How does this set-up sound?

[Bartel]

Dear Reefers,

I would like your advice on the intended set-up of my in wall reef tank.

Background: I was in the hobby 25 years ago, with a 100g reef tank, with dry/wet filter, 250w HQI bulb, loads of life rock, and a very modest life stock: not even 10 small fishes, some soft corals and a few shrimps. Two alternating circulation pumps. No skimmer, and no knowledge. All went well for a few years, then it all collapsed in a few months time. Not a lot of literature in my native language, and no internet to help me out. It was an expensive lesson, well learned.

Next year/early 2017, we should move to our new apartment, that would contain a small fish room to house an in wall display tank and all the equipment. I take inspiration from:
KMU's in wall 400g build for the in wall build
Drummereef for the equipment room
D2MINI for the global set-up
V1"¦rotate for the neat & clean approach
Melev's reef for the sump itself
Chris Ward's TOTM Oct 2006 for the aquascaping (open valley)
and many other contributors of this fantastic website.

I would love to hear what is good, and what is bad about my plans.

 

[Bartel]

Here we go. The system will contain 5 tanks in total:

Display tank (DT) 4 by 3 feet, water 2 feet high, with overflow compartments left and right
Refugium (RFG), divided in a mangrove and a algae growing compartment
Sump, divided in left the skimmer (and reactors - if any) zone, right the deep sand bed (DSB), in the middle the heaters and return pump
A salt water mixing tank (SWT)
A RODI fed freshwater tank (FWT)

How should it work?
The DT will overflow left in the SWT (75%), right in the RFG (25%). I will however foresee the possibility to
shortcut the SWT (overflow to the skimmer zone directly) if I need to cut out the SWT (e.g. for mixing new salt water)
shortcut the RFG (overflow in the DSB directly) if I need to cut out or the RFG (for whatever reason)
The SWT will overflow in the skimmer zone of the sump, the RFG will overflow in the DSB zone.
The sump will return to the DT. I will foresee a manifold with 4 outlets, and I will allow the return to feed the RFG and/or the skimmer zone, if ever I need to shortcut parts of the system.
Each of the 5 tanks will have an emergency overflow in case of. The SWT and the FWT will have internal circulation (see D2MINI set-up). The FWT would be fed by a RODI, and this tank will feed the ATO, the SWT when a new batch of saltwater is needed, and provide water to treat the leafs of the mangrove.

 

[Bartel]

The fish room will have no windows, and will be situated next to our bedroom. I fear two things: humidity and noise. There will be a ventilation system, and the room will be built as a bassin, able to contain 200g of water if ever something leaks. Under investigation if the room can be equipped with a bottom drain in the floor, which would be better. I will have to see if the wall between both rooms can be sound insulated.

(Maybe I should add that I am surfing the internet for over a year, and I went to a reef keeping beginners course last month. It will be at least another year before we start, allowing ample time to have the planning finalized before the first piece is purchased.)

 

[Bartel]

I should also add that many things are still unknown/undecided:
What will I choose for lightning? Probably T5, LED or a combination of both...
Will I run reactors? I will in any case try the balling "light" method.
What will the livestock be? Certainly no SPS/LPS, as too ambitious (despite the many extremely beautiful examples on this site, I don't think that I have the knowledge sufficient to enter this world). Probably soft corals, and ideally small fish that can be kept in pairs or groups (the tank is not wide enough to go big), and many shrimps.

Fortunately, still a lot of time before I need to decide.

 

[Bartel]

i tried to visualize the set-up in the attached drawing.

 

[rfurst]

It seems to me that you can combine your DSB in your refugium with contain the macro algea. I've done that and it seems a pretty common thing to do. I think you are probably rightto be concerned about noise and humidity although noise can be mitigated with low-noise/silent drain systems such as the Beanaminal or similar style. I'd personally have a window if I could which would give you some opportunity for air exchange with the outside wich could help the humidity issue depending on the weather where you live. Honestly, you are building a reasonably sophisticated overall system with a lot of capacity to maintain a healthy environment so I do not think LPS or even SPS would be too ambitious if you have the appropriate light and understand the care requirements. They system itself is not the limitation. You seem pretty thoughtful about what you are attempting which suggests to me that you can learn what it takes for advance coral care. My very first tank was a 110g mixed reef that i bought as complete fully functioning system and I had great success...but I read volumes and studied up on teh hobby for almost a year before starting.

Regarding lights... so many options and variables. I have always used T5's to stay away from the heat and cost of MH but am swithching to high quality LED's for a tank I am getting ready to set up. Issue for me was just that LED's are so much more energy efficient and ultimately lower cost.

Your tank volume certainly give you space for larger species so don't feel constrained to small fish. Having a longer lenght..say 6 feet...would even be better since you'd have a longer run length for larger fish. Standard 180g is 6'x2'x2' which I had and I loved the size and geometry of it.

 

[Bartel]

Thank you for the feedback. Not possible to have a window in the equipment room unfortunately. But at least I will have ventilation. Not possible neither to go for more than 4 feet lenght, the wall is supporting the building, this is the maximum size allowed... I prefer to go deeper than your 2 feet, as I'd like to create a sense of depth through a valley scaping. And I have room for it.

I was wondering indeed if I could combine the DSB with the algae and/or mangrove, and if this is better or not.

