Design Strategies

[seta45]

What design strategies have you used to plan your large tank? I have several important concepts that will guide the planning for my 180 - 240 gal tank noted below. Have a look, comments and additions are encouraged!


1. Proven technology - too often the cutting edge is also the bleeding edge.

2. Value for money - let's face it, we all have a budget. Often dream equipment will cost 2-3x the price of alternate equipment that performs 98% as well. (I.e. Bubble King vs Deltec)

3. Energy effecient - it ain't getting cheaper and 10 years from now; well I shudder to think. Is now the time to go LED?

4. Clean design - the WAF (wife acceptance factor) is always important. Everythings gotta be unider the cabinet; this time!

5. Flexibility - ever thought of changing something after the hole was drilled?

6. Automation - the tank is made for me...not me for the tank.

7. Back-up - nobody wants to face a "tank-o-death" because the power went out.

Enjoy!
Seta45

 

[ReefingBuddha]

In my humble opinion.


1) check around RC for proven tech in older tanks

2) its going to be expensive but a lot of the time more expensive stuff also requires less money down the road. i.e. power consumption, maintance, replacement.

3) a lot of people will tell you to wait before LED technology improves but I have decided to take the leap personally. I can only tell you that my most demanding SPS acro's needed to be aclimated to the LED lighting after being under 250w halides for a year. Also the light penetration is certainly sufficient for my 24" deep tank. Energy saves have been argued by many and it is to early for me to state an opinion. I can tell you that they produce significantly less heat which will at least drive down the need to cool the tank/surrounding area. I am also happy with the flexibility of color temp selection and the automation of lighting changes.

4) always important. I have seen some tanks with actuators that lift the hood, looks really nice and is functional. I will use this on my tank as well.

5) I considered having holes drilled in the base of my tank at even intervals so that I have some flexibility later but extensive planning let me choose exactly where i wanted holes drilled. You could always drill holes and add ballvalves to the bulkheads for future expansion. I have added more CL returns then I will need to begin with so that I can compensate for coral growth down the road.

6) get a good controller and I would aso recommend something like a litermeter III or a multiple dosage system so you can automate top off, water changes, additive dosage, etc.

7) though pricey, i would add a automatic backup generator. I bought a 15kw for my house and know i won't have to worry about power outages again. I can run my generator for 24 days at full load, useful down here in florida.

I would also make sure that there is plenty of circulation in your tank on different pumps/powerheads so that if the return pump fails when you aren't around you still have plenty of water flow to keep corals and fish alive. The different pumps/powerheads is so that you don't have to rely on just one pump/powerhead for all of your circulation.


Good luck, post any information you have about what equipment choices you plan on making and what your are planning on keeping.

 

[seta45]

Hi Tom; et al...

1) Dun that... looking for more prescriptive/experiential info than tacit.

2)Same as my thinking>...operational cost vs. capital cost; probably better to ride the 90% cost wave than the top of the cres wave for value. Two specific questions are.... Bubble King vs. Deltec skimmer and Red Dragon vs ??? Reliability important.

3) a lot of people will tell you to wait before LED technology improves but I have decided to take the leap personally. I can only tell you that my most demanding SPS acro's needed to be aclimated to the LED lighting after being under 250w halides for a year. Also the light penetration is certainly sufficient for my 24" deep tank. Energy saves have been argued by many and it is to early for me to state an opinion. I can tell you that they produce significantly less heat which will at least drive down the need to cool the tank/surrounding area. I am also happy with the flexibility of color temp selection and the automation of lighting changes.

LED it is then! The obvious question is... are other lighting manufacturers coming up with LED which should improve competition and lower cost?

4) always important. I have seen some tanks with actuators that lift the hood, looks really nice and is functional. I will use this on my tank as well.

Oh my... actuators; arrrggggh. The LEDs will be fine and cut down on the need for a chiller.

Another criteria I thought of was regarding integration. How about heating the house with the MH??

5) I considered having holes drilled in the base of my tank at even intervals so that I have some flexibility later but extensive planning let me choose exactly where i wanted holes drilled. You could always drill holes and add ballvalves to the bulkheads for future expansion. I have added more CL returns then I will need to begin with so that I can compensate for coral growth down the road.

Great answer.

6) get a good controller and I would aso recommend something like a litermeter III or a multiple dosage system so you can automate top off, water changes, additive dosage, etc.

Profilux Plus II... it is in the mail.

7) though pricey, i would add a automatic backup generator. I bought a 15kw for my house and know i won't have to worry about power outages again. I can run my generator for 24 days at full load, useful down here in florida.

I was thinking inverter/battery; I will look at the gen.... when you think that tanks and inhabitants could cost $10,000+ a generator make sense!

I would also make sure that there is plenty of circulation in your tank on different pumps/powerheads so that if the return pump fails when you aren't around you still have plenty of water flow to keep corals and fish alive. The different pumps/powerheads is so that you don't have to rely on just one pump/powerhead for all of your circulation.

CL (1500Gal+) + 2x tunze 6100; enought for a 180-240?

Again great response Ton
Tx
Bill