My 240 Long Project

[CaribbeanDream]

Just wanted to make a thread to get some input on the setup of my new tank. If it goes well I will keep it updated as much as possible. I have been reading these forums for a few years now and the amount of knowledge is remarkable. I've had various tanks but none I felt were done "right". That I will try, and hopefully with your help, do with this tank. I am aiming for an sps tank so I will plan my setup around that. I may still add some lps but I figure if I plan for the hardest stuff I should have no problems with anything else. Ok here goes the basic setup as it is now.

The tank will be in my basement 2 or 3 sides viewable with an adjacent sump room.

GC 240g long 96x24x25 starphire front and black seams.(picking up this Sat.)
300+ lbs dry rock.
Custom made stand.(in progress)
MRC 3 skimmer

Thats about it lol. I have ideas on various other things but I am hoping to get some input first. I have a lot of other equipment but dont want to include it cause I'm not sure if I will even use it.

One thing this hobby has taught me is patience. And this time I intend to do it right so I am ready for the long haul.. Hope you are too =P.


Ok first order of business...

Lighting and Flow..

Lighting:

My thoughts-
3 or 4 250w MH with Lumenarc style reflectors + actinics of some sort or
all t-5's.. not sure about these, I have never used them. I need you input here.

Flow: The tank will not be drilled for a closed loop. I have had one in the past and I like the versatility of powerheads better.

My thoughts-
2 tunze (may be too expensive, just depends) or
2-4 koralia 4's (modded or not) or
4 mj1200 mods

Thanks for you time and input. I will start posting some pictures after this weekend when the tank is picked up.

 

[Zach117]

Will need tunze or vortech in time, koralia will not be enough flow for sps once they grow. Especially with no closed loop.

 

[CaribbeanDream]

Ok, what is the amount of flow I should aim for? Seems the brand should not matter as long as the proper flow is achieved.

 

[CaribbeanDream]

Ok while I wait for some flow ideas. Can anyone make a suggestion on the lighting? I am looking at 3 options atm.

1) 4 250w mh with Lumenarc reflectors + 4 t5 actinics
2) 3 250w mh with Lumenarc reflectors + 4 t5 actinics
3) all t5's ~8-12 i suppose.

Thanks!

 

[AgentSPS]

I personally would strongly encourage you to think about a closed loop system(s) over powerhead idea. You don't necessarily need to drill the tank for this either. I purchased my current 220 used and did not want to drill. Instead I ran the intake to the bottom of my prefilter box and drilled out a hole for a bulkhead. There are other ways to do but I will leave up to you.

My reason for saying the closed loop is:

1) For a tank so long it will be difficult to create the optimum currents using powerheads.
2) With a closed loop you get near 100% of the GPH rating of the pump because it is not working against gravity (forced induction). This equates to the most flow for your dollar.
3) Utilizing an Oceans Motions you can attain random flow over 4+ channels. For this setup you might even think about incorporating two pumps and two OM's.
4) You want to prevent dead spots at the bottom of the tank. On my system, I raised all the rockwork on top of two giant staghorn branches. This left the bottom of the tank virtually free of any rock/obstacles. My OM has two channels at the top (left and right) and two channels at the bottom aiming toward the front of the glass. Having flow from the bottom creates an upwelling affect which will come in very handy when your corals start growing in. FWIW I am able to keep table corals that many others have not been able to. I attribute part of this to the upwelling.

5) Keep it simple: having a bunch of power heads in the system is just more maintenance. With CL you have two items to worry about.

6) Cooling is another issue. With all those power heads and lighting on top of that, you are going to generate a lot of heat. Your chiller will be working harder to keep the temp down. With a CL, you generate little to no extra heat.



LIGHTING:

In my experience Lumenarcs give the best sq footage for light. Even so I would say you can count on about a 24"x24" coverage per unit. So I would say you need 5 units for your tank. Over a 72" long tank, I used to have 400W in all three of mine but scaled back to 2x250 and a single 400W in the middle. This works just fine for me and I have great coloration. I should note that all my SPS are within 8" of the top. If you want to save yourself some coin on power you might try staggering 250w and 400w pendants. The overlap is sufficient enough that you don't notice the difference in brightness too much.

As for the T5 idea, thats a long run for T5's. No doubt you can make it work but you might also consider using VHO. With all the money you could save not powering internal pumps and associated cooling, you could justify VHO.

 

[CaribbeanDream]

Thanks for the reply AgentSPS. Do you have a pic of your closed loop by chance?

 

[AgentSPS]

Sure...here you go:



<img src=http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd33b3127cceb6bba21fb0fd00000026102AbN2rJqzbMu>

<img src=http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd33b3127cceb6bba21c31ce00000026102AbN2rJqzbMu>

<img src=http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd33b3127cceb6bba2fc312e00000026102AbN2rJqzbMu>

<img src=http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd33b3127cceb6bba2fbb01900000026102AbN2rJqzbMu>

<img src=http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd33b3127cceb6bba205b0e700000026102AbN2rJqzbMu>

<img src=http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd33b3127cceb6bba20231d000000025102AbN2rJqzbMu>

<img src=http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd33b3127cceb6bba211b0f300000026102AbN2rJqzbMu>

<img src=http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd33b3127cceb6bba21e31cc00000026102AbN2rJqzbMu>

 

[CaribbeanDream]

Awesome thanks! that gives me some more options, will consider it for sure.

 

[CaribbeanDream]

Ok.. I picked the tank up today. I will get some pics finally posted tomorrow. So far I will say I am VERY impressed with GC. As long as this puppy holds water I cant be happier. (fingers crossed lol) I had heard stories of sloppy silicone work but other than the drip on a panel here and there the its great. The seams look very clean. I did order the black silicone, maybe that is why. But to me if it looks like this the money was well worth it. Thanks for looking.

 

[Discustopia]

Here's a drawing of my closed loop setup.
To reduce the number of holes - the pressure side of the closed loop returns through T's buried under the sand to two outlets.
Lines of text are parts used to plumb each line
D1 and D2 are 2" drains coming up through the live rock.
C1,C2,C3,and C4 are the closed loop
-C3 and C2 exit both towards the opposite end of the tank and back towards the near opposite corner with a 45deg return, all nozzles pointing in a race-track pattern of flow
R1 is the sump return
M1,2 and M3,4 are a Reeflo Dart and a custom 3-phase variable speed Dart I built myself to pulse waves