30 gallon saltwater setup

[fishtastic]

Hey guys I've recently been interested in saltwater aquariums and have been reading about them for the past few days. Now before I do anything, I just wanted to make sure that I have all the right parts. Here is what I am looking at:

-30 gallon acrylic tank (FOWLR)
-T5 HO 4 lamp lunar marine fixture
-Ecotech MP10 vortech pump with driver
-Aquac Remora protein skimmer
-chiller or heater, will test the tank in my area to see if i need either
-wet/dry filter (not really sure which kind, any ideas?)
-Sump?
-test kit
-hydrometer

Are sumps really necessary? Since I am a beginner, I want to be able to focus 100% on my tank and with a sump, just feels like more work for me. If anything I could always add a sump later on but I just wanted to know if sumps are really that important.

Any other info would be great!

 

[redsea]

Hello, welcome to our forums!

Firstly, if you want to take checking salinity to the next level, you could look into refractometers. They will do the same thing as an hydrometer, but they are more accurate.

I would definitely recommend a heater, though, as the tank needs to be kept at about 74-81 degrees F (IMO). You will also want to prevent the temperature from dramatically fluctuating, so a heater would be handy in that circumstance.

For your size tank I would say that a sump is not a necessity. It does, however, add a few benefits.
1. More water volume. The extra water volume is more forgiving if you make a mistake.
2. Using a sump is a good form of filtration. For example, you can partition your sump so one of the sections is a refugium. In a refugium you can house kinds of macroalgae like chaeto. Macroalgae will soak up some of the nitrates in the aquarium's water.

Also, I just wanted to mention that there is a possible downside of using wet/dry filtration. Over time, I have heard reports of wet/drys becoming "nitrate factories" (the nitrates can build up in the filtration system). However, I have also heard that if you take care to clean the system, you will not come face to face with this issue.

I hope this helps, and if you have any other questions please feel free to ask.

 

[fishtastic]

thanks redsea for a quick reply. ill probably go with a wet/dry filter and try to clean it on a monthly basis. Do you have any recommendations on what brand of wet/dry filter would be good? thanks