possibly getting bak into the hobby and have a few questions....

N

Naperville Reef

New member
It's been about 5 years since I last posted on the forum but was a pretty active member back in the day. I'm considering starting up a reef tank and looking for some guidance. Seems like a lot has changed. Any input is appreciated.

Looking to do a 60x24x24or30.
Need to have a canopy.

Lighting - hoping to mount a fixture under the canopy. t-5 or LED? want to grow SPS and concerned about over heating the canopy. what's my best option for spectrum and heat?

calcium reactor or dosing? is it needed?

what other media does everyone run? I think I had a phosban reactor in my sump. are those still used?

anything new to the hobby that is a must have???? honestly, I'm feeling a little lost since it's been so long. any guidance is MUCH appreciated.
 
Personally, I still love T-5 and that is what I run on my SPS tank. As long as you have a fixture with fans, you shouldn't have any over heating problems. LED's are very popular right now and there are tons of different fixture that will also work.

I am afraid of calcium reactors, so I choose to dose. Although, since I started using Aquavitro Salinity salt, I don't need to dose as often.

People still run gfo reactors. Personally, I dose vinegar to help keep things in check...
 
Look who's back! I'm the one still here (many got moved on and started another, quite limited forum).

I have a 5x2x2 and love it! Mine is Deep Sea Aquariums, brick style (thick glass, no cross brace). Come see some time.

I have an open canopy ... Open back and top. They built it with a l-l shape light rack that just lifts out. No heat issues. I use MH and vho supplement. Like skimmers and much else, those who spent bagloads and hours on LED will swear by them, but the knowledgable in the industry if you are friends with them, don 't use or recommend them even when they sell them. Lots of long-term reasons. But regardless I prefer by far the look and "feel" of MH/VHO.

Run GFO only if phosphate levels tell you to. Get a hanna ph checker.

Calcium reactor. For years I was dumb enough to be scared. Guess what? Easy peezy!

Controller! Neptune Apex for me. And I still prefer Tunze streams for Rogers amazing support.

Any time! Email me and you are welcome to pop by some time.
 
ya its still the same... don't get led's some have success but halides/t5 are still the best for for most setups, sps calcium reactor for larger setups is still good. I would check out the reef angel controller as well, its a little cheaper and love it. their are new tunze knockoff called wp40's would look at those, i have 4 now no issues they are very inexpensive and move a lot of water. the kids all like the chinese skimmers and will tell you all about them. you can find deltec's H&S etc and stuff like that used very cheap. Have fun.
 
Skimmer: Timber is right re popularity but remains the case for a large tank, if space exists and skimmer won't be in the living room, that downdraft (ETSS) or Beckett will blow away any needle wheel ever can. Better for O2 as well
 
BigReefer23 said:
Personally, I still love T-5 and that is what I run on my SPS tank. As long as you have a fixture with fans, you shouldn't have any over heating problems.
Click to expand...

thanks for input. what brand of t-5s are best or generally recommended? Will a 4 foot fixture with 4 bulbs suffice or should I get one with 8 bulbs?
 
ostrow said:
Look who's back! I'm the one still here (many got moved on and started another, quite limited forum).

I have a 5x2x2 and love it! Mine is Deep Sea Aquariums, brick style (thick glass, no cross brace). Come see some time.

I have an open canopy ... Open back and top. They built it with a l-l shape light rack that just lifts out. No heat issues. I use MH and vho supplement. Like skimmers and much else, those who spent bagloads and hours on LED will swear by them, but the knowledgable in the industry if you are friends with them, don 't use or recommend them even when they sell them. Lots of long-term reasons. But regardless I prefer by far the look and "feel" of MH/VHO.

Run GFO only if phosphate levels tell you to. Get a hanna ph checker.

Calcium reactor. For years I was dumb enough to be scared. Guess what? Easy peezy!

Controller! Neptune Apex for me. And I still prefer Tunze streams for Rogers amazing support.

Any time! Email me and you are welcome to pop by some time.
Click to expand...

Hey Joel. How are things? Yeah, I don't recognize many user names on here. The board changed quite a bit around the time I left the hobby. Glad to see it's back to normal.

Anyways, if I pull the trigger I may take you up on your offer to check out your tank. If I go with same dimensions but a bit taller do you think the T-5s would still be a good option? I used to run MH and loved it but due to the placement of this one I have to have a canopy and MHs won't work.

This tank would be placed in a way that one side will be against the wall with the front, back and other side will be visible. So i'm considering getting an acrylic tank made with the overflow on the side that would be against the wall. I figure if I put a Tunze on the side without the overflow it will properly circulate and turnover the water from that side. Never done acrylic and concerned about it scratching.
 
