willwagner2k
Aquarium Advice Newbie
I'm still trying to come up to speed on how to start a reef aquarium on a budget, and I had a couple of newbie questions.
As background, I have a 40gal tank and was going to use either a cheap 20 gallon as a sump or a cheap 10 gallon as a sump and another 10 gallon as refugium. Everything I've read has made me decide on DSB for the main tank, as well as a protein skimmer for filteration, some live rock, and possibly an old cannister filter I have.
Anyway, here are my questions:
* I live a mile away from a long fishing pier here in Northern CA and was wondering if it's a really bad idea to start my tank up with seawater (grabbing it near high tide) as opposed to using a mix? The water is definitely cold compared to a typical reef tank so I'm not sure what micro-organisms would survive.
* What sort of lighting (less expensive the better) do I need for a 10gallon refugium? Do I need both a full spectrum flourescent and a acitinc (sp?) bulb as well.
* I've read a couple places where a refugium should be above the main tank so the water flows out via gravity. Will keeping it below and using a sump pump chew up any critter making the refugium a bad idea in the first place?
* If I go with just a single 20gal sump to start with, is it worthwhile to put DSB in that as well, and if so, do I need lighting for a DSB?
Thanks,
Will
As background, I have a 40gal tank and was going to use either a cheap 20 gallon as a sump or a cheap 10 gallon as a sump and another 10 gallon as refugium. Everything I've read has made me decide on DSB for the main tank, as well as a protein skimmer for filteration, some live rock, and possibly an old cannister filter I have.
Anyway, here are my questions:
* I live a mile away from a long fishing pier here in Northern CA and was wondering if it's a really bad idea to start my tank up with seawater (grabbing it near high tide) as opposed to using a mix? The water is definitely cold compared to a typical reef tank so I'm not sure what micro-organisms would survive.
* What sort of lighting (less expensive the better) do I need for a 10gallon refugium? Do I need both a full spectrum flourescent and a acitinc (sp?) bulb as well.
* I've read a couple places where a refugium should be above the main tank so the water flows out via gravity. Will keeping it below and using a sump pump chew up any critter making the refugium a bad idea in the first place?
* If I go with just a single 20gal sump to start with, is it worthwhile to put DSB in that as well, and if so, do I need lighting for a DSB?
Thanks,
Will