Here I come!!! Help Me, Please?

K

Kannin

New member
9 months ago... I got a 54 gallon aquarium for my 40th birthday. Photos below...

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That's Air Jaws on the TV... By the way.
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I thought that I would be happy with this for years to come, but... NO!!! I need more so, today... I bought a used 225 gallon glass tank with external over flows and a starfire front panel. One cool thing about the tank is it's measurements. 72L x 30W x 24H. The 30 inch width should make for some nice aquascaping options. It was on consignment at the lfs for $2700 including the stand, sump and Guiseman 6ft 750 watt MH fixture. The first order of business will be to build a new stand and hood, as the current stand is a little beat up and doesn't fit in with my furniture. It is going to be displayed in what we call "The Nice Room". That's the room with 20 grand in furniture that we never sit on.

The owner of the lfs is also making me an awesome deal on everything I need to get it up and running. ASM G3 Skimmer. reactors, pumps, Heaters, cooling fans, lighting, plumbing, lockline, RODI unit etc... I looked it all up on line and he is selling me about $2,200 worth of stuff for less than $1,300. I work long hours during the week and my wife and I are big football fans so, I will only have Saturdays to work on it. So... It will be December before I am ready to set it up.

I don't want to mess this up... which is why I am appealing to you... The large reef tank owners that I have been learning from since I joined Reef Central.

Some ideas that I have been tossing around are:

I want to put my fuge above the tank so that no pods are killed by the pump. I would probably use a 20 gallon long tank which would mount nicely on the back edge eurobracing and use a submersible Hyper Flow HF12 in the sump to pump around 400 to 500 gallons per hour up to it.

I am thinking of using 2 submersible pumps for returns both, because of cost issues which will keep my wife happy and because I am more familiar with them as this is what I have now. If in a year... I am not happy, it would be relatively easy to replace them with more expensive external pumps. I could get 2 HF32's which will pump around 1500 gph at a 4 ft head. I will have close to a 6 ft head because I plan on building a tall stand to make plenty of room to work.

I have heard good things about the Guiseman fixture but, since I will have a hood... I wonder if I would be better off to try and sell it and buy different lighting. Even if I keep it... I will need to supplement it with either PC's or T5's.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this and I would appreciate any good links on stands, hoods, plumbing etc... I have been admiring JBNY's hood design... although mine would need to be taller to accomodate the fuge:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=908114&perpage=25&pagenumber=24

I know I am a little long winded but, I'm pretty excited.

Thank you for any help you can give.
 
my opinion would to get your stand and hood setup first and then start your planning. it all sounds good to me so far, but you might come up with some new ideas. so lets take baby steps :D
 
Thank you. I rushed my first set up... This time I plan to take it very slow... Partly though I must admit, because my wife has put me on a budget.
 
I agree...it's nothing to rushing. Draw it out on paper and scan it or put your plans in cad...then get opinions from others here.

Once you get so far, it's hard to go back, so you can get ideas on how to change some aspects of your plans and understand what you are doing right and wrong beforehand.

Also, I know you want to go cheaper on some aspects to start out...and we all have the significant others to deal with. :rolleyes: Just realize, if you end up changing parts out even a year down the line, you just shot over budget by what you were trying to save. I have the same example you do...we both had just purchased tanks only to upgrade within a year. Think what you could have done with that few hundred dollars had you just got the bigger tank first? Now multiply it...cause with a bigger tank comes bigger bucks in haste.

Finally, read peoples threads here on the builds...I'd try to find one that is similar to what you are planning. Then become best friends with them...cause they're the ones that will be answering your questions.

Good luck...you got past the wife for the main part of this, it's all down hill from here (okay, not really :lol: )
 
Thank you Joey. I have viewed you thread and have decided that i will be best friends with you.

I have drawn everything out in an art pad but I need to be able to put it in the computer. I'll have to work on that. I appreciate your help. Thanx.
 
I have the same size tank 96x30x24.I am very happy with it, if you like you can view my thread,I can tell you that what you are paying for the setup is a joke.I spent a small fortune on my system and I have no livestock in it(well now I have 2 fish)The price is very reasonable.
 
I know I am getting a great deal. I'll be able to get it up and pumping for about 4k. Unfortunately... that's where it gets expensive. I took inventory for my wife last night of my small tank. $400 in fish and other livestock, $700 in corals and such, $450 in live rock and sand. I'll need 4 times as much of everything.
 
It cost me 10 k or close to that with no livestock.I had some stuff from my old tank but there was a ton of stuff I needed.I still have left over equipment that I will probably never use.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10953490#post10953490 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kannin
I know I am getting a great deal. I'll be able to get it up and pumping for about 4k. Unfortunately... that's where it gets expensive. I took inventory for my wife last night of my small tank. $400 in fish and other livestock, $700 in corals and such, $450 in live rock and sand. I'll need 4 times as much of everything.
Click to expand...

Yep, gets pricey quick, huh. I remember telling my wife that I could convert to salt water for about 150 bucks. OMG, I'm still laughing at that one... :lol:

If you're on a budget, just take it slower on the setup. That's where I got my enjoyment from anyway.

Needless, once you get some time, put your plans up...I'd like to see them. :)
 
I wouldnt really worry about the fuge above and the pods getting eaten. I have mine below and its pumped up 9 feet across 15 feet and down 3 to get to my tank and they make the trip with no problem.
 
Okay, now I'm starting to get an idea of what you're looking into...

First off, I agree with the other statement about the fuge and pods...mine make the trip up (and down) without issue.

However, I do like the idea of the fuge overhead...I'm just not wild about the location. I'm not sure what you are planning to put in the fuge, but I know many items need light 24 hours...which means you will have a light source going into your tank for 24 hours straight. Not a huge issue, just something to keep in the back of your mind.

Now, down to the sump...I looked up top again in the inital post but an drawing a blank...do you know what size you're looking for in this? Are you planning to use an old tank?

I know the ASM has a bit of a foot print...it takes up about a 1/4 of my 90 gallon. So room underneath may start to get a little tight as you put more down there.

You also have a water setup under there...is this for a top off?
What size is this going to be?

Only other issue are these pumps...while cheap and economical, they do add heat. Benefit is, I think they are a little quieter underwater than others. I can say mine makes a little noise and it's in a seperate room. Looks like you are planning for 3 of these?
 
Thats what I'm talkin' about... Like me, you are visual. My crappy pics got the ideas flowing.

I really like the raised fuge plan... I thought that I would black out the bottom half in order to keep most of the light out.

The sump already exists. It is included with the tank. It appears to be 36 x 24 and made out of acrylic. I believe the ASM G3 has a 12 x 13 foot print which is what I'm counting on but, if it is different... I can change the measurements. I am figuring that I will have to make changes to the sump.

I really haven't given much thought to the top off water set up. I really just put it in the drawing to show that I plan on using the extra space in the stand for it. I am definately open to suggestions.

The pumps... I can get close to 2600 gallons back to the main tank with the 2 HF32's and another 4 to 500 with the HF12 that will pump to the fuge. This will be close to 15 times turn over plus the closed loop pump which will be somewhere between 2 & 4 thousand gph depending on whether I use just the 2 returns that are installed now at the back of the tank or whether I want to add 2 more that would pump over the top of the tank.

As far as heat goes... I have central air which I have found with my current tank comes in handy... so I think along with cooling fans which will be installed in the hood and the stand... I should be able to manage the heat pretty well. But, don't think for a second that once it is set up... that a chiller won't be on the agenda as a "Complete and total after thought", if neccessary. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
 
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