Help Setup of 125g FOWLER

[eddtango]

Originally Posted by Raf

I run 2 Rena XP3's with mostly mech media in them. I also have a good skimmer on there and 2 SEIO 1200 pumps for circulation(very important). As for sand, about 2" but the fish move it around all the time. Also, it is not the fine sand as the pumps would move that around too much. I plan on adding another 50lbs of LR to the 50 already in there.

HTH

What brand skimmer are you using? Euroreef (pricey)good? How big is your sump? Did you buy your tank reef ready?

[BCOrchidGuy]

Ed, where are you from, if your in the lower mainland then I'd say you don't need an RO filter, tap water that's conditioned will do fine. If you do regular water changes and feed regularly you can get away with out a lot of stuff, how ever if you feed like your trying to grow your fish to market size in a week then you'll need all sorts of stuff to keep the water clean. Bare bottom means less places for crud to hide, sand means natural look but crud trap so you'd have to deal with that. If I were going a FOWLR I'd probably go bare bottom and if you want you can put some sand in your sump with some critters/scavengers to keep it clean.

Doug

[eddtango]

Originally Posted by BCOrchidGuy

Ed, where are you from, if your in the lower mainland then I'd say you don't need an RO filter, tap water that's conditioned will do fine. If you do regular water changes and feed regularly you can get away with out a lot of stuff, how ever if you feed like your trying to grow your fish to market size in a week then you'll need all sorts of stuff to keep the water clean. Bare bottom means less places for crud to hide, sand means natural look but crud trap so you'd have to deal with that. If I were going a FOWLR I'd probably go bare bottom and if you want you can put some sand in your sump with some critters/scavengers to keep it clean.

Doug

I live in South Surrey. What kind of Critters? Snails? Brittle stars? What's the advantage of having sand in the sump? Isn't sand a dirt trap?

[Raf]

Originally Posted by eddtango

What brand skimmer are you using? Euroreef (pricey)good? How big is your sump? Did you buy your tank reef ready?

The skimmer is a Deltec MCE600, a bit underpowered for that sized tank but I plan on adding another in the longrun.

No sump, i rather hate them. The two renas are the filters with the SEIO's for circulation. Hence, the tank is not drilled.

[eddtango]

Originally Posted by Raf

The skimmer is a Deltec MCE600, a bit underpowered for that sized tank but I plan on adding another in the longrun.

No sump, i rather hate them. The two renas are the filters with the SEIO's for circulation. Hence, the tank is not drilled.

That's a nice skimmer and it doesn't take up too much space at the back. If you don't have a sump, do you use surface skimmers to deal w/surface scum? What's the disadvantage of installing a sump?

I also read about a lot of good stuff about SEIO pumps. There's even a package at J&L's that comes w/a wave controller. Nice equipment you got there.

[Raf]

The skimmer is really great for an HOB and only takes about 3-4" of space behind the tank....it pulls out lots of smelly stuff from the water, I was surprised!

As for surface skimming, the pumps combined with the spraybars from the renas help break up that. Obviously it won't be as good as surface overflow as with a sump but very manageable.

This is a personal opinion, but many(not all) sumps have several things that I dislike. Firstly, i find excessive evaporation with sumps with a neccesity to keep up on top ups for feer of running air into the pumps. Secondly, salt creep, because of the water movement and splashing in a sump, there tends to be saltcreep on many surfaces, including the stand in which the sump resides...Thirdly, fairly poor mech filteration, most sumps have little to no mech media...many have just a drip tray on which floss is set....I find one layer of floss tends to let a lot of crud through. Fourthly, noise...I find many sumps way to noisy in both water movement from the overflow and into the sump to pump humm noise. Lastly, the danger of overflow/leaks. IMO, the less holes in your tank, the better. Also, plumbing over time can develop leaks or can suddenly develop leaks. I prefer a filtration system that is contained and safe. For all the above points I mentioned, there are sump designs/top off systems that help or negate those problems, but with many sumps, these problems are still commonplace.

Again, these are my personal opinions, many will disagree and tell you sumps are the way to go. So really it is up to you to decide.

[eddtango]

Originally Posted by Raf

The skimmer is really great for an HOB and only takes about 3-4" of space behind the tank....it pulls out lots of smelly stuff from the water, I was surprised!

As for surface skimming, the pumps combined with the spraybars from the renas help break up that. Obviously it won't be as good as surface overflow as with a sump but very manageable.

This is a personal opinion, but many(not all) sumps have several things that I dislike. Firstly, i find excessive evaporation with sumps with a neccesity to keep up on top ups for feer of running air into the pumps. Secondly, salt creep, because of the water movement and splashing in a sump, there tends to be saltcreep on many surfaces, including the stand in which the sump resides...Thirdly, fairly poor mech filteration, most sumps have little to no mech media...many have just a drip tray on which floss is set....I find one layer of floss tends to let a lot of crud through. Fourthly, noise...I find many sumps way to noisy in both water movement from the overflow and into the sump to pump humm noise. Lastly, the danger of overflow/leaks. IMO, the less holes in your tank, the better. Also, plumbing over time can develop leaks or can suddenly develop leaks. I prefer a filtration system that is contained and safe. For all the above points I mentioned, there are sump designs/top off systems that help or negate those problems, but with many sumps, these problems are still commonplace.

Again, these are my personal opinions, many will disagree and tell you sumps are the way to go. So really it is up to you to decide.

What type of lights are you using on your FOWLR? T5s? Anyway,your tank looks so clean and seems devoid of algae,it seems like the skimmer and your filters are doing a good job.

[Raf]

yup, T5's. as for algae, it is a fairly new tank still in that pic.

[tang daddy]

Ed I saw your post and just started a 90 g fowlr with 33g sump instead of mech filters or can filters I used lr in the middle compartment of my sump later on I might turn it into a fuge with some macro I'm growing out in my reef's sump. My fowler has been running for about 3 weeks and I'm slowly adding fish they're all getting along fine my lighting is 2 coralife t5 and one 65w 50000k t5 for the bluey loue look love that light so far I have about 150 lbs of rock some more cured than others I used reef waterchanges for the tank so that hopefully the cycling will be faster loving the way it looks, I'm also thinking of adding a uv sterilizer supposedly essential for a fowler. My components are a new euroreef rs135 return is quietone 3000 and flow is return split in two and a seio 1500 more than enough to move everything in the tank. Also I have about two bags of sugar sand (aragonite) if you ask me I like sumps that way you can use a larger skimmer keep more rock and your other equipment underneath salt creep is an issue but what I did was buy myselg some of that sign plastic took a measurement of the sump and piping and covered it all up so there's probally only quater of a square foot uncovered. If you are planning on putting sand go with the medium stuff I made the mistake of going with the sugarsand lots of washing and 3 days of cloudiness brutal atleast there were no fish in the tank now that the sediment has relaxed it's groovy. I've seen a couple of 120 set up's and the cleanest has got to be the one with the uv sterilizer it makes the water crystal clear and the guy doesnt use ro water bluddy stunning he had about 15 different angels and 6 other fish in there pretty amazing. Oh if you go with a sump go with a 50 long and p/u some lr you can never have enough...
here are pics of my fowler. Cheers Chris