Yes, better for the animals because it adds to the water volume, but also easier for you to maintain. A lot of people fear the idea of a sump, thinking it's too complicated, which is not true... if it's done properly. Between posts, emails, and photos I can guide you through if that is needed, 1 step at a time. I would rather see you get it right from the very start than to go through the expense and worry later and the complicated process it can be to change things around later on.
A sump, quite simply, is the container filled with water that sits below the tank and holds all of your equipment. Skimmer, pump(s), UV, filter medias, even heater can all go into the sump system where they are easier to maintain without disturbing the animals or main tank. My
advice in regards to a stand is to make sure it is easy access for you with the 2nd tank underneath. A "tight squeeze" doesn't work for maintaining something of that nature. Avoid wrought iron and kd (pressboard) stands because the salt from both tanks will weaken/erode it and eventually it will need to be replaced. Salt creep will cause wrought iron to rust. Hard wood, especially if sealed, is the best option and will last the longest if it's made well.
When a new customer comes to me and says "I want to set up a saltwater/reef tank" the first thing I tell them is "go slow!" This is to everyone's benefit. The 2nd thing I tell them is to avoid impulse purchases. Not only does that get expensive (especially when it's dead fish and/or corals) but impulse buying can quickly wipe out an entire tank. The risk and expense are worth the patience.
The next advice I give is to figure out a budget, how much can you afford to spend within the
next 6 wks? How much, if spread out over 3 months? Over 6 months? And once they have a good idea of timeline, we start slow. Learning the environment is key to success in marine aquaria, but you must also learn about the animals you keep. My method is to suggest reading an overview of marine fish keeping from a good book or accurate website, then go back to the beginning and build as you read, one chapter at a time. Pace yourself and give everything the ample time it needs to adjust, function properly, grow, etc. This buys you time to save the money needed for the right (and good) equipment. In this hobby you get what you pay for in most cases. If you go the cheap way out then you will be replacing things more often, ultimately spending much more money. Saving an extra month or 2 for a quality skimmer makes a huge difference not only in the health of your tank, but for your mental health as
well. There is nothing more frustrating than having a piece of equipment that you NEED running all the time to break down and leave you with a large expense in replacing it vs a quality product that IF it breaks down, the company will help you with the replacement of it and understand the importance of overnight shipping, etc. Buying some things 2nd hand is worth the deal, such as used tanks, used filters (especially if you know how to fix them), decor, etc. But when it comes to UV and skimmer and possibly an overflow accessory kit, if at all possible, stick to a new one that you know doesn't have issues that could cost you more later. In freshwater we can get away with hanging an air stone and keeping the tank warm with towels and room temps and etc. in cases of a power outage or equipment failure. Not so easy with a marine tank.
In regards to your sump needs, I would shoot for a 15 gallon tank if you can arrange it, and long is better than tall for something like that because you'll need room to fit all of the equipment in there properly. The goal should always be to go as large as you can in regards to tank sizes, be it main tank or sump. The bigger it is the easier it gets.
I did post a new album (Dawn's reef tanks) and put some photos in there for you so you can see my 2 latest reef tanks. I am in the process of breaking down and replacing the biocube (hubby brought home a new one) and starting it over. Everything in the photo is now being used for the 75 gallon reef or was sold/traded for something I needed. I am still considering what I want to put into the new tank and am leaning towards a pair of pipe fish, but not fully decided yet. I am having a hard time finding access to the species I want. Options for the small tanks are a bit more limited and there isn't room for much in way of fish. Finding 3 small fish that are compatible and going to stay small enough to live in that size of a tank permanently can be a difficult task. The photo of my biocube you will notice there are no fish in the tank. Other than corals, snails, and hermit crabs, the only other animal in there was a large coral banded shrimp
because of lack of tank size. To keep that tank looking the way it does in the photo required me to thin things out about once/wk. That gets time consuming and means trips to the pet store to drop off frags all the time. The red grape plant in the photo had to be trimmed back weekly and 1/2 the time the excess just went into the trash because it just grew so fast. If let to go even a few extra days it would wrap around and choke out corals. It was great for consuming/utilizing nutrients though, so it is now in the sump of my 75 gallon.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy the photos. :-)
Dawn
Dawn Moneyhan
Aquatics Specialist/Nutritionist
To learn more about me go to
http://www.helium.com/users/449334
--- On Tue, 10/30/12, dianne <diavids@gmail.com> wrote:
From: dianne <diavids@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [tropical fish club] any reefers
To: tropicalfishclub@yahoogroups.com
Date:
Tuesday, October 30, 2012, 8:25 PM
thanks Dawn,
I think i will end up doing a small reef tank, going to start very slow though. I going to start looking on the used site for odds and ends to save me monies buying new. I'm going to buy the saltwater mixed already, as the store a few blocks away does that, and since i'll have to go out and buy the water anyway, makes sense to buy the water all ready for the tank. I don't have the space to keep much extra. I have been thinking how i could set up a sump which sounds like it would be a good idea. have my 25 gal plus a 10/15 gal sump underneath. I'm going to look around for a stand that i could keep a sump underneath. The person at the reef store told me having a sump isn't important but it would give me more gallons, right, so better for the animals. thanks again
dianne
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