Equipment For A 75g SPS

[The Velvet Sea]

Sounds good. I'll probably just run two reactors and dose, the peace of mind will be worth the extra few $ IMO. Random question, but what kind of flow would I want for them? I know you said earlier that carbon and GFO should be run at different flow rates, just wondering what those are? Also I was just reading another build thread where the OP just hooked lines from his return pump into the reactors. Until I saw that I was just planning on using two separate pumps for the reactors, but that seems like a much cleaner approach. Thoughts?

Flow through GFO in a reactor should be enough to keep it lightly tumbling. You don't want it going nuts as it will grind and produce fine GFO dust, but you want it to tumble a little bit so that is doesn't clump together. Flow through carbon should be a bit slower to maximize contact time. I set my flow to a very slow stream.

If your return pump can handle it, running your reactors off of it is a good way to go. I run my GFO and carbon off of the return pump, but I needed a separate power head to provide flow to by biopellet reactor since it needed a bit more than my return could give it.

 

[TMF89]

Thanks for all the info guys! As far as the mandarins go, honestly I'm pretty sure I've read up on them about as much as I can, and know everything I'm able to know at this point lol. I'm hoping with a giant fuge and a separate 10g dedicated to pod farming I can keep up with them.

As far as the MH vs T5s, would four fans, one on each end pulling air in, and two on top pulling air out be enough airflow? I really want a fully enclosed canopy so I guess it'll depend on that. Also I'm in Northern Minnesota, so the house stays pretty cool year round, hopefully that will help. As long as we're on the topic of lighting, what would you guys recommend for getting a white with a slight blue tint look? I don't like the really low K value bulbs that give off the yellow/natural sun color, but I also really don't like a really blue look. I'd like it to be white with a hint of blue. I was thinking two 150s at either 14 or 15k, along with two supplimental T5 bulbs, one actinic and one somewhere between 14-20k, I know that MHs can't be on for too long, and I figure I can use the one white T5 bulb to light the tank for the rest of the day. i.e. MHs on for 6-8 hours, and the rest of the time (during the day/viewing period) the T5 will allow for viewing. The actinic would be for purely asthetic purposes if I even used it at all. Although I've heard that certain corals respond better to actinic lighting? Could someone give me a little info on that? Again all this could change to a purely T5 fixture depending on your alls' thoughts.

And TVS, I think I'll plan on just running everything off my return pump to keep things simpler. I'm thinking a Mag 9? Also could you give me a rough estimate of exactly how much GPH should go through the reactors, if you know, just so I can try and get an idea of how it'll impact flow to the whole system and what not.

Thanks again for all the info guys!

 

[TMF89]

Also sorry for the double post but are there any skimmer brands out there I should specifically stay away from? And As of now I have two Koralia 450s, however I've noticed that they SEEM TO put out WAY less force than a Maxijet I have that's only rated for 150. The Maxi's output nozzle is a lot slimmer than the Koralia's housing obviously, is that the reason for it?

 

[holmstar]

While it doesn't seem as forceful, the koralia is actually moving a lot more water and creating a more random flow than the maxijet.

 

[TMF89]

I figured, but I wanted to make sure lol. So I have two 400-425GPH Koralias (forgot which), so we'll say 800GPH. Now if I were to get two more of their 700GPH models, I'd wind up with 2100-2200 total GPH without the sump flow, would that be enough or should I go for more?

 

[adam87]

I think you need more flow. In my 75 SPS tank, I am using a Voyager 4000 and Maxjet mod for a total of 6100gph.

 

[TMF89]

Adam do you have any pix by chance? Sounds like you have something very similar to what I want to do. How about four 850s for 3400 total, along with maybe two 425s blowing straight across the back to keep detrius from accumulating?

 

[The Velvet Sea]

I don't really have a good idea of flow rates through my reactors. What I do know is that my Eheim 1262 can run my return flow, carbon and gfo reactors just fine, but trying to add my bio pellet reactor was asking too much of it. The flow to the tank from the return pump isn't excessive either, because I didn't want the flow through the sump to be too fast. Most of my tank water flow is provided by my vortech in the tank. You may need more flow through your sump since you are planning a large refugium, so I'm not sure how that would impact the needs of your main return pump. Anyhow, my Eheim handles 2 reactors and a moderate flow to the display just fine. Hope that helps.

 

[jmccoya]

I think you need more flow. In my 75 SPS tank, I am using a Voyager 4000 and Maxjet mod for a total of 6100gph.

Is this counting your return pump from the sump, or is this just the flow in your display tank? Love this thread, putting together a 90g SPS, keep the posts coming.
Thanks

 

[nemosworld]

check out avastmarine, they have a lot of reactors there, great prices. both assembled or diy projects.
great customer service, justin is the man.

