teebs

The addresses can be found in the sponsers forum.

Theoratically speaking, yes. Practically speaking if the turnover of your water in the sump is high but your skimmer is not efficient, it probably won't make much of a difference.

Vortech is pretty expensive though... Wonder how much TS is going to spend in total for his SPS tank...

Correct me if I am wrong but the return pump determines the turnover of water in the tank per hour. The higher the turnover of water, the better it is for the aquarium. A wavemaker just tries to replicate the ocean currents in the aquarium.

Nice...Would like to see the whole setup with the Tunze Nano Reefpack 200.

Your flow rate seems to be a bit on the low side. Go for a pump that has at least 6,000L/hr flow rate. According to my calculations your tank, 4x2x2 and sump 2.5x1.5x1.5 (?) will have total water volume of around 600L. My suggestion is to get the OR6500 or the Aquabee 6000. For a 4x2x2.5 tank, the flow rate of your pump has to be even larger...

Looking for a skimmer suitable for a nano tank. PM me if you have any for sale.

I think TS is already quite firm on getting a 4x2x2 tank and he is going for a SPS setup...

Regardless of what tank size you get and whether you get new or second hand equipment, the most important thing is still to set up your aquarium correctly. Not doing things correctly from the beginning will cause you headaches and heartaches down the road. Some reading material for you: 1) http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/startinga...rium_Basics.htm 2) http://www.fishlore.com/reeftanksetup.htm

The red dragon pump costs more than 1K... Dectec skimmer is definately better than Reef Octopus. If you think Deltec is expensive, take a look at the HnS Skimmer and also the Skimz series. At the end of the day, you pay for the quality. That's why at the beginning of this thread I did ask if you would like to consider a smaller tank instead. The thing is that for smaller tanks, you can get away with using lower quality/spec equipment which will be much cheaper.

I think the Red Dragon 6.5m3 pump will be over his budget...

How big are the rocks?

What is the specs for this FR? Same as the Skimz FM100?

You could consider the Deltec AFP600 skimmer which would cost ard $600 for a new set. Pump wise, depending on which brand and specs you choose, it will cost you $300 upwards. The most expensive component would be the chiller... An Artica 1/2HP chiller will cost you ard $1.8K for a new set...

The Octopus Skimmer is suitable for your tank and it comes with a pump so you do not need to get an additional pump for the skimmer. For a 4ft tank, a 1/2HP chiller is more than sufficient. I think Sherman has answered the question for you. For pumps, do take note of the headloss of the pump you want to get. The flow rate will decrease based on the length and height of the pipings.

Pls get the model number and/or specs from him. Reef Octopus has many models and different models require different flow rates. You can actually get an Eheim pump that has adjustable flow rates. Price would depend on the range of flow rates required. For your 4ft tank, you should get a chiller that has at least 1/4 to 1/2HP. Anything less and you would probably find that your chiller will have to work extremely hard to cool down your water and your electricity bills will go up significantly. A 1/4HP chiller will require ard 1000 - 2000L/hr flow rate and a 1/2HP chiller will require ard 2000 - 3000L/hr flow rate.

3) a second hand 4 x 2 x 2. with sump tank, cabinet, hood and skimmer. used for one year. @ $600 I thought your 2nd hand tank includes a skimmer??? Check with the seller what is the brand/model/specs of the skimmer he is giving you and what pump he is currently using for the skimmer. I'm not too sure what you mean by motor??? Return pump??? What brand/model/specs are they giving you? Have you checked with them? The output of your return pump is going to be fed to the input of your chiller so you will have to know the flow rate of your pump and also the flow rate of the chiller you are going to use. Getting the tank/cabinet/sump is just the first step and it isn't that important. The more important thing is to get the correct equipment that will enable you to maintain your tank properly. Between a new and 2nd hand tank set, it's up to your personal preferance. There is no good or bad about either choice.

Fishes will most probably be stressed out at nitrite levels of 0.5ppm... From what I've read, at nitrite levels of above 20ppm, it will be toxic to the fish and over a period of time, your fish will die. From what I've seen, test strips typically can test up to 10ppm of Nitrites. The API 5-in-1 test strip that I'm using can test nitrites up to 10ppm. I've seen some test strips on the net that can test for nitrites up to 25ppm. However, there are nitrite tests that can test for nitrites in the hundreds of PPM but these are not used for aquariums...

So these are the pics of your tank taken 2 years ago...Still the same now or already decom the tank and waiting for new tank setup?

Do you have an actual photo of this filter? What pump do you use to connect it to and do you use in in tank or out of tank? I'm actually quite confused by the specs because it states less than 80G/hr and in the manual it states less than 1000L/hr???

I don't think you should be freaking out...

Forget about the 2.5ft height tank. You will find it very difficult to reach the bottom of the tank to clean the tank/rearrange the corals etc. If you don't believe me, use a measuring tape and measure the tip of your fingers to your shoulder.

Juz curious, can this be used as a nitrate filter instead? E.g. filling in Pura NitrateLock?

You can take a look at this thread of a 4x2x2.5 tank... http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7606

It depends on the chiller you are getting and the power consumption of the chiller. It also depends on how often the chiller cuts in and out to maintain the water temperature. The Resun CL650 (1/4HP) chiller is rated at 650W. Your lighting would also play a large part in your electricity bills. MH lighting for a 4ft tank could be between 250W to 500W, T5 lighting most probably 200W upwards...Then every 3-6 months you would probably need to change your bulbs, so there's a replacement cost also.