I recently ran out of CO2 for my freshwater planted tank but didn't have any free time to get it refilled for a few weeks and in that time algae started taking over my tank. When I finally got it refilled, I was tinkering with my needle valve and apparently left it open way too much. The next day I came home to a school of Ember Tetras, 4 Electric Blue Rams, 7 Julii Cory Cats, 3 Amano Shrimp and a handful of Horned Nerite Snails belly up in my tank.
Its been a few weeks now and I haven't really done much to the tank after I cleaned it up. I was going to try and rescape it and start again but ended up getting bummed out and just ignored it. I've been a lot more interested in the Saltwater world lately, so when my dad came over last week he convinced me to turn it into a reef tank.
That is the reason for this post. I want to convert my 23 gallon Cadlights Zen Series tank into something reef ready. I've already started looking at a few items that I think I may need to make this happen, but I'd like to lean on the knowledge of this forum to guide the way. I currently only have a 12 gallon AIO, so this would be my first real build of this nature. I'm probably going to have a lot of questions, so bare with me.
I've read that using a canister filter is doable for a saltwater tank, but it's not ideal. Since my tank doesn't already have an existing overflow, I've started looking at a couple. I don't love the idea of the HOB overflow boxes since they're dependent on a constant siphon. I like the Eshopps Eclipse overflow, especially since it comes with the bit to drill the hole. Does anybody have any experience with this one?
Next, I need some advice on what sump to get. I have 19"x10.5" to work with in my cabinet so space is limited. Can anyone recommend a good and small sump? I still don't fully understand all the different equipment like reactors and whatnot so I haven't really decided what I want to keep in there.
Lastly would be the return. I've tried researching what some reliable pumps are out there and everyone seems to have their own preference. The overflow is rated for 600gph so my pump needs to be less than that and since its only a 23 gallon tank and it would be moving the water less than 4 feet, I would imagine this piece wouldn't be all that expensive, right?
Obviously, in between all this would be the plumbing and whatever I decide I want to keep in the sump plus a lot more that I probably don't even know about. I just wanted to start to get ideas of which direction to go. Any and all advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris
Its been a few weeks now and I haven't really done much to the tank after I cleaned it up. I was going to try and rescape it and start again but ended up getting bummed out and just ignored it. I've been a lot more interested in the Saltwater world lately, so when my dad came over last week he convinced me to turn it into a reef tank.
That is the reason for this post. I want to convert my 23 gallon Cadlights Zen Series tank into something reef ready. I've already started looking at a few items that I think I may need to make this happen, but I'd like to lean on the knowledge of this forum to guide the way. I currently only have a 12 gallon AIO, so this would be my first real build of this nature. I'm probably going to have a lot of questions, so bare with me.
I've read that using a canister filter is doable for a saltwater tank, but it's not ideal. Since my tank doesn't already have an existing overflow, I've started looking at a couple. I don't love the idea of the HOB overflow boxes since they're dependent on a constant siphon. I like the Eshopps Eclipse overflow, especially since it comes with the bit to drill the hole. Does anybody have any experience with this one?
Next, I need some advice on what sump to get. I have 19"x10.5" to work with in my cabinet so space is limited. Can anyone recommend a good and small sump? I still don't fully understand all the different equipment like reactors and whatnot so I haven't really decided what I want to keep in there.
Lastly would be the return. I've tried researching what some reliable pumps are out there and everyone seems to have their own preference. The overflow is rated for 600gph so my pump needs to be less than that and since its only a 23 gallon tank and it would be moving the water less than 4 feet, I would imagine this piece wouldn't be all that expensive, right?
Obviously, in between all this would be the plumbing and whatever I decide I want to keep in the sump plus a lot more that I probably don't even know about. I just wanted to start to get ideas of which direction to go. Any and all advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris