500 Gallon Reef - Suggestions? I want everyone's opinion

[oxx155]

Hello Everyone! Thank you in advance. I hope this thread can help people in the future plan their own large reef tank.
I have a 125 Gallon Reef (72"X18"X24") and a 240 Gallon Fish-Only (48"X48"X24") for about 2 years and everything is going great. But, I have decided to take the step to a large reef tank.
I have recently sold off both tanks and almost all the equipment.
This gives me the opportunity to start everything from fresh.
I am purchasing a 500 Gallon Acrylic Tank (120"X36"X24").
What I would like opinions are the equipment that should be used with the tank to get the best results from both Hard Corals, Soft Corals, and Fish.
Lighting - Should I go with 250 watt halides? How many? What kind of actinics should I have? Moonlights? What light schedule? (I am thinking about four 250 watt halides, one for each two feet)(then blue actinics the entire length on front and back, halides in the middle, I am also thinking about not lighting the back 8" of the tank to discourage algae growth)
Refugium - Should I have one? How deep sand? Lighting? How Big? (I have a refugium now and like them, I am still confused though as to make the best of them, use them to their full potential)
Sump - How Big? What type of filtration? (I really like the idea of a sump after the refugium to keep sand out of the equipment at the end and to cause the least stress to anything in the refugium)
Pumps - Best Value? Best Flow? Wavemaking? Closed Loop? (I believe with about 620 gallons in the full system I need about 12,500 gallons per hour of flow, how do I accomplish this)
Heating/Cooling - Heaters? Chillers? Fans? Best temp. range for tank? (I currently have three 200 watt heaters and one 1/4 hp chiller, I am thinking about upgrading to three 300 watt heaters and a DIY chiller made out of a fridge and temp. controller)
What else am I missing?
Please give me all your opinions.
Thank You

 

[GMFett]

You might get better responses after doing some research and laying down a general plan. It's much easier to critique rather than designing from scratch.

Here are some suggestions:


Lights: 400 watt Halides in Lumenarc III Reflectors with atleast 4 6' VHOs. You might also look at T5's. You can get away with 250's if you are worried about electricity bills.

Fuge: Certainly have one. I'd say atleast 50 gallons. Any flourescents will work.

Sump: Probably about 150 gallons. I'd obviously go with a recirculating protein skimmer- Deltec, H&S and Bubble King are good for this size system. You will also want to consider reactors for Phosphate removal media and Activated Carbon.

Pumps: Sequence makes a great pump. Also look at Darts. You will definitely want a closed loop. Tunze makes a good wave box. They also make good powerheads called Tunze Streams- either the 6100 or the 6200.

Heating/Cooling: Depends on your climate. With those halides you will need a chiller- probably about 1 HP. Try pacific coast imports. Fans will help with evaporative cooling if they blow in the water's surface. Ideally your tank will be about 77- IMO.

You'll need to consider many more items such as a calcium rector to regulate your pH and give you the ability to keep SPS. Also consider what additive you will be adding.

HTH

Marcus

 

[jma1978]

Wow, your tank is the exact same size as the one I'm designing. It just so happens that I received the lights for my tank today and was playing with them. I'm going to use three 250W double ended with LumenMax 3 reflectors. Here's a picture of the three of them pointing at my wall. They are 30" away from the wall, which would mean the fixtures are 6" above the water (for a 24" deep tank). I drew in a rectangle that represents the bottom of the tank (10ft X 3ft).

I also tried three different bulbs, and have two more coming (cheapos from Ebay). Right now, I'm pretty sold on the Phoenix 14K's. They produce a nice blue color. It's not as intense as the ReefShops 14K, but the reefshops looks quite yellow when placed over my current tank.

These pictures were taken in the middle of the day with full daylight in my house. It kinda gives you a little perspective on how bright the 250s are (the surrounding area looks pitch black)...

I thought about doing a fourth light, but as you can see, I already have a very even spread of light, and another 250 would add $220 to my electric bill annually (with a 12 hour light cycle). I just couldn't see the point in it.

