New Reef - Need recommendations

[Frogbone]

After a 16 year hiatus from the hobby I am ready to jump back in. I have forgotten so much during that time and technologies obviously have advanced so I am looking for recommendations for a few things.

I have picked out a tank that works well with my floor plan, it is a 135 gallon corner tank, 36"x36"x30" and it will be a mostly LPS and fish display tank.

I am planning on keeping all equipment on an industrial size shelf in my heated underground garage.
Before I drill holes through the 12" concrete floor slab I wanna make sure I have thought this all through.

The distance from the tank to the sump etc will be just shy of 20ft with a head of approx. 9ft.
Drains and return lines are 1"

Based on above, I am looking for hardware recommendations and I was hoping you guys could point me in the right direction.

- Lights: I'd like to get a decent proven LED setup
- Sump / Refugium: What size and what features should it have ? Any particular brands or models?
- Return pump: GPH, min head, brand and model of some good reliable pumps? Quiet and low energy consumption is a plus.
- Heater / chiller: Do I need both ? How would you go about this?
- Skimmer: In-Sump skimmer? What should I look for in specs ?
- Powerheads / wave makers:

Lastly what's the best way to get started with the setup of the tank once I have the hardware etc.

The tank comes with a lot of live rock but it had been neglected for years. Not knowing what all is growing on them should I completely clean them first, cure them in a curing tank and once that process is done add live sand and the clean rock to the display tank and then let it do it's thing until it's ready for livestock ?

I know these are a lot of questions and I greatly appreciate any and all tips and pointers

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Sump - Many people just use a standard tank & build into it. Saves a ton.
I run a 40 breeder, plain, no baffles, but you can add them if you like, use glass on glass not plexi., it will not hold correctly.
You will need a heater, it should be hooked into a controller for redundancy. Eheim is still well regarded. I use a titanium one and they all need a controller because there is no built in thermostat.
A chillers need can only be determined after a hot summer & the tanks temps. With everything in a basement cooler temps could be enough to do the job. Or if the house has AC you may not need one.
Skimmers- sized by tank volume alone - Reef Octopus is very well liked. If you use a roller filter you drop down 1 size.
Powerheads & Pumps - A tough choice here - Many swear by Jaebo DC products, oversizing the pump so it runs under full speed.
Tunze powerheads are IMHO great, they just run.
I have a DC pump with a 5 yr. warranty running internally that adds no heat to my system. I can give you a link if you would like.
If the rocks are wet or dry search curing rock & follow the instructions.
Many go BB, bare bottom. Reusing sand is not worth all the effort.
Lighting - more confusion here. Depending on how many options you want or don't & the money to spend, the choices are mind boggling.
I use Reefbreeder's, Radions are very good but$$$. Duala & Matrix have good reputations but again $$
Reef-Fi is an upcoming brand now.
A lot of people use a Black Box unit, cheap, out of China, few controls but do work & grow corals.
Know what you want with your budget & read what you can then pick one.
Hope that helps some.

 

[griss]

Welcome back. I'll preface this by saying that in over 40 years in the hobby, I've learned there is no one correct way to have a successful tank. So, you're likely to get a bunch of different answers on your question

1. LEDs - I won't comment here as I'm still running a 10K MH with actinic LEDs strips.
2. Sump - I'm currently running a 40 breeder tank with a 10 gallon sump. For the sump, as Vinny said, I bought a kit off eBay to put baffles in place. It was pretty inexpensive and easy to install.
2a. Refugium - I'm not currently running one but, when I do, I prefer a separate remote refugium from the sump. This allows me to better access it for pruning, maintenance, etc.
2b. When I (finally) get around to my tank upgrade (I have an eShopps sump for the upgrade) I plan to run a cryptic refugium in the refugium section of the sump and a remote (algae based) refugium as well. @Timfish has a lot of knowledge about cryptic refugiums.
3. Return Pump - I'd go with a DC controllable pump. If you're on a budget, Jebao's products have proven to be pretty reliable IME.
4. Heater/Chiller - As Vinny mentioned, it really depends on where you're located and how hot/cold it gets in your house.
5. Skimmer - A lot of people these days run their systems skimmerless. I personally run one but, that's just because I always have I'm using an old eShopps cone skimmer that I've had for years.
6. Powerheads/wavemakers - There are a lot of good ones on the market these days. Again, if you're on a budget Jebao is a good way to go. I've been running Jebao powerheads/wavemakers for years and love them.

