45 gallon SPS build...

[MFauberReef]

hello everyone. Just starting a thread on the tank i am planning on putting together. I want to start ordering and building my tank asap. So just want to get some opinions and ideas from anyone interested in giving me some! thanks! ill list a few things that i am interested in using. I want to do a SPS tank around 45 gallons with a few fish and so on. I would like to have a really managable tank but something pretty nice.

-looking @ the 45 gallon marineland cube aquarium-tank is only like $160.
stand?? not sure yet

-lights? i would love to go with some type of suspended LED fixture
but cost maybe too much on LED from what ive seen.
so maybe MH or something along those lines?

-skimmer- looking for the absolute best quality hangon back skimmer i can
find for the money- ive looked at deltecs-quite high dollar-so wanna go a step below that...
maybe like a super reef octopus HOB-they have a few that look nice-
*super reef octopus LX1000 S
2000S
or 1000S cone Hang on

* Eshopps PSK-75H OR 100H
OPEN to other suggestions as well, but i do NOT want to use a sump/refugium @ this time...so it must be hang on skimmer...


in tank flow-

*vortec mp40 w/controller
*tunze turbelle 6055 highflow pump
opinions- suggestions

Sooo lets just start there for now. I have lots of other ideas, but thats the main big equipment. So lay on the suggestions or ideas! Anything from tank opinion to the small stuff!
Thanks everyone!

Mike

 

[chrishayes]

First off, my name is Chris and Ive just been down the road youre about to travel. These are awesome tanks in my opinion. Almost perfect but I would rather it be rimless and the build quality/QC could be a bit better(lots of flaws in the way the panes meet and silcone work).

Youre welcome to check out my thread for any ideas you want to steal as ive done the same from others. Now, doing this all intank with no sump I cant quite understand, especially since youre going to have a stand that is more than capable of holding one...but, if thats your bag then cool. If it were me, id not skimp on ANY equipment especially the temperature control. First, I reccomend a quality heater as you will bump it with rocks and your arm so a cheapys glass isnt gonna hold up. If you arent going to be using a controller then id reccomend the eheim/jager as they are built well and the thermo works pretty well(+/-2deg in my experience) not as good as a controller but acceptable and certainly more reliable than any others ive used. Then as far as skimmer...man, I just couldnt do a hang on. The kinda money you have to spend for a GOOD one is just not cost effective for me. Id almost say a hang on refugium with cheato would be a better option for export and if you wanted/needed more you could get a tunze 9002 used to put in the hang on. I used one for 2 years on my 28gal and it performed as well as I would expect for a small skimmer and it was the only one that would actually reliably skim 24/7. I have sold the skimmer and within 2 hours the guy that bought it pm'ed me and said it was already skimmin away!

As far as lighting goes, that is a personal choice not something anyone can tell you what to get. There are tons of MH pendants out there for sale that will work well on our tanks. I ended up with a lumenmax2 using a galaxy select a watt 250hqi ballast and radium se bulb. I have modded it to use two stunner strip led's as the actinic and even added a nice moonlight(see my thread). LED for main lighting is just not proven enough for me to spend that kinda cash and I have the tools/knowledge/skill to diy it and I still couldnt spend my money on it. I dont believe the lasts 10 years thing. Its not proven yet as they havent been used for 10 years yet and a lot of folks complain that they do in fact start to lose their punch after just a few years...take it for what it is and research it well before deciding. Saying that, I wouldve went with a 6 bulb 24" T5 light had it not been for the fact that a 250w radium is really THE perfect reef lighting IMO plus its a proven performance with eons of use. I also got a great deal on the fixture and ballast so it made more sense in my case. T5's are a great option for you though since topoff and heat are gonna be an issue without a sump. Youre gonna end up with an ugly ATO and fans showing without a place to hide them away. T5 and LED are going to produce far less heat than a 250w halide not to mention less $electricity.

