Hey guys, Converted my fresh water tank to salt water years back now and ended up giving up on the project not long after due to moving state.
Im now looking at getting into the hobbie again and have done a bit of research. These are the things ill be buying just want to see if anyone thinks i would be better off getting something else or if what im getting is fine for a reef tank.

4’ x 2’ x 2’ in 12mm Glass Aquarium, All visible edges flat edge polished -

Overflo Box Series 3, with Return hole & Fitting -

Refugium to suit tank and Protein Skimmer -

Light for Refugium –twin t5 -

Turboflotor multi sl protein skimmer -

Return Pump – ocean runner 3500 -

Metal Halide Unit -

2 x fluval 300w Heaters -



Any help is appreciated.
Thanks Paul.

This is a good start...Don't forget your test kits. Think now about what kind of coral you want to keep. Depending on what type of coral you have to think about your flow in the tank. Power heads, how many, placement and so on.

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IMHO the single most important thing is the refugium full of plant life to balance out and stabilize the system.

For an overflow you can make one for pvc pipe:

see:



(just a starting point)

also refugiums/sumps can be inexpensive storage containers. But you still have to buy the pump.

just my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Thanks for the help, a few things have changed now!

Instead of the turboflotor ill be getting a reef octopus vortex 800l protein skimmer and for the lighting Metal Halide Unit with LED Lighting for moonlight effect.

For the water circulation its a closed loop from the refugium with 2 holes cut evenly spaced at the back of the tank powerd by an Ehiem pump.

Ive already started buying test kits and what not just didnt put that in my post sorry..

ill be buying 20kilos of live rock so there will be plenty to put in the refugium for the algae to grow on, do you recomend putting anything else in there to help stabalize the system?

Im wanting a soft coral reef setup with a few tangs and clown fish.

Cheers Paul.

JMO but if you know you are only doing soft coral you can save the money on the LED's do a nice T5 set.

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The one thing that stands out to Me is the overflow idea!.. this must be the most unreliable thing to put on a reef tank.. You are far better off having the tank drilled and using PVC plumbing.
Ive used both methods and speak from experience.
My reason for this statement is.. with overflow boxes you need to manually prime them to start the syphon, after time micro bubbles enter the overflow box and build up inside, Left to long and the syphon will break!.. leaving your return pump to empty your sumps contents into your display tank and on to the floor.
This cant happen with a correctly setup drilled tank.

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Remember people the solution to pollution is dilution... weekly water changes!

I agree It's always best to have a drilled tank, but everybody doesn't have that option. I have used U-tube over flows for years with no problem. If you use something like a "CPR" over flow you can't loose siphon. As far as the pvc overflow I'm not saying they don't work I just haven't had any luck with them.

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dude i wouldn't get the metal halides.they put off too much heat and cause bad algae growth. i'd stick with the attinic and blue led strips and t'5s.and honestly you don't need to spend all that money on filtration.a plain old aquaclear 100 will do the trick or two if you need it.put chemi-pure as one of the media.and bio-max balls from aqua-clear.and just a foam insert on the bottom. and i wouldn't use two 300 watt heaters.thats too much.you could boil your fish.i'd stick with one.what size is your tank though?

MH have their advantages! Then again they are also overpriced, and make your water very hot.

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Depends on the set up for price and heat. I have two 400watt MH over a 75gal. tank and have never had a heat problem. I'm guessing here but I would say a 4'x2'x2' would be some where between 120gal. to 135gal. or maybe even 150gal 600watts between two heaters unless you live in the antarctic would be over kill. And as far as the price of the MH I did a retro kit for the 400's for less then $250.00 and another $150.00 for this hood with 3 large fans

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Nice setup, I also have two 400 watt MH over my 150. However My lights are about 6 inches away from the surface of the water with not much room for cooling to take place, your setup has them much higher allowing for easier cool down. My issue is I have no way of hanging the lights :(

As you can see here:

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is that a whole unit or diy?

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getitcdot ur tank is awesome.how tall is it?how deep?how do you like your koralia?