Equipment purchase questions

[eianson]

Over the last month or so, I've been doing alot of research and I am finally homing in on a system. However, before I start laying out any money, I want to see if anyone has any comments or recommendations. I am looking primarily at fish/inverts with live rock, but I would like to eventually add some soft coral and perhaps an anemone.

Tank - 55 gallon (48 x 12 x 20) All Glass Aquarium - I was considering jumping to a 75 gallon, but I really don't think I have the room where I want to put it (living room....will come too far out from the wall...plus keeping it slim will increase my wife's tolerance).
Stand/Canopy - The AGA "Modern Series" Cherry. Thinking about skipping the canopy....any thoughts?
Protein Skimmer - Prizm.
Filter - Emperor 400.
Power Heads - 2 Rio 1400s.
Lighting - JBJ Formosa Deluxe 4 x 65W PC??? - I've read all the lighting threads and I still find lighting to be the most confusing aspect of what I need to buy. Is this lighting adequate to keep my live rock healthy, support some corals, and possibly an anemone? Also, I am chiller-phobic (can't afford it). Will this lighting drive the need for a chiller (I think it comes with fans)? I am completely baffeled. The more I look, the less I understand. What is a retrofit? Is a Moon-Light better than a hooded system? How much do I really need? Is a 4x 65W more than I really need? Will a 2x 65W or 2x 96W adequate? Obviously more is better, but for what I want to do how much do I really need? HELP!!!! :confused:
Heater - Ebo Jager 200W or Pro-Heat 200W - Anybody have any preferences between these two? Also, anybody have any thoughts on buying 2 smaller heaters (100W each?) to place on each end of the tank.
Live Rock - 55 lbs of Fully cured Premium Fiji Rock. One of the stores near me sells rock from a particular supplier (Walt Smith). Any thoughts on this? Is any reputable store that sells cured live rock going to be fine,.
Substrate - Aragonite.
And obviously all the misc (grounding probe, water treatment, salt, test kit, etc).

What do you think?

If I bite the bullet and go for the 75 Gallon, what do I need to upgrade? I'm thinking the Power Heads and Heaters need to jump up 1 model and add more live rock.

The last question I have is about buying items online (I won't mention any websites here). I have found really good deals on all of the equipment I list above. Any reason I shouldn't be buying things like heaters, power heads, protein skimmers, filters, etc online?

Thanks in advance,
Eric

[mogurnda]

There will be more detailed responses, I'm sure, but overall it's a decent plan. Except:
1. I hear more bad than good things about the Prizm. Go with a Remora Pro if you want a HOT skmmer.
2. That will be OK light for softies and maybe LPS, but anemones will not be happy. Again, there will be other opinions, but anemones and corals don't mix all that well anyway.
3. I have been happy for 20+ years with Ebo-Jagers. People seem to think that 2 of the appropriate wattage will give you more of a safety margin.
4. I buy almost all of my hardgoods online. I won't mention any names, but PA has been excellent.

[Ray Pollett]

eianson,

"Tank - 55 gallon (48 x 12 x 20) All Glass Aquarium - I was considering jumping to a 75 gallon, but I really don't think I have the room where I want to put it (living room....will come too far out from the wall...plus keeping it slim will increase my wife's tolerance). "

I would go with the 75. The depth from front to back on the 55 is too shallow from my experience. It is hard to aquascape and have room to clean the glass without moving stuff inside the tank. It can be done, but is much easier in a 75 and more options on aquascaping.

"Stand/Canopy - The AGA "Modern Series" Cherry. Thinking about skipping the canopy....any thoughts?"

That is a personal prefence. I've seen tanks with a Light strip and no canopy I thought looked fine.

"Protein Skimmer - Prizm. "

Only reason to use a prizim is if heat may be a problem. They are not the easiest skimmer or the best to run. The Remoras are much better, but the water pump is in the tank and can raise water temperature by 1 or 2 degrees.

Presonally I would save the money. Do not use a skimmer or the powerheads. Use two Emperor 400 with the Bio-wheels removed. I have a number of tanks with this and both anemones and corals. I also have tanks with skimmers.

