Reefs.com - Saltwater Aquarium - Reef Aquarium

220gal 4' Square Rimless tank setup

Pseudo

Pseudo

OG Member
Location
New York
Rating - 100%
185   0   0
I vote for a Reeflo 250 needlewheel Dart skimmer. It's going to be my skimmer of choice for my next tank.

For the lighting if you are doing pendnts go for Sfligoi pendants (check under AO's board on RC for some good deals on pendants almost half off). If doing a hood, go with 2 mini luminarc's with VHO lighting (not T-5). Best bang for the buck.

Circulation could be a closed loop with at least 2 Wavysea's or Seaswirls for alternating top flow.

Controller could be a Reefkeeper2 for simplicity or an ACIII for some extra features and security.

Cal Reactor, my vote would be a GEO 8x18.

2x 55g drum for top-off water and the other for water changes.

PM reactor units for gac and gfo

Is there anything I missed ?

Kasei
 
Dace

Dace

Advanced Reefer
Location
Manhattan
Rating - 99.7%
393   1   0
so Jon, you think your going with the Bk 250 instead, maybe huedrob should go with the Bk200 instead being that his total water volume will be about 250 and it's rated for 400gal
jhale said:
regarding the bubble king, I had a long conversation with Nick about them.
I was thinking of getting a BK400 for my system, he told me, no way, it will strip your
system in a day. He told me unlike many skimmers the ratings that are put on them by the company are actually conservative. The numbers given are minimums, not best case scenarios. So if the 250 says it will skim up to a 500 gallon tank, then that's what it will skim. the deluxe 250 is a serious piece of equipment. I'm looking at it to do what I wanted the bubble master 250 to do for me. The BM250 was a good skimmer, but it was just too touchy. I see a whole lot of them for sale, but it's pretty rare to see a BK for sale. I think that says something. I see so many people buying skimmers, and experimenting with new ones that come out, including me. I want my next skimmer to be the last one I will buy for a long time. I want it to outperform my expectations, I feed my tank quite a bit. I want my fish and my coral to be happy, not just one or the other. After speaking with Nick I'm convinced the bubble king will do this for me. Using only 45 watts is a huge bonus as well. There may be becket skimmers that could kick it's butt, but at more than 3 times the electrical use that's not for me.
getting of the BK soap box. :)
Click to expand...
 
Dace

Dace

Advanced Reefer
Location
Manhattan
Rating - 99.7%
393   1   0
Thanks Kasei, I'm relating all this info to him..
Pseudo said:
I vote for a Reeflo 250 needlewheel Dart skimmer. It's going to be my skimmer of choice for my next tank.

For the lighting if you are doing pendnts go for Sfligoi pendants (check under AO's board on RC for some good deals on pendants almost half off). If doing a hood, go with 2 mini luminarc's with VHO lighting (not T-5). Best bang for the buck.

Circulation could be a closed loop with at least 2 Wavysea's or Seaswirls for alternating top flow.

Controller could be a Reefkeeper2 for simplicity or an ACIII for some extra features and security.

Cal Reactor, my vote would be a GEO 8x18.

2x 55g drum for top-off water and the other for water changes.

PM reactor units for gac and gfo

Is there anything I missed ?

Kasei
Click to expand...
 
cali_reef

cali_reef

Fish and Coral Killer
Location
On the waste coast, again.
Rating - 97.3%
36   1   0
jhale said:
regarding the bubble king, I had a long conversation with Nick about them.
I was thinking of getting a BK400 for my system, he told me, no way, it will strip your
system in a day.
Click to expand...

Which Nick??

No way any skimmer can "strip" your system in one day, provided you have fish and feed them :rolleyes:.

My BK300ext can't keep up with my 300g fish only system.
 
cali_reef

cali_reef

Fish and Coral Killer
Location
On the waste coast, again.
Rating - 97.3%
36   1   0
lighting a 4x4 SPS tank with a single bulb is possible, provided you use a 1000w bulb and have the pendent 2 feet above the tank :lol2:. Not too practical for most people.

Two 4 foot light fixtures will be expensive to buy and run, you sure he does not want to rethink a 3x3 tank? I light my cube tank with only a single 250W MH and two 24W T5 actinics, saves a lot of electricity.

Where is he getting the tank from?
 
cali_reef

cali_reef

Fish and Coral Killer
Location
On the waste coast, again.
Rating - 97.3%
36   1   0
Daceman89 said:
also, why are the externals so much more expensive then the internal. is it that the pump is more expensive
Click to expand...

They use similar motors, external have more plumbing parts and uses more labor to built.

Either is over priced IMO, the only good thing is they didn't raise the price much since the dollar's falling value, better get them before the prices go up again.
 