 

[oxx155]

Here were my ideas.

Lighting - Four 250 Watt Halides (not sure which type yet) spread evenly every 2 feet. But, with what JMA1978 said I might just look into three. VHO's are the tricky part, I have only ever had just halides and actinics over my tank and everything seemed pretty good (good coral growth with both soft and hard corals), but I am not sure colors were as bright as they could be. Would a mix of white and actinic VHO's help the corals? Probably a 10 hour light schedule.

Refugium - I am pretty sure I am going to have a 65 Gallon Refugium. Probably 6-8 inch depth. Probably have either PC's or VHO's over it on a reverse light schedule.

Sump - I might be stuck with as large as a 65 Gallon Sump. I wish I could go larger, but most of my budget is on the main tank. Does anyone see an issue with this?

Pumps - I already have two Tunze 6000's on a multi-timer. I also have two Iwaki 55RLT's. I want to get two more Tunze 6000's and two Iwaki 100RLT's. I also want to get three 1" Sea Swirls. I believe this should produce close to the amount of water movement I want, but various other pumps or powerheads may be needed. Now I have never attempted a Close Loop system and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on that?

Heating/Cooling - I live in Oregon in the Willamette Valley and it can get cold and hot. So, I was thinking about going with a dual stage controller, three 300 watt heaters, and a DIY chiller made out of a half-size fridge (run flexible hose in a circular pattern down through the fridge, the temp controller would turn on a powerhead that would run the water through the hose). I really don't like the idea of fans because I don't want to promote evaporation.

Reactor's - I currently use Calcium supplement blocks and they seem to be doing well because everything is growing. But, would a reactor do better and what kind of upkeep is involved? Are phosban reactors all their really cracked up to be? Is Ozone a good idea?

Sterilizer - I currently run a U.V. Sterilizer and find it helps with reducing algae, but am I losing other things I don't know?

RO/DI - I currently have a 5 stage unit that is connected to an Auto-Top Off system (to be named later, I can't remember right now). I only use Instant Ocean salt for my tanks, its the only salt I have found so far that doesn't cause any side effects. I don't do water changes often, but want to get into a better schedule. For this new tank I was thinking about 60 or so gallons every other week.

Protein Skimmer - I currently have a couple of Kent Marine skimmers running on my tanks, but obviously realize I will have to bigger and better. My question is though - can I build my own counter current skimmer that would work well? Does anyone have any instructions on how to build such a thing?

I wish I had more money to do everything the best I could, but unfortunately 99% of reefers are on a budget and that is what these discussions are for.
I appreciate all the current and future responses I am getting. Thanks to all
Keep em coming!

 

[GMFett]

On the sump- 65 gallons may not be large enough to handle the flow off the tank when the pump goes off. Try getting a rubber maid container from a tractor supply store.

 

[nyvp]

120" will need 4 lights in Lum III's I have a 120x36x30 tank here is a pix. dart 4200 on return dart closed loop and 2 6100 tune for a 22x turnover. 240 sump with spazz skimmer. 3 side viewable. I started with 250w 14k and now using 400w 20k radiums

 

[Absolute Reef]

in one year, this will turn into another TOTM !!

 

[oxx155]

Try getting a rubber maid container from a tractor supply store.

Great Idea! I have one down the road, I will have to check that out. I will probably still stick with the 65 Gallon I have as a fuge.

Compare - Are the Calcium replacement blocks you can get compare at all to calcium reactors. I have never had a reactor and have used the calcium blocks for a while with (I believe) good success.
Also - Are there any other reactors I should be looking into? (phosban, etc.)

I am moving out the old tanks in August and the new tank will arrive in September. Have to reconfigure the room first. Will definitely have some pics coming in the future.

I am thinking I will probably go with four 250 watt 14k halides, 96" of VHO or PC on either side of the halides, and about 8 moonlights evenly spread over the tank.

Which brings up another debate - I read about VHO vs. PC in the past, but is there any new news? And for this length I assume VHO would easier to get and not as expensive? But, obviously as you sacrifice money you sacrifice quality.