"Filter - Emperor 400. "

See above

"Power Heads - 2 Rio 1400s. "

See Above

"Lighting - JBJ Formosa Deluxe 4 x 65W PC??? - I've read all the lighting threads and I still find lighting to be the most confusing aspect of what I need to buy. Is this lighting adequate to keep my live rock healthy, support some corals, and possibly an anemone?"

I've never used that particular brand; but yes that is adequate lighting.

"Also, I am chiller-phobic (can't afford it). Will this lighting drive the need for a chiller (I think it comes with fans)? I am completely baffeled. The more I look, the less I understand."


It can be very confusing. Especially since everyone tells you something different. It just shows there are many ways to do it. Wheither or not you need a chiller will depend on many things. If you have a canopy over the lights, more heat will be traped in the tank area and water temperature may be higher. Temperature of the room the tank is in. Air curculation in area of the tank. Water pumps inside or outside tank ( PHs are inside, Emperor 400 are outside).

" What is a retrofit?"

A retrofit is the equipment to build a light setup. It can be used in a canopy or in a hood.

"Is a Moon-Light better than a hooded system?"

No. Moon lights are just very small blue lights that come on at night.

"How much do I really need? Is a 4x 65W more than I really need? Will a 2x 65W or 2x 96W adequate? Obviously more is better, but for what I want to do how much do I really need? HELP!!!! "

The 4X65W pc set up will be fine for what you want to do. It is what I would use over a 96 gallon tank. Over a 55 the 2x96 would be fine if it is a significant difference in price.


"Heater - Ebo Jager 200W or Pro-Heat 200W - Anybody have any preferences between these two? Also, anybody have any thoughts on buying 2 smaller heaters (100W each?) to place on each end of the tank. "

Ebojagger is only brand I carry and use. Yes using 2 smaller heaters is better than one large one. If one breaks, you should not see your fish cooked or frozen be for you have time to fine one is broke.

"Live Rock - 55 lbs of Fully cured Premium Fiji Rock. One of the stores near me sells rock from a particular supplier (Walt Smith). Any thoughts on this? Is any reputable store that sells cured live rock going to be fine,."

Walt Smith suppies most of the Fiji LR in this country. I use it all the time. For a tank normal is 1.5 to 3 pounds per gallon; depending on how you stack it and how you like the look to be.

I would buy the 60 pound box of base rock here: www.hirocks.com

I then would after the tank is cured buy LR a piece or two at a time to put on top. This way you get to pick LR that has the shapes you want. Other choice is to buy LR on line and save money on the LR part, but you do not get to pick the shapes you want. There is also Aquacultured LR from www.tampabaysaltwater.com

It does not have the shapes of Fiji Rock, is a little heavier; but has way more life on it. Sometimes life you may not want.

"Substrate - Aragonite. "

Aragonite is not necessary. Play sand from Lowe's or Home Depot is 50 pound bags for about $2.75 each. Works just fine. Except for the color you will not see a difference in your tank.

"And obviously all the misc (grounding probe, water treatment, salt, test kit, etc).

What do you think?""

I do not use ground probes or water additives. Regaular water changes are fine unless you keep high calcium users in your tank.

"If I bite the bullet and go for the 75 Gallon, what do I need to upgrade? I'm thinking the Power Heads and Heaters need to jump up 1 model and add more live rock."

2 150W heaters and more rock.

"The last question I have is about buying items online (I won't mention any websites here). I have found really good deals on all of the equipment I list above. Any reason I shouldn't be buying things like heaters, power heads, protein skimmers, filters, etc online?"

If you use the LFS for information and instructions you should buy from them. If you are getting your information and not taking up their time, buying online is acceptable in my opinion.

Ray

[eianson]

Ray,

Thank you so much for the detailed reply. :)

After posting my question, I did more research and came across tampabaysaltwater.com. "The Package" they offer seems like a great way to kickstart a tank. While it is a little pricey, I think I would get enough coral and critters to make it worthwhile.

