Hi all, im new to reef tanks, and am in the planning phase of an 8 x 2.5 x 2.5 foot tank. Total volume about 300G.
I dont have space for a tank room or another hidden spot, but I do have a large unused wall space in our living room. Since I dont enjoy watching plastic buckets in my living room, im thinking of incorporating a salt and ro water reservoir into the sump. The salt water reservoir would be about 50-60G, RO about 15-20G. The RO is meant for ATO, with automatic refill by the RO system which is located next to the reservoir. (I have water and drain near the tank). The salt water reservoir would do continuous water changes. Maybe 5G a day or so.
The only way I can fit that is if I make the stand larger than the aquarium, so the stand would be about 11 feet. Something like this:
Water enters on the right through an overflow. In the first compartment I have the skimmer. Im thinking of a vertex alpha 300, which is very tall. Should I make a separate area for the skimmer? Or is it ok like that? What about mechanical filtration?
The middle compartment will probably have a GFO reactor, the third is the return compartment, which will have the pump, heater, sensors, etc.The left two compartments are the reservoirs. Am I missing something? Should I add space for a refugium? Should the return pump go to a manifold for the reactor(s)?
Everything will be controlled by an Apex, which will monitor all the water levels and turn on/off the appropriate equipment. I was thinking of adding a manual switch that says 'top-off salt water reservoir', which would create an override in the apex for all ATO based refilling, and instead would fill the salt water reservoir until it's full. Then I manually turn that switch off when im done mixing the salt.
The area all the way to the right is a dry/electrical area. The area all the way to the left is for things like RO and doser fluids.
Probably many glaring holes in this setup... note, some things are not to scale or even finished. Like the stand would obviously have more supports. just a rough sketchup.
Am I somewhat on the right track?
Cor
ps: (i just realised the overflow in the sump is at the wrong level..)
I dont have space for a tank room or another hidden spot, but I do have a large unused wall space in our living room. Since I dont enjoy watching plastic buckets in my living room, im thinking of incorporating a salt and ro water reservoir into the sump. The salt water reservoir would be about 50-60G, RO about 15-20G. The RO is meant for ATO, with automatic refill by the RO system which is located next to the reservoir. (I have water and drain near the tank). The salt water reservoir would do continuous water changes. Maybe 5G a day or so.
The only way I can fit that is if I make the stand larger than the aquarium, so the stand would be about 11 feet. Something like this:
Water enters on the right through an overflow. In the first compartment I have the skimmer. Im thinking of a vertex alpha 300, which is very tall. Should I make a separate area for the skimmer? Or is it ok like that? What about mechanical filtration?
The middle compartment will probably have a GFO reactor, the third is the return compartment, which will have the pump, heater, sensors, etc.The left two compartments are the reservoirs. Am I missing something? Should I add space for a refugium? Should the return pump go to a manifold for the reactor(s)?
Everything will be controlled by an Apex, which will monitor all the water levels and turn on/off the appropriate equipment. I was thinking of adding a manual switch that says 'top-off salt water reservoir', which would create an override in the apex for all ATO based refilling, and instead would fill the salt water reservoir until it's full. Then I manually turn that switch off when im done mixing the salt.
The area all the way to the right is a dry/electrical area. The area all the way to the left is for things like RO and doser fluids.
Probably many glaring holes in this setup... note, some things are not to scale or even finished. Like the stand would obviously have more supports. just a rough sketchup.
Am I somewhat on the right track?
Cor
ps: (i just realised the overflow in the sump is at the wrong level..)
