Reef newbie equipment questions

Hello 3reef! I was curious if I was going about getting immersed into this fascinating hobby correctly. I intend on setting up and maintaining a Reef tank. I have read information for countless hours trying to become as knowledgable as possible before even purchasing equipment. I was wondering if someone might be able to give me some guidance on the ideas I am currently working with and correct my mistakes before they happen with equipment selection.

I am strongly considering purchasing the Redsea Max 250 (66 Gallon) Plug and Play reef system. After reading all the reviews of this equipment I beleive the weak points in the system are the single reflector lighting system and the protein skimmer is questionable in its effectiveness. Anyone who has any experience with a Redsea Max 250, your input here would be greatly appreciated. I beleive this will be a good tank for a novice but I could be wrong.

The next piece of equipment I was considering was the SpectraPure MaxPure 90 GPD RO/DI filter for making usable water. I am curious if this is a dependable RO/DI unit and if it will make my highly chlorinated tap water usable.

I beleive I am going to be needing a Tunze powerhead for extra circulation for some of the corals I intend on introducing but I am not sure if this is needed. If anyone has any experience with a Redsea Max 250 please let me know if the stock circulation is adequate.

I am curious if the substrate that is included in the Redsea Max starter kit is of decent quality and was wondering if I need to supplement it with some other kind of substate to obtain the DSB that seems to be needed. This stuff looked rather coarse to me and not fine enough.

I was also planning on using uncured live rock to cycle the tank. If anyone can give me any guidance on the wisdom of this decision please do so. Also is it ethical to use Fiji Live rock when seeding aragonite sculpted rock seems to be possible?

Thank you for your answers to my newbie questions and I love the site.

 

Well, I can offer some help. Personally, I don't like those all in one starter kits. The equipment is alright, but they are weak in certain areas, especially the skimmer and lighting as you have mentioned. I would rather piece together my own tank and customize it to exactly what I want. It may seem daunting, but take your time and ask a lot of questions.

Most if not all of those starter kits will need extra flow especially for any sps you may want to keep.

I don't know what the substrate included is? It sounds like crushed coral, is it? If so, I would ditch it and use a fine grained sand. As long as it's not silicate based, your fine. Also, a DSB is not needed and IMO actually has some significant drawbacks. I don't run one, and in order to have a fully functioning DSB, you need about 6" of sand which is a lot. Once it's established, you really can't disturb as it will release hydrogen sulfide, a toxic substance not to mention lot of organics. I would just go with 2-3" sand bed easier to maintain and much less risk of crashing your tank, especially as it ages.

I love the idea of using uncured rock. It is cheaper, you get more for you money, and you dont' have to worry about unwanted hitchhikers which can become a pain in the a**.

That RO unit looks good, just make sure any unit you use as a de-ionizer section.

Any further questions, feel free to ask. And welcome to 3reef.

 

+1,good advise from Guitarman,the RO/DI unit is a good start to putting together your system and Spectrapure builds good quality units.

 

Thanks Guitarman and Sailorguy. I was afraid that the opinion on the all in one kits would be negative. The substrate that is included with the aquarium is a crushed aragonite substrate. The aquarium also includes some of Redsea's salt, the last time I had a succesful FO tank I always used instant ocean. The kit also includes Redsea's Marine Lab test kit, which looks decent. Oh and it has a hydrometer too. If I go this route I think I will ditch the hydrometer and get a refractometer. The substrate worries me. I think if I purchase this unit I will just get some bagged "live" sand and build the 2-3" bed you mentioned. The all-in-one solution is appealing for ease but I dont want to sacrifice quality of the setup for ease either. Anyone else's input would be appreciated too. It's a shame if the overall opinion of the Redsea Max 250 is not positive as I really like the looks of this tank. I kind of had my heart set on it because the idea of various plumbing and wiring just looks unappealing to me.

 

I think if you purchased the all-in-one system, you would end up spending more in the long run just upgrading the equipment to suit your needs. If budget is the main concern, I would look on craigslist for a used setup. People are selling their full tank systems for generally good prices because they can't afford it, lost their job, yada yada yada. Then, all you have to do is replace bulbs and what not.

EDIT: That is my opinion though, sometimes it can be fun and beneficial to set up your own system from scratch (you learn a lot this way)