new tank setup with a few questions.

[biggins151]

I recently moved into a new house and found some great items left behind.

- A 65 gallon Tall ( I think) 48" wide 25" tall 13" deep

&

- A 48" t-5 ballast with a 3 of 4 bulbs burnt out.


So I decided to set it up as a reef tank downstairs in a half moon wall cut out to be able to view it from both sides.

I'm going to have to get some stronger shades to keep closed during peak sun hours to reduce the excess lighting it will get, but I'm willing to work around it.

There were a few shitty fluorescent lights left on the old tank that I just laid across until I figure out if this T-5 ballast will work. And a HOB mechanical filter from an old tank of mine that I just scrubbed clean and put on to start cleaning it up as best as possible.

I ordered a Pro flex Model 2 Sump over the weekend and it should be here tomorrow or Wednesday. I've never set up a sump but I've been doing a lot of research on it and bought what seemed to have the best reviews, instead of trying to DIY the first time. I will let you guys know how it goes :hmm2:


I have a few questions though.

- Is that lighting enough / too much for the tank? And if its right for the set up then about what height off of the water should I have it?

- I had the tank nudged up against the one side in hopes to have the overflow box / siphon AND the return from the sump all out of sight behind the wall on the left when looking at it from the front. ( see 5th image ) Is that possible? Never really seen it. I'm guessing due to the fact you want good flow in the tank and not both the in and out in one side. But, I figured if you had a few well positioned power heads than it would work out. and maybe stager them? Overflow / siphon on top and the return, a bit lower into the tank shooting out. No?

- I'll be looking to getting a skimmer for the sump below. Any recommendations on a decently priced one for this set up? roughly 80 or so gallons.

- Lastly I have a 10 gallon nano that I have had for a year or so with some small corals and a red banded goby with a pistol shrimp and a few other things. I was wondering which stuff from the filtration I can add to my sump once I get it set up to give it a little jump start. I've read all over that people hate those bio balls. But what about the little ceramic tubes in the bag? Could I just buy a new replacement bag for my nano and drop the current nano one into my sump? I have a few aipstasias on my current rock in the nano so I don't want to risk transferring those over at the current moment.

Thank in advance for your help! Can't wait to get this thing going! I will for sure take some photo updates as it progresses.

Here are a few images of the area.. let me know what you guys think..




You can see the tank they left in the background and side of these photos..

The Table ($45 in wood from home depot)

After putting in the water, rock and sand last night. (buying some live rock today to mix in and start aquascaping in the next few days.)

The T-5 Lighting in question..

This morning

 

[biggins151]

Hey Mods,

Could you please move this to the new to the hobby forum. I think I might get a little more help there.

Thanks.

 

[Dino]

Done.

 

[biggins151]

Thank you!

 

[IDreamOReefin]

Nice freebie score.
If the lights will be sufficient depends largely on what you plan on keeping under them. The tank being tall will alter this a bit I think.
If you're going to have your overflow and return on the same side you will want good water movment in the tank. Look into the maxspect gyre. It might be the kind of flow pattern that would be helpful with your idea. Another idea would be to run your return line to the far end of the tank and "hide" it behind a tank seam. Maybe.
I've heard good things about Reef Octopus skimmers but I'm currently running a HOB so I have no experience on the matter. Just passing along what I've heard.
I belive that the ceramic tube and bioballs have the same issue with becoming nitrate factories. This choice will depend on your husbandry practices. I'm lazy so I avoid them.
If you have aptasia in your small tank I believe there will be a contamination risk on anything you move to the large tank.
Should be cool looking when you get the install done. Hope that helps a bit.GL.

 

[biggins151]

I plan on just keeping LPS and mushrooms and zoos. No SPS. And obviously starting off decently slow to see how some of the different corals handle different placement of the tank before dropping a bunch of coin to find out certain corals at the bottom aren't getting enough light.

That Gyre looks great! I'll have to look a little more into it before dropping that money but from a quick look at how works it looks fantastic.

The reef octopus did look like a good one and had a some good reviews on it. I was just gonna wait to see what you pros had to say in terms of advice on them.

As for the 10 gallon, I'll play it safe and not bring anything from my old tank into my new one. Not worth the risk of cross contaminating anything.

Thank you and yes any advice is appreciated! I'll take some more photos as the tank gets going more. Its still quite boring as of now obviously.

 

[IDreamOReefin]

I THINK that light should work (maybe some new bulbs) for you but hopefully a more tech minded reefer will confirm or deny this for us.

 

[Mark9]

Why didn't you center the tank in the cut out?

 

[biggins151]

I'm still contemplating that before I organize all the rock again.

I wanted to hug it against one side to hide the HOB siphon and the return as much as possible, when viewing from the main living room. I'm making a distressed wood sign to hang over the top part to hide the light. So it won't really have that odd semi circle look to it. It will just look like a square little window on the one side.

Setting everything up tomorrow and will see how everything looks then. More photos to come!

 

[biggins151]

So here it is with the t-5 light hanging above

And I'm hoping to make a sign about this size to hang over & cover up the light so its not blinding when sitting on the couch in the living room. Still contemplating what I want on it....

Or maybe some english ivy above it.. I'm not sure just yet but I need to put something up there haha