1st sw tank-40 breeder

[Aquadan]

hi all,
so i've had a freshwater tank for a couple years now and ive decided it was time to try my hand at a saltwater tank. so far i have a 40 gallon breeder(which i plan on drilling) and a 29 gallon for a sump. i have ordered 60#s of pukani rock from brs. i have also ordered the 5 stage ro/di unit and a reef octopus nwb 200 skimmer. i know the skimmer is overkill but i figure its better to spend a little more now and be able to use it if i upgrade down the road.
i have been looking at koralia evolution and sicce powerheads and was wondering if anyone has any advice as to which ones are better? also how many should i use in a 40? im looking into the 700 gph overflow from gl*******s if that helps with flow rates.
i know i have a long way to go, but i would like to do it right the first time.
thanks, dan

 

[Nytelighter]

Welcome to the salty side Dan. Hopefully I can help steer you in the right direction as I've only been in the game for a little under a year now but have spents thousands of man hours doing research.

In regards to powerheads, Koralias offer a pretty good bang for the buck and I believe two 750 powerheads should work for your application.

If you need some ideas, EvanSimp, the current tank of the month winner (TOTM), has a beautiful 40B setup. There are also a couple other nice 40B on here that you can reference, to include mine!!!!

 

[Aquadan]

Thanks for the reply! I'll def check those out. I'm still undecided on a return pump. Any recommendations on those? I've checked into mags, eheims, and sicce, but I'm really not even sure what size I'll need. Thanks again

 

[Nytelighter]

Return pumps, I have only had experiece with Mags and Eheims. Eheim won hands down. Mags of course are cheaper but their motors are not synchronous and tend to run louder than Eheims or Sicce. After running a MAG 5 that refused to quiet down, I went to the Eheim Compact 2000 which comes with an adjustment knob so you can dial back the flow as much as you want if it ends up being too powerful. I have heard good reviews about Sicce and Tunze pumps as well.

In regards to choosing the right pump, you just need to measure the height from the sump to the return output (known as head height) and look at the specs on the pumps to see which one runs the gallons per hour (gph) that you want through your system. Keep in mind you can always dial back the pump with a gate valve. Hope this helps.

 

[Aquadan]

Thanks. Any thoughts on what the gph should be for this application? I'm planning on doing a mixed reef. I know I have a lot of things to get before I can get started. I've been doing research for probably six months or better and I've read a lot on this forum but its nice to talk to the people actually doing it.