Dabbling in getting reading a second attempt

[Mikegray]

I had a 125g reef. Hmm let's see maybe 10 years ago with metal halided. Custom sump euro reef skimmer. It was a nice set expensive. But I still struggled with the algea free tank even with rodi unit. But enough of that.

Now that I have my own house I still watch YouTube and read forums on tanks. Because when they are developed and clean they look amazing. I'm hesitant because of the brand new hardwood flooring throughout my house. I dont want those to get messed up so I'm second guessing a sump or leaking anything.

I have my eyes on the waterbox 100.3 +plus that comes with lighting. Vectra s1 or m2 return. 2 mp10s for flow within display. I really really really hate the idea of having the nice glass and the powerheads on the sides and kind of ruining the sleek look of these tanks. So I'd love to put them on the back facing forward. But not sure if that's appropriate. Skimmer choice I have no idea. I know waterbox used the quantum on their 100.3. Not sure if that's a great idea by all you reefers. Also I'm wondering if the no fudge sump is totally a bad idea and I should scrap my idea all together. This is not something I'm looking to buy tomorrow as I need the built in white bookshelving and stuff done first. I guess I'm posting for ideas or opinions or maybe even confidence to pull the trigger haha.

Anyways to everyone on here. Thanks for the great reading and photos of motivation of some pretty awesome displays that look just when I go to the Monterey bay aquarium.

 

[mcgyvr]

Yes you can put powerheads on the back of a tank.. but realize that a lot of the directed flow will just hit the front pane of glass and be attenuated..
The sides (lengthwise) is better as the flow travels further before being potentially redirected.. Its really all about the flows ability to keep detritus,etc... in suspension, reducing dead spots and providing sufficient flow over the surfaces of corals to keep algae off them,etc...

Nyos(Quantum) skimmers are good from what I've heard.. But nearly all other skimmers sized for the tank will do the same/similar job.. None are really leaps/bounds better than another..

And yes.. Not putting "fudge" in your sump is a good idea

 

[Mikegray]

ahah Fudge. my fault. ok so all skimmers will do the job.... the MP. on the sides out in the open with the chords are going to kill me Visually.. darn it. im not liking that idea. especially with a rimless clean look!

not fudge. lol but fuge.. is it ok it doesnt have a fuge or should i change my mind on the 100.3

 

[mcgyvr]

A fuge is not required to have a successful tank/experience..
Its optional..(and so is a skimmer and sump btw)

 

[homer1475]

A fuge is not required to have a successful tank/experience..
Its optional..(and so is a skimmer and sump btw)

+1
While certainly not "NEEDED" they do make things a bit easier.

 

[ReefWreak]

The Nyos skimmers are (unnecessarily) pricey. Click homer1475's name above, view recent posts, and find the ones where he has discussed his new bubble magus curve 5 or something like that skimmer. He was having that exact same choice, he really wanted a nyos, but it seemed not worth it. I have a nyos and it's great, but it was pricey, and I wanted to buy the best, buy once, and be done. And I did. It sounds like he's equally happy with the Bubble Magus Curve 5, and many other people are as well, for a lower price point.

The vectra has always also seemed in that category of unnecessarily pricey, especially considering the price difference of controllable DC return pumps. My Red Sea Reefer 450 has a Jecod pump, and it's done very well, and is perfectly silent.

For powerheads, you may want to check out the new Gyre pumps that are just starting to ship (I think the 3XX series?). You could do one, keep it in the top right corner, have one cable, and have full-tank flow. I have MP40s, and I don't mind the wires, but I'm still very intrigued by the Gyres (though they may require more maintenance). You could also look into Tunze pumps or Trident WAV pumps. my friend has that on his RSR350 tucked into the back left and right corners, blowing diagonally at the front center glass, and there's no pump on the sides, you don't see the wires against the black background, and there's definitely adequate flow (his tank is extremely overgrown after 2 years).

Also, I would recommend getting a refugium or at minimum an algae reactor. I have a skimz MBR127 and it's great, and there are some other relatively inexpensive competitors too. It'll save you a lot of headaches as your new tank matures, which will be the first 6-8 months.

Good luck and welcome back!

 

[Mikegray]

Thanks for replies everyone. I appreciate it. I understand all these pieces are needed but helps. I'm all.about spending the money the first time to do it right and giving my chance at better success a notch above. And I also understand equipment brands and some things here can be like keeping up with the jones'. Do other brands that perform equally as well is definitely a good idea. I dont necessarily need #1 top notch brands. So I'll read about that skimmer above. Return pump above and powerheads. If I have to get powerheads on sides. So be it. I'll do it. Mp10 sounds like they wont stay on thickness of the wb 100.3. So that would be 2 mp40 for.a 3ft tank. Sounds like I probably can save money with a different brand and find a way to make it clean looking in back top corners like you mentioned.

