newbie, need help!

[ravnes02]

hey guys, I'm new to the saltwater scene, i recently purchased a 55 gal tank on craigslist, it came with a Bak-Pak 2R+(with out the accela pump), and a 10 gal refugium tank. I had already bought an Eshopps Wet/Dry filter which comes with an overflow box. I also have a Supreme Classic Mag 500 pump. I wanted know if i could connect the Bak-Pak and Eshopps filter together, any ideas? Should I leave the refugium for later on, once i am already established?

 

[Brettinteriors]

What kind of tank are you doing? Fowler(fish only with live rock), reef, or fish only?

 

[Degener8]

It could be done (putting backpack on eshopps as long as the eshopps sump is large enough to accomodate it.) If there is a refugium area built into the eshopps sump I don't see a need to add another. If there is no refugium it could be beneficial but I would get started without it and monitor you water to see if your setup wilkl even need it.

 

[revhtree]

Welcome to R2R! Thanks for joining and please make sure and post often! We'll help you as much as we can!

 

[ravnes02]

@brettinteriors, I want to set up a reef tank. I set it up with the eshopps filter for now, letting the water acclimate, I am thinking of adding the skimmer right before i start adding fish.
@Degener8, yeah the backpack fits in the sump, I would have to add the refugium later on. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!

 

[Mike&Terry]

Welcome to R2R and congrats on the new tank!

 

[mallorieGgator]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Pretty soon you'll be posting about upgrading! I would start the refugium along with the tank to avoid any cycles with setting up a 'fuge after the tank is started.

 

[ravnes02]

Well thanks to R2R, I have successfully begun my 55 tank, only I have run into another problem, my water temperature hangs around a solid 80 F, is there a cheaper solution to this besides buying a chiller?

 

[KoleTang]

Get a cheap fan or two from walmart or something. Point it at the sump. Make sure you have a new heater as old used ones can fail and cook your tank. You don't want to live through that. Trust me.

Post some pictures!

 

[ravnes02]

KoleTang, I took your advice of using a fan,it's been going for a week, and I still have no luck in bringing down the temperature. Well right now, I'm not even using a heater right now because of the problem. The problem is only during the day when I have the lights on, then it cools off to around 77.5 with the led's. I am going to start a refugium think that might help?

 

[mcarroll]

Well thanks to R2R, I have successfully begun my 55 tank, only I have run into another problem, my water temperature hangs around a solid 80 F, is there a cheaper solution to this besides buying a chiller?

80° is not a problem unless you are trying to keep temperate animals (usually Atlantic and very uncommon) then 80-82° is fine if a bit unfashionable. My tank has been running between 80-82° for about 5 years or more now - never more than 1° variance from day to night though. Watch the temperature variance from day to night - this is more important. If anything changes (watch closely when the seasons change and your heat/AC isn't running much/at all - usually good for +1° or so) and daytime temps approach 85° then you'll be wanting to take action.

As noted by others, a fan is usually the best/cheapest solution, but you can consider running a lower wattage pump(s) too. I switched out a Mag7 that I was very happy with to a more efficient Quiet One 2200 and tank temp dropped so much I ended up adding another heater. Mag 7 is now an excellent backup.

A fan can be cheaper to add, but if you're able to cut some watts you can actually save money in the long run by taking slightly more extreme measures. (Not a guarantee tho as my case demonstrates.)

-Matt

 

[ravnes02]

Mcarroll, thank you so much for that advice, because during the day it can reach 80, then at night when it can reach down to as low as 75.seems like i should be worrying about that more than the high temperature problem.

 

[mcarroll]

Mcarroll, thank you so much for that advice, because during the day it can reach 80, then at night when it can reach down to as low as 75.seems like i should be worrying about that more than the high temperature problem.

Indeed!

You may not have to go this far, but at one time I had to run my heaters on a timer so they'd be on only when the halides were off. Only way I could get my day/night temps to within a degree or so of each other.

-Matt