My new reeftank setup. What do you think?

[mindistortionx]

Ok so I am pretty new at this....I have had freshwater fishtanks ever since I was a kid. I am now getting into the saltwater hobby. I bought alot of equipment for this tank. It's a 55G All glass aquarium. I do not have it set up yet because I am moving in like a week and when I move I will set it up. Here is what I have for it:

Let me know what you think please!


Filtration:
Hagen Fluval 405 Aquarium Canister Filter 340GPH
Two Outlet rotatable Pipe (to make current in the tank)
Coralife Super Skimmer Protein Skimmer 220
Fluval Filter Media (Ammonia & Carbon & Clearmax (resin mixture) & Pre-Filter & Water Polishing Pad & Bio-Max & Phosphate Remover & Opti-Carb & Purigen Ultimate Filtration)

Powerheads:
2x Odyssea EX350 Aquarium Pump/Powerhead

Misc./Add-on’s:
JEBO Aquarium Ultra UV Sterilizer 18 Watt
Automatic Fish Food Feeder Timer
Aqua Gloves (Full arm length)
Air Pump
Blue Background
Return Connector (U Shaped) & Clamps
UPS Power Back-up (e-bay)
EHEIM Aquadose liquidoser

Aquarium Monitors:
Coralife Digital Fish Tank Thermometer
Digital PH Meter



Heater:
300 Watt External In-Line Heater NIB Hydor ETH



Lighting:
48" 760W Metal Halide Aquarium Light w/Blue Moon LED’s ( I have the Timer to do the dusk/dawn effect)
Metal Halide Aquarium Chiller Cooling Fan (6 fans)
Coralife Timers/Power Strips (2)

Chemicals and Such:
Instant Ocean Saltwater Sea Mix (Reef Crystals)
Kent Marine Combo pack and assortment of additives
Live Phytoplankton 12oz. - 3 Types of Microalgae (2)
Kent Marine Combo Package 16 oz.
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Ammo-Lock 16oz
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Stress Zyme 16oz
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Stress Coat 16oz
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Tap Water Conditioner 16oz
U- Tube with Directional Return 3/4 inch - 1 inch
U-Tube with Directional Return 1/2 inch - 3/4 inch
Kent Marine Superbuffer DKH 1 kg
Kent Marine Coral Builder 1000g
Kent Marine Turbo Calcium 800 g (1 Qt)
Kent Marine Coral Accel 8 oz.
Kent Marine Kalkwasser Mix

Testing Equipment:
Hydrometer & Refractometer
API Marine Master Test Kit
API Reef Master Test Kit

[murfman]

Since the tank is not set up yet, research closed loop manifolds or CLM. I set one up last year and love it. I would only use the canister filter for polishing the water, not as my primary source of filtration. Reason being, too many nitrates accumulating. I would also go with a sump/fuge.

The UV sterilizer is a double edged sword. It will also kill the phytoplankton that corals and clams like to feed on, as well as the bacteria in the water column. I don't use one, however, I do use an ozone generator.

[Thinslis]

What are you planning to put in it? I'd return the blue background and either paint the back or buy some stick on film not the LFS stuff. If you are going reef I would nix the canister filter and go with a sump setup or a HOB skimmer.

[bpd964]

I think you have the right idea but you may not need everything you have listed.

If I were in your situation, I would have used:

Lights
ro/di
calcium reactor
Sump/overflow method
closed loop or tunze for circulation.
skimmer
test kits
heater

!...Hold off on adding too many chemicals too soon...!

[mindistortionx]

as I was dooing research and such I realized that I had bought more than I needed (for some things). I am going to be putting in live rock, live sand (I want to have a DSB), and a couple reef safe fish and some soft and hard corals, clams and some other inverts. This will all happen over a period of time due to the fact that it is expensive and you have to let the tank adjust to the new biological load. I was thinking about not hooking up the UV light and let the nitrogen cycle take place naturally. I will eventually invest in a calcium reactor when I have more corals and a high demand on calcium in the tank. For now I think I am just going to purchase distilled water and wait on the RO/DI filter untill a little bit later. the only new question that I have is....well when I buy live sand or rock do I have to acclimate it to the tank water parameters? or do I just drop it in?

[mindistortionx]

Is an ozonizer a must in an reef aquarium? I have heard both positives and negatives about them? How would you dose it into the tank? VIA a protein skimmer or an ozone/oxygen reactor?

[Nashvegas1]

A calcium reactor for a 55 is overkill.

[murfman]

I dose mine via my skimmer.

It depends on your rock. A lot of people buy LR fully cured from other hobiest that are breaking down their systems and drop it right in. If you buy it from the net or a LFS, you would want to cure it 1st. You can do this in the tank but your cycle will be long. I chose to use a mixture of LR and base rock. The live rock will seed the base rock, over time.

With the sand, you can do the same thing and add nice clean sand and then seed it from other hobbiests in your area.

[SurfnFish]

This is for Murfman...sorry to steal the thread.

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/7439/cavemanze3.png (http://imageshack.us)

[Reef This]

I would ditch the coralife strips and buy digital timers and higher end power strips. With that, make sure you have GCFI's installed into whatever outlet your going to use. I had one that was given to me on a Q-tank, brand new out of the box, one whole side of the strip didn't work. I would also consider adding another heater for backup purposes. I have 3 200watt heaters on my 75G system.

Paint the back of the tank black with Krylon Fusion.

Ditch the Fluvals, and research on here a bit about drilling the 55. There is a wealth of information here on drilling and putting in internal overflows. Look up Calfo style overflows in a search.