Need help

[nanoreefer22]

Hey everyone,

If I was to start to create a SPS dominated system, that had SPS in the middle and top of the tank and polyps and one or two LPS somewhere in the lower half could it be successful with the following:
Tank: 30 gallon
Fuge: 10 gallon (could this be my only filtration)
Lighting: 175MH and and 130 watt PCs.
Rock: 25 lbs LR and the rest base rock
Bottom: BB
Every powerhead I have running in different directions.

Need:
Overflow
Kalk doser

What else do you guys think I would need to have this be a successful system. This is probably going to take me a while to set up....sadly...

Any comments are welcome. I want to get it right the first time.

Also if the entire 10 gallon is filled with chaeto will it be neccesary to have a big skimmer?

Thanks
Kris

 

[wedfr]

if thats a standard 30Gallon its 36" long which means you are going to need another halide. Also i dont think just a 10 gallon fuge is gonna do it. especially for sps. Get yourself a good skimmer

 

[jhale]

hey kris,
I have an overflow for you.
I don't think the 10 gallon will be big enough. maybe if you go with a hang on skimmer. if you have the space I would recommend another 30 gallon for the sump. sumps get real small once you start filling them up with equipment, and if you want a fuge then I'd say 30 is the smallest you should go with.
I converted my 55 to be my new sump, even the 55 feels small now.
you can start with the one MH, just keep it to one side, and put your SPS on that side. you can upgrade later on, or put your LPS and polyps on the darker side.

 

[nanoreefer22]

Hey,

I'll PM about the overflow.

Sounds fair enough. I'll hold off on buy any SPS until I can have the money for a decent skimmer. When I save up a little, I'll put up a post for an in-sump skimmer.

How about this, I use my 55 gallon as the main tank and my 30 gallon as the sump. Would make the system much larger. I would need a bit of help designing the 30 to fit the skimmer and the fuge. Therefore I would need the extra halide in any case. I guess this would help with the stablility of the system too. Things that would be first on the list would be the Extra MH, and the return pump. Also the skimmer. What would you guys reccommend for a skimmer on the 55 plus sump?

Thanks
Kris

 

[jhale]

Kris,
you have a 55? why didn't you say that in the first place

that would be the perfect set up.
I had the same size tank and sump for years. the 55 is a good size volume wise, but a tough tank to aquascape. I had way to much rock for mine. I would still consider having your SPS on one side, and the other stuff on the other. It could save you some money on lighting, then you can afford the skimmer you'll need. I've been using a ETSS reef devil, it works well for me, and does not take up too much space. there are so many skimmers out there, I'm sure you would get a different answer from everyone you asked.

 

[nanoreefer22]

I guess I'll definately be going with the 55 route. One things for sure it's a very hard tank to aquascape. I also like the idea of doing one half with SPS and the other half with all my softies. This sounds like the final plan for now. All thats left to get are the protein skimmer and the return pump.

Should I use PVC for the setup or something else? I've seen people using some kind of flexible tubing.
Oh yeah...cant forget I have to build myself a better hood for the 55g.

 

[DRZL]

Dude why save up for a $$$ when you can make one, I made myself the EAP (easy as pie) Euro-reef, for a grand total of $45, pump being the most expensive part. It takes out sh!te like it loves it, and its in my sump. If your tight on money and good w/ your hands or good at picking things up, DIY. go to RC and search EAP Euro-reef
Also since your going to make one side of the tank MH why not make it a 3-sided tank and have the SPS in the back high up and slope down to softies and LPS

 

[Deanos]

Kinda hard to slope towards the front of a 55g; it's so narrow. He's better off sloping from left to right or vice versa. IMO

 

[jhale]

aquascaping a 55 is tricky, if I were to do it again i would break it up into three zones. left / middle / right.
I would leave the middle zone low, just a few rocks. this would give your fish some room to swim. between the right and left I would choose one side to be higher than the other. the inside rocks could form a little cove for the middle section. I think if you get creative in attaching your rocks together you can have a great looking 55. use glue, epoxy, zipties, drill holes in the rocks and use plastic rods, whatever you need to do. It would not take that much rock, I think the less rock the better in a 55.
your coral will have room to grow, and as long as you keep the fish load light the less rock will be fine for the bio-filter purpose. it's hard to describe aquascaping, when you pick up the overflow i can show you a few ideas.

the flex tube is called spa-flex, it depends on your plumbing, you may not need it. it's good when you have long runs that need to move around things just a little bit. I used it in parts of my plumbing.

if you don't have one, an other piece of equipment to consider is a chiller. if you have an a/c in the room you can get away without one. but if you don't you'll need one for the summer.

when you set up the 55 does that mean you'll have to change your screen name?

 

[nilo]

you can take a look at some pics of my old set up in my gallery. like jonathan said, a 55 is tricky to aquascape. but it can be done. once you have your LR, just play around w/ them a bit until you get the look that you want. i also had a hang on overflow on mine and never had any problem with it. as long as your return pump matches the overflow flow you'll be ok. also make sure you have some sort of auto top off or be meticulous in replacing evaporated water so your sump level won't be changing too much. HTH.

