Setting up another 240- Pump and light help

[pbetito]

I am getting ready to set my 240 gallon mixed reef back up and want to keep sps this time around. Is there anywhere to get schematics as to water flow, pump placement ect....also is 3 X 250w hallides along with 1 ice cap vho ballast running 4 atinic bulbs be enough. I could *** some p.c. if it would help.
I have a 1/15th hp external pump and a couple submersible ones.
Like 700 gph and 1100 gph. Should I place those in the back and shoot them off the front glass?

Any and all suggestions are welcomed and appreciated,
Paul

 

[dots]

Pump placement is something you will need to play with in order to get the most turbulent mix without blowing sand all over the place or directly at a piece to where it will peel the skin right off. Placing them in the corner is a good place to start, just make sure there are no dead spots, and your rock placement aids youi in doing this.......

If its going to be a SPS tank primarily, more flow is always recommended.....a number that helps describe how much flow you have, but doesn't do much than that(sort of the watts/gallon metric for flow), is how much turnover you have in your tank.....Its computed by (return pump exit at display in gph + all powerheads in display gph)/(gallons in display).....it gives others a gauge for how much flow you have. Most recommend about 30-40x turnover is minimum for a SPS tank, but that can go up to 90-100x for people on the high side. Keep that in mind. Most have opted for the high volume, lower velocity pumps such as the Seios and the Tunzes for better results.

As far as the lighting, 1 halide per 2 foot generally. If your tank is 6' long three would be perfect. Some of the people who have been around longer than I say they prefer the Actinics of VHO comparted to PCs due to coloration, so you are probably cool there.

Have you considered what K of bulb you want to run........If you like them superblue, you could just run the Halides running 20K and skip the other supplemental lighting, however 20K usually will have less PAR hence growth than say a 10K, so by staying with a 10-14K and using the VHOs, you can have the color and better growth....

 

[gabe3d]

Hey Paul,

If you are interested i am actualy in the middle of the process of setting up a 210 (72x24x30), not quite 240. If you want we can chat and i can share you my layout and stuff and how much it all cost.

Gabe

 

[pbetito]

That would be great Gabe. I also went to youreef and gave John's new 300 gallon project a look. I left feeling second rate and dejected . If I sell my car I think I can match him equipmentwise. Anyways I would love to hear from you as you set it up. I am going to set up myself on friday after I raise the canopy from 8 to 14 inches for the hallides.

Paul

 

[gabe3d]

Here is the high level plumbing i have.

I have a sump and a fuge that are connected to one another with a 1" PVC. I have a return pump (DART) feeding an Ocean motions 4way with 8 outlets with 3" flare nozels. Return is also teed off near the pump and reduced to 3/4" to feed a chiller (Artica 1/3 HP) which then spits back water into the fuge. In the sump i have two baffles set up and in between the baffles is where the skimmer (EV180) and two heaters (Visitherm 300) resides. I have a pump (panworld 100ps) with the inlet right next to my return pump feeding a UV sterilizer (AquaStep 25) which then connects to my protein skimmer water inlet. A calcium reactor (Korallin 1502) is also attached to the skimmer via the JG fitting. The closed loop pump (not sure at this point but something external and around 2000gph with 1" outlet) will feed a WavySea Plus.

Gabe