the tank. The skimmer is in the wet/dry before the trickle plate. Have the overflow box that feeds to the wet/dry with a new filter in there. Don't have any carbon filters in the system that I know of. That OK?
Got the Aqualight 260 W power compacts brand new.
Have a heater rated for the tank size and a thermometer. Water has been around 78 since I've had it up (having a hard time keeping it down in the heat).
This sound correctly setup and like I have everything I need in the right places?

[APC]

Hi!

What is your goal for the tank...Fish, Inverts (Corals, etc), or both?

Any idea what brand or model of Protein Skimmer you have? The protein skimmer, among other things, is going to be key to your happiness and success.

I am not sure that the undergravel filter is going to do you any good. It may actually cause more problems then it solves (nitrates, etc.). Anyone else have an opinion on that..it has been a while since I have thought about a UGF.b

The powerheads are a good thing from a flow perspective. If nothing else, you may want to unhook them from the undergravel and just use them to move water.

I realize this does not answer your questions, but it may help foster further discussion.

[DanS]

Yeah, that was probably a key point I left out. Would like to have a mix of fish and corals. Probably not heavy on the fish, thinking like a pair of clowns, a gramma, coral beauty angel and maybe some cardinals or firefish. Not sure yet about coral, just want to get things started at this point.
Also, I don't have any filter on the undergravel, just the plate and the side tubes being used to pull up water. I thought that was better, so that you didn't have to worry about fish and other things getting pulled into the power head. Are there other better ways around that?
Thanks for the initial response APC.

[Birdlady]

With the substrate, you said it is aragonite. Is it crushed coral, or more like sand? If it is like sand, with the smaller grains, you will eventually jam up your powerheads as the sand will likely get sucked under the plate and up the tube. Since you have just started, I would get rid of the UG plate, and get strainers for the powerheads instead. JMHO...

5 or 6 fish in a 50 gallon is not what I would call 'light' on the fish load. The rating is different for saltwater fish than for freshwater. It can be done...you will be fine, but like APC mentioned, you should have a good protein skimmer.

You should be fine with most soft corals and LPS corals...I am not sure about clams and SPS corals with the PC lights. Some folks have been OK, and some have problems....

The wet / dry and UGF was a good setup for an eel, as they are heavy producers of waste....with a reef tank, you may want to be set up a little different. I would toss all the bioballs before you have a good bacterial population on them, which makes removing them a bit more tricky. Just use the W/D as a 'sump' in which to put all your filtration, heaters, etc ...

Hope this helps a bit and keep the questions coming!

And remember, there is always more than one way to skin a cat! Research and do what you can live with!

[DanS]

The substrate is not fine like sand, but a bit bigger, so probably the crushed coral. I've had the things running for a week or so now, and at first the more powerful powerhead was shooting out stuff, but has since stopped, so I think it's OK. What about the nitrates etc that APC mentioned with the UGF - is that true? I just don't want fish to get sucked into the power head. Are they just smart enough not to go where the intake is if the intake is exposed?
Guess maybe I should rethink my fish choices and/or double check the skimmer. How would I know if the skimmer is sufficient?

[Mr._Bond]

I am curious too about the undergravel thing now too. I run mine the same way as DanS describes, and have had a high nitrate problem. Could this be part of my problem?

[APC]

I am far from an expert, but my thought is yes. The idea of the undergravel is to suck the detritis into the gravel bed where it can be broken down by bacteria. There is a flow of water through the gravel bed at all times (The purpose of the riser tubes and the pumps). As a result there is no anoxic environment in the bed and thus no completion of the denitrification cycle (The cycle essentially stops (or lags behind) at the nitrate step and your levels rise). There is good information on DSB and Pleniums on 3reef that touch on this topic, I found them very helpful.

As birdlady said, there are lots of ways to do a reef tank. Everyone has their own methods, and I am not sure anyone is entirely right or wrong. That being said, I don't think I would go with an under gravel filter. I would pull out the plates, and just use the powerheads to get some flow going in the tank.

As for the protein skimmer question, can you post a picture of it? Maybe someone will recognize it and can ID it for you. They come in many different sizes and shapes, so it is hard to generalize and say if it will work for you.

Hope this helps. Also, if anyone thinks I am off base, please say so. It's been about 10 years since college biology and chemistry...so I am rusty for sure!

[Birdlady]

I agree that using a UGF is just adding more maintenance where you don't need it, in the form of weekly water changes, vacuuming the gravel bed, etc.

As for the powerheads, most of them come with strainers, if you did not get them, you could probably find replacements or make some from PVC with holes drilled in them.

Here is a pic of a powerhead with a strainer...

[IMG][/IMG]

[Birdlady]

The intake is greatly diffuse so that fish and corals do not usually get stuck on them....anemones , however...is a different story altogether!

[Mr._Bond]

I don't want to take over this thread, but... Birdlady, I was planning on getting an anemone here soon (I hoped). How do you handle the power heads with anemones?