If the rock and tank have been neglected for years, there is likely a lot of phosphate built up in the rocks that will leach and lead to algae issues. There are a couple approaches you could take to remove/mitigate the risk:
1. Start with all new rock. Either dry base rock, all new live rock or a combination of both. We don't have access to the really good rock (Fiji, Tonga, Marshall Island, etc like we did back in the day but, there are alternatives that are just as good IMO. Several aquaculture companies (like Tampa Bay Saltwater) have some really nice Gulf rock. KP Aquatics has really nice base and premium Florida Keys rock (I have some and it is great stuff).
2. Cook the rock....NO, not if the oven or on the stove. To cook it, place it in fresh saltwater in a large vat/tub and run a heater and powerheads and keep it dark. Periodically, do a water change and test regularly for phosphates. This can be a time consuming process but has proven pretty reliable over the years.
3. Give is an acid bath in muriatic acid to remove the outer layer (and phosphates) of the rock. Obviously, this has some risks as you're using an acid. If you decide to go this direction, be sure to research and use personal protective equipment ("PPE"). Not only can you harm yourself, others or pets, but you can turn the rock to mush if this method is performed incorrectly. In my previous tank, I was having algae issues from using old (phosphate laden) rock. When I decided to start over I bought some acid but, after researching, I decided it wasn't worth the risk to use this method and ended up cooking the rock.

 

[griss]

Oh, one more thing. We no longer shoot to have our nitrate and phosphate levels at zero. Here's a guide to parameters most hobbyists tend to shoot for these days.

 

[Frogbone]

Great info guys. Like I said, it's been a while and things sure seem to have changed a lot. e.g. skimmer less and the target parameters.
I will have lots of questions along the way ;-)

 

[Reefing102]

Welcome back! They got it pretty well covered. The only thing I’ll add is you can go with name brand (established brands) lighting, but a lot of the up and coming brands so far have been getting great reviews. I haven’t tried them yet, but if you’re a fan of the metal halide color spectrum, Luca from Quanta Lighting just released the Quanta Atlas which is said to give a color spectrum similar to that of a 14k HQI bulb.

 

[griss]

Great info guys. Like I said, it's been a while and things sure seem to have changed a lot. e.g. skimmer less and the target parameters.
I will have lots of questions along the way ;-)

No problem, ask away, that's what we're here for.

 

[Frogbone]

I think I am focusing my lighting on LED systems. It's really overwhelming what's out there so if anyone has some pointers as to what to look for or recommendations for specific brands and model please fire away

 

[Reefing102]

Honestly, any will work. It ultimately falls what look/features you want.

On my wife’s tank I run a SmatFarm LED set up. It works just as well but being a cheaper fixture, it lacks in spectrum in my opinion.
Many people also run LED/T5 for proper coverage and less shadowing as LED can cause a bit more shadowing issues. But you’ll get shadowing with any light source once coral grows in.

Just LED: Your basic lights like Viparspectra, MarsAqua, etc have limited 2 channel control but will grow corals. Then you have Smat farm, around the same price point, which gives you six channel control but again the spectrum leaves something to be desired in my opinion.

Mid range price point your looking at Noopsyche or ReefBreeders, Reefi Uno or Quanta Lights. Quanta will give a look similar to a 14k halide if you go with the Atlas. Their bars I believe are closer to AB+ spectrum if I’m not mistaken. Reefi gets rave reviews but I’ve heard the user interface is a bit dated. Noopsyche is okay. @BeanAnimal has had these lights and can give a better review. They have had significant shipping issues here recently. Can’t say I’ve seen any bad reviews of ReefBreeders photon or the new meridian. Many “names” in the hobby like @therman and BattleCorals run ReefBreeders on their systems.

Then you get into expensive brand names like AI, Neptune (may be discontinued), GHL, Orphek, etc…these usually will have the most control (up to 10 channels I believe depending on brand) and some of the most user friendly interfaces. You’ll find mixed reviews on all the big names mainly app issues it seems. All will grow corals effectively

 

[griss]

Lominie on Amazon gets good reviews. I’ve never used them personally.

 

[BeanAnimal]

@wvned has been running K7s for quite some time now.

 

[wvned]

the lights themselves work great, programming them is a pain.

Corner tanks are hard and 30 inches deep

3 lights in a triangle would be needed
Something like Kessil A360x