You mentioned that you weren't familiar with JBJ lights. How about a 4x 65W Coralife? I found some nice pricing online for that. I think if I end up going with the aquacultured rock I shouldn't go any lower than 260W total.

Again, thanks for taking the time to reply.

Eric

[Ray Pollett]

eianson

You will get a lot of life on the rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater. They also ship it under water to keep it alive better. That adds shipping weight. I still use them and I am as far away as you can get in the US from them. Dead NW corner of Washington state on the Canadian boarder.

If possible put the bag in the tank and take the rock out under saltwater. I empty everything in the bag into the tank. You will be surprised by the life in the water. One thing is watch for Mantis shrimp. You do get some on ocassions. Most people do not want them in their tank.

One reason to keep the rock under water. Is their rock usually has some nice sponges on them. Any exposer to air will kill it. Then it rots in your tank and can cause an algae problem for the first couple of months.

Ray

[always learning]

About the heating. I would suggest going with the titanium pro heat 2 heaters and I agree with ray that you should go with the 75 gal. 55 is good enough but some fish require 50-60 gal. tanks so better to go with bigger one. The canopy idea is good they look really good but I don't think it's worth the money so I'd stay way from those unless you can afford it. One thing you probably do is buy a regular hood and later just convert to a canopy if you really can't afford it but really want it. And the guy at the shop nearby said that for a 75 gal. the emperor 400 might not be enough and you might have to get a canister filter (I'm going to convert to a 75 - 80 gal. soon but I have an emperor 280 so I'll just use that with the 400 and I'll be fine so consider that)


And ray I have a question, why take out the bio-wheels on the emperor ??:confused:

[Ray Pollett]

Originally posted by always learning
And the guy at the shop nearby said that for a 75 gal. the emperor 400 might not be enough and you might have to get a canister filter (I'm going to convert to a 75 - 80 gal. soon but I have an emperor 280 so I'll just use that with the 400 and I'll be fine so consider that)

I use 2 emperor 400 on everything from 55s to 180s. ON a 75 more than enough. The reason I use two is for the flow paterns. It sets up a real nice one for each half of a tank. But 1 is not enough to set up the proper flow pattern on a tank 4 foot long. They set up a good flow patern for 2 to 3 feet of tank lenght each.


[/B][/QUOTE]And ray I have a question, why take out the bio-wheels on the emperor ??:confused: [/B][/QUOTE]

They compete with the LR and Live sand(LS) for the nitrogen cycle. The LR and LS is where you want that to take place as they can take it the final step to Nitrogen gas.

Ray

[BrianH]

Ray,

Just wondering what you use the emperors for since you use the LR and LS for biological filtration? A couple of maxijets are cheaper and easier to direct flow with.

Brian

[Ray Pollett]

Originally posted by BrianH
Ray,

Just wondering what you use the emperors for since you use the LR and LS for biological filtration? A couple of maxijets are cheaper and easier to direct flow with.

Brian

I find the emperors give a better flow pattern in the tank. Also, while I do take out the bio-wheels; I leave the media.

The Media is a great place for your pods to live and multiply in saffety from the fish. As they multiply they put some into the tank; keeping the populations in the tank up. After reading every thing I can on activated carbon; I have to say I've yet to fine a well done study that did not reach one conclusion. Your tank is better with carbon than without. I've also talked to chemist. My wife uncle used to be the the head of the chemist department at a large University. He agreed with that.

Also powerheads add more temperature to the water than emperor 400's do ( strictly from my experience).

You can use other water conditioners in the Emperor 400 ( solids in the grey tray), not in a powerhead. You can add suppliments into the flow of either; but in my opinion easier with the emperor 400.

I never had an Emperor 400 fall off the side of the tank changing the flow pattern; or spraying water out of the tank.

Ray

[BrianH]

Thanks for your thoughts. I've never has a powerhead spray water out of the tank either and taking some precautions when mounting the powerheads can pervent them from falling into the sand.

Brian