On the choise of light, I still need to study this more, but LED preferably for running cost indeed.

 

[gone fishin]

What do you wish to accomplish with the refugium? A DSB or macro algae for nitrate reduction, Macro algae or pod breeding for food.

 

[A1t2o]

With mangroves and macro, why do you need a DSB? You could move the macro to the sump and make the chamber next to the mangroves into a frag tank, or just make the mangroves bigger. If you want to use a rooting macro then a DSB would help, but make sure none of the algae can get back to the display tank or it can take over.

For the lights, I would go with a mix of LED and T5. LED's can have a lot of par in some spot and lower in others, so the softer T5s can really help with that. I am going with 2 of the Aurora pucks from RapidLED and a 2 bulb T5 retro fit kit over my 75.

 

[BlackTip]

Unless the apartment is in the first floor on slap concrete, I'd worry about total water weight and floor support.

 

[Bartel]

Mangrove, algae, DSB: first and foremost ambition is to keep water quality under control. Ideally some side effects (additional food for the tank) can be the bonus.
I separated the 3 filters, as I don't know if mangrove and DSB can be combined in one, and I read somewhere that the algae on top of a DSB could hinder its functioning. In any case, these and many other questions to come is why I started this post. I'd like to set it up correctly from the start, hence seeking for your advice. Thanks already for your reactions.

For the lightning, than will be a next topic to look into.

As to the total weight, fortunately this will be in a brand new building (they just started to dig the pit) and for sure the second floor where we will be will be able to support the whole. At least if I stick to the current size.

 

[Bartel]

If the three (DSB, chaeto, mangrove) could be combined, that would safe some space problems (the fish room will only be 3 by 9 feet), including the tank itself. If better to keep them separate, what is the correct order to respect?
Somewhere I saw that the DSB is better kept in the dark... BTW how high is the DSB in general to be most effective?
I also read that the protein skimmer should certainly not be put upfront, and even better to have it in a separate line, as per my plans above. Is this correct?

 

[Bartel]

Shopping list

Shopping list

Besides the 50" x 36" x 22" = 170 US Gallon tank and 75 US Gallon sump, this is what I intend to buy as equipment:

skimmer: Deltec skimmer SC2061
light: Kessil A360WE (3x)
pump: Iwaki MD30RX return pump
flow: Tunze Turbelle Stream kit TS 48 (including 4x 6105 flow pump)
ATO : Tunze osmolator 3155 ATO
Heater: Tunze heat controller + Schego titanium heater 300W (2 x)
RODI system: make to be decided
Anything essential omitted? How does this sound, fairly OK for my set-up?

 

[Bartel]

Plans progressing slowly

Plans progressing slowly

After several visits to LFS and a lot of internet surfing, it looks as we will go with the following:

4 by 3 by 2 feet tank, optiwhite front, in wall similar to Kmu's in wall build
Aquascaping in valley style (similar to Chris Ward's TOTM Oct 2006), or The Cardinal's low iron reef, using Real Reef Rock
Sump inspired on Drummereef's
4 x Gieseman Pulzar LED lights
Maxspect Gyre XF150
Delted sc2061 protein skimmer
Jebao DCS12000 pump
Dastaca 800l reactor
Heating + ATO
Dosing pump and controller (tbd)

I have the advantage to have a friend who will start soon his tank, very similar in size and set-up. It will allow me to validate my choices, as my tank will only set up once the building is finished. And this is no longer for 2016, in view of the delays so far in construction"¦ A first proof of lesson 1, 2 and 3 in this hobby: patience.

 

[Bartel]

After about two years delay with the construction of the building, we have finally movef to our apartment, and have started the reef adventure.
Quite some changes to the initial plans, purpose is to fit it all in the room, and to keep it simple withe very low maintenance requirements.
Tank and sump have been delivered and filled with 700 liters seawater, real reef rock and a sand bottom. The cabinet is being made and should be delivered in the next few weeks. Detailed description and photos will follow soon.

 

[cincyjim]

Awesome! I can't wait to see some pictures of the build.

 

[Bartel]

Dear reefers, here we go.
After more than a year delay, we moved to our apartment in March. On March 14th, the aquarium was delivered and installed. Dimensions: 120cm x 80 cm x 55 cm water height. Together with the sump we are around 700 liters.
65 kg of real reef rock, 20 kg of real reef rock shelves and 9kg of Caribbean live sand.

Equipment at the sart still simple: Deltec skimmer 2061SC, 1 jebao return pump, two jebao circulation pumps, Giesemannaurora hybrid light unit, heaters and Tunze ATO.

The system has been running without light and skimmer fort months, not a single sign of algae, nitrates, or other unwanted effects.
Mid May skimmer has been started (but nothing to skim), one week later lights was gradually turned on and first corals were added. Still no algae, no nitrate, phosphate or other down effects.

Early June a second round of corals added, together with 6 cleaner shrimps and 3 pieces life rock from a friend's thank. Sudden peak in nitrates, some brown algae (mainly on the sand) and skimmer started to produce a mild light brown coloured water. Due to the hot weather, temp went up from the 24,4°C to over 26°C, distressing some of the corals. I did a first 10% water change.

So far, so good. End July I will add a third and more sizeable set of corals, and will start with the first fish.

Will try to post some pictures but need to find out first how to do so.