A couple of questions about my tank plans...

BloatedSwimBladder

BloatedSwimBladder

Member
Hi all,
I have been out of reef keeping since my wife and I had a baby (about 5 years ago). Prior to that, I have about 10 years' experience. Well, my little girl has seen the tanks in the basement and now wants to set up a "œbig" tank.
So I am planning my build. I have a 75gal RR tank, in-wall, and a 55 g sump. The tank will mostly be fish, with a few soft corals. The princess is much more interested in the colorful fish. I expect that I will have a pretty heavy bio-load since my 4 year old doesn't want to understand that she can't have 10 tangs in a 75g tank and my ability to tell her no is very suspect! :o

I have been researching what is new in reefkeeping and currently have two major areas where I need help.
1. It seems that power-heads have come a long way!!! I am looking at the Jebao RW's and was thinking two of these would be great for a 75g. However, I am not sure whether I should get 2 x RW-8's or RW-4's. Any recommendations or suggestions for other products?
2. I am finding that there seems to be a lot of discussion about reactors with GFO, Phosban, etc. Can anyone suggest one or additives that may help me keep a clean tank? I expect to do weekly water changes (10%) to take care of most of the nitrate and possible phosphate issues, so do I need any reactors?
Thanks for any help or suggestions that you can make. I am researching a few other things, so any other suggestions you have are welcome.
BSB
 
1. I would do the RW 8s. They are adjustable, so I'm guessing about 50% or less should work.

2. When I come across phosphates issues, I run my GFO reactor (Two Little Fishes). I run about half of the recommended dosage starting out and add more if necessary.
 
You could check out an ATS instead of using GFO. It's a more natural way to do the same thing. There are a lot of different power head options out there. Just out of interest you should check out the Eco Tech MPs and the Maxspect Gyre. Not saying you should or shouldn't get them. running carbon in a reactor will also help keep your water clean.

Welcome back and have fun
 
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BloatedSwimBladder said:
I expect that I will have a pretty heavy bio-load since my 4 year old doesn't want to understand that she can't have 10 tangs in a 75g tank and my ability to tell her no is very suspect! :o
Click to expand...

I found it hard to tell my son a 1' long puffer is too big for a 55 or 75.
A good way to do it might be to download pictures of fish that are appropriate for the tank size, come up with a fairly accurate number of those fish (that can be housed in your tank size) and let her look at the pictures and pick out that number of fish. Make a game of it where the object is to pick exactly that many fish. Can't hurt to not include any fish that will kill each other. ;-)
 
Yes, I will enjoy "helping" her pick her new fish. It won't be too hard to limit her, basically all she seems to want is purple fish. So I will find smaller fish that she can have a few different fish. I am actually looking forward to our "negotiations". :cool:
 
I don't think you'll have any issues with Nitrates/Phosphates for the first 6 months to 1 year. If you're planning to integrate them into your plumbing (manifold) you can do that, but I wouldn't run them unless you start seeing an issue.
 
SFish said:
You could check out an ATS instead of using GFO. It's a more natural way to do the same thing. There are a lot of different power head options out there. Just out of interest you should check out the Eco Tech MPs and the Maxspect Gyre. Not saying you should or shouldn't get them. running carbon in a reactor will also help keep your water clean.

Welcome back and have fun
Click to expand...

Thanks for your remarks about the other powerhead options. I really like the Gyre, but just don't know if 1 would be enough for a tank. Also, I would be concerned about a single unit in case it fails.

I will look into some of the others as well.
Thanks.
 
I have a 75 gallon as well and from what I've been told one Gyre would be more then enough. Tons of people have said they only run them at 50% or under. Anyway my point was just to show you where the edge of power head technology is. I'm sure what you picked is fine if that's what you like. For me I hate the look of ball size pumps / power heads in the tank. I want as much stuff out of the DT as I can get. If I can put a pump in that takes up less room in the DT then I'm all over that.
 
SFish said:
I have a 75 gallon as well and from what I've been told one Gyre would be more then enough. Tons of people have said they only run them at 50% or under. Anyway my point was just to show you where the edge of power head technology is. I'm sure what you picked is fine if that's what you like. For me I hate the look of ball size pumps / power heads in the tank. I want as much stuff out of the DT as I can get. If I can put a pump in that takes up less room in the DT then I'm all over that.
Click to expand...

I really like the look of the Gyre, but am concerned if there is only one pump, and it breaks, I am screwed! But actually, I have some old powerheads, so i guess I would have back up in an emergency......

I need to do some more reading.......

That is why I have always loved this forum...as soon as you decide what you want, someone shows you something better that costs a lot more! :headwalls: :lol2:
 
Hey man, i'm also thinking about getting a gyre for my 150 gallon, let me know if you find any good info!
Good luck, and happy reefing! 😊

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
 
It seems like a lot of people are complaining about the longevity of the gyre. Saying they break a lot and stuff. 😕
And that the 130 is not as powerful as people say and that people with longer tanks should go with the 150.
Hmm..

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
 
I really like the RW-8 and RW-4 I have, they are great pumps. BTW the new model is PP8, although it looks about the same as the RW8.
 
BloatedSwimBladder said:
Did you end up buying the Gyre? Are you running 1 or 2?
I really like the idea, but if I need two, I am going to stay with the RWs. I know this is an expensive hobby, but I can't see spend almost $500 just for power Heads! :bigeyes:
Click to expand...

Yes but my system is not up and running right now
 
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