Nice tank nyvp, hopefully will my tank will one day be as impressive. I have a ways to go.

 

[oxx155]

Here is a possible fish/invert list for my future tank.
Sailfin Blenny
4 - Kaudern's Cardinals
4 - Spotted Cardinals
12 - Reef Chromis
2 - Oscellaris Clownfish
2 - Tomato Clownfish
2 - Scooter Blennies
Green Mandarin
Spotted Mandarin
2 - Sand Sifting Gobies (although I have had a problem in the past with them digging out the sand around a coral and it tumbling over, LOL)
4 - Small Gobies (fish cleaners)
Blue Tang
Yellow Tang
Desjardini Sailfin Tang
Purple Tang
Naso Tang
(I know "Tang Police", but I love them and currently house a Purple Tang, Sailfin Tang, and Kole Yellow Eye Tang in the same 125)
Six Line Wrasse
Copperband Butterfly
Yellow Longnose Butterfly

Rose Tip Bulb Anenome
Sebae Anenome
50 - Scarlet Hermits
100 - Dwarf Red Tip Hermits
4 - Emerald Crabs
4 - Sand Sifting Sea Stars
2 - Bristle Stars
Linkia Blue Sea Star
4 - Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
Banded Coral Shrimp
4 - Peppermint Shrimp
15 - Turbo Snails
100 Cerith Snails
50 Nassarius Snails
4 - Fighting Conch
Derasa Clam
Maxima Clam
Crocea Clam

Some of this will go in the Fuge, but the bulk will go in the main tank over time (less agressive fish/corals first and moving down the line)

I am going with
2 - Iwaki 100RLT
2 - Iwaki 55RLT
4 - Tunze 6000 on multitimer
5 Stage RO/DI with Auto Top Off system
36 Watt U.V. Sterilizer
3 - 300 Watt Heaters
DIY fridge chiller running on Dual Temp Controller and powerhead
I don't know about the Protein Skimmer yet or any other equipment.

More advice is definitely appreciated.

Thanks

 

[bbehring]

Here's a thread that I followed for some time on a 600 gallon acrylic build. This tank, plumbing, filtration, lighting etc were awsome! Check it out when you some time. They guy even shot video from time to time of his tank and livestock!

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1022748

 

[GMFett]

I'd go with VHO's over PC's. You're gonna like those more as actinics. With the depth of your tank 250's should be fine. Just don't keep high light specimins in the bottom section of the tank. Easy fix!

 

[oxx155]

Thanks for the link bbehring, I have been trying to read up on all the threads that have tanks anywhere near my size to get ideas on equipment, waterflow, and stocking.
I have a feeling it will also be easier to get VHO's than PC's for the lengths I need.
I am already looking into ordering 250's. I think I am going to go with PFO Dual Ballasts running four 250w 14k MQI's. I will also probably go with four VHO Actinics (what wattage would be good though?) and 2 VHO 50/50's. I am also going to get 10 moonlights for night time (I found great success with coral growth when running night lights for an hour after main lights and an hour before main lights came on).
My lighting schedule
Moon Lights on - 9:00a.m. (Moon Lights off at 10:00a.m.)
VHO's on - 10:00a.m.
MH's on - 11:00a.m.
MH's off - 9:00p.m.
VHO's off - 10:00p.m. (Moon Lights on)
Moon Lights off - 11:00p.m.
I might extend Moon Light times a little, but I will run tests first.

I am thinking about keeping my Kent Marine EX 30" for my protein skimmer for this tank. Any thoughts?
Would a 36 Watt U.V. Sterilizer do any good?

Thanks

 

[oxx155]

I just purchased a Lifegard Fluidized Bed Filter and two more Tunze pumps to make a total of 4.
Does anyone have any thoughts of making a DIY chiller with a fridge, flexible hose, Iwaki Pump, and Temp Controller?
I have also decided to go with a Sequence instead of one of the Iwaki 100RLT's.
I am making my own 180 Gallon Sump (72"X24"X24").
The refuguim will be 65 Gallon glass tank.

Thanks for everyones help so far!