 

[lat0403]

I have a Waterbox 100.3 as well. I don't think I would do the plus if I were you. You've listed several Ecotech products so I would go with 2 xr15 instead. Then you can do the Reeflink if you want and control all of it through that. But with that said, the Reeflink is completely pointless for the Vectra. It needs to run at a constant speed so there's nothing to program.

My return pump is the Vectra M1. I run it at 40% power and it's plenty of flow and very quiet. I don't think you'd like the S1. I've had mine as high as 60% and there's some noise when it's up that high. You'd have to turn your S1 up pretty high to get enough flow.

Mine has a Maxspect XF230 gyre in the display. The gyre can be up close to the surface, so I've got the cord coming out the top and then along the top of the glass to the back of the tank. It's not that noticeable this way. There's really not much that can be done about it though unless you do place them on the back. At least with the gyre or the vortechs there's no cords in the tank.

As far as skimmer, I don't know. I got the Quantum because it was free with the tank during the Black Friday sale. It does a fine job but that doesn't mean another skimmer wouldn't perform just as well.

 

[Mikegray]

thanks for the vectra opinion. im going to look up the Maxspect XF230 gyre now. i kind of like the hydra look a tad better... but the Radion are def a option.

Lat0403 - are you still using the filter socks or did you completely remove those and go a better route?

 

[dkeller_nc]

From the standpoint of where to place powerheads, this is a 3 foot tank. So while you'll get the most bang for your buck with powerheads placed on the sides, you could do just as well with a couple of extra pumps placed on the back if you hate the wires. Where that would get unreasonably expensive is with a 6 foot tank, where you'd need 2 pumps every two feet, and maybe that wouldn't be enough.

From the standpoint of equipment choices, it might be worth your while to watch through the BRS Ultra Low Maintenance series of videos, where the discuss in detail all of the equipment options they considered. There's quite a lot of that in the WWC tank series as well.

One option in particular that's discussed in the ULM series that might appeal to you is going bare-bottom and placing a couple of MP10s on the back near the bottom, which makes them almost invisible.

 

[Mikegray]

ok thanks.. ill probabaly just have to man up and put them on the sides of the Waterbox no matter how it looks... but that being said, reading alot of Mp10 not even able to go on the 100.3 glass to thick.. so might have to invest in 2 Mp40's and not put them on full blast ever...

 

[dkeller_nc]

Yeah, I've heard of people using MP10s on 1/2" glass, and some have gotten it to work, and others haven't.

One thought to cut down on the expense and still have a nice flow pattern would be to get a couple of the Tunzes. Yes, you'll have cords in the tank, but if you place them on the back wall, you can conceal the cords by running them up the side of the overflow.

One consideration - the Tunze nanostream 6095s would be ideal from the standpoint of the size of your tank and their flowrate. Tunze's literature states that the glass thickness limit is 3/8", but they do make the "stream" (as opposed to "nano stream") pumps that are good up to 1/2" thick. Since in the case of the Tunzes the magnet is just holding the pump in place rather than magnetic drive coupling like the Vortechs, it may be possible to get the stronger magnets from them, and run the nanostream.

To determine this, I'd suggest giving Roger a call at Tunze USA. He's highly knowledgeable, very nice, and will bend over backwards to help an individual customer. I think he's at the "General Distributor" number in Austin TX - here's the link.

Even if you have to get the Tunze Stream 6155 to accommodate your glass thickness, that might still offer you an advantage over the MP40s, since you can place the 6155s in the lower 1/3rd of the tank along the back wall, then aim them to point at the sides of the tank (something you can't do with the Vortechs).

 

[Mikegray]

Yeah, I've heard of people using MP10s on 1/2" glass, and some have gotten it to work, and others haven't.

One thought to cut down on the expense and still have a nice flow pattern would be to get a couple of the Tunzes. Yes, you'll have cords in the tank, but if you place them on the back wall, you can conceal the cords by running them up the side of the overflow.

One consideration - the Tunze nanostream 6095s would be ideal from the standpoint of the size of your tank and their flowrate. Tunze's literature states that the glass thickness limit is 3/8", but they do make the "stream" (as opposed to "nano stream") pumps that are good up to 1/2" thick. Since in the case of the Tunzes the magnet is just holding the pump in place rather than magnetic drive coupling like the Vortechs, it may be possible to get the stronger magnets from them, and run the nanostream.

To determine this, I'd suggest giving Roger a call at Tunze USA. He's highly knowledgeable, very nice, and will bend over backwards to help an individual customer. I think he's at the "General Distributor" number in Austin TX - here's the link.

