# starting my first saltwater reef tank !!!!!!!!!!!



## mjzuverink (Dec 6, 2009)

hey, so i have been keeping freshwater tanks for quite some time and have finally decided to dive into saltwater. I wont be setting up the tank for a few weeks or a month yet, but am starting to figure out an optimal setup. so first some things i know for sure that you guys prob want to know. 

- its a 36g bowfront tank with a corner built in over flow. 
- the lights that came with it are VHO t12s :/ prob going to upgrade before setting it up
- my goals for live stock are soft corals and prob 3-4 fish ( 2 clowns and two other small fish I have not decided on yet)

questions!!

- as of now, the tank is rigged with a ten gallon sump in the stand, is this a big enough sump for a 36g tank? if not what size should i look into getting?

- I have read up a bit on refugiums and am debating if it would be worth plumbing in a 10g refuge along with the 10 gallon sump, any thoughts?

- as for lights I found a set of four 30" T5 HO bulbs, two 12,000K and two actinic bulbs. it would be 96w total for the 36 gallon, would that be sufficient for soft corals. I would consider an anemone down the long road atleast six months but i have a feeling they would need more lighting. 

- the setup i bought came with a UV sterilizer, I have heard both good and bad things about these as they filter out both bad and good things from your tank, what do you guys think?

- lastly, any suggestion for another fish or two to go with a pair of clowns?

any help would be greatly appreciated


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## petlovingfreak (May 8, 2009)

What's the biggest size tank you could fit under it for a sump? So you were gonna run 2 10 gallon tanks? I'd just do one larger tank for a refugium. I ran a uv sterilizer on my wife's tank for a while, ended up taking it off, never noticed a difference either way.


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## mjzuverink (Dec 6, 2009)

yeah I have a feeling I'm going to be taking the UV sterilizer out. currently the stand would only fit one ten gallon tank ( sump), I was just going to have another ten gallon (fuge) in a seperate cabinet beside it, but seens how I'm rebuilding/modifying the stand because i dont like the tank height, I might as well consder making room for a larger sump, which could then contain a refugium.


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## mjzuverink (Dec 6, 2009)

also, as for stocking..... I really love the dwarf flame angels and assumed my tank would be too small, but after very BRIEF reading about them, liveaquaria.com said that the minimum tank size is 30 gallons. So while I continue to investigate this, what do you guys think about having two clowns and a flame angel in a 36g? If thats a possibility I think I would limit my fish stocking to just those three fish


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

sounds fine for stocking to me.


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## mjzuverink (Dec 6, 2009)

change in plans for setup, changing the sump to a 20g tank with will contain a small refugium instead of the 10 gallon sump, making the total setup 56 gallons


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## petlovingfreak (May 8, 2009)

Those fish would be fine, 20 gallon refugium for that tank is a good size.


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## mjzuverink (Dec 6, 2009)

well here is a quick plan I made for the sump/refugium. let me know what you think and what changes I should make, thanks in advance.... picking up the 20 gallon tomorrow morning so should be able to start making baffles and such, seens how i have the day off of work! 










One thing I just thought about after looking at the design, would it be better to have the "micro bubble trap" after the refugium and just have a overflow after the skimmer. I thought I recalled somewhere that the micro bubbles and highly oxygenated water is good for the refugium, what do you guys think?


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## mjzuverink (Dec 6, 2009)

anyone have any thoughts on using the UV sterilizer? debating as to wether or not to try and sell it


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## mjzuverink (Dec 6, 2009)

Well sump/fuge has a good start to it, baffles are in and the return and skimmer fit! the skimmer will be on a 6" stand so that it sits in about 8 inches of water, probably will just build a quick stand of pvc, eggcrate, and zipties.


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## petlovingfreak (May 8, 2009)

Looks good


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