25 G SPS/clam best equipment

R

raulalonso

New member
Hi,

I used to have a 100g SPS tank, suddenly crashed in one of my trips (chiller failed) so I quit from the hobby.

I am planning to set up a 25 gallons Nano Square base of 50 cms X 59 cms (19.76" X 19.76") Height 40 cms (15.81")

I already have a Remora Skimmer (back pack), I know water movement is important, so I am thinking in one Vortek MP10, I know I do not want o spend a lot of money in lighting, so I am thinking on LED lamp, any suggestion?

In my previous tank Heath transference from the pumps was an issue, but in case the temp gets high I may buy

Aquawind Aquarium Fan from Tunze, but that will be later.
For ATO I am planning an Osmolator 3155 from Tunze

Would recommend a back sump?

What about the return pump?

How much live rock should I put?

Here in Mexico in Guadalajara is not that cold, so I do not need a heather right now. But it gets warm.

Thanks so much in advance for sharing your comments
 
Sorry to hear about your tank crashing.

Did you want to do a sump, or no? It's helpful, but not necessary, and it hides the equipment.

I'm not sure if the remora will be very efficient for that size tank though, but you can find out if you already have the skimmer.

Vortech is a lot of money, but man is it great. LEDs, the Mars Aqua LED sets are very good.
 
ReefWreak yeah it was really bad coming back from that trip and watching and smelling all of my beautiful SPS and other animals either dead or about to. It took a while but I guess I am ready to re engage in the hobby.

To sump or not to sump? Well just for the sake of hiding the equipment probably I will do that.

So the Remora would not work? Mm mm any other that might fit in a back sump? I am planning stage, so I can make the adjustments.

Thanks for the advise !

Anybody would recommend a return pump?
 
I'm a huge fan of Ehiem pumps, I have one that is super quiet. I have the 1262 on my 30 gallon tank, with a 15 gallon sump. I split my return to run other reactors and stuff, and still have mine turned down some. You can look into the 1262, or the 1260.
 
Volcom 698
Thanks!! I certainly like Ehiem pumps too.

Hey which skinner do you have?

Big sump, is that beneath the tank huh?
 
Yea I actually have the tank in my basement and I built a wall and have the sump on the other side. I have a bubble king mini 160 on it. That thing is awesome. I had that on my larger tank when it was running, so I kept it and put it on this tank.
 
The pump on the BK is a red dragon pump

I didn't pay that much for it lol. It was an expensive skimmer that's for sure but not that much.
 
You can always go for Aquamaxx/JNS HOB-01 or WS-01 (internal). If you do decide to go with a sump, there are a lot of options but with HOB, HOB-01 is highly praised.

For lighting, if you want to go with LED and want to keep SPS, Kessil A360we should work nicely. I prefer kessil over many other LEDs in the market due to the fact that kessil doesn't give that disco effect almost all other fixtures are known for.
 
Thanks Mthasan!

I am still thinking on the sump beneath the tank or in the back, one of my concerns is that I may put the aquarium in a place where the back of the aquarium is seen, and also that for redundancy purposes I may have 3 pipes in the overflow, so that might look weird for such small aquarium.

I may go for the sump in the back just because of that.

Now, would anybody comment on whether or not I need two Vortek pumps facing each other in that small aquarium? Or would one be ok for SPS?

Another question is

For a sump in the back, what Skimmer would you recommend?

Thanks to all for your savvy advises
 
raulalonso said:
Thanks Mthasan!

I am still thinking on the sump beneath the tank or in the back, one of my concerns is that I may put the aquarium in a place where the back of the aquarium is seen, and also that for redundancy purposes I may have 3 pipes in the overflow, so that might look weird for such small aquarium.

I may go for the sump in the back just because of that.

Now, would anybody comment on whether or not I need two Vortek pumps facing each other in that small aquarium? Or would one be ok for SPS?

Another question is

For a sump in the back, what Skimmer would you recommend?

Thanks to all for your savvy advises
Click to expand...

An HOB sump/refugium (or any HOB per say) is always a overflow/leak waiting to happen. It is better to go for a sump underneath or no sump. Since you are going SPS, it would be ideal to have a sump (powerful skimmer and more water volume). Colourful pipes going around the tank always looks nice haha but that is just a personal preference.

If you still want to go HOB sump, you can't go wrong with a WS-01 (if the size permits). Do a quick search over here and you will see glowing reviews.

For pumps, I prefer multiple pumps. My 20 gallon non SPS tank has two RW04 which is a little less powerful than a vortec mp10. To me, two pumps at a lower flow is better than one pump at max flow. Makes the wave distribution better.
 
Another question that I have is:

Is LED technology already ready to replace T5s?

I am reading about that and some people say is not, and recommend a hybrid solution with LEDs and T5s

What do you think?

As I said I am planning to have SPS, and a Clam. Some Acans as well

Thanks guys
 
If you are willing to experiment, then you can do LEDs. If you are relatively new to the hobby, and want plug and play, I would not buy LEDs. A nano tank is more forgiving with LEDs though, but on deeper tanks success with LEDs is not guaranteed.
 
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