my big tank recipe

[greatgman08]

hello all
(finally i get to post in here)
in a little while i will be setting up my new reef tank
i am still deciding on a 180 or 200 aga

i have been doing some research and would like some advice on my choices for my new to be tank

equpment
180 - 200 g aga
75 -90 g sump (ecosystem style)
sequence dart water pump
2 ecotech vortech powerheads +wireless driver
southdown sand (2-3 inches)
300 w heater
8 -10 bulb t5ho lghting (fixture or retrofit tbd)
100 lbs reef rocks
100 lbs live rock
no protien skimmer (if i decide to change from the ecosystem style i will ask for advice or i may employ the skimmer on a part time basis)
no calcium reactor ( i will dose calcium and etc)

livestock
10 bluegreen chromis
2 blue hippo tangs
2 or 3 yelow tangs
maybe a purple tang
a flame angel
maybee a regal or queen angel
a smowflake eel
aroyal gramma
2 scooter blennys
several clownfish
and maybee a few more tbd

inverts
100-200 blue and red legg hemis
feather dusters
frogspawn coral
xenia
elegance coal
leater coral (green hairy ,etc)
torch coral
a condy anemone
a hammer coral
maybee a few sps

so this is what i am going for
please feel fine to chime in with your suggestions and advice
as i value everybodys input
thanks i will try to get the tank started soon
i will be sure to include lots of pics of the build up process
because just like yo any post that doesnt have pics suck
im here every day so chime in ok ?

thanks

 

[Jetdrvr]

Thats an awfull lot of livestock to go skimmerless....
What will you be using for filtration?

 

[ricks]

That's about the same amount of fish I have in my 500. I would use a skimmer and if the SPS grow you will want a reactor for system stability...

 

[greatgman08]

i'm going to do a ecosystem sump

 

[Jetdrvr]

What is a ecosystem sump?

 

[usefulidiot213]

By ecosystem sump, do you mean DSB and Micro Algae..? Your bio load is very large. You will probably need a oversized Skimmer to handle that large of a load. Just a hole lot of waist with all those fish. Especially with the tangs..

You also might want to reconsider the regal or queen angel. Just because the angel is most likely going to feed off of most of your coral list. The flame angel might due the same thing, but less of a risk then the regal or queen..

Last thing is you might not want to stock several clownfish. As you mentioned. Because after they pair up, they will fight each other to the death for territory. With a large tank you might be able to get away with 2 pair, but still a risk... IMO of course.

 

[greatgman08]

the list is what i would prefer to have
that doesnt mean i will have all the fish in there

 

[ycnibrc]

Really when I look at all the dirty stuff my skimmer skim everyday I don't know how I can have a succesful SPS tank without a skimmer. You need all the help you can get to make your water clean. Now if you intend to keep mix reef with not a lot of sps then I guest water change will take care of your water but still with the technology of all the new skimmer now why not utilize it.

 

[Jetdrvr]

I have a skimmer on my 210 that will skim a 1000gal tank.
Get a skimmer!

 

[Hooked_on_Phish]

I think a good read on this deabate:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/eb/index.php

I personally believe it’s the husbandry and not the equipment. Look at your system and decide what is best for you based on that.

Good luck

 

[hobogato]

the 2 to 3 inch sand depth might pose a problem as well. too shallow to get the benefits of a DSB and too deep to keep clean. it could become a nutrient trap and make it difficult to keep the nitrates down. IME, this does happen - at least it did in my 240. i started with about 3 inches in the display and only after i removed most of it, taking it to about 1 inch deep, did my water quality improve.

 

[greatgman08]

well the lion is out (will eat my chromis clowns and hermits)
thanks for the advise your giving , keep it coming!
as far as the skimmer situation goes,
i have had experience with an eco system and know that it will do a good job on the fitration .
and i am considering a skimmer on a part time basis
thanks again

 

[Jetdrvr]

What size tank did you run this ecosystem on? Everyone that has responded to this thread has said the same thing, you need a skimmer. Why ask for advice if you are going to ignore it?

 

[ricks]

Beer comes before reefkeeping...

 

[greatgman08]

in no way am i ignoreing it
no way
but a ecosystem sump uses no skimmer

 

[badcop]

greatgman08,

As you can see by the responses ECOsystem sumps are not in wide use. I myself have not used the Ecosystem yet, but have future plans to implement it in a planned multibiotope fish room.

From what I learned so far, the key to success with Ecosystems is the patience of a saint.

 

[greatgman08]

the eco system was on a 90 g al w/ a 30 gal sump
10 lbs of caribsea miracle mud
worked great for me
i never had any luck keeping xenia but in the eco system the small frag i got at my reef club meet grew from a small frag to a
baseball sized peice in about 2 weeks my other frags grew well too
the reason it is not up is because i lost my job and had to move so i couldnt afford to keep it running
i still have the 90 sitting in the basement of my best friends house
untill i get it back up and running when i move down to florida
in a few months

 

[greatgman08]

bump

 

[jrod11]

I would also say to take out the elegance coral and the condy. i know that the elegance corals are very hard to keep alive in captivity. but im not that experienced, maybe you are. Also the condy will move around a lot and sting your corals.

 

[greatgman08]

thanks for the heads up on the condy and elegance