# marine filtration



## Joe1985 (Mar 28, 2012)

hey i want to ask something as im thinking of starting up a marine set up, what is the favored way of filtration for a marine tank? UGF? canister filter? sump?


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Live Rock is a Marines Filtration. If your talking about scrubbing the water, then a Sump with Macro Algae is hands down the best. Algae Turf Scrubber would come in second.


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## evanlundberg4 (Aug 27, 2012)

Live rock and a protein skimmer is a pretty good set up.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Joe1985 (Mar 28, 2012)

Reefing Madness said:


> Live Rock is a Marines Filtration. If your talking about scrubbing the water, then a Sump with Macro Algae is hands down the best. Algae Turf Scrubber would come in second.


turf scrubber?? so a sump would be preferred right? but if i was to have live coral that would do most of the work for me hey is that what ur saying?


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

If you use a Sump, and add a Algae Turf Scrubber to it, your water would be perfect. And of course a Skimmer. Your all set.


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## Joe1985 (Mar 28, 2012)

Reefing Madness said:


> If you use a Sump, and add a Algae Turf Scrubber to it, your water would be perfect. And of course a Skimmer. Your all set.


oh i get what your saying mate, fair enough, but things are a bit up n down at the moment realising how much this marine set up will cost me might buy a cheap 4 footer n get some cichlids


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

LOL. The cost ususally does freak most of em out of it. Its just the initial set up that costs a bunch.


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## Joe1985 (Mar 28, 2012)

ok ive bought a relatively 'cheap' 4 ft tank with cupboard stand and light, will be moving ahead with the marine set up but not straight away will be doing loads of research, what would you or anyone that can read this my first course of action? i want a good quality light (dont know what to look for though but will research as i said) i have a canister filter i will be using also.


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

T-5 HO light would be the cheapests good light to start with. LED or Halides would be best, but cost a bit more.
First course of action would be to get Dry Rock or Base Rock from your LFS. Its not necessary to run a substrate, some go Bare Bottom.


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## Joe1985 (Mar 28, 2012)

Reefing Madness said:


> T-5 HO light would be the cheapests good light to start with. LED or Halides would be best, but cost a bit more.
> First course of action would be to get Dry Rock or Base Rock from your LFS. Its not necessary to run a substrate, some go Bare Bottom.


Awesome, would you recommend any brands that are good for LED or halides in your opinion? if it costs a bit more to purchase them and in turn saves me money in electricity in the long run id rather save for a decent light, so your saying the initial cost is a bit but over extended time doesnt cost much correct? 
Im letting it sit till most likely over christmas so ill have some time in deciding things, 
dry rock/ base rock? is that live rock? or do u mean the crushed coral substrate?


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

You can use a Crushed Coral Substrate, or Live Sand.
The Base or Dry rock I refer to is Macro Rock. 
MarcoRocks Aquarium Products
Panorama Marine LED System
BLACK FRIDAY Aquarium Reef LED Lamp 30W 12000K White (Metal Halide alt. Light) | eBay
EVO Quad 48" LED Aquarium Light Marine Coral Reef Saltwater Lunar 64x 3 Watt 3W | eBay
TaoTronics TT-AL05 3w LED Aquarium Coral Reef Tank LED Grow Light 212w B/W 2:1 | eBay
High power 120W LED Aquarium Light with 3w leds best for the coral tank | eBay


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## Joe1985 (Mar 28, 2012)

Reefing Madness said:


> You can use a Crushed Coral Substrate, or Live Sand.
> The Base or Dry rock I refer to is Macro Rock.
> MarcoRocks Aquarium Products
> Panorama Marine LED System
> ...




there are some nice lights thats for sure, might wait till after xmas to buy for the tank accessories and all, protein skimmers are fairly cheap also, what kind do you have?


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

I've got a cheap Skimmer. I have a CoarlifeSUpe Skimmer 220, modified. I use a Reef Octopus pump, and have taken off the return lines and repiped.


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## Joe1985 (Mar 28, 2012)

Reefing Madness said:


> I've got a cheap Skimmer. I have a CoarlifeSUpe Skimmer 220, modified. I use a Reef Octopus pump, and have taken off the return lines and repiped.


whats a reef octopus? do u require a sump? ive heard a few ppl mention it n say its really great quality? 
ok ive bought a 'decent' protein skimmer, now debating what to do next as im waiting till sometime early next year to get my lights, i have a canister filter but i hear they arent recommended on marine tanks as it causes the breakddown of the filters bits n pieces correct? and i got no idea in which to get a sump made and probably will be too pricey so unsure what to do next


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## Joe1985 (Mar 28, 2012)

oh and do you use a chiller?


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

No need for a Chiller.
You can use any 10g 20g tank for a sump.
Mechanical filters are not needed because Live ROck does the filtering for you. hey don't break down in a SW tank anymore than they do in a FW tank. They will over time create a Nitrate headache in a SW tank though, thats another reason they are not used.
Reef Octopus is one of the top Skimmers out there.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/protein-skimmers/octopus.html
http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html


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## evanlundberg4 (Aug 27, 2012)

I gave a reef octopus nw110 skimmer that sits in my sump. It world well. I used a 24 gallon tank to make my sump and got glass cut and glued it in with aquarium silicone. Mine I built right from that melevs reef site he posted. Had about 50 bucks in the sump then 189 got the skimmer and 90 for my return pump. It was a little pricey but worth it. I also didn't have a drilled tank so I had to get a hang on overflow. I got a CPR cs90 overflow with an aqua lifter pump to keep it from losing suction. That site details everything though. He actually shows you how to build your own out of acrylic too but that's a lot more involved. 
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