Timber77 said:
ya its still the same... don't get led's some have success but halides/t5 are still the best for for most setups, sps calcium reactor for larger setups is still good. I would check out the reef angel controller as well, its a little cheaper and love it. their are new tunze knockoff called wp40's would look at those, i have 4 now no issues they are very inexpensive and move a lot of water. the kids all like the chinese skimmers and will tell you all about them. you can find deltec's H&S etc and stuff like that used very cheap. Have fun.
Click to expand...

thanks for your thoughts. any recommendations of T-5s?
 
ostrow said:
Skimmer: Timber is right re popularity but remains the case for a large tank, if space exists and skimmer won't be in the living room, that downdraft (ETSS) or Beckett will blow away any needle wheel ever can. Better for O2 as well
Click to expand...

Tank will be in basement and will run a sump beneath. Are downdrafts loud or just big? (reason why it's not ideal in living room)
 
Naperville Reef said:
Hey Joel. How are things? Yeah, I don't recognize many user names on here. The board changed quite a bit around the time I left the hobby. Glad to see it's back to normal.

Anyways, if I pull the trigger I may take you up on your offer to check out your tank. If I go with same dimensions but a bit taller do you think the T-5s would still be a good option? I used to run MH and loved it but due to the placement of this one I have to have a canopy and MHs won't work.

This tank would be placed in a way that one side will be against the wall with the front, back and other side will be visible. So i'm considering getting an acrylic tank made with the overflow on the side that would be against the wall. I figure if I put a Tunze on the side without the overflow it will properly circulate and turnover the water from that side. Never done acrylic and concerned about it scratching.
Click to expand...

That is exactly the way Jose Dieck had his setup. I don't see why MH won't work. My setup that got destroyed in fire had a canopy with lift-top, and was fine though not ideal (and contributed to the fire due to the VHO wiring system). This one opens from the front, and is a "crown" with a removable lighting rack. I don't see why this wouldn't work for you on lighting. Look in my gallery or check out my thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1782772

Some of my setup pics got nuked from there so check my gallery:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/album.php?albumid=1250

The light rack and crown are in there. As for acrylic vs glass, I prefer glass myself and it is kid-toy-proof in terms of scratches....

As for the skimmer, the pressure-rated pump needed to run a downdraft or beckett can be loud, and the skimmers are large. Basement though is perfect. You may recall I was modding impellers and had a monster needlewheel custom made that was fantastic. But the ETSS destroyed that. Not even close. But they are pricey to run due to the power usage of the pressure-rated pump required.

If the overflow doesn't take up the entire side on the wall, a 6105 or 6205 on either side of the overflow, run on the Apex, can give you nearly a 2" wave and alternating random flow. I have posts of my settings and I think a video in the Neptune forum in slief's thread on his Tunze settings.
 
First of all, your tank looks fantastic. Pictures like that make me want to set up a tank right now! Good work.

I guess I imagined a canopy that wasn't as tall and was worried about heat and splash. But your canopy looks real nice. Where did you get it? Did they also make the light rack? Also, the back of your canopy is open where mine will have to be closed. That helps greatly with ventilation. I will probably have to mount several fans on the canopy side that faces the wall.

Any idea how much heat T-5s generate versus MHs?

You bring up a great point regarding the overflow. Maybe I should have it 3/4 of the way so I can "hide" another pump for extra flow? That sounds pretty good.
 
DSA custom built the tank and the stand/canopy/rack for me. I believe I paid through Premium, as there is no way to pay DSA direct. But they can help you for sure. Great people (former staff of Oceanic, the tank designers and builders, so they are the old Oceanic tanks only better).

I had the option to close the back of the crown. It would not much affect heat dispersal, as really it goes up. But height of canopy needed depends on lighting used. With MH I could handle 12" or so above the water.

No matter what, two fans is plenty if the canopy is open on top. I use icecaps mounted in the back corners. You could mount them anywhere on the inside of the crown.

I just don't like the look of T5s. If you used halides, I am telling you, you will not like it. You get no shimmer and it looks sort of stagnant. Hard to describe. But less heat. Still, you need similar wattage so not sure of the savings in the end. But there's nothing like MH+VHO actinics IMO.
 
ostrow said:
DSA custom built the tank and the stand/canopy/rack for me. I believe I paid through Premium, as there is no way to pay DSA direct. But they can help you for sure. Great people (former staff of Oceanic, the tank designers and builders, so they are the old Oceanic tanks only better).
Click to expand...

What is DSA and Premium???? Would like to call them to discuss pricing, etc...

