What Would You Do?

[jalisco]

Hi Guys,

I have been away from the hobby for years and purchased a used 29 gallon truvu with center overflow, metal halide, reefkeeper light, a bunch of intank suction cup pumps, CPR sump with macro algae compartment, rubble compartment, skimmer with its own pump, a mag drive return pump, very well built custom stand, test kits ect, ect.

My bride wanted me to refinish the stand and canopy to match our furniture and halfway through stripping the varnish I found, fell in love with and purchased a 45 gallon Oceanic Tech Tank. I have purchased most of my components for the 45 gallon; radion xr30 pro, mp10 wQD, reef link, turbo L2 ATS, ordered the ecotech Vectra M1 return pump and a few other things.

I might want a small skimmer for when the algae turf scrubber is in its off cycle, so it would be nice to have a controller to turn the ATS's lights off and skimmer on without having a bunch of mechanical timers. I also might want to use the Vectra as a return pump with the overflow entering the sump instead of the ATS and have separate pumps for the skimmer and ATS so I can ramp up the Vectra well above the ATS's recommended gpm.

So would you... Cannibalize the skimmer, mag drive and reefkeeper lite from the 29 gallon and sell the remaining tank, cabinet, sump, metal halide?

As is (without me refinishing the stand and canopy, it will come with expensive varnish) how much do you think I would get for the 29 gallon with everything and how much could I get once cannibalized?

Couple more questions;
For the described purposes, would the reefkeeper lite work or would I need an apex?
Can one thermal probe control two heaters for redundancy?

Thanks so much guys, I'm getting about three hours sleep a night as I'm alternating between staring at my empty bedside tank and reading RC.

 

[jalisco]

Not sure why this pic is sideways. The door is on top of the canopy now from when I was stripping it but will go back on and has really nice mitered in spring hinges.

 

[jalisco]

Another pic

 

[sfsuphysics]

I like the look, can't say how much it would be worth though, that is completely subjective and is based on desires at any given time. That said the canopy obviously had work done specifically for the reefkeeper so you might want to keep that with it, it's not like you could fix that hole.

Mag drives are fine pumps, I'm more biased towards DC pumps though, I use a mag drive as a water mixing pump only. Skimmer depends what it's rated for.

As for the RKL or Apex, IMO you don't seem to need an Apex, it's a matter of if you want to pay for all the extra bells and whistles in it. I basically use my controller for my ATO switch, and for a light over a chaeto ball in my "fuge", lights are LEDs and they have a controller with them that turns them off, and there is no universe where my tank will overheat due to external temperatures, sure if every one of my heaters stuck on I might have issues, but that much power running through a controller's power supply isn't good anyways

 

[jalisco]

I guess I need to find out if I can sell the whole package for enough to buy a skimmer, pump and RKL.
What DC pumps do you like?

 

[hawks66]

I got the Jeabo dc9000. its pretty darn quiet, and the price is great. much happier with it than the old mag drive i had.

 

[D-Nak]

Since you ordered the Vectra, you don't need to worry about a DC pump. I think it's overkill for a return pump for 45 gallon tank (I'm using one for a 180 total gallon rack and don't have it turned up all the way) but the features are nice. My suggestion would be to add tees with valves to feed your ATS and other components you may want to add later (bio-pellets, carbon, GFO, etc.).

Since you already have Reef Link, you'll be able to control all of your Ecotech products. Unfortunately, it's not compatible with any other controller. Buy purchasing the Reef Link, you've decided which ecosystem you're a part of, unfortunately that ecosystem does not have a controller (yet).

IMO, having a controller for any tank no matter what size is a necessity, especially given the lower entry point of options such as the Apex Jr. They are the heart of your system and once you have one you won't be able to not have one. If set up correctly, they protect your tank for many potential mishaps. I personally like the Apex the best because they have a lot of modules that you can purchase depending on your needs, and they have more coming. For example, I have the WXM module which allows me to control my Radions and MP40s (I just sold them but may get the QDs as a replacement). If you wanted to, you could sell the Reef Link and buy the WXM instead, and that way everything is running through the Apex. The one caveat to this is that the Vectra is NOT supported, and based on what I've read/heard it may not be coming anytime soon. https://forum.neptunesystems.com/showthread.php?11746-Ecotech-Marine-Vectra-DC-Pumps

In terms of skimmers, there are a lot of good deals on nice skimmers right now. My suggestion would be to take a look at the Vertex Omega 130 which is currently on sale for $224 from $320. The Omega skimmers are built like a tank with welded seams, have a 2 year warranty and come with a Sicce pump (not DC so not controllable, but they are very quiet and efficient and have an excellent reputation.)

Long story short, based on your buying trend, it appears that you don't mind spending money to get quality products. If I were you, I would sell the old set up as a whole, take whatever money you can get (used systems sell for pennies on the dollar, especially those with older components, such as halide which not many people want anymore) and dump it into new components.

 

[D-Nak]

Regarding your heaters and a controller, many people use the controller as back-up in case the heater fails in the on position. For example, the heaters are set at 78 degrees, and the controller is programmed to turn off the heaters if the tank hits 80 degrees.