 

[nanoreefer22]

DRZL, that sounds like a good idea. Could I get all the parts at a home depot or something like that?PMed ya about it. Also what do you mean by making it a 3-sided tank?

jhale, the 55 is already set-up as a softie tank but I want to give it a "make over" and make the system much more efficient for keeping corals. Right now I think i have a few ideas on an aquascape, still i want to see how you would do it. So I'll be going with the PVC. Oh I have the AC in my room so my rooms always cool in the summer.
I made the screen name when my tank was a tiny 15g, but soon after I got on the site it went straight to the 55(had to say goodbye to me freshies). =D
nilo, I try as best as i can to stay on top of water top off. So far I've been pretty good at keeping it constant. Later on I'll invest in a DIY topoff or a premade one.
Deanos, it's really hard to slope it towards the front. I have lots of smaller pieces of rock about 1- 3lbs. In another thread "My 55 gallon/10K XM review" on the last page has pictures of how it is now.

 

[nanoreefer22]

jhale, what pump would you recommend be used with the overflow?
-Kris

 

[jackson6745]

Kris, before you take the plunge into SPS make sure you're aware of all the costs, there are endless upgrades. SPS require near "perfect" water conditions and great stability.

This would be my cheap, yet functional 55gal/30gal fuge.

1)30gal sump/refugium sectioned off with glass baffles siliconed in place or you could also use acrylic baffles
2)mag 9 return pump with a SCWD for random flow
3)2x rio seio 1500 powerheads
3)For lighting you could use 2 14k halides and skip on the actinics to save on cash.
4) euroreef es5-3 skimmer
5)B-ionic calcium and alk

This is good enough to keep very healthy colorful SPS, in an algae free tank, as long as you keep your fish stock on the low side. This is actually almost identical to my 65gal and i was keeping some nice colors. With this setup i would go with a shallow sandbed because this amount of flow won't create a sandstorm, and the sand looks nicer

PS keep on the look out for used equipment

[ March 23, 2005, 04:17 PM: Message edited by: jackson6745 ]

 

[jhale]

the overflow is rated at 600gph, I would not put that much through it. I used a quite one 6000, but had it dialed way down.
maybe something like a mag 9? I have to look at the flow charts of the pumps.

there are so many ways to aquascape, most of them are personal, but some things do work better than others.
I think Dean was saying you should not try to slope towards the front. but slope from one side to the other. kind of like what i said, but without the break in the middle.
check out www.autotopoff.com , his system works great, it's $50.00 for the dual stage top off.

 

[nanoreefer22]

Rich, I'm still going to be keeping some of my softies on one half of the tank Probably a little less than that. I'll also have polyps on the bottom all over the tank. But with that much flow, would the softies be able to handle it? And of course, I'm always on the look out for used equipment. It's just as good as the new stuff just cheaper =D. Still only going to stick to one fish. I actually have the shallow sandbed right now. Hardly any at all maybe a little less than 1/2 inch of sand.

Would the Kalk make up for the b-ionic calcium nad alk or would i have to still dose these as well?
-Kris

 

[DRZL]

Nanoreefer22
I PM'd ya back
What i mean by three sided is that you would have the back of the tank be the presently side of the tank.
check out my Boyyy's 50G breeder threesided
www.steve68.com
go to 50G after your mesmerized by the 210 of course..lol and you'll see what I mean

I dont think at all you need to buy high priced equipment for any tank to run great. They dont use any special super plastic polymer, just regular Acrylic, and nicely camoflouged PVC. If you look at his page i think he might have his DIY beckett skimmer up, pulls crap x10. and he made it out of an old airstone driven acrylic shaft and PVC parts. AND it fits neatly to his desired measurements.AHHhh feels so good, plus the added benefit you can boast to all your friends, "yup yup, built that piece of equipment w/ my own bare hands" and the subsequent applause.

My next project will be a DIY calcium reactor at a fraction of the cost of the most efficent (and expensive) design

 

[nanoreefer22]

I get what you mean about the 3 sided tank now. Thats a pretty good idea. That would look good as a sort of room divider.

I looked at the threads on the DIY EAS skimmer. It looks pretty simple but Iim still confused on how it will work. The supplies seem to be very little. The most expensive part being the pump. I would have to build it slightly shorter becuase under my stand I have about 2 feet of height to play around with. I'm gonna see if I can get a skimmer from someone first. If not I'll try the do-it-yourselfer. I might need help though.

Spykes, you think if i got the supplies together for the EAS skimmer you could help me out with it?
-Kris

 

[jhale]

I like the divider look, it gives you more room for corals too.
it's hard to find space for that set-up, that's about the only draw back.

DRZL: do you have any links for DIY calcium reactor? I need to get one, or make one. thanks.