Also, what brand MH are you using? I use to have the Reef Optix 3 HQI pendant with ice cap 250w electronic ballast and used a 250W Reeflux 12K bulb. Is that still a good set up? If not what do you recommend.

By the way, thanks for all the input. It's helping me a lot.
 
I used to use over-driven Reeflux. You can't really get magnetic core ballasts anymore (which sucks. Wish I had bought spares when I bought the ones I use.)

I LOVE my 250W 20K Radiums with VHO super actinics. The radiums need to be run on HQI ballasts. You can apparently get electronic ballasts and put them on HQI settings now. I am not even sure what the reflectors are. Lumenmax?

You could make life easier and get one of the Hamilton Cebu Sun fixtures. Although not indicated on the retailer websites I know from experience Hamilton can be convinced to configure to your specs (250 w vs 175 w for example).

Premium = Premium Aquatics. Email jeremy @ premiumaquatics dot com and tell him I sent ya. He will confirm that lighting, I assure you.

DSA = deep sea aquatics http://www.deepseaaquatics.net/index.php/
 
I have a pfo 400 dual hqi ($80)and 2 pfo mini pendants $20 each..to get you going , they need double ended bulbs or you could get some used lumen arcs at reef wise and run radiums or reflux. I have a couple ice cap 250's mh ballasts $25 each, (I'm only posting pricing because the rules say you have to )...giving you an idea whats out there and cleaning out my reef closet :) reef wise he just switched to led's , he had like 20 400's going can't imagine the power bill and heat that generated...hes got some top of the line led's going but it doesn't look like the radiums did. well some lps look maybe a little better (lighting is so subjective powering 2 halides is not so bad , since the whole world wants led's you can pickup a used chiller for under $300 that would have been $2K a decade ago. Im good with fans on a controller on my reef.

i used to be called aurora fish on rc but got divorced, moved to lemont. I was shocked as the chicago form used to have so many daily posts, but i think there are a lot of lurkers on here. Out of the hobby 5 years and came back in 2 years ago... really the big new changes are little short skimmers from china most of which are bk knockoffs they all skim very wet, the wp40 stream type pumps tunze knockoff are actually good and move a lot of water, apex or reef angel controller is nice and any newer controller does a lot more than they used to..and the LED which do work, but the technology seems to be changing about as fast as one comes out they have a newer better model.. i think led will get there, but have not seen any except insane setups like canar's that look better than a simple mh can .. the cebu sun fixtures are nice for a canopy..
equipment wise would suggest used calcium reactor setups go for cheap, i know if you search have seen korralin 's on chicago forum fairly cheap, for some reason nobody runs ozone, but not sure why it still works, kalk stirrers, there is a sponsor on rc called avast, i have their stirrer and really like it a lot. I feed mine with a liter meter 3 thats gotta be at least 16 years old and still kicking unless your tank is huge, closed loops have went the way of the dinosaurs, the new little pumps are silent and move a lot of water.
I have one old school aqua medic t5000 skimmer on my reef and a ATB (its a good needle wheel on my fish only setup) the ATB is about as good as you can get in the newer style skimmers. The other new craze is CONE skimmers, some are space savers with the pump in the bottom of the skimmer - if getting one of those consider the pump to be taking up space where the little bubbles should be :) , Even though you would be hard pressed to find a newer cone style skimmer, it doesn't even come close performance wise to the 6 foot venturi, or a good beckett/downdraft (it does do better in the nearly silent department and doesn't spin the power meter) if you gotta basement sump would look at tall venturi's like life reef, aqua medic, or beckett's for sure, no brainer

as far as the tank itself , google HERBIE and BEAN ANIMAL both are ways to make your drainpipes pretty much silent, I like acrylic over glass just because its lighter and to me looks clearer, but glass is way cheaper for larger tanks and they make STARFIRE glass which is low iron- less of a green tint



I'm running 400 radiums on pro hqi and love it.
 
People still use them in large tanks over 6'. But not all do. The Tunzes and Tunze knock-offs use so little power, and with the propellers move tons of water, create waves.

Once people like me started modding maxi jets most power head makers decided to make and market their own or try to clone the Tunzes.

I get bigger wave with my Apex-controlled Tunze with less noise than I got with the wavebox.
 
Yep google wp40 and it will make sense or if you have big bucks get the tunze streams. Ecotech makes a thing called an mp40 its junk , they are cool because no power cord in the tank, the downside is they have a wet side that wears out and they start to make noise as they age then you gotta get a new wet side which costs more than the wp40. I still have a couple modes maxi jets, however they are so loud. 2 of the prop pumps can create a wave bigger than you want if you like waves. They have several modes to pick from, i run mine on a random setting. With a apex or reef angel you can adjust them till the cows come home.
 
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