Even if you have to get the Tunze Stream 6155 to accommodate your glass thickness, that might still offer you an advantage over the MP40s, since you can place the 6155s in the lower 1/3rd of the tank along the back wall, then aim them to point at the sides of the tank (something you can't do with the Vortechs).

Your on to something. Just looked up the tunze stream 6105s. They can be turned so potentially putting on back glass of the waterbox 100.3. One on each side. With a controller to run then together like the MPs. Will probably cost the same but location on the back might be better for me. Chords should hide on the black glass only have to see chord come out over top. But that being said. Two on back corners pointing as diagonal as I can can towards middle. I guess I'd have to experiment all said and done when I get it going because I want sand bed. Not sure if that or have them pointing straight forward with they included wide flow spread will be best and allow the sand to stay put! Lol. But I like the tunze because they can be pointed in directions.

 

[dkeller_nc]

Well, it would still be worth calling Roger at Tunze USA to ask whether you can get stronger magnets for the nanostream pumps. The 6105s were made for a much larger tank, and while they're certainly usable since you can dial them way down, they'll be unnecessarily large for your tank, not to mention considerably more expensive.

 

[Mikegray]

Good call. I reached out to him via email since it's kind of late. Ya I dont need anything to powerful. I dont intend to upgrade from that 100.3 ever. But want ability to get spa in future with experience if I get a hang of it. But I've read getting a pump that u can run less power would be better and quieter than getting a smaller one and max it out.

I saw these stream 3. Powerful. Looks ready to hide since they place them in back facing up.

 

[dkeller_nc]

Yep, and huge. Really ideal for a 4 foot or larger tank. Just to give you an idea, I run 4 MP10s on my 50 gallon cube. The reason there's 4 instead of 2 isn't because there's not enough "oomph" in 2 MP10s, it's to get a wider flow field. The MP10s are 1500 gph maxed out - I run these 4 MP10s at about 50%, so about 750 gph.

Ideally what you'd like for your tank is 4 smaller pumps like 4 Tunze 6095s, or 2 6095s and 2 6040s. That will allow you to run them at 1/2 power or so, and distribute the flow evenly across the tank. But you'll have to see if Tunze has a solution for the extra-thick glass.

One other thing I'll mention. Since you dislike cords and other visible equipment, one solution would be to go with a closed loop and a controllable pump with lots of flow regime options like the EcoTech Vectra M1. But to use this option, you will have to have several extra bulkheads drilled into the tank - either on the bottom or the back, or both.

 

[Mikegray]

It's not the chords that I sketch about. They will be hard to see on the black back. I'm not digging the idea of a nice rimless with 2 pumps. One on either side of the viewing glass dead smack in the middle and blocking the star fire glass. It might even not be that bad and most of you do it. I might be just over exaggerating. But the 6105s allow me to do that and have a wide flow adapter. Roger got back to me already. He said the waterbox is fairly small and recommends 6095s. Especially for LPS and softies. So I might over do it. Get a pair of 6105s. Dial it down. With wide flow adapter. That should give me ability in future to try a sps coral or two.

 

[Mikegray]

Also wasnt aware of the size of these pumps. Roger mentioned 6095 are like a baseball and 6105 are a softball. That's pretty hefty in a 3 ft tank. On each side. Didnt realize the physical size

 

[Mikegray]

So far. Water box 100.3 plus version
Dual hydra 26 hd.
Vectra m1 return pump
2 6095 tunze with controllers
Skimmer. nyos quantum 120
Heater: no research yet.
Think I'm keeping filter sock setup atleast for now.
No refugium at start since sump doesnt have spot for it.

 

[dkeller_nc]

Curious about this - did Roger confirm the 6095s will hold onto the 3/4" glass, or do you have to get magnet extenders (i.e., stronger magnets).

While eventually I think you will want to add two more pumps simply to broaden the flow field, even the 6095s will have more than enough flow for SPS.

Since you're willing to spend the dough for some pretty nice equipment, the only thing I'd change on your list is getting 2 Radion XR15s instead of the Hydras. The spectrum's a bit broader, though that's a minor consideration. But the ability to add diffusers to the XR15s is a big plus.

Think I might've mentioned this elsewhere, but I run 2 XR15s and one XR30 on a 2 foot by 2 foot 50 gallon. Just the XR30 has more than enough power to cook all of my corals, so it's not about intensity. But since these are the generation 3 fixtures, I can't add the snazzy new diffusers. So the reason for running 4 pucks on the 50g is a uniform light field.

With your 3' tank, and with diffusers, the XR15s will give you a nice, even light field, will be more than intense enough even in the corners for LPS/softies, and the price is about the same.