Filtering Questions for Saltwater

Hi! My name is Cheyenne, I wanted to get some opinions from some more experienced reefers about filtering a large 120 gallon aquarium. My ultimate goal in this tank is to house primarily EELS! I understand some eat fishies others, your shrimps and snails, but I also wanted to house Garden Eels. Based on my reading through previous threads and a few books with little tidbits of info I understand they need at least 6-8" of sand. Which I am ok with, they are super cute!

Problem With Undergravel Filter -

My problem is that I plan on having a 20-40 gallon long sump with an overflow to get the suction going, with a skimmer, some good filter-media, and a refugium. With this sand bed though being so tall, I am wondering if a under gravel filter is even worth it to consider? I understand there are layers of the sand where beneficial critters grow, but I don't know how much disturbance it would cause. Plus the more I visualize sand, I think of it like a broken vacuum cleaner, simply falling through the filter to get blown out into the tank and have a sandstorm hayday.

Problem With Heating Water -

Simple question for this, when using a sump filtration system, I keep reading about reefers who put heaters in the sump to heat the water. How does that even heat in the first place (like have ample time to heat if water is constantly moving) and how do you keep it constant with that in mind? Would you put a heater in the sump and the DT?

Critter Question

In the book I am reading on SW tanks they mention putting brittle stars in the refugium. I've seen a few brittles that weren't "tiny" persay, but I would be afraid of them escaping and getting very brutally sucked up and spit back out into the DT, but also feel cruel encasing the refugium like a little seastar jail cell. (I know with eels I will have to eel-proof every possible escape but the brittles are innocent! lol) Also, with the refugium in mind, I keep reading about copepods, and hearing both sides of the table of them being good yummy food, and then also bad. So essentially I am doodling in the sand in the middle not sure which side is more accurate. That and I know some critters like their good amount of plankton. Would one recommend to (right after getting nitrogen cycle completed) to start cultivating them?

Tank Info -


A little more info on my goal for this tank, like I said 20-40 gal. sump, 3 tiers: skimmer, media, refugium, back to tank. Lots of eels, garden and snowflakes are what I would like to start with. Then branch out and "maybe" add some clownfish and tangs (bigger fishes). So far I have about 20-30 lbs of dry rock that is waiting to get cured, but I am still in the early stages of getting my materials. I already have two Koralia pumps and my tank and some dry rock. so I am getting there .-. I am waiting for a nice or decent skimmer to come along in my area on the used side which is whats keeping me so far from setting up my plumbing. My bf and I are building a stand for this giant beast of a tank (I started with a 30 gallon FW tank) but the guy who cut our wood botched the measurements T^T Back to square one with that. So first I would like to thank anyone who reads this rant to start, I suck tremendously at explaining clearly I've been told. Also thanks to anyone who provides insight on this!

 

Start by reading this through, it should answer a lot of your questions:
http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.htm

Eels are escape artists and not that easy to keep

Undergravel filters have not been used in at least a decade by most esxperienced saltwater aquarists.

 

Welcome to 3reef! Quite a first post! I think it would be good to do a lot of research on the care of garden eels as it seems they may need a dedicated system to do well in captivity.

 

I thought the same thing

 

Welcome to 3Reef!

Just what 'area' are you in?

 

Heres a good link about eels.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/marine-depot/real-deal-about-eels-152852.html

Garden Eeels are difficult at best.They need a species tank and no aggressive or large fish.

 

Arizona not to hot not too cold ^^

As far as undergravel filters, Ok duely noted, yeah the book a friend loaned to me to start is a bit dated but I saw it pop up on numerous occasions that I figured I would ask but good to know ^^

As far as the eels, by species would that be eel exclusive or just the garden eels alone? (sorry if that's redundant x.x) But with peaceful species of other fish, why would cardinals and clownfish not be compatible with them? Would that be due to them being a smaller fish, or territorial? Every time I see for example, Banggaiis they seem peaceful. I am still like I said in the beginning phase of just getting started, so I could save garden eels for a later time, but ultimately I want to expand into saltwater from freshwater. So I am really excited but still have work to do

 

Eels are carnivores and voracious eaters. They can fit about anything in their mouth. Along with that they can be very messy so good filtration is a must. But most of all is their ability to escape, they can and will squeeze through the tiniest opening and then are not able to get back into the tank and die.
My next door neighbor tried many different types and even had a wolf eel climb from one tank into another too eat the fish in that tank. We found hime and a few other dead on the floor behind the stand eventually even though he had what we thought was a tight fitting glass/screen lid and canopy. Even a powerhead cord hole is a way to get out.

To keep from becoming discouraged and quit, try your hand at some easier inhabitants first and gain experience before jumping in to harder ones. When the publications and sites say "expert" they really mean it and for most of us, even me with almost 30 years of reefkeeping experience keep my distance.

 

Did you look at the link I provided??All your questions are answered there.:-/

 

Yes I did and thank you for posting it ^^ I would like to apologize for the late response. I still am trying to read up on fish compatibility and manage to work early morning hours. I am trying to reread the books I currently have over and over to make sure the information sticks as well. I would like to have a tank housing more fish that are going to be happy together in the long run, and not kill each other. I always seem to come across triggers being the recommended choice, but something just irks me about them. If I were a puffer fish, I would be puffed all day looking at them, with no apparent reason why. But thank you again (it also let me to a more beginner friendly compatibility chart that is easier to look at than lots of blocks of N, C, and Y all over)