Plans for my SPS tank

[cowcio]

I really want to set this tank up the right way. I have already invested a lot of time and money into it and I want to see if there is anything that I'm missing. I live on the 3rd floor of an older house, so I can't do a large tank, but I can up the water volume by adding sumps/refugium.

I have:

65 gallon reef ready mega flow All-Glass aquarium
L*W*H
36 7/8 x 19 x 24 5/8

Custom 3 foot tall stand and canopy

Roughly an 18 gallon acrylic sump, drilled (under tank)

This sump will flow into:
Refugium (~30 gallons): Acrylic 32*12*18
then into
Sump (20) ---housing skimmer--- (~23 gallons): Acrylic 32*12*14


Euroreef cs6-1 skimmer, rated for 100 gallons
Little Giant 3mdqx pump rated for 1200 gph (return)
Seio 800 and 1100 powerheads and an Ehiem Aquaglobe (In tank...I want something different though)

Lighting is a 2x 250 watt MH built into the canopy. (2 m58 standard ballasts) and reflectors with Reeflux 12k bulbs
Icecap 660 ballast with end caps etc, set up for 2 -36” VHO actinic


Roughly 60 lbs of live rock in tank
60+pounds of LR in fuge


My Reef Creations small Nielson Ractor / Kalk stirrer
22H x 4" diameter, input and ouput are standard RO-size tubing

Reeftek Dual chamber Calcium reactor
Dual 18"H x 6" diameter reactor with MagDrive recirc pump.
more info here: http://www.reeftek.com/Calcium_Reactor.htm




Any suggestions? I want this to be as hands free as possible! Please help.

 

[Serioussnaps]

It sounds like you are on the right track, however, the only thing that looks suspect is the FLOW. I would recommend if you can afford it....a couple of Tunze 6000's with controller or you can wait for the Tunze Nanos they will be perfect for your tank....maybe a SCWD or sea squirt or something like that could help too on the return pump

You could just replace the Eheim aquaglobe with something like a MJ MOD and you would likely be set perfectly on flow...but you definitely need to address the flow if you ask me.

HOW ARE YOU GONNA ,MOVE THE WATER ACROSS THREE DIFFERENT SUMPS? OR IS IT JUST ONE BAFFLED SUMP?


Everything else sounds good...I am not even gonna touch on calcium reactor or kalk reactor because thats up to you but the only other thing that could maybe use a touch of an upgrade is the skimmer....

Do you plan on going DSB in the fuge or in tank? BB in tank? Let us know about whether you will be BB/DSB/ or SSB or a combo of these and that may help determine some methods tailored to your approach.

so far sounds like a great start

 

[cowcio]

Thanks for the response.

I was debating about how to move the water across the sumps... any recommendations? I will consider the Tunze 6000s, however if I do that, I won't be able to set up for another month or so and somebody is holding my coral(s) for me until I can get everything together.

I have a spare SCWD from another setup that I could use. Would I split the flow in the overflow?


I have also not decided on BB or not. I was considering doing a DSB in the fuge and going BB in the tank. The other option is DSB in the fuge and SSB in the tank. More than likely, I will have some sand in my tank.


The skimmer seems to be doing a great job for me, as I have this system up and running, but have not connected all of the new equipment/sumps.

I may also add in a phosban reactor...

Thoughts?

 

[cowcio]

Any help from the evening crowd?

 

[dvanacker]

2 250's with VHO actinics is gonna be hot. You might need a chiller.

Gravity moves water down....pumps move it up. That is pretty much the plan of any sump....if you have three they must be at slightly different heights.

 

[cowcio]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8283891#post8283891 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dvanacker
2 250's with VHO actinics is gonna be hot. You might need a chiller.

Gravity moves water down....pumps move it up. That is pretty much the plan of any sump....if you have three they must be at slightly different heights.

The tank is running without a chiller, I'm just making the system more SPS friendly and automated for my own personal needs. I have a choice of 4-6 fans blowing on the canopy.


My Refugium is the tallest of the 3 sump tanks. Right now I have just the 18 gallon sump running, which is the shortest.
Here's the flow plan (thanks gravity!)
Tank-Overflow-Refugium(18"tall)-Sump with skimmer(14"tall + 1 inch wood underneath)-Sump for reactors/ATO/return/(12" tall)

I will let gravity do its jobs and let the Little Giant return the water to the tank.

 

[cowcio]

I have put a little more thought into this. I have decided to do the following additions...


1.- Add a Reef Keeper 2 with pH probe. This will be used to control my lights, fans, powerheads, and monitor pH and temperature.


2.- I'm dumping the the Seio and Eheim pumps. I'm going with 2 Maxi-jet 1200s with the http://www.oceanflo.com/ upgrade. These powerheads will be hooked into the RK2 and will be on wavemaker control. (I might also add a SCWD to the return pump... we'll see)



3.- I'm also adding a DIY Phosban/Carbon reactor... We're doing the DIY at our club meeting next month, I'll give it a try and see how I like it...



Any more tips? Comments, Questions... all welcome!