My First Reef Tank And My First Scrubber

[CNJETER]

I hope this post finds everyone doing well. I would really like to thank you for having such a great forum. My name is Chuck Jeter and I am from South Carolina. I discovered Algaescrubber.net when I was doing research for building my first reef tank. To be honest, this tank will be my first tank larger than ten gallons, so I suspect this is going to be an adventure. Needless to say, I have a ton of questions and many of them I have managed to find answers for, but I still have a few questions I am hoping y'all can help answer. If any of these questions are redundant or seem stupid, I apologize in advance.

I always notice people ask about setup, so here goes nothing.

I am currently planning on the following setup:

-80 Gallon Reef Ready Tank by DSA (Deep Sea Aquatics, which I believe used to be Oceanic) don't guess I can change this since I already bought it, but I can still change/redo anything else.
-I will starting with 3-4 inch sand bed, 100 lbs dry rock and 10-12 lbs of live rock.
-I am going to be using a MaxSpect Gyre 150 for circulation
-My overflow has two one inch overflows and two 3/4 inch returns
-I am installing a 20 gallon sump with wet/dry trickle tower containing 7 gallons of bio-balls and Jabeo DC 12000 main return pump.
-my Waterfall ATS, which has two screens that are 6x6 (theoretically I can alternate cleanings to prevent nutrient spike) is being fed with a Rio 2500 that I tested and flows, based on average of ten runs, 656 GPH to ATS Screens.
(I did modify my ATS slightly from some I have seen, the slit for my first screen is 1/4 inch and 1/8 inch for second screen in the line because this seemed to produce a more balanced flow over the screens.)
-I will also have a 10 gallon refugium fed from the display tank overflow that sits slightly above and to one side of the sump tank and uses 1 inch gravity flow into return area of sump (I only plan on using the refugium, well, for a refuge and breeding place for pods and I am not planning on adding any macro algae just some live rock and 1-2 inches of sand with minimal lighting.)
-I am currently working on a mixing station using two 28 gallon brute storage containers and a five stage RO/DI unit.

If anyone needs them for clarification, I can try to put everything in place in the cabinet (I am still working on it) and get some pictures.


Question 1
Do I keep the Bio-Balls or ditch them? And if I keep the bio-balls, will it hurt if I pump this water over ATS before it is sent back to display tank. (I don't think I need the tower, but I am having a hard time parting with it because it was the first thing I built for this tank, and the one thing that when completed got my wife on board with the idea of a new larger aquarium since she "could tell I really wanted one."  So, I guess I might have some sentimental attachment.)

Question 2?
Should I ditch the pump for the ATS and feed it and the refugium from one of my overflows. (I was planning on running a tee and a valve to limit the flow to refugium since what I have read suggest that low flow works best for raising pods and other critters in a refugium.)

Question 3
Do I really need a skimmer? I asked one of the owners of my LFS for his thoughts about Algae Scrubbers and he started describing the benefits of a magnetized glass cleaner that has a flip down blade for scraping, which they sell  ..... when I described the kind of Algae Scrubber I was really asking about, he insisted I was going to have to have a skimmer now or at some point when all my fish die. I don't think I need one, but I will defer to the experts.... You! 

Question 4
Can I still include snails and conchs in my Clean Up Crew?

Question 5
If every thing works right, will I have enough algae in the tank for snails and tangs that graze?

Again if I am being repetitive, I apologize. I welcome input from everyone. Please feel free to suggest any changes will improve/help my setup, which includes ATS, sump, Refugium, anything (but the Tank that is because my wife would kill me if I told her I had to change that ). I am always open for ideas, and besides, this is my first setup so I am sure I missed something and I would rather know it now while it can be changed before water is added. Thanks and God Bless. 

[SantaMonica]

Welcome.

Sounds like a great first real reef tank! Here are the first things I'd do:

Go shallow sand bed, not deep. 1 inch is enough. You don't need to risk tank death, and, the extra room is nice.

Increase rock to at least 50 pounds, maybe 100. Once the periphyton covers the rock, you will have a great natural filter and feeder.

The seemingly unbalanced flow in the scrubber tube was only because it was new. After growth fills in, they even out. But since you made one slot wider, that side is going to get far more flow later. Consider re-cutting the pipe with both 1/8"

If there is going to be no macro in the fuge, then you really don't need to light it. True, the light would grow periphyton on the rocks there, but if you increase the rock in the display, then the little bit of fuge rock won't matter much. I personally would not put anything the fuge/sump. No sand or rock. Keep all the life in your display. I just think that for a first reef tank, keep it simple.

1) No bio balls. All your denitrification will come from your rocks, sand, periphyont (once it fills in) and scrubber. Balls will just clog, and cause cleaning and nitrate problems. Use the bio ball tower for a future fish-only system with very little rock or sand. Works great there, and you can tell your wife that you are creating a special system for whatever her favorite fish is

2) Yes use the overflow. Much simpler, works great. Use complex systems on later tanks, not now.

3) No skimmer. You want all the food particles to stay in the water and feed the corals, small fish, and periphyton.

4) Yes but start with few or one.

5) No, you will need to feed the tangs. Creating a self-feeding tank is too hard for a first tank.

One more thing, your scrubber will grow very little to start, but will increase as you start feeding more.

[CNJETER]

Santa Monica,

Thanks for all the great input, and for starting such a great forum. Glad to know I am on the right Track. Maybe I can convince my wife we need a fish only tank in the bedroom and I can use the Filter tower For that one . I appreciate you responding so quickly, and I will try to post some pictures once I finish everything. I still have to put the trim on the cabinet and finish stacking and connecting my reef rock. Thanks again and God Bless.