Roller Mat, Skimmer and Algae Reactor or Protein Skimmer?

reefinginBD

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I will be setting up a 60x26x24 inch 600 litre mixed reef tank. So, in the sump, I will first have the Bubble Magus Roller Mat (Large size), then a Bubble Magus Curve 9 Elite Protein Skimmer, Maxspect Jump DC8k Return Pump and in the refugium section I will have three bags of Maxspect Bio Spheres, but I want either a chaeto reactor or an algae reactor which I will keep on at night (reverse photo period) to keep the ph stable. So, I was wondering which one of these two should I go with? A diy chaeto reactor or a diy algae turf scrubber? Please let me know, thank you! Also does the protein skimmer seem a little overkill for this tank size? I will most probably have a trio of tangs and other fish like a pair of clownfish, royal gramma, wrasses, cardinals, shrimp and goby pair, etc. I will add the reactors later on. Also can you give me some tips to keep the sump clean? I was thinking of putting sponge filters or power filters in the sections. Please let me know if these are ok or not and which to use. Thank you in advance!
 

landlubber

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just my 2 cents but my advice would be to start basic as you're putting the cart ahead of the horse here.
having a ton of filtration equipment combined with nutrient management media when the tank is young is a sure fire way to bottom out your nutrients and invite dinos which are no joke and quite often shuts tanks down.
start with a skimmer and possibly one means of combating hair algae but only if it becomes an issue.
 
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reefinginBD

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just my 2 cents but my advice would be to start basic as you're putting the cart ahead of the horse here.
having a ton of filtration equipment combined with nutrient management media when the tank is young is a sure fire way to bottom out your nutrients and invite dinos which are no joke and quite often shuts tanks down.
start with a skimmer and possibly one means of combating hair algae but only if it becomes an issue.
I will be setting up the tank with a roller mat and protein skimmer as well as bio media. I will add either of those two just to control the ph but after a few months, do you think that will be necessary? Also the amount of bio media is enough for this tank? Is the size of the protein skimmer ok? Also can you please tell me how to keep the sump clean?
 

landlubber

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I will be setting up the tank with a roller mat and protein skimmer as well as bio media. I will add either of those two just to control the ph but after a few months, do you think that will be necessary? Also the amount of bio media is enough for this tank? Is the size of the protein skimmer ok? Also can you please tell me how to keep the sump clean?
again... you are looking at this too ambitiously for a problem that may not exist.
not every tank needs all this additional filtration equipment and if i'm perfectly honest, most don't.
Bio media is not a usual way of managing a reef system and i do not recommend it as its tough to throttle the efficiency of how it takes care of nutrients. People most often use either GFO, carbon dose, run a refugium or algae scrubber or a combination of these if the system requires it. This is determined from your tanks bio-load and is decided by testing your phosphate and nitrate.
There's nothing wrong with planning how to mitigate nutrients but there is definitely a huge downside to over-managing nutrients and as i said may overwhelm the tank with dinos.
sump cleaning can be done with a small shop vac or a maintenance pump to vacuum up the detritus.
finally... i've never personally had a use for a roller mat and don't want one so i have nothing to add on those.
 

landlubber

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one last piece of advice... nobody wants to answer this thread because you have too many question in one paragraph. one thing at a time bro!
 
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reefinginBD

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again... you are looking at this too ambitiously for a problem that may not exist.
not every tank needs all this additional filtration equipment and if i'm perfectly honest, most don't.
Bio media is not a usual way of managing a reef system and i do not recommend it as its tough to throttle the efficiency of how it takes care of nutrients. People most often use either GFO, carbon dose, run a refugium or algae scrubber or a combination of these if the system requires it. This is determined from your tanks bio-load and is decided by testing your phosphate and nitrate.
There's nothing wrong with planning how to mitigate nutrients but there is definitely a huge downside to over-managing nutrients and as i said may overwhelm the tank with dinos.
sump cleaning can be done with a small shop vac or a maintenance pump to vacuum up the detritus.
finally... i've never personally had a use for a roller mat and don't want one so i have nothing to add on those.
I see thank you so much for helping out!
 
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reefinginBD

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one last piece of advice... nobody wants to answer this thread because you have too many question in one paragraph. one thing at a time bro!
Thanks I needed that . I have this problem of asking too many questions at a time, I’m 14 so like I don’t want to do anything wrong when setting the tank up.
 

landlubber

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Thanks I needed that . I have this problem of asking too many questions at a time, I’m 14 so like I don’t want to do anything wrong when setting the tank up.
start simple and inexpensively. reefing is a marathon not a sprint and if you try to rush into things it just causes problems. I haven't had my hand in my tank for a few months now and it has never looked better!
 

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