Posted by ArkansasGem on February 18, 2003 at 21:04:15:
In Reply to: new setup...berlin system with Ho skimmer? posted by Mark024 on February 18, 2003 at 14:19:14:
Hi Mark, I am currantly in the process of setting up my tank, and it sounds a lot like the way you are heading. I have a 125, that is not drilled. I have already ordered and got the syphon overflow to lead to the sump. I am having a sump for two reasons. 1 it increases your water quanity, which is good. 2. so that I can have a better skimmer. While there is some very good hang-on models, they really don't compare to the in sump. I am having a combo fish with a few hardier corals. I also will be having a large amount of liverock. Seeing as you are planning on a reef tank.. I would really consider having a sump for the simple reason you can have a bigger and better skimmer, you might check out the CS6-1 by EuroReef.
I hope we can keep in touch, because you are the first person on here that I know of that is setting up thier tank "Berlin method",Iwill be interested in seeing how yours go. I am currantly saving my pennys for my skimmer, for my size I am going to purchase the CS6-2, they are not cheap. The Skimmer IMO is the most important piece of equipment on the system.
As far as lighting, I believe you really need to decide what types of corals you are interested in. I have not gotten that far with mine yet. Although I will be having some corals, I will probably go with some of lower light corals, but I don't know yet. I hope to hook my tank up very soon within the next coupleof weeks, even if it's just to check out how this overflow is going to work. Welcome to the forum, Kerrie
:Hi I am currently working on my first reef tank, which is a 75 gallon that I have chosen to fit with a AquaC Remora Pro hang on skimmer, which I have heard is a quality project. My tank is not drilled, and as of yet I have no plans to do so. I am planning on utilizing a "Berlin method" filtration, with a lot (100 lbs. each) of live rock and live sand. My question is if I even need to set up a filtration system with a sump if I don't have a filter or skimmer to put down there. I realize that a sump is helpful for things like calcium additives, so will I need to buy an overflow, sump box and pump to pump it back up to the tank just for that? Anyhow if I do need a sump, is there a better skimmer anyone would reccomend. Also- I have a 110 watt compact fluorescent fixture I was hoping to use on the reef tank. I know that I need to supplement this, so I looked into metal halides. I am lookin at a couple options, first I could get a setup with 2 175 watt, or I could go with 1 250 watt. If I take the former, I will have a total of 6.18 watts per gallon which to me seems too high for most corals. If I take the second, I will only be able to illuminate about half the tank. Is it feasible to put one 250 watt MH over half the tank and put the hard corals on that side and the soft corals on the other? Finally, my PC is something like 9600 K (I think). What would you suggest for the metal halides? I was thinking 6500 or 10000. Sorry about the length of this, and thanks in advance for any feedback you can direct my way.
:Mark