Dace

Dace

Advanced Reefer
Location
Manhattan
Rating - 99.7%
393   1   0
Hi cali, the tank will be from Aquarium obsessed
cali_reef said:
lighting a 4x4 SPS tank with a single bulb is possible, provided you use a 1000w bulb and have the pendent 2 feet above the tank :lol2:. Not too practical for most people.

Two 4 foot light fixtures will be expensive to buy and run, you sure he does not want to rethink a 3x3 tank? I light my cube tank with only a single 250W MH and two 24W T5 actinics, saves a lot of electricity.

Where is he getting the tank from?
Click to expand...
 
jhale

jhale

ReefsMagazine!
Location
G.V NYC
Rating - 100%
52   0   0
okay , maybe not in a day would the bk400 strip a 120, but it would not have much to do after a week.

and comparing your bio-load in the 300G is not fair, I feed a lot, but compared to what you feed it's like nothing :D
 
N

nyfireman3097

Senior Member
Location
Staten Island New York
Rating - 100%
12   0   0
Hey guys ;)

Cali Im the Nick Jon is talking about. I know alot of the people that have owned BK's from the begining and I was one of them. If you buy one too big for your system it will not work properly in the aspect of there wont be anything to pull out. Now let me explain that before people do not understand. BK's owners first bought them with the old skimmer rules "If it says up to 200g then that means 100g's". Well it worked and worked great but then within a few months were getting hardly any skimmate. ANd that was because the skimmer took out the majority of the skimmate avail. and to keep up with the output of the inhabitants didnt take much. I know I was one of them. Also I had a 250INT on my 120 w/ 20+ fish in my tank PO4 was .02 and no skimmate production besides whaqt stuck to the neck of the skimmer. NO WATERCHANGES either. (B4 my dialyseas). It was just too big. Your 300int should be working better then you say. I dont know since I never seen it and I dont question your words since you are a very seasoned reefer I'll take your word for it. Maybe clean the pump check the NW ect....... Ive seen 4 BK 300's working on some very big tanks w/ heavy bioloads and I was amazed. The one thing about the BK's also what I told Jon is that it is a VERY VERY hard skimmer to get the sweetspot on. BUT once done its set it and forget it.
 
boozeman

boozeman

Junior Member
Location
queens
Rating - 100%
12   0   0
before you go ahead with getting a rimless tank from AO, please go to Greenwich aquaria and speak with the owner about the ones there and how he feels about them
 
Dace

Dace

Advanced Reefer
Location
Manhattan
Rating - 99.7%
393   1   0
jhale

jhale

ReefsMagazine!
Location
G.V NYC
Rating - 100%
52   0   0
other than seeing wrasses leaping out of the tanks in front of me I don't have anything negative to say about the rimless show tanks at GA. they look well constructed.

I have also seen tanks made by miracles and they look very well constructed.

Splitting tanks are no good, so I guess I would have to go with the company with less tanks leaking.

I might mention also that Elos makes custom tanks. You might want to contact Jesse and get a quote from him. Take a look in the Elos forum on RC, the tanks they make look impeccable and they have some pretty unique overflows they have come up with.
The cost will be more, but if you want the best then it should not matter.
 
Dace

Dace

Advanced Reefer
Location
Manhattan
Rating - 99.7%
393   1   0
I think the Elos tanks are beautiful, but the cost will definately be too much for Rob.
jhale said:
other than seeing wrasses leaping out of the tanks in front of me I don't have anything negative to say about the rimless show tanks at GA. they look well constructed.

I have also seen tanks made by miracles and they look very well constructed.

Splitting tanks are no good, so I guess I would have to go with the company with less tanks leaking.

I might mention also that Elos makes custom tanks. You might want to contact Jesse and get a quote from him. Take a look in the Elos forum on RC, the tanks they make look impeccable and they have some pretty unique overflows they have come up with.
The cost will be more, but if you want the best then it should not matter.
Click to expand...
 
cali_reef

cali_reef

Fish and Coral Killer
Location
On the waste coast, again.
Rating - 97.3%
36   1   0
Nick,

You told me you didn't like your BK when I was at your house and the pump died on you, you wanted to get another Euroreef, you said it was better and your reef look much better when you had one:D.

I had my BK for a few years now, I am pretty sure I have it tuned pretty well from day one. The BK is an over-hyped and over priced skimmer, we don't have many good needle wheel skimmer to choose from but the German imports are just way over-priced for the average hobbyist. Most people I see buy these hi-end equipment defend the price paid, and sell them quietly when they don't work as well as they had envisioned. Not too many people will admit the BK don't work that much better, at least not in the extra price you have to pay for one.

BTW, I have a BK300, a Deltec 701, a H&S A250, and a BM250. I think I have tried just about all the German needle wheel skimmer brands. BK is not the best performing one I've used.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Sponsor Reefs

We're a FREE website, and we exist because of hobbyists like YOU who help us run this community.

Click here to sponsor $10:


Top