Tickle
New member
So im mainly looking at what I should be using for a return pump right now and Im thinking on going with a reeflo dart/snapper hybrid. From the bottom of where I have the sump planned to the topmost return of the tank is about 10 at most. the reeflo in dart form at 10' does 1850gph, thats 10x turnover, but like I said I would probably like to build some manifold to run other things if need be such as skimmer, calcium reactor, feed the fuge. I found the hammerhead/barracuda model for about 40 bucks more at 10' that does 3325. The difference is about double the wattage. I do plan on having a vortech or 2 in the tank do help with the flow, which is another question that goes out to the vortech owners, do you think with 4 returns on the tank that 2 mp10s would be enough to get the random wave motion I would like or should I get the mp40 model?
Skimmer. Anyone have any recommendations? Im up in the air on the Red Sea C-skim 1800 which is rated for 400 gallon systems at about $300 bones or a RO XS250 which is rated at 250 gallons for about 500 bucks, I know Reef Octopus has a good name and reputation and wouldnt let me down, but this red sea model I have seen a pile of good reviews, its priced about right and it also has a self cleaning mode which isnt a deal breaker but thats pretty neat.
For the lighting I have decided on 4 50w multichips, 2 20ks and 2 actinics and then run them side by side and then integrate my 100 watt setup from my 40 and then sprinkle in a couple 620nm reds and a couple UV chips. I think the lighting will be the cheapest part of the build. That will put me in the neighborhood of about 400 watts. I only run about 60 watts over my 40.
I will put optics on some of the central chips to get me that punch to keep sps in the center of the tank at about mid level and I should have no problem keeping sps on the sides as long as they are high up and will be able to keep softies on the bottom with ease.
Skimmer. Anyone have any recommendations? Im up in the air on the Red Sea C-skim 1800 which is rated for 400 gallon systems at about $300 bones or a RO XS250 which is rated at 250 gallons for about 500 bucks, I know Reef Octopus has a good name and reputation and wouldnt let me down, but this red sea model I have seen a pile of good reviews, its priced about right and it also has a self cleaning mode which isnt a deal breaker but thats pretty neat.
For the lighting I have decided on 4 50w multichips, 2 20ks and 2 actinics and then run them side by side and then integrate my 100 watt setup from my 40 and then sprinkle in a couple 620nm reds and a couple UV chips. I think the lighting will be the cheapest part of the build. That will put me in the neighborhood of about 400 watts. I only run about 60 watts over my 40.
I will put optics on some of the central chips to get me that punch to keep sps in the center of the tank at about mid level and I should have no problem keeping sps on the sides as long as they are high up and will be able to keep softies on the bottom with ease.