How does my equipment list look

[BeaglesBuddy]

So I'm putting together an equipment list for my first saltwater plunge. Let me know what you guys think. I'm open to suggestion if there is better equipment out there. Some stuff I'm stuck between two choices so opinions would be appreciated. I'm not doing coral to start however I want to have the appropriate equipment for when I do 1-2 years down the road.

Tank: Aqueon 125 Gallon with Dual Overflow in Corners
Sump: Precision Marine Wet/Dry T30 OR a Berliner Sump
My two main concerns are that it doesn’t make a lot of noise and doesn’t flood my living room
Protein Skimmer – ASM G2 In-sump protein skimmer OR Berlin X2 Skimmer
Main concern is easy to clean and operating well in Sump.
Heater: Fluval E 300 Watt Electronic Heater x2 OR Azoo Titanium Heater - 300 Watt x2
Main concern is not killing fish or me.


Lights: Looking for recommendation. I am not getting reef lights until i decide to go that route. Maybe Marineland Perfecto Flourecent?
Main concern is making fish look their brightest

Return Pump: QuietOne 6000 – (1506 gph)
not too familiar with these but noise and not killing anything main concern

Powerheads: Vortech MP10es x2 or Vortech MP40 x1
Which should I go with. Is the MP40 powerful enough for my tank. Are 2 of the 10’s powerful enoguh for my tank.

Live Rock: LFS Cured rock

RO/DI Unit: Watts WP5-50 Premier Five-Stage Manifold reverse osmosis water treatment system
I read in a book that doesnt cover RO/DI all that much that I have to allow water to sit for 2-3 days after mixing with salt on 20% water changes. Do i still need to do this if i have a RO/DI unit? Also this one is suppossed to be very hard to install. Any suggestions on one that is easier?

Refracotmeter: Extech RF20

Salt Mix: Instant Ocean Salt

10-20 gallon quarantine tank (small heater, pump, filter, live rock)

Appreciate any feedback I can get!










[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Looks like you're off to a great start... because you're thinking things through! That's half the battle.

I really don't see any issues with what you have, but offer a couple comments...

Heaters - there are various opinions on this, but my preference is to have two heaters, when combined, give you the total Wattage you are looking for. If you have a single heater that sticks in the on position, you'll drive the temp up pretty quick. If it fails off, then you don't have a backup. With two heaters, even if one fails in the on position it won't heat things up quite as fast and hopefully you have time to react. Same goes for if/when it fails to heat at all. Looks like you're saying 2x 300W heaters - that seems a bit much, but not sure what your temperature differential is between room and tank.

Also, regarding heaters, you might want to consider going with a controller for the heaters, versus using their built in thermostats. Look at either the Ranco controller or Johnson Controls A419 controller - it'll set you back about $100 but is really good piece of mind and gives you a lot more control when running two individual heaters.

If you're not look at corals, then two MP10s are probably just fine. But since those things aren't cheap, if you know you're going reef eventually you might just want to invest in the MP40 to start with and then possibly add a Koralia down the road (or a MP10) to give you some opposing flow.

Regarding letting salt water sit, it's a good habit to do regardless of the original water source. If you weren't using RO/DI, you'd want the water to sit so the chlorine would dissipate. But even using RO/DI, you want to let it sit so the water parameters (salinity, pH) can stabilize. If you test those things right after mixing, versus a day later, you'll often find fairly substantial differences.

Regarding the installation - all RO/DI kits are pretty much the same. I looked at your specific Watts unit on Amazon, and I'm not seeing anything that would make it any easier or harder than any other unit on the market.

 

[Tank2379]

I would also Suggest the ASM G2 or your can go with the SWC 160 which I hear is very productive on pulling tons of Skimmate out...

 

[BeaglesBuddy]

So went to start buying some stuff today and the LFS started recommending other equipment. Wanted to see if i could get your opinions.

Recommended I go with a marineland model 3 sump or aqueons sump. He told me he wasnt familiar with the specific model but in general precision marine is just a name. I could save a bit of money on it but was I wrong thinking precision marine was better quality. Im looking for as low maintainance a sump as possible and I noticed the marineland had pad filters that need to be cleaned every few days. Do other sumps not require this maintainance?
precision marine t30
MarineLand Model 3

For the protein skimmer he said he never heard of the asm g3 and recommended Kent Marine Nautalus.
Kent Marine
ASM

Said he hated the Fluval heaters and i should look for german titanium heaters. I think thats eheimm

For the lighting he recommended hagen glo t5's for a FO tank with an anemone or 2.

He wasnt familiar with the return pump im looking at and recommended a Corelium? But i cant find that brand online so i must have misheard him. Can anyone recommend a pump that is ultra quiet in the $150 range.
Lifegard Quietone


Is he taking me down the right path? Im most concerned about the sump as its very expensive and idd like the get the best one for me.

