New Hobbyist build and Questions

[rhoule6819]

Hey guys,

I am new to Reefcentral as well as to the hobby. My girlfriend and I have decided to start our own Reef Aquarium. I want to use this thread to show my progress from start to finish, as well as a place to ask all my questions. We have a 24"x24"x24" cube. I am currently building the stand and canopy which I hope to be painted this weekend, and will post pics as soon as it is. We are in the process of researching and buying our next few pieces of equipment and needs some suggestions advice.

1) Protein Skimmer - I plan on having a sump underneath the stand (about 20-24" wide as the stand is only 24" wide.) So about 10-20 gallons. I want to house the Skimmer, heater, as well as have a refugium under there. I have been leanding towards one of the Reef Octopus protein skimmers. Anyone have any suggestions on what one to get for that size sump/refugium, or another good brand to look at?

2) Lights- I was initially going to go MH and T5's with some LED moonlights, however I came across the Reef Breeders Photon 24" LED, and really like it. It seems to have good reivews by people who have used it. Do you think this will be fine for our tank or do people suggest going MH's. We are not 100% sure what type of corals we are oging to keep but want a good light so we can keep our options open.

3) Pumps, Fans for water movement, and heaters - I haven't look too much into these yet as I have been looking the skimmers/lights. Anyone have any suggestions on Brands or models that are of a good quality that I can look into.

Thanks for all your help guys. Glad to be a part of this community here

[bveister]

Can't go wrong with Koralia's for water movement, tried and trusted!

[CoralReeForrest]

Skimmer I'm not to sure.

Reef breeder lights have great reviews and as of so far people are having luck growing everything with them, i personally will be ordering my 48 photon in a couple weeks.

And heaters and heads are relevant to what your wanting to spend. I would recommend spending the extra literally few dollars for the better models. It's also always safer to get two smaller heaters over one larger heater. Return pumps; eheim and sicce are a little more expensive but worth it( I have the sicce 3 and love it). Power heads come down to your budget, koralia are nice and can be had for a good price around the web, sicce heads are bit more pricey, and then vortech which in my opinion seem to be the Lamborghini in the head world are pushing 250-500 a pop. So budget and gph relevant there. Also! Welcome to reef central!!! And upload lots of pics of your build and journey! We love pics here!

[Maxxumless]

1) You can't go wrong with a Reef Octopus. There are others in the same price range that are just as good, but it comes down to preference really.

2) I've used every type of light and the MH is probably the most reliable, but I just cannot bring myself to recommend one. They are a dying breed these days. Too hot, too expensive, and not enough options in color. The Reef Breeders are excellent lights. I'm partial to Kessil's because it doesn't have a disco ball lighting effect as other LED's seem to have.

3) Vortech MP40 for water movement, or two MP10's in your case. You are going to need an RO/DI unit (Spectra Pure is good, or if you're cheap like me eBay). Eheim Jager heaters are excellent and a Eheim return pump will serve you for years. If you're going to be keeping SPS then Reef Crystals or Red Sea Pro Salt are the top brands - pick one of these two and you'll be happy.

[thegrun]

1. Reef Octopus is very good, I run a CAD Lights PLS-100 Protein Skimmer that i like alot on my 50 gallon cube.
2. I run a AquaIlluminations Vega over mine, the new AI Hydras are less expensive and would do just as good of a job on your tank. There are several very good LEDs on the market now, spend the money to get a quality system or build your own if you are on a tight budget. Be sure to get a system with controllable emmiters and that has red, green and very deep blue emmiters inaddition to just white and blue.
3. Hands down an Eheim 1260 for the return pump. Two Eheim Jager TruTemp 150 Watt Heaters would be good. For your powerheads if you can afford it I would go with a couple of controllable Tunze pumps or VorTech MP-10's.