New Member: Motavar
Age: 36
Type: Gangsta / Network Engineer
History:
* Early 90's I had a Saltwater tank with a few fish and anemones but it was difficult to keep them. So I had a mostly Fish Only Tank
# Tank failed due to lack of funds (only in my teens at the time. Not too many people into saltwater)
# unable to setup again due to moving to new house.
* Late 90's I had a 55g Fish / LR tank (100 pounds imported Fiji) with dual 250 MH and 4 VHO Actinics. Deep Sand Bed 2 1/2 inches+ with Sump
# (Ahead of my time - experimentation):
Tank failed due to caulerpa outbreak during Refugium experiment + Extreme Heat from Lights + wrong type of light spectrum + Top-off Failure.
Tank was equipped with dual 35 gallon containers in the basement for RO/DI water making/ mixing and pumping to 1st floor. SUMP located on 1st floor below the tank with auto top-off. Auto-Top off failed and resulted in a reload of 35 gallons of cool water from the basement.
Due to caulerpa outbreak and water chemistry failure + loss of life = Tank + Rock scrapped and claimed a loss.
# unable to setup again due to moving to new house.
* 2001 - 75 Gallon Tank up for 1 Month
# Tank Failed 1 month into Deep Sand bed setup and Nitrification process. Power Failure while away resulted in the loss of the only 2 fish I had (no LR). Tank Scrapped for when I was really ready in my new house.
* 2011 - Ready - Again

12+ years later
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Comments:
Looks like the Hobby changed a bit.
Lighting is finally here with LEDs (which is what I needed 12 years ago)
DeepSand Bed has been dropped ?!?! Are you serious? ... hahaha whats up with these new reefers. hahaha. woa?? -> High Flow External Pumps, Better Protein Skimmers (Damn these things are big now), Wicked Fast Internet Pumps, meh..
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What I'm going to bring to the table for my setup:
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Let me quote my boy Eric Borneman, " There is no "Right" or "Wrong" way to manage corals in an aquarium, except fullying admitting that Mother Nature does it right... and we often do it wrong".
ESTIMATED SETUP:
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Tank:
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75 or 90g (I may go 90 to get dual pre-drilled) - Thinking about it.
Sump:
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75g + - Possible wide spread sump via kiddy pool with Deep Sand Bed + Skimmer + Lights. Auto Top-Off 35g reserve pre-mixed
Target Light:
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LEDs (researching to build my own)
Research custom LEDs to support 440NM wavelength @ 6000-23k LUX at coral Depth. (F) PAR values ... it's all about the correct amount of LUX at the required wavelength for the coral. (we can debate later)
** as of now I'm research constant current PWM to control the Blues/Whites. Researching still.
Target Temp:
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26-27 degrees C (28c max)
Water:
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PH: 8.2 - 8.4 (Noted: 8.0 at night and 8.5 noon)
Salinity: 34-37 ppt (1.027) target via refractometer
No3- below 0.25 ppm
PO4 - below .13 ppm
calc : between 400-420 ppm
BACKUP:
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6500w Generator to operate Pumps / Heater during extended loss
UPS: to power heaters / PowerHeads if needed
35 Gallon pre-mixed - circulated - heated - RO/DI water ready to go
35 Gallon - Fresh water (non-mix)
PRE-TANK:
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10g w/Fluval 440 + 340 Filters for quarantine. Not sure on LEDs for this tank yet.
This is to eliminate ICH from new fish coming in if required.