Nano SPS Tank - Suggestions Needed

joelsaxton

Premium Member
I am thinking about setting up a faux-sandbed SPS nano tank at home. I have some ideas of how I want to do this but I would like suggestions from the members here:

20g tall tank (glass or acrylic)

sand + epoxy mix for creating faux sandbed (0.5 inches)

ASM G1 skimmer with recirc and gate valve mods (or perhaps AquaC Urchin?)

30-40g sump with sock, refugium chamber, and space for skimmer and return pump (any suggestions here?)

Chiller (suggestions perhaps) if fan doesn't do it

150w 10k MH bulb with 1 actinic pc

600 gph return pump (I am thinking about an eheim submersible or a mag drive - or perhaps a single larger pump to drive skimmer and return flow)

kalk auto topoff (suggestions?). I have a ReefRelief setup on my 240g tank.

If anyone here has undertaken such a project please let me know, thanks!
 
I actually used to have almost this exact same tank before I upgraded to a 29 gallon.

I had a 20 gallon long with a faux sand bed and I ended up hating the faux sandbed. While it does hold less nutrients than an SSB, the rough texture of the sand on top does hold some of the crap, leading to odd patches of green algae which are nearly impossible to scrub off, at least for me (and this was with 65X turnover). After a month of it I got sick of the look and went full BB, and never looked back. You can try it if you want, but consider that its been a known idea here for a year or more, and yet how many pics do you see of tanks with it past the original setup pics?

The skimmer choise is good IMO. I'd stay away from the urchin. I have an ASM G2 and had a remora, and man, the G2 blows it away. I'm sure the G1X, having the same pump, would do the same. No comparison. sure its overkill for a 20 gallon, but better to have overkill than something that never worked reliably, at least for me.

That's definetly a nice, large sump, but I wonder why you need the refugium. Most people who run BB, or faux sand bed (essentially the same idea) use the skimmer for nutrient export and don't use a refugium, as it kind of defeats the purpose. theoretically there shouldnt be anything in the water for macros and the like to grow with. Perhaps others have other ideas about it, but I'm not sure its necessary.

With my setup, all I needed was a fan with my 150 watt metal halide. If you live somewhere particularly hot, you might need the chiller, but I doubt it. Set it up, see what your temp is with a fan, and then decide. I doubt you'll need to drop the cash on the chiller.

Will you have other flow sources other then the 600gph return? If so, I recommend two seio 620s in the upper rear corners pointed to the middle front. They're a little big, but my SPS love the flow and they're simpler and more power efficient than a closed loop.

Good luck with the tank and I look forward to seeing what you settle on.
 
do you like starboard at least?

Yes, if I can avoid a chiller, I certainly will. I live in LA but I have an AC in my place already. I'd actually like to try T5's as opposed to mh but I have not heard much about how well they compare to mh's. I was thinking I might just get a larger return pump and run everything from the skimmer to the return pipes thru it. Then I can have multiple returns coming into the tank to make the turnover flow better.

Don't you worry about NO3 and PO4 if you are not growing ANY algae?
 
I actually don't use starboard, as its usually used to protect the tank in case of rock slides. Because of the small size of the tank and the large size of the rocks, I don't have any stacking, so nothing to fall and crack the glass. I love the look of the plain, unpainted glass bottom, because with just the glass and the metal halides, the bottom glass reflects light like a mirror. I can actually see underneath the rocks this way, and it makes the tank look bigger. That being said, its just my opinion. Some love the look of starboard. Its mostly a personal decision.

I've heard great things about T5s as well, but never tried them myself. I'm sure others can chime in here.

I personally would avoid the larger sump pump. I tried this myself, and the problem is that with such a large turnover rate, your skimmer wont be running optimally (the G1X pump requires about 250 gph or so through it, any more won't help it) and the faster flow means more microbubbles returning to the tank, which just looks annoying. With such a large sump though, this might not be that big a deal. I suppose its up to you. To get good flow in a nano sps tank, you'd need something like a mag 9.5 or so, right? Those use a lot more wattage than two seio pumps, which means more heat to deal with. But perhaps eheims are more efficient....

In the end its up to you. I only have experience with my one tank. I'm sure others can offer other opinions to consider.
 
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