shallow reef setup suggestions

[xanee-reefer]

hey everyone,

I'm planning on setting up a new sps focused, shallow reef with dimentions of 24x24x14, 35 gallons (i need it to be small). I'm keeping acros now but the lighting i have on my current tank is not nearly strong enough for the depth and size of the aquarium so they consistantly fade their colours to dull brown. For the new system i would keep the sump and red sea protein skimmer (both designed for a 90 gallon tank so i assume they would work even better on the 30 gallon tank?), heater, live rock, live sand and two Koralia Evolution 1050 powerheads (possibly too powerful?). Any suggestions of what i should look out for; in particular lighting, and any equipment you would honestly recommend me get for prime colouration and overall health of shallow reef sps corals would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CMcNeil]

i would get a lumenarc elite reflector and run a SE 250w radium over that tank.i had a similar size setup and ran the lighting i suggested and loved the color/growth i got.i would skip the evo powerheads and get something like one vortec mp10 es or mp20 for flow.the smaller the tank is the more you need to control how many watts your lighting and pumps draw,they will create heat issues so lower watt draw pumps are key to controlling tank temps.

 

[ttsNJreef]

I would second the caution regarding heat. I have a tank with very similar dimensions (21" x 21" x 17") with a single 250w halide. I have to run a sump fan and chiller year round to keep the tank at a good temperature.

I would also suggest automated water top-off and calcium additive. with such a small water volume parameters can change quickly and SPS need stability.