Well I don't have 19 systems... but here goes...
We have a 940-gallon fish-only system. Composed of 12 x 20 (240 gal)long and 8 x 75 (600 g) with sump, which probably contains 100g. We have a locally made skimmer, 60" dual down-draft, Rainbow-Lifegard mechanical/chemical, large bio-tower, dual 40 w Lifegard UV modules. Not a lot of UV but it's what we lucked into when my old employer went out of business. I forget what size of pump is on this but it's big
I'd like a bit more flow, but it works. This is our fish for sale display. We have had occasion to medicate this system and have had good results.
Then we have 3 x 110 (90" x 24" x 12") coral & invert display tanks, on a sump/refugium which contains probably 60-75 gallons. Another locally made skimmer, 60' dual downdraft. I think there's a Dolphin 5400 on this. We have a 40-watt UV and a mechanical module on this one. This is our most stable system (knock on wood). Of course it is never medicated. We do put a few fish in this system, but there are probably never more than 12 or so fish in the whole system. There is live rock in the sump, and caulerpa/mangroves and the sump is lit 24/7 by a 175 watt MH pendant. On the coral tanks we have 1) 4 x 400 W, 2) 3 x 250 w and 3) 3 x 175 w all metal halide. No actinics, we run blue blubs (10-14K)
In the back we have a quarantine system, made of laundry sink tubs, we reduced it from 6 tubs to 3, as we don't have nearly as much illness/disease as we did before we changed suppliers... it's 3 tubs (~20 g each), with 75 g sump, bio tower. No skimmer, since if we're medicating the skimmer would have to be off anyway... since the system is small we just drop carbon, adsorption resins in the sump as needed, and the system can be stripped quite easily.
We used to quarantine all new fish, but found the stress of moving them from system to system caused more problems than it fixed. Now a visual inspection is done on each fish on arrival. If it looks less than healthy, it's placed in quarantine for assessment/treatment. If not, it goes into the main display. My supply chain does a good job of treating/handling/packing so problems are very rare these days. If a fish becomes ill or injured while in our care, we remove it to quarantine. I also date each price card with the specimen's arrival date, so customers can make an informed choice, given the length of time a fish has been in our care. I encourage quarantine by hobbyists but precious few practice it.
Then we have the live rock curing system, 2 rubbermaid stock tanks, with another downdraft, this time it's a single downdraft, (like the ETSS 1000), and we've got a Gen-X pump on that, I think it's good for about 2000 gph, I forget...
We have a 1000 gallon FOWLR display in-progress, this is a single "for show" tank, not a "for sale" system. It has a 150 g Rubbermaid stock tank for a sump, with high-tech modifications :lol: A modified salt bucket holds carbon, filter pads where the overflow water spills into the sump, providing our mechanical/chemical, then we've got an ETSS 1000 protein skimmer, some live rock, PC lights over the LR in the sump. This tank is still newly set-up so things will probably be tweaked as we go, but it's currently housing some gigantic fish, all of which were "donations"... they either came with the tank, or were given to us by folks who had them outgrow their tanks
I have a little AGA 20 XHigh with an Eclipse for seahorses - I don't stock them but when somebody wants some and their tank is ready for them, I can tank them on their own until they are picked up.
We also have a 120 gallon display ("my" tank...), AGA reef ready with a Biorocker.
If you are plumbing central systems, don't skimp on unions and gate valves. Make it easy to shut off and/or remove an individual tank. We can do this with all the tanks on the systems - makes it easy to isolate or exchange a tank or tanks if you need to. Auto top-off is a a real time saver - but you have to watch your salinity. We have auto topoff on all the big systems. We just have to keep an eye on salinity when it's busy
Hope this helps...
Jenn
