New 29 Gallon nano Reef - about to fire up!

[Eisen McD]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum and have been searching through topics and taking in the wealth of information that's out here!
I am in the infancy stages of putting together a nano reef system based around a 29 gallon rectangular (Aqueon"¦Petco) glass display.

As of right now, I have the following:

"¢ 29 Gallon aqueon rectangular tank (from Petco 1$ per gallon sale)
"¢ 10 Gallon aqueon rectangular tank (for sump"¦from Petco 1$ per gallon sale)
"¢ "œAll glass" pine stand
"¢ 10 Gallon sump / refugium baffle kit (for building my 10 gallon sump)


Things I'm looking to acquire very very soon:

"¢ Lifereef nano overflow box (not looking to drill)
"¢ Powerhead(s)
"¢ 100w heater
"¢ Sump return pump "“ Eheim / Sicce / Lifegard quiet one
"¢ Dry Rock"¦looking at Pukani from BRS
"¢ Sand (not fine sand though, but not too "œgravely")
"¢ Lights (LED of some sort that's ok for soft coral)
Things I'll purchase eventually:
"¢ Protein skimmer (when its time"¦.when I get livestock I guess)
"¢ Reactor w/ pump


Questions:

"¢ Sump return pump brand. I would like to focus on getting something quiet. I hear Eheim is quiet. I've heard the same about Sicce? The "œLifegard quiet one" brand seems to be far cheaper"¦.but is it not as good as the other two?

"¢ Sump return GPH. I've heard 5x volume as the target. But, I would probably want to be able to go a little higher right (especially to accommodate any media / filter type pads and such). Is the "œ5x" figure based on the display tank size, or based on the water volume (display + sump)? If its just the display tank size (29 for me), 5x = 145, 7x = 203"¦.this taking the easy route and using the tank size as the base"¦not actual water in display (factoring out rock space and stuff). After taking into account head loss for my setup, it would appear something a Sicce Syncra silent 1.5 (357 GPH rated) would give me 250 actual GPH, or 8.6x turnover based on "œ29" display. And an Eheim 2000 (528 GPH rated) would give me 369 GPH or 12.9x turnover (again, these figures taking into account head loss). Any opinions on what my return pump should be capable of? 12.9x sounds REAL high, something I wouldn't want. But I don't want to get too small of a pump either.

"¢ Powerheads. 29 gallon rectangle, and lets say I get around 150 "“ 300 actual GPH out of the return (after head loss), what if I then just add one single Hydor Koralia Nano 425 or 565? Both are within $3 of each other in cost it seems (based on Amazon). I worry a bit about having two of these in a 29 gallon"¦.that'll start to take up a lot of room.  Would be looking to house soft corals mostly, not the difficult LPS and such.

 

[bmitchell138]

Welcome aboard!

This is the same system and almost the same equipment I started out with. If I were to do another 29 gallon tank I would custom build a stand to accommodate a 20 gallon long sump. The 10 gallon sump gets cramped in a hurry. I used a Quiet One return pump on my tank. I think it was rated for 350 or 400 gph. I started with Koralia 425s but switched to a Maxspect Gyre 130. As for lighting I used Current Marine Orbit LED and later upgraded to a Kessil 360WE, because I wanted to try growing SPS corals.

I didn't see mention of an ATO in your "things to get" list. If your budget allows it I recommend getting an ATO, it will keep your water level constant and maintain your salinity.

Also before you build out your sump make sure you decide on what skimmer you are going to use so you can build a chamber big enough to house it. I used a Tunze 9004 skimmer on my tank. It was very quiet, small footprint, and did a good job.

Here's a picture of my tank a few weeks before I took it down.

Good luck with your tank and remember - Take it slow!

 

[Eisen McD]

Thanks for the response, I appreciate the information! I really considered a custom built stand. But, in the end, my lack of any kind of wood working skills or tools...or experience.....this pushed me to find one I could use.

You mentioned Koralia 425s (meaning 2 of them?). did that clutter up the display tank, having 2 in there? oh, and I'm not familiar with what you switched to, but curious why you saw the need to switch (i.e. am I looking at the wrong powerhead brand?).

so, you've had a "quiet one" return pump in a setup like I'm going to have....did you find it fairly quiet? they are virtually half the cost of an eheim or other....makes me wonder "why"? just worried they are terribly loud...any thoughts there?

And indeed! I absolutely did leave the ATO off the list. Amongst several other things I'm sure. I do need an ATO, and would put that in the "will purchase eventually" category. I assume I can handle filling up with di water on a daily basis until I get one of those. The whole salt water maintenance thing is fairly new to me, only used to freshwater maintenance, so I'm able to judge real well on what will be a beating, and what will be easy.

Lastly....the sump size. I can so see a 10 gallon sump getting cramped real quick! the baffle kit I got seems to integrate 4 zones (1 - input / skimmer, 2 - fuge, 3 - bio / media racks, 4 - return). all that in a 10 gallon???? hmm. But, the picture make it look workable. and dimensions of the first and last chambers seem a good enough size for the skimmers & pumps (and something I can adjust as I'm the one putting everything together). I'm mostly looking forward to the sump as a fun place to mess around with the system. So while a 10 gallon sump seems so tiny, and possibly useless...its value in giving me entertainment is the draw for me!

 

[Eisen McD]

oh.....and that picture is aweomse! that looks really really nice....something I strive to hopefully create myself!

 

[bmitchell138]

I completely understand about building a stand. Just thought I would mention it since you are still in the "build" phase of your tank. A 10 gallon sump will be sufficient to house your heater, skimmer, chemical, and mechanical filtration. And small refugium if you so choose.

The Quiet One pump I had lived up to its name. They are very nice pumps for the price and they are fairly compact too. 3x to 5x turnover for a return pump is plenty.

I did have two Koralia 425 powerheads in my tank to start with. They won't be that noticeable and you can even position them on the back glass facing forward which will help hide them. The reason I switched to the Gyre 130 is because I wanted a wave-maker and I really like the features and the low profile of its design. Also I knew that I was going to be upgrading to a bigger tank and that was the wave-maker I wanted for the upgrade.

Manually topping off your tank will work just be sure to stay on top of it daily.

Oh and be sure to check out the stickies on this page. They have a wealth of information on setting up a marine system.

Keep us posted on your progress and post pictures too.