 

[TMF89]

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out! So I'm thinking I might have to go up to even a Mag 12/Eheim's similar model because of my extra large sump, and it'd give me the ability to run all the reactors I want. I did a quick (and obviously very rough) check with the head loss calculator, and with:
4ft vertical
3ft horizontal (for all the reactors)
6 90d elbows (just a guestimate)
4 gate valves (one for reach reactor, one for Tee to return, and one main one)

And that's all I put in, even though I'm sure there would be more variables, and it told me my GPH will be cut down to 566. That seems awfully low for two reactors plus a huge sump, although maybe I could just not run a Tee return line? That was with a .75 inch return as well, that's pretty standard right? If I upped it to 1", that gives me over 700GPH, so maybe that's an option as well?

 

[nemosworld]

i have a quite one 3000, it feeds my DT,Fuge,reactor,chiller and next my calcium reactor.
turnover in my tank comes from 3 koralias evo 1050's. I have lots of 90's on my system. not a 75 but just giving you an idea, you want your DT"S turnover to come from the power heads, not your return pump. would post a pic of my setup, but photobucket and my personal site are blocked by my job. will try to find this post at home and upload pics then.

 

[solitude127]

As far as skimmers go, if you're on a budget, the SWC160 would be a great skimmer for you size tank.

 

[The Velvet Sea]

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out! So I'm thinking I might have to go up to even a Mag 12/Eheim's similar model because of my extra large sump, and it'd give me the ability to run all the reactors I want. I did a quick (and obviously very rough) check with the head loss calculator, and with:
4ft vertical
3ft horizontal (for all the reactors)
6 90d elbows (just a guestimate)
4 gate valves (one for reach reactor, one for Tee to return, and one main one)

And that's all I put in, even though I'm sure there would be more variables, and it told me my GPH will be cut down to 566. That seems awfully low for two reactors plus a huge sump, although maybe I could just not run a Tee return line? That was with a .75 inch return as well, that's pretty standard right? If I upped it to 1", that gives me over 700GPH, so maybe that's an option as well?

I think the 566 sounds low for that on a mag 12 also. My assumption is that the calculator can't approximate a manifold and it assumes that all of that plumbing is on one line. I use 1" line on my return and it works. Plus 1" specialized fittings (street elbows, reducing adapters etc.) seem to be the easiest to find in that size, I'd stick with 1" if you can. Let me clarify, I use 1" for the return line from the pump, to the manifold and up to the tank. I reduce the line from the manifold to the reactors and use whatever size the large flexible RO type hose that comes with the BRS reactors. I think it is 1/4" OD hose, not certain though.

 

[TMF89]

So I've heard the term manifold being thrown around in this thread and others quite a bit, what is that exactly? The area where the water splits from the return to DT to go to other reactors and such? And that makes sense, I didn't figure that most of the reactors will have their own lines. So I'm looking at maybe a foot of horizontal piping, just whatever length I choose to go back over the fuge?

 

[TMF89]

i have a quite one 3000, it feeds my DT,Fuge,reactor,chiller and next my calcium reactor.
turnover in my tank comes from 3 koralias evo 1050's. I have lots of 90's on my system. not a 75 but just giving you an idea, you want your DT"S turnover to come from the power heads, not your return pump. would post a pic of my setup, but photobucket and my personal site are blocked by my job. will try to find this post at home and upload pics then.

So you have 3150gph on your 40b? That's like 80x turnover lol! I guess I'll have to buy more powerheads lol. And I'm sorry, I don't quite understand what you mean by lots of 90s but no 75s, do you have additional tanks or something?

As far as skimmers go, if you're on a budget, the SWC160 would be a great skimmer for you size tank.

Sounds good, I like the looks of that skimmer. Are there any brands I should specifically stay away from? Thanks guys!

 

[phenom5]

Yup, a manifold is a series of unions & valves that break off from the return line to run reactors, chillers, etc. Sounds like you've got it. Some people (I currently do in fact) run dedicated pumps for their reactors.

As far as skimmers go...


SRO XP-1000sss
Reef Octo Extreme 160
SWC Cone 160
SWC 150BMK
BM NAC6 or NAC7
AquaMaxx 150 or 200
iTech 100
Reef Dynamic INS135
Vertex IN-100 or IN-180 -->Although the Resun pumps Vertex use aren't very good.
ATI PowerCone 160
ATB 840
BK Mini 160


Just depends on what you want to spend, but any of those (and probably a few I missed) will do great on your tank.

Skimmers to avoid...Coralife Superskimmer, Seaclone (do they even still make these?), Aqua Medic Turbofloater.

 

[TMF89]

How exactly would you connect/set a manifold up? I get the idea but after a bit of research I can't really find much detail on them.

 

[nemosworld]

I was referring to 90 degree elbows (pvc)
full tank shot, (okay 2 1050's and one k3)

in this pic the return pump is feeding the reactor on the left, then behind the skimmer there is a connection for the chiller.

fuge which is above the sump:

drains and return:

chiller which i will tanp into it's feed to add my calcium reactor:

this would be considered a manifold, it connects my two returns.
other manifolds connect reactors,chillers,etc

better example of manifold. Not mine:
drummers reef

 

[adam87]

Is this counting your return pump from the sump, or is this just the flow in your display tank? Love this thread, putting together a 90g SPS, keep the posts coming.
Thanks

No, just from the two pumps.