:wavehand:
I am building a new office, and putting in a 800g tank... eventually wants to do coral/reef tank. I would like some advice on start up... anything you got would be great! I have not run a salt tank in over 10 years, so I know a lot of things have changed! I won't be in the building for a year, and won't bring a full reef tank on line for ever more time (I don't think my wife has a clue how much it is going to cost just for the hardware!:hmm2: :love2
Here is what I have so far:
Overview:
:dance:
Tank:
all glass from customaquariums.com
Planning on getting a 48"x48"x72" tank (800g), and another 200-300g of refugium, sand, and overflow water.
Refugiums
A couple of rubber made watering trough tanks. I will likely get a couple of 5gal buckets of deep sand (in bucks for easy trade out in a few years)
Lights
MakersLED... I figures I will need about 3 72" mounts (may have to cut down a bit), with 20 lenses, about 425 LED with a mix of colors, and a little over 1000W of LED power.
Chiller:smurf:
Looking at TECO or Arctica!??!?! I really have no clue here.
Control
This is kinda a big deal to me (computer nerd in a former life:strooper
. I would really like to find something that would remotely control and monitor the whole thing... Overall I alike the MakerLED stuff, but I want it to send info back and forth to my cell... alarms, monitors, and changes. But I can't find a system that does this well, and talks to everything.
Heat Exchanger:angryfire:
Planning on a VHR 70R heat recovery vent. Just to get the salt air out, and not have it too hot or cold in the tank room (chiller should take care of most of the tank)
Surge tanks
A Couple of them, something like
http://angel-strike.com/aquarium/CirculationSystem.html
Protein skimmer
Clearly a Large protein skimmer, but trying to decide if it is any cheaper to build vs buy one!??!
Pump
Dolphin? ReeFlo? Wow, I really have no idea on a big pump like these!
Ca:frog:
Kalkwasser and/or Calcium reactor?!!? Again back to the build or buy question
RO Water
Crazy hard water here, so will go through these like crazy!
Filtration:fish2:
Several ways I am looking at this... but mostly the protein skimmer, and Refugiums for natural control of the rocks and a couple of buckets of deep sand bed. I'm sure I will have some filter fiber filters, or maybe some poly or something else for emergencies, but I think that is about it.
Power Heads:fish1:
Because you just can't have too much water movement in a 800g tank! Tunze? Maxi-Jet?
Thanks all... and suggestions are very welcome!! (esp the controller, The rest I won't make too big a mistake...at least I can just buy a new power head if I don't get a good one)
I am building a new office, and putting in a 800g tank... eventually wants to do coral/reef tank. I would like some advice on start up... anything you got would be great! I have not run a salt tank in over 10 years, so I know a lot of things have changed! I won't be in the building for a year, and won't bring a full reef tank on line for ever more time (I don't think my wife has a clue how much it is going to cost just for the hardware!:hmm2: :love2

Here is what I have so far:
Overview:
- Large tank
- Two large sump tanks with deep sand beds
- One small overflow tank
- LED lighting system
- Two return pumps (one for the tank, one for the surge tanks)
- Surge tanks
- Heat exchange ventilator
- Inline water Chiller
- Large Protein skimmer
- Kalkwasser and/or Calcium reactor
:dance:
Tank:
all glass from customaquariums.com
Planning on getting a 48"x48"x72" tank (800g), and another 200-300g of refugium, sand, and overflow water.
Refugiums
A couple of rubber made watering trough tanks. I will likely get a couple of 5gal buckets of deep sand (in bucks for easy trade out in a few years)
Lights
MakersLED... I figures I will need about 3 72" mounts (may have to cut down a bit), with 20 lenses, about 425 LED with a mix of colors, and a little over 1000W of LED power.
Chiller:smurf:
Looking at TECO or Arctica!??!?! I really have no clue here.
Control
This is kinda a big deal to me (computer nerd in a former life:strooper

Heat Exchanger:angryfire:
Planning on a VHR 70R heat recovery vent. Just to get the salt air out, and not have it too hot or cold in the tank room (chiller should take care of most of the tank)
Surge tanks
A Couple of them, something like
http://angel-strike.com/aquarium/CirculationSystem.html
Protein skimmer
Clearly a Large protein skimmer, but trying to decide if it is any cheaper to build vs buy one!??!
Pump
Dolphin? ReeFlo? Wow, I really have no idea on a big pump like these!
Ca:frog:
Kalkwasser and/or Calcium reactor?!!? Again back to the build or buy question
RO Water
Crazy hard water here, so will go through these like crazy!
Filtration:fish2:
Several ways I am looking at this... but mostly the protein skimmer, and Refugiums for natural control of the rocks and a couple of buckets of deep sand bed. I'm sure I will have some filter fiber filters, or maybe some poly or something else for emergencies, but I think that is about it.
Power Heads:fish1:
Because you just can't have too much water movement in a 800g tank! Tunze? Maxi-Jet?
Thanks all... and suggestions are very welcome!! (esp the controller, The rest I won't make too big a mistake...at least I can just buy a new power head if I don't get a good one)