[joelq]

Hi all - I have about 4 years experience as a freshwater aquarist and have been doing a lot of research on getting into the saltwater/reef side of things. I am considering purchasing a used 72-gallon Oceanic that's become available in my area as my first attempt at saltwater/reef building!

Here's my plan, with questions interspersed throughout. Please let me know if I'm heading in the wrong direction! :-)

I want a reef tank with a sump/refugium setup and a protein skimmer. The tank I am considering comes with a Sealife Systems sump with bio balls (I will replace those with live rock), as well as a Sealife Systems skimmer. I can't seem to find any information on "Sealife Systems" equipment, other than a website that I found (Home), and it appears they sell ReefMaster and Berlin Sumps. Hopefully someone here can give some feedback on "Sealife" brand.

The tank will also come with 2 48" flourescent lighting, 40 watts each. I know that this won't be enough for corals, but will this be enough for cycling? This way I can put off the purchase of T5 or MH lights for 4-6 weeks until I'm ready to put some coral in.

The tank is also supposed to include a pump, but I don't have the specifics on those.

How about the refugium - aside from taking the bio balls out and putting some live rock in there, is there any other prep work I need to do with it?

To start with, I will be buying RO water from the LFS.

I'm thinking this should be enough to get me going. Anything else that I'm forgetting?

Thanks!

[pogodzib]

Yes, the standard lighting will work for cycling the tank. In fact, you actually don't need any lights during the cycling process, but having a low level of lighting over the tank will help to promote coralline algae (a good thing) so I'd still use the lights during the cycle process.

For the sump, try to figure out how you can divide it up by installing baffles into it so that you have separate areas for you skimmer, refugium, and return pump. A good site to look at to get an idea of good ways to divide your sump up is Melevsreef.com | Acrylic Sumps & Refugiums