Equipment??? Pleaseeeeee Help

[Awibrandy]

Ok guys & gals, as some of you may have already read my other thread I am switching tanks. Switching from an old 155 Bow to a new 155RR Bow. This time I would like to do things way better. And I'd like some help with the proper equipment I should have. My very next purchase will be RO/DI.

The tank is a 155 Bow, the current equipment I have are as follow:
Lighting - 3 -se 175watt 10K mh w/ 2 - 6' vho actinic with 4" fans on both ends.
Pumps for return are Rio 3100 submersible, Iwaki 40wrlt inline, both are running through individual scwd.
Phosban reactor.
Heaters
Turbo Multi HO Skimmer/pump aquabee (borrowed from the FOWLR) broke the skimmer to this tank when switching from the 120gl. to the current 155 Bow.:frown
Sump/fuge 27"X13"X13" (1st.section 6" pump to phos reactor & heaters, 2nd.section13" fuge w/dsb,lr rubble, cheato & calurpa, 3rd.section 8" rio3100 return pump, aquabee pump to the skimmer.
Salt - Coralife
2 Part B-Ionic
Master Test Kit by Hagen
2" sand bed

I plan to keep lps, softies, leathers, zoa, shrooms, shrimps, crabs, star fish, snails, lots of fish.
I need suggestions from the Masters as to what equipment is worth getting. Replacing some of what I already have is a given. sump/fuge is to small, skimmer needs to go back to the fowlr.

I Trully & Honestly appreciate all of the advice that you guys can give.

Be blessed,
Awilda

 

[DEEPWATER]

HI Awi

looking good so far ,I would get a better test kit .for those lots of fish make sure you get an over sized skimmer or less fish .They will need to be fed and they will have to poop that will throw off you water parameters if you dont have a big enuff skimmer to take out all the waste .

are you going to use any power heads in the tank for more flow >

Ronen

 

[gnatp2]

I agree, looks to me that the flow might be a problem. I personally hate the scwd. They clog up so quickly and are a hassle. I'd go with a couple sea swirls or some tunze's on a multicontroller.

 

[cali_reef]

The iwaki 40 is more than enough for your return, junk the Rio NOW.. You can use it for water changes or mixing salt, not in a tank.
Better test kits.
Better skimmer..
Two Tunzes for water motion in the tank. or 4 if you go with 6045's.
No heater and chiller?

How much rock do you have in there now?

Wash out your sand well before putting them in the new tank.

 

[Awibrandy]

Thank you much guys. Heaters,I have two in the first compartment of my sump.
Chiller is my AC, kill two birds with one stone. Keeps me cool as well as the tanks.

LR there is over 150 pounds in the tank, not sure of the exact amount cause I added some of my girlfriend's in with the 120lbs. or so that I already had in my old system.

SCWD I've had them for over 3yrs., only one clogged. And I was able to clean it with the small brushes sold for cleaning the tubes for the fw filters.

Do I really have to have pumps in my tank? I don't like the way they look, they make the tanks look un-natural to me, plus they cause problems with the inhabitants.

What skimmers, and size would you guys recommend? Definitely will have lots of small fish to go along with the 4 tangs, 4 chromis, 3 firefish, 2
other damsels, 6 line wrasse, bi-color wrasse, exquisite wrasse that already reside in the tank.

What sump would you recommend? And who would you recommend to build one for me?

What parts, and size of parts am I going to need to pick up from HD or Lowes for plumbing of a RR tank?

Old sand is HD southdown, ditching it and replacing it with something else perhaps esv sand.

OK, am I missing anything?

 

[Awibrandy]

:bump:

 

[Awibrandy]

And so it begings!!

I went looking,and found some of my old equipment. So while I am waiting for equipment, I decided to start cleaning up my lr. My lr has been in my tank, and in my girlfriend's tank for over 4yrs. gotta get rid of some hair algea, and a little cyano thats on a couple of pieces.

