New 380 reef

[BPK REEF]

Good evening,
I used to have 1000 gallons of reef in 4 connected tanks under house that got destroyed by Hurricane Irma in 2017. It took a long time to rebuild our house and we finally did it and I bought a used 380 acrylic from some really nice people who had it set up as fish only in a restaurant. Since I’ve been out of the hobby for 5 years I‘d like to ask more experienced people about the latest information.

Old system was Berlin style with a 4 inch live sand bed, red sea reef salt, tons of Tampa Bay live rock, a big chiller, Kiessel Lights, a huge Royal protein skimmer and a double barrel calcium reactor. It worked great and was very natural with no high tech or additives.

here are some photos/videos of the system I just bought. My impression is that the automated functions of this system are outdated and should be replaced. My question is with what? Should I stay old school or go high tech and buy the latest Apex sent up? This set up came with 4 EcoTech G4 pros which are still very nice but do they have the output to get 300+ PAR at 36” deep? My old system was 18” deep.

what is the best way to clean all the algae and gunk out of the tank and equipment? I’ve got plastic only cleaning tools But no acrylic knowledge.

Thanks for any and all info. gg

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Vinegar or citric acid to clean the equipment.
If it's a powerhead or submersible pump no more than 15 minutes submerged in vinegar as it degrades the epoxy.
Citric acid will NOT affect it.
I would use the things in the photos as long as they work & do what you need, why spend when not necessary.
Read the following thread for cleaning acrylic:

Micro abrasions on acrylic from using algae pad

I used an acrylic pad to clean my acrylic for the first time. It left micro abrasions. You cant see them from a distance but you can see up close. is this just what happens when you clean acrylic? In the two months I've had the acrylic setup, I've only cleaned the panes 3 times. I used my...

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