Your flow choice sounds like a good one but the mp40 might be a little overkill. I have two mj1200 propellar pumps in my tank now while its cycling and its A LOT of flow. I will be removing one of them and replacing it with my mp10 thats on my holding tank once I trandfer my corals over to the new tank and I believe it will be perfect. Youre gonna blow sand everywhere with a tunze AND a mp40 in there or youre gona have to turn the mp40 down so far that it wont make financial sense over the 10. However, if you plan for a larger tank in the near future then the mp40 IS a better option. Either way, youre gonna want to use a larger grain sand like the carribsea special grade I used or even a little larger as with mine it still blows all over the place. I only used about a 1-1.5" layer because I dont like the look of BB and cant give up the real estate that a DSB needs so I put the DSB in my fuge in the sump. Not sure that itll stay that way though long term. I plan to carbon dose with vodka and MB7 bacteria so the macro algae and DSB will just compete with the bacteria for nutrients. Time will tell though.

Well, I think thats about 1000 words too much so if you need anymore advice/help, just ask ill be happy to shorten my answers or make em longer if needed.

Good Luck!!!!!!

 

[MFauberReef]

Hello Chris.
Thanks for your reply man. Lots of good info. I need as much as possible starting this tank because I want it to be as perfect as possible. I'll just start by replying to all of your suggestions/comments. I will say some of the reasons I was think of skimping on a sump with in sump skimmer and refugium are because I'm in an a condo that I don't plain on staying in but for but so long...so I just figured a hang on would be less to worry about. Also was thinking that with a sump and all that plumbing with an over flow and drilled tank that theres a lot better chance of an overflow or leak. Which I would hate to have to deal with in a condo. ( only renting )
So I am open to a sump and all. Would deff be cheaper your right. And Didn't think about temp problems or top off issues. So I will deff re consider there.
As for the marine land 45 cube. You said there are issues with seams and silicone. And I would also prefer a seamless tank. I love the look of them. But they are pricey and I would have though more of a chance of seam issues with a. Seamless tank. So I'm open still on tank selection.

On to lighting...I had considered led but, as you said. Quality of brightness for your main lights may not be there. So I probably will go with something like a hqi fixture with mh or something along those lines. Or maybe t5's all thou I don't think that would be enough light for the sps tank.

As far as flow I've done some more reading and you are right mp40 is overkill. May do the mp10 or small tunze. Or something like that. I had thought about sand being an issue with flow as well. I had looked at that carribsea black sand but, that maybe to fine of a sand. So I'm open there too.

Where you are talking about carbon dosing with vodka and mb7 you kind of lost me lol...not sure exactly what you mean by that. Sorry just unformiliar with this.

So I'm still open to your suggestions and anyone else's as far as my set up goes. I appreciate all of your good info Chris and would love to hear more.

Im trying to research and view different systems like this with sumps and insump skimmers to find an easy up keep leak free way of doing this. I'd much rather have a sump. Just can't deal with an overflow here!

Thanks ,Mike

 

[chrishayes]

Read my build thread. The plumbing system I used is call the beananimal failsafe overflow. Google it.
I can say with confidence that there would have to be some kinda ninja birdman juju happen for my tank to flood! lol I assure you, it was at the top of my priority list after gut remodeling an entire house and the tank sitting on premium indian slate that i slaved installing. I own my home, but no one WANTS a flood.

I think you should kick back with a pot of coffee a for a week or more and really read through some of the build threads and stickies at the top of each subforum to get familiar with the hobby a bit more before you plunge yourself into this. It seems youre quite new to the game and could use some edjemacatin! Hell we all do, thats why were here! As you get familiar with the basics youll have lots more questions and the answers will make more sense. Im happy to help ya out as im sure the others are to but setting up a sps tank successfully and maintaining it successfully takes a whole lot more than money and time! Its a bit harder than it looks, promise.

Oh and T5's are MORE than bright enough for any sps tank too. Again, read through several full build threads where you actually get to see what goes into deciding what equipment to buy, then how to set that equipment up, pros and cons of that equipment and the results that come from knowing how to ue it properly. It will do you a world of good.