Help me build a new reef

[Anonymous]

I will quickly admit to 2 things for starters.

1. I have spent (wasted) most of my time here at reefs.org lately
in the SUMP........Don't ask me why because I really don't know.

2. My professional life has until this point kept me too busy in my
opinion to properly care for a reef of decent size.


The combination of these 2 things I feel has effectively taken me out of the reefkeeping loop. The itch has returned quite suddenly and very strongly so I think it is time to once again have a reef in my home. I recently moved into a new home that I actually think will keep my wife happy for enough years that I won't have to worry about moving the tank any time soon. For the first time in many years I can actually plan for a tank to be in the same spot for the forseeable future.

Did I mention that my wife actually started all this by saying.....and I quote "Honey, I wish you get another big fish tank........what are you waiting for??" 8O Note to wives around the world.....the above statement is not advisable under ANY circumstances due to the possible consequences. What can I say??.......I am a very lucky man


Having bored you all to death with that I will now get to the point. I really don't want to go overboard here. A nice good size reef is all I am after. Anything from a 75 to a 220 would be about my range......I really am more concerned with dimensions rather then size......I don't like HIGH tanks. I will be putting in MH lighting with VHO actinics if needed.


What I want/need to know is are there any new trends or fads in the hobby I may want to check out??

I would like to keep the tank pretty basic. Nice rock, good sand bed, bright lights and a great skimmer. This tank will be in my living room so I do not want hoses and the sounds of Niagara Falls running through the house.

What is the current wisdom on sand beds??

I am in no hurry here so I really just want to do it right the first time.


Any ideas would be great.


Ideal tank size

Sand bed

Where to get rock and lights

Good RO Unit

Quality skimmer


I also like to do things myself so I will be building the stand and hood in my spare time so any DIY plans or ideas would be great.

Ca++ Reactor???



Thank you for any and all help you can offer.

 

[EmilyB]

Quality skimmer

The Euroreef is an awesome skimmer that requires no adjustments....... :wink: :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Em,

What do you mean no adjustments??

Lifereef products look to be very high quality.....what has been your experience with them??

 

[EmilyB]

I just figured you'd want to do less of that when you got home...... :lol: Damn those old sump habits...

I've only heard good about Lifereef as well.

 

[Anonymous]

WOW I must be tired Em...........I truely did not even come close to getting that joke :lol:


At least I'm not a OBGYN right 8O Would hate to get tired of seeing that 8)


Damn SUMP


OK back on topic here.......I really need some help here.

 

[EmilyB]

This tank will be in my living room so I do not want hoses and the sounds of Niagara Falls running through the house.

This is important. Can you sump to another room or downstairs?

You also need to decide what you what to keep there (not that you won't change your mind like we all have .... :wink: )

 

[Anonymous]

Lifereef is an excellent choice! I have one and love it.

Good to Em posting agian! :wink:

I'd go with the largest tank you have space for. Get one that is 30" wide from back to front. Put live rock in the middle with sand bed around all sides. That will increase the swimming space for the herd on tangs that you'll prolly end up with. 8O Plus, you'll have better circulation, thus less dead sopts for the accumulation of detritus.

More ideas latter!

Louey

 

[wade1]

Sanbed is still currently thought to be best of 3-6" depth, and composed mostly of oolitic grade (teeny) araganite, although IMO it looks better mixed with some variable sized araganite.

Skimmer: any beckett (higher energy, but serious power) or Euroreef or Turbofloater (of appropriate size) is great...

As far as tank size, I have had a 55, 125, 150, 29, etc.... I would go with a 4' 120 if ever given the chance... or a 180. Those would be my 2 choices.

RO units... all are basically the same since they are just moving water around and allthe cartridges and the like are bought from few sources. www.aquariumwaterfilters.com is having a special... I do like spectrapure replacement parts though.

Rock I would get from Harbor aquatics... great stuff, fully cured and hand picked. No transhipped stinky rubble.

Lights... see our sponsors. Some are having current powerbuys on them! See the powerbuy forum. If you go with the 120 or 180, I would go with 250 or 400W halides... either mixed or with VHO supplements.

If you want a stoney tank, a reactor is a must in my book. Its the best investment I have made for my tank (aside from lights, rock, and skimmer).

That help?

Wade

 

[buff1]

issues. I've decided on a 120 gallon tank, which is 48"x24"x24". I am unable to put the sump in a basement or nearby room, so I will fit the largest sump I can underneath the tank. I can place a few peripheral items like topoff storage, ballasts, potential chiller underneath my desk. The sump will actually be mostly a refugium. If you don't know what a refugium is, do a search and there are dozens of posts about them. They seem to be all the rage right now.

Possibly the coolest new products I have come across so far are in wavemaking/water movement. There are two new types of powerheads that use a propeller rather than an impeller/nozzle. The benefit is that you get a lot of chaotic water movement that isn't as concentrated as a powerhead. The brands are reeftec (I think) and the Tunze stream. They are expensive, but I think they are perfect for a reef tank. I don't feel I need to put as much water flow through the sump/refugium in order to get good water movement in the tank. There is another kind of wavemaker called the wave2k which is a clever idea, but I've read that reliability is still a problem.

It seems to me that a calcium reactor is well worth the investment. You maximize consistency and stability while minimizing upkeep time. I think the Korallin brand looks good to me, but it sounds like there are plenty of good choices.

In skimmers, I've decided on the euroreef cs8-1 or 2 depending on how much room is in the stand. The euroreef sits in the sump and sounds like it is really easy to set up and operate. It's also supposed to be very quiet. The downside appears to be that it uses a proprietary needle impeller that is expensive to replace and it is inevitable that it will need to be replaced. I can live with that.

