What should I do with my filtration

[Shrimp]

I have a 55 gallon tank with roughly 80 pounds of live rock (I want to go to the local pet shop and buy another choice rock soon). I have an emperor 400 HOB filter. I must admit, it has kept the water really clean. Although I haven't seen any pods in my tank for quite some time. Tonight I decided to check in my emperor to see if it had any pods since I have never done this before. A graveyard of pods it was. I need pods. I was thinking sump/refugium, but I have seen many people do without a sump. I don't know, I just don't want one or think I absolutely need one. I also don't like the idea of flooding when the power goes out. I'm thinking I'm going to ditch the emperor, forget the sump and get this:

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=CR1735

I think I'd give it a 2-3" sand bed, live rock rubble, and chaetomorpha (that's "guaranteed" to be seeded with pods and stuff)

What do you think?

Oh yea, I need new lighting too. Recommend some good tank lighting for a 55.

 

[ryguy]

well the item in the link you provided would be a step in the right direction for establishing a podpopulation.

As far as a sump/fuge goes, they serve as much more than a place to grow pods. Many benefits to having them. Sure they are by no means a neccessity, but they are VERY nice to have. I don't lose a minutes sleep thinking about flooding. If you plan out your sump right, you can eliminate a flood scare.

What kinda lighting are you thinking about MH or PC? I know that coralife has a new aqualight pro that looks pretty sweet. It's a combo of moonlights, MH and PC's.

Cheers,
Ryan

 

[ReefRaff]

Live aquaria has something similar to that, but about 65.00 cheaper.

 

[Shrimp]

Sorry, I don't know much about lighting so I don't know what PC and MH refers to.

I am so close to ordering this refugium, my only concern at this moment is that it's 25" long and I don't know how well it will fit on the back of my 55 gallon.

 

[Marc118]

Hold your cursor over PC and MH

 

[angelscrx]

Sorry, I don't know much about lighting so I don't know what PC and MH refers to.

I am so close to ordering this refugium, my only concern at this moment is that it's 25" long and I don't know how well it will fit on the back of my 55 gallon.

I believe they make a smaller version? saw it on ebay once and I think it was 12 inches across.

 

[EELectric]

For the lighting it depends on what kind of corals and other creatures you want to put in your tank. MH are the most expensive but allow you to keep most corals. PC are a step down in price but also in the range of corals you can purchase. HTH