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vince0
05-03-2010, 02:26 PM
hello people, im thinking about starting a sw tank

i have 2 f/w tank and have managed to have many species breed for me and now feel comfortable with the idea of having a salt water tank.

so first question, i was looking at he red sea 250 (65g started kit) is there any drawbacks to using a kit like this, or since the kit is $2150 at bigs alls, should i just get a custom one built with a sump/refugium.

any other tips will be greatly appreciated!

Cameron
05-03-2010, 03:04 PM
I have one, I have to get going this morning, will put up a report later.

sitandwatch
05-03-2010, 04:20 PM
I have a RSM130 and just upgraded to a custom tank.

Personally I find that the RSM is great for getting into the hobby but if you have some experience already you will want to get something custom done.

You will might spend what "seems" like more money on a custom right now but you will be able to get everything you want right away.

If you are just looking or plug in play then get the RSM you will end up upgrading things like the skimmer and may have to add a chiller on but it looks really nice I almost went that route.

Also the price at Big Al's may be the most expensive in the city so look around.

vince0
05-03-2010, 07:01 PM
thanks for the reply's, ive pretty much made up my mind to go with a custom tank and sump, any suggestions as to where to go to get the set up built?

sitandwatch
05-03-2010, 07:06 PM
I bought pretty much everything at Red Coral, they can do it all.

You could also check the classifieds there are some really good deals that come up once and a while.

vince0
05-03-2010, 07:10 PM
i was thinking of using them, out of all the stores i went to yesterday, they seemed really interested in helping me get started and taking the time to talk to me, big al's and pisces not so much.

Coleus
05-03-2010, 08:31 PM
+1 for red coral

vince0
05-03-2010, 08:52 PM
i had a chat with the owner of red coral today and he really got me thinking, there are way more variables than i originally thought... im gonna have to draw up plans for what i want exactly, and they are willing to help me build the whole system, im sure theres a fee involved, but this way im sure its done right :P don't need 100 gallons spilling on my floor haha

Coleus
05-03-2010, 08:55 PM
i had a chat with the owner of red coral today and he really got me thinking, there are way more variables than i originally thought... im gonna have to draw up plans for what i want exactly, and they are willing to help me build the whole system, im sure theres a fee involved, but this way im sure its done right :P don't need 100 gallons spilling on my floor haha

Yup, nothing worse than 100 gallons spilling on the floor. Draw up your plans and you can also get lots of feedback from ppl here if you want.

Good luck

vince0
05-03-2010, 09:06 PM
im a little curious about putting the sump intake on the exterior of the tank on the back, is this noisy, and for a tank with the dimentions of 36w x 24d x 24h how big of a sump intake should i have. how noisy are the exterior ones vs interior ones?

dave_C
05-03-2010, 09:46 PM
if you a setting up a herbie over flow the noise should be minimal with either setup, the only down fall i see with external overflows is the tank can't set flush with the wall but atleast you won't lose valume from the tank

vince0
05-03-2010, 10:40 PM
im not too worried about the tank sitting flush againts the wall since ill need space to run wires and potentially have room in case i need to get back there. once its in place its not moving, so i may as well leave myself work room haha

vince0
05-04-2010, 12:08 AM
i guess my next question is what size sump would be proper for a tank of that size. I've been advised to go as big as i can go, but i know theres gonna be equipment in the stand. I would also like to plan for a refugium in the middle of the sump.

i was thinking of a sump 36"w x 18"d x 15"h, with a 12" refugium section in the middle. would that be big enough? should i look at going slightly bigger?

thanks to an online fish calculator, this would give me 90gallons of show tank volume, and 42 gallons of sump/refugium.

any suggestion would be greatly appreciated