Ordering 155RR Bow front.
The plan is to use my old 175 watt se MH with the vho for lighting.
Turboflotor Multi 1000 w/oceanrunner pump.
Iwaki WMD-40-RLT (closed loop) I definitely do not want pumps in my tank.
30gl. sump.
Totally enclosed hood with 4" Icecap fans at both ends?

Going slow.
Stage 1. 37 gl. rubbermaid tub, tap water filter, sea clone skimmer, 150watt heater, cap1800 pump, coralife salt.

Will update as I proceed. If you guys see me doing something wrong please feel free to scream. The louder the better. Chemo brain makes me very prone to mistakes.:lol2:
Thank you all..

 

[fritz]

Did I read this right? Are you seriously using a sea clone skimmer on this tank!!!???

~~SCREAM!~~~~

Get a better skimmer, seriously. It will make everything else so much easier. Huge skimmers (IMO) are like automatic transmissions, do you need them? No, but they make reefkeeping a little more "auto pilot"

On a 155 bow I'd recomend Deltec, H&S, or Euro-reef. They all make skimmers that are very efficient and most importantly quiet. You can put it in your sump this way it's out of sight.

 

[nycmat]

I went looking,and found some of my old equipment. So while I am waiting for equipment, I decided to start cleaning up my lr. My lr has been in my tank, and in my girlfriend's tank for over 4yrs. gotta get rid of some hair algea, and a little cyano thats on a couple of pieces.

Ordering 155RR Bow front.
The plan is to use my old 175 watt se MH with the vho for lighting.
Turboflotor Multi 1000 w/oceanrunner pump.
Iwaki WMD-40-RLT (closed loop) I definitely do not want pumps in my tank.
30gl. sump.
Totally enclosed hood with 4" Icecap fans at both ends?

Going slow.
Stage 1. 37 gl. rubbermaid tub, tap water filter, sea clone skimmer, 150watt heater, cap1800 pump, coralife salt.

Will update as I proceed. If you guys see me doing something wrong please feel free to scream. The louder the better. Chemo brain makes me very prone to mistakes.:lol2:
Thank you all..

please tell me you arent using a tap water filter. i strongly would recommend it if that be the case.

you asked for it

-------scream ----

invest in an ro. its 100$ on ebay.

 

[Awibrandy]

I went looking,and found some of my old equipment. So while I am waiting for equipment, I decided to start cleaning up my lr. My lr has been in my tank, and in my girlfriend's tank for over 4yrs. gotta get rid of some hair algea, and a little cyano thats on a couple of pieces.

Going slow.
Stage 1. 37 gl. rubbermaid tub, tap water filter, sea clone skimmer, 150watt heater, cap1800 pump, coralife salt.


:lol_large :lol_large :lol_large Guys come on.

the sea clone is on the rubbermaid tub for cleaning the lr.
tap water filter is also being used to fill the rubbermaid tub while I wait for the other things including a brand new Typhoone RO/DI as recommended another member.
I'm using my Turboflotor Multi 1000 hang on skimmer powered by the oceanrunner pump on the 155.

But seriously guys thanks for the laugh. I really really needed that one.:grouphug:

 

[fritz]

You're not seriously running a turbofloater skimmer are you?

~~SCREAM!~~~

Honestly maybe they are good, I've only seen them being used at petland and I wasn't impressed. My above post still stands, BIG skimmers take so much of the work out of reefkeeping. It's almost like cheating.

 

[Awibrandy]

Fred, I spent days reading that 124 page thread on skimmers, and from what I saw in the pics my turbo pulls about the same nasty skimmate. I have never seen a turbo at petland by the way. The ones I have seen at petland were something else, they were tall and thin.
Turboflotor multi is rated for upto 250gl., and come with aqubee 2000/1 pumps. NYfireman - Nick suggested I change the pump to the oceanrunner.
I'll get you a pic of mine.

 

[Awibrandy]

Turboflotot Multi 1000 @ 3 days

:hug:

 

[GQ22]

I also dont think the turbo floater is a good skimmer. Anything that is on sale/clearance in the pet solutions/Dr Foster and Smith catalogs is probably outdated.

Skimmer, RO/DI, Tunzes with multicontroller, home made two part are probably the most important components of system. If i had to do all it all over i would spend all my money on these first.

