Equipment recommendation

[Xtrader]

Hi Dear Members,

I'm new to Reefing. I'm about to start a 3' X 20" X 16"(hight) tank. Sump about the same size.It will be a LPS/Fish tank. Need your advice on....

1, Which reliable & "value for money" brand of chiller should I go for-Buget S$1,500.

2, Skimmer, I prefer a good one buget S$1000.

3, Lightings, With a dept of 16" will a MH be over kill? Or a T5 would be good enough? what brand sould I go for.

4, Are those Marine/Reef starter kit from kent & red sea OK? Or it is better buying them seprately?

Anything thing else I should look out for?

Thank you in advance.

[Tanga]

Bro with your buget I think lots of quality stuff if you go 2nd hand stuff.

1. skimmer I suggest deltec or H&S

2. 2x150w mh for LPS and for SPS 2x250w mh

3. chiller daeil, artica or resun

4. return pump AM, aquabee, ehiem

5. FR with rowa

the rest of the equipment will come in later when you know what you really want to keep.

As for the equipment above I rather go for 2nd hand and for brands read up more in members tank and specs so you can gauge which brand to look out for.

Do your research before you start buying anything.

If have not gotten your tank yet why don't consider 3x2x2ft more room to put stuff.

my 0.02ct

[gerrard_boon]

wow..bro u got a really big budget....how i wish i got a budget like yrs....(haiz...poor reefer)

since yr budget is so big...yes...

the skimmer i think u should go 4 deltec or H&S...

4 chiller i suggest a brand new resun 650(should be enough)....save the money to spend on other equipment....(resun is value 4 money....)

t5 is fine for yr tank...but opinions r divided over keeping clams n maybe some sps... with T5...Mh is definitely stronger but its also a lot HOTTER Too...!!

(Look 4 sponser DE)

FR with rowas n carbon make yr life a lot easier...if possible use DI water even better(scraping algae off the tank is really tireding)

u also need current too..i think most reefers here use either tunze wavemakers(ex) or seio(cheaper)....

i think u should get a CR with controller too and uv light set too...

there r other items such as ozoniser.,denitrator n more which i think is gd to have but not essential....

hope that helps u...!!!

[Xtrader]

Hi Tanga and Gerrard,

Thanks for the recommendadtion.

Tanga, the reason I'm doing a low tank is because of 1. ease of maintainence 2. I'm doing a "Twin" tank one stack on top of the other but sharing 1 sump.

Gerrard, how is China made Teco compared to Resun? My total volume is 500lt. what hourse power should I have?

Thanks Once again!

Happy Reefing

[gerrard_boon]

Xtrader...Teco is definitely better than resun in terms of reliability...(the lifespan is longer)u dun pay the xtra cash 4 nothing.....but becoz the difference is so big i would say if the chiller spoils juz get a new one lor.... anyway its not that unreliable...i'm using a 2nd hand resun cl280 n it nvr gave me ani problem...

the hp u should have actually depends.....remenber that u should also think abt the heat given out by the other equipments....(lightings.skimmer.return,pump.....)

get a chiller one size bigger than wat u need is recommanded...

(taken from webpage...CL 650 1/4Hp Suitable 4 ft tank Upto 500 liter )

so perhaps u would like to consider (CL 0500 1/2Hp Suitable 5 ft tank Upto 1200 liter)

but l'm no expert....maybe some senior reefer could give their comment too?

[jervismun]

Yes get a chiller one size up... or else you will overwork ur chiller = constant noise + heating the room + high electricity bill

[hammy]

get the biggest deltec u can afford. sometime the branding matter because german dun use their reputation as a stake.

good product that work wonder plus high resale value .

local make product such as skimmer and calcium reactor is good IMO , but low resale value .

chiller , resun is value for money of course other brand like RR, teco will be reliable . but i calculator , 3 resun CL280 spoil is equal to to one teco RA240. so i still go for resun . dun have deep pocket .

warranty is important for expensive equipment , JBL artica chiller seem to have 2 years warranty . retail in our sponsor reef depot .