New prop system

[RRodrigues]

Hi all,

I'm planning my first prop system for hard and soft corals and want all advice I can get:

Dimensions: 79 x 27 x 16 (148 gal) - 16" is too much for height?

Filtration: live rock (lbs?) and DIY skimmer in sump, bare-bottom?

Lighting: 3 x 150W hqi (10k or 14k?) + T8 actinic + natural light, the tank is going to be in front of a window (North, no direct sun);

Auto Top-off with RO/DI and Nielsen reactor;

Water circulation 15x tank volume;

I'm going to use natural seawater;

In the future I'm planning to use a Calcium reactor;

I'm not planning to use any chemical product to increase coral growth;

I'm planning to do frequent water changes for nutrient recycling and pristine water conditions.

Any suggestion will be appreciated.

Thank you,
Ricardo Rodrigues

 

[sharkdude]

what are your goals?
ie a for profit venture vs hobby level for locals,
display worthy prop system vs bare bones garage style system,
maxiumum growth vs best coloration, etc

what type of start up and maintenance budget do you have?

answers to questions like these will influence best approaches

 

[RRodrigues]

Hi sharkdude,

My goals are: first time profit venture, garage style system and maximum growth with strong coloration. For live start-up I've got several corals that Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ used to propagate in my 190 gal and 55 gal reef tanks. What do you mean with maintenance budget?

Regards,
Ricardo Rodrigues

 

[GreshamH]

16" is just fine IMO, my new 60" x 48" will be 16" tall. Costing me another $200 as it requires thicker acrylic for both the sides and the eurobracing.

 

[gobygoby]

I think 16" is a good hieght but not for a prop tank. mine is 13.5" tall and I think it could be shorter. 48" x 36" x 13.5 ~90 gals.

If I would do mine over again it would be around 10-11" tall.
but if you are going to do a sandbed 16" may not be so bad. I am not doing a sand bed because when corals fall off the racks they can get buried and die in the sand.

Goby

 

[Jnasty31]

Height

Height

I think 8-10" with a barebottom is the way to go. Good Luck with your project

 

[RRodrigues]

Hi,

The wood structure that's going to support the prop tank and sump is already done.

The tank's height is going to be 12".

Hope to post more more updates soon.

Ricardo

 

[gobygoby]

looks good! Is that stand made out of hard wood?

Goby

 

[RRodrigues]

Yes, pine wood and MDF.

Ricardo

 

[gobygoby]

well....here in the US pine is considered soft wood. Looks too red to be pine....but hey if you say its pine, then its pine.

Looks good!

Goby

 

[RRodrigues]

What's the diference between soft and hard wood?

 

[gobygoby]

one is hard and one is soft...

one soft wood is pine. you can gouge it with your fingernail. there is lots of other soft woods. They dent rather easily.

Hard wood is like oak, ash, poplar...they are very hard and dense. IMO look better when stained then compared to soft woods.

hth
Goby

 

[RRodrigues]

Ok, thank you for the info!

 

[RRodrigues]

Hi,

I'm not sure what to use as lighting: 3 x 150W or 2 x 250W??? The tank is only 12" tall but my goal is to increase coral growth. I'm going to use actinics also.

As for color temperature (Kelvin) what do you recommend me?

Thank you,
Ricardo

 

[gobygoby]

I used both wattages.....but I like the 250's best.

Goby

 

[RRodrigues]

I'm going to use 3 x 150W (electricity is expensive here in Portugal). This prop tank is mainly for soft corals.

Now let's go for photos:

New 110gal prop tank!!!

New 42gal sump

Ricardo

 

[robwsup]

Tank looks great. What was your cost on the glass?

 

[zanemoseley]

Thats a nice stand, looks like someone knows their woodwork.

 

[SaveOurReefs]

glass looks really nice man!

 

[CoralNutz]

Looking awsome, can't wait to see it up and running. :thumbsup:

Will there be any "teeth" on the overflow, or will it just be smooth?