For lighting, I am going to use 2 250w double ended metal halides. These bulbs offer a slight advantage in output and longevity compared to single ended (mogul) based halides. I still have not decided what brand to buy. Giesemann is the "mercedes" of light fixtures, but they are almost impossible to get and very expensive. Aqua-Medic also appears to have a pretty good product. The one I really want is the Giesemann System 260 moonlight, but it is ridiculously expensive, about $2,000 (gulp) so I don't know what I'm going to do yet. I could get it for less from a european source, but then I would have to get a power adapter to convert it to US voltage, which is a pain.

I plan on getting my liverock from harbor aquatics, I will use mostly "dead" aragonite sand for the tank and the sump and seed it with sand from my current small tank and some stuff from www.IPSF.com. My sump will have about 4-6" of depth and probably just 1 or 2 inches in the tank.

I hope some of this is useful. I think planning a tank is so fun, I may just keep planning and never build it.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Wade,

First of all if I can find enough Southdown at a Home Depot has there been any side effects come up that anyone knows of??

Second of all is the 3-6" for purely looks or does the deeper bed have better effects on N03 reduction???

Third....Should the bed be comprised of dry dead sand and be seeded by the rock or should I put in the bed and seed it specifically with critters independent of the ones that will come from my rock??


Don't know anything about Beckett.......any difference b/w Euroreef or Turbofloater??? Doesn't the Turbo use a needle wheel and if so is that good or bad??


I like the 120 dimensions but actually saw a 220 that REALLY looked good and I just really need to be honest with myself on how big a reef my life right now will allow me to care for properly.


Like I said I will do the hood and stand myself..........my lights will be retro so I was wondering what a good way to go is?? Are the PFO retro kits at Premium Aquatics a good way to go retro??? A friend has them and he says they have not given him any trouble at all and his reef is thriving under them. Any ideas??


Does Gearge Weber still make reactors??? If so how long is the wait?? I think I read somewhere that James Wiseman made a reactor for a hobbiest....James is that you??


Thanks again

 

[Anonymous]

Buff,


I like the 120 a lot myself and it may very be what I end up getting.


Do you think the IPSF critters are necessary to seed the sand bed in addition to the rock you will get??


Are you sure that a deep bed in the sump will be enough to handle your whole tank load?? If so that is a good idea.

I will not spend $2,000 on lights..........on principal alone. I have seen waaaaaaay too many reefs that are as beautiful as I could ever hope for running lights that cost less then half of that.

I will sink that $2,000 into other equipment, rock, corals and fish. JMO

Thanks

 

[King Jason]

Ideal tank size

I am in the mist of setting up a 190 and I love the size. I would go as big as you think you have time for. I would buy a drilled tank with 2 overflows. With at least 1" bulkheads in each overflow. That will keep pipes from hanging all over the place. If you get the back side of the tank drilled you could even create an closed loop and avoid power heads. (Example of this on my site, but my tank wasn't drilled for a closed loop)

Sand bed

My sand bed is about 3-4". I think this is the deepest I would go with because anything deeper looks weird (IMO).

Where to get rock and lights

Rocks: ExoticFish.com (Jeff always has specials)
Lighting: Cheap retro kits from Aquatic Lighting System are decent. I've used them on my 60g reef for a long time and have had great success. www.AquaticLight.com

Good RO Unit

I just got a 100 gpd Typhoon III from www.AirWaterIce.com for $200. It came with TDS meter, and pressure gage. So far it works great.

Quality skimmer

I like my Euroreef. Huge collection cup (don't need to change it that often), and I don't have to tinker with it to get it to work. I don't have experience with any other skimmers so I don't know how easy they are to use.

 

[buff1]

Salty, I think the sand bed in the sump will be sufficient because I will have plenty of live rock and sand in the tank as well. Also, I should point out that the sand be will really be in a segregated refugium that I think should be at least 22"x24". Possibly bigger. I won't know until the stand gets here and I know the exact dimensions I have to work with. The sump will be where I put the skimmer, ca reactor, return pump, heater, etc. They will be connected so that the refugium overflows into the sump. The deep sand bed needs to be about 4" to provide nitrate reduction. Some think that even deeper is better, but 4" seems to be a safe amount. I believe that Nitrate reduction will also occur in a shallower bed, but perhaps not as much. :?: The macroalgae in the refugium should also take care of a decent amount of waste. At any rate, I'm sure I'll have enough surface area for bacteria to grow

I think that IPSF offers a great deal of diversity of life and I have never heard anyone on this board say anything but great things about them. I have no personal experience with them but I like their selection and commitment to natural methods of reef management. I'm sure the live rock will contain a lot of stuff that will populate the refugium, but a little extra won't hurt.

I am really torn about these lights because I told myself I was going top shelf this time, no shortcuts. You are right, however that there are plenty of excellent choices that are much cheaper.

 

[Anonymous]

8)

 

[Derek]

I have had most of the various types of skimmers over the years and settled on a Euroreef F3. The various downdraft and beckett skimmer skimmers skim well, but they make a fair amount of noise. If quiet is important then that would be my choice.

The ultimate(to me) in quiet to me is Euroreef skimmer and Velocity T-4 pumps. I use that on a 175 and all you hear are the fans in the canopy and the gurgle of the overflow.

I know it isn't popular, but I like the looks of 400w 6500K Iwasakis with actinic supplementation. The corals grow like weeds and to me it looks fine. The bulbs on the PFO EYE ballasts are not as yellow as a normal MH ballast. I replaced blueline e-ballasts(not recommended) with the PFO retrofits.


On the overflows, I would agree with the previous post about the overflows. I went with one 1.5", I wish I would have had two 1.5"s installed.

Derek