 

[Awibrandy]

Why are you guys knocking the Turboflotor Multi 1000 so much?
It is rated for upto 250gl.,it's cost may not be in the $500 mark, but I don't consider $270 cheap. And it is pulling a great deal of crap out of the tank. That skimmate you see there is a 3 day production, and it is running dry. By the way mine came with the aquabee 2000/1 pump.

GQ, are you saying that anything that is on sale at any given time is outdated, and a piece of junk?

By the way Fritz, I was at the Petland in Valley Stream the other day. They were running a Berlin skimmer, not the turbo.

 

[aaron]

Everyone on this site loves to knock skimmers, as most of them have spent $1000+ on a skimmer and ned to make themselves feel better about their purchase by knocking others.
I also have run a turboflotor on a highly successful tank for a number of years those who recently bought corals from my tank can attest to that.
My only caveat on that statement is that it needs to have the upgraded OR 2500 pump and needle wheel on it. After that has been done it will be fine for a 55 Gal tank.
As far as saying that anything on sale at petland is probably outdated, that is the most rediculous statement i have ever heard, how can you judge the efficiency of a product simply by the store who sells it? I mean its a frikkin clear tube with bubbles in it? how out of date is that? As long as the bubble desity is good how can you say that a skimmer is out of date? out of fashion is probably closer to the point.
sorry about the rant, I'm just sick of people jumping on the skimmer bash band wagon, if it works for you and keeps your tank stable and nutrient poor then its a great skimmer.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

I have a remora that I paid 120 for (I think) and I love it.

 

[Deanos]

Why are you guys knocking the Turboflotor Multi 1000 so much?
It is rated for upto 250gl.,it's cost may not be in the $500 mark, but I don't consider $270 cheap.

The Turboflotor is getting knocked because it has you convinced it can efficiently skim a tank up to 250g. Here's a Reef Central thread where several owners recommend using it on a tank no larger than 100g. Did the $270 include the cost of the better pump that has improved its efficiency?

Even Aaron states a tank size of 55g. You have nearly 3 times that volume.

 

[Deanos]

Everyone on this site loves to knock skimmers, as most of them have spent $1000+ on a skimmer and ned to make themselves feel better about their purchase by knocking others.
I also have run a turboflotor on a highly successful tank for a number of years those who recently bought corals from my tank can attest to that.
My only caveat on that statement is that it needs to have the upgraded OR 2500 pump and needle wheel on it. After that has been done it will be fine for a 55 Gal tank.
As far as saying that anything on sale at petland is probably outdated, that is the most rediculous statement i have ever heard, how can you judge the efficiency of a product simply by the store who sells it? I mean its a frikkin clear tube with bubbles in it? how out of date is that? As long as the bubble desity is good how can you say that a skimmer is out of date? out of fashion is probably closer to the point.
sorry about the rant, I'm just sick of people jumping on the skimmer bash band wagon, if it works for you and keeps your tank stable and nutrient poor then its a great skimmer.

:sigh: The outdated statement was relating to PetSolutions & Drs Foster & Smith, not Petland.

As someone very much into DIY, I'm surprised to hear you believe a skimmer is just a tube with bubbles It's so much more complicated than that.

 

[Awibrandy]

The Turboflotor is getting knocked because it has you convinced it can efficiently skim a tank up to 250g. Here's a Reef Central thread where several owners recommend using it on a tank no larger than 100g. Did the $270 include the cost of the better pump that has improved its efficiency?

Even Aaron states a tank size of 55g. You have nearly 3 times that volume.

I have not been convinced of anything. I'll reed the thread shortly. I purchased mine used, so I only paid $100. The oceanrunner pump I had laying around. I didn't see much of a difference in skimmate when I changed pumps. Has it kept my tank nutrient free? Can't really answer that since I've been using tap water for the past couple of years. I shall see how good or bad the skimmer trully is ones I change over to RO/DI water. I believe it will take upto 6 months for all the junk that is in my lr to leach out from the RC calculator. I'll let you know then Deano.