wet dry and sump

[crvz]

I'm sure this topic has been discussed at lenght, but I am upgrading a tank and want to know a little more about filtration. I'm getting a reef ready tank (58 gallon) and am going to add a sump, but what about a wet/dry filter? what is the premise of these filters, and are they worth the investment? what is the best way to integrate it with a sump, and can they be combined?

A couple of side questions:

i have a canister filter. how would this fit in? should i use it, is it worth adding to the tank?

i have been using PC lighting on the 30 long that i have. is there a good argument to change lighting systems? price being a negligable constraint, what is the best for a reef tank?

thanks for any advice you can give.

crvz

 

[loganj]

The only filtration you need is the LR and the DSB. You can add a skimmer if you want one. If you don't use a skimmer, you will need to feed sparingly and stock lightly. A wet/dry works fine for a fish only tank, but it will cause your nitrates to be high in a reef...actually it causes the same problem in the FO, but you control it with water changes. Nitrates are more of a problem in a reef as many inverts are sensitive to them. You'd be better off to just have the sump and place your heater, skimmer, ect... in there.
You could use the canister, without media, for circulation. You could use it to run some activated carbon occasionally. If you run it with media, it will cause the same problem as the wet/dry.
PC lighting is fine...it's what I use mostly. I don't know how much you have on the 30, but I doubt it will be enough for the 58. It really depends on what you intend to keep. I'm thinking a 58 is 36" long and about 20" deep? I'm no lighting expert, but here's my guess for the ultimate system. 2 175w (250?) MH and two 96w PC actinics. It has been said that VHO actinic is more intense than PC...I really don't know. If you're gonna stick with PC, I'd say 2-96w would be minimum.
Logan J