 

[ryshark]

Definitely go with the Berlin style sump over the wet/dry....especially if there is even the slightest chance of getting coral. Don't worry about the noise, there are ways to make them quiet. As far as the two sump links you listed, the 1st one I don't like and the 2nd one the link doesn't work. I'd recommend getting something with this type layout... you have many options...Berlin Sumps

For the skimmer, I haven't heard much about the Kent. For a nice protein skimmer which doesn't break the bank but works really good I highly recommend this... Reef Octopus NWB 200 Needle Wheel Protein Skimmer* - AquaCave or even this if you want to save more money http://www.aquacave.com/reef-octopus-nwb-150-br-needle-wheel-protein-br-skimmer-749.html

Heaters, I too think that what you listed on the first post is overkill. Unless you live in Antarctica or something. I use the Eheim heater which is not titanium. Don't trust any heater, thats why a controller like Kurt mentioned is good to have. However, for close to the same price of $100 you can get a Reef Keeper Lite controller which will do way more than the Ranco.http://www.aquacave.com/digital-aquatics-reef-keeperbr-lite-system-level-1-basic-2432.html

If you want an anemone or 2 then you need full on reef lighting, T5 can work but you need to be more specific on exactly which setup.

For the return pump I highly recommend the Eheim 1262, it is very quiet, reliable and starts up every single time you turn it back on.

 

[ryshark]

I would also Suggest the ASM G2 or your can go with the SWC 160 which I hear is very productive on pulling tons of Skimmate out...

SWC is a good option too

 

[BeaglesBuddy]

Definitely go with the Berlin style sump over the wet/dry....especially if there is even the slightest chance of getting coral. Don't worry about the noise, there are ways to make them quiet. As far as the two sump links you listed, the 1st one I don't like and the 2nd one the link doesn't work. I'd recommend getting something with this type layout... you have many options...Berlin Sumps

For the skimmer, I haven't heard much about the Kent. For a nice protein skimmer which doesn't break the bank but works really good I highly recommend this... Reef Octopus NWB 200 Needle Wheel Protein Skimmer* - AquaCave or even this if you want to save more money Reef Octopus NWB 150 Needle Wheel Protein Skimmer - AquaCave

Heaters, I too think that what you listed on the first post is overkill. Unless you live in Antarctica or something. I use the Eheim heater which is not titanium. Don't trust any heater, thats why a controller like Kurt mentioned is good to have. However, for close to the same price of $100 you can get a Reef Keeper Lite controller which will do way more than the Ranco.Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper LITE System LEVEL 1 (BASIC) - AquaCave

If you want an anemone or 2 then you need full on reef lighting, T5 can work but you need to be more specific on exactly which setup.

For the return pump I highly recommend the Eheim 1262, it is very quiet, reliable and starts up every single time you turn it back on.

Thanks for the recommendations. I fixed that link. I was looking into the Berlin sumps in comparison to precision marine a couple of weeks ago but I couldn't find much info. What's the difference between the Berlin sumps and the Wet dry? Is it the filter sock? The aqueon he showed me had one of those and he said he liked them. aqueon
I'll find out about the lighting but told him about the anemone and he said he would give me what would work as long as I leave the hood off. Said I could make a small screen door using home depot to prevent the fish from jumping out.

 

[ryshark]

Thanks for the recommendations. I fixed that link. I was looking into the Berlin sumps in comparison to precision marine a couple of weeks ago but I couldn't find much info. What's the difference between the Berlin sumps and the Wet dry? Is it the filter sock? The aqueon he showed me had one of those and he said he liked them. aqueon
I'll find out about the lighting but told him about the anemone and he said he would give me what would work as long as I leave the hood off. Said I could make a small screen door using home depot to prevent the fish from jumping out.

Sump
The difference between the two is not the filter sock. The wet/dry is when the water trickles down an area of unsubmerged media like bio-balls etc... The problem is that over time they tend to cause high Nitrate issues, which are higher than you would want for a reef tank but would probably be ok for a fish only tank. It is better to have submerged Live Rock Rubble instead of bio-balls or another wet/dry media. Also less work becaues the wet/dry medias need to be cleaned every so often anyway.

Lighitng
"screen from a screen door" is a bad idea, that will restrict a lot of the light which the anemone or coral would need. There are better options than screen door screen for this.... for example, you would want something like this: Clear 1/4" Screen Netting 6.5' x 2.5' - English What type of fish do you have or want that you are worried about jumping?
IMO, your LFS owner is a little behind the times, you will definitely want to check in here before he sells you a light fixture.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

...
For the lighting he recommended hagen glo t5's for a FO tank with an anemone or 2....

An anemone or 2 means you have a reef tank, not FO. Depending on how many t5s we're talking about, I really don't think that's enough light. I'd wait on the anemone idea for a year and read up on that.

It really sounds like your LFS is trying to steer you to brands that they stock, or that their distributor can supply. He'd never heard of the ASM skimmer? That's kinda scary if you're in the saltwater business. Even if you don't sell it, you should be aware of what's out there.

I would listen to what your LFS has to say, but in the end, get what you want - not what is easiest for your local person to get. Or will make them the biggest margin.

 

[Jimbo7]

Hey man, sorry I was away for vacation. Looks like these guys have you covered. IME, always trust the people here over most LFS's, no one here makes any money on our recommendations, and we come on here to find and share the best ways of doing things. They have covered anything that jumps out at me. I would definitely go with the MP40, you'll be amazed how much one that one pump can do.