Setting up new 90 gallon corner tank, need advice

[vertikul19]

Hi All,

I was looking for a little advice before I spend lots of money on things that I might not need. Specifically, I am upgrading my lighting and skimmer and transfering everything else from my 45 gallon. In terms of lighting I would like the flexability to have pretty much anything in the tank. The tank depth is ~30in. I am planning on adding MH to my 4*65 watt PC bulbs. What wattage ballast should I be looking to buy. Will 1 bulb suffice or should I use 2 ? With the addition of the MH what bulb setup should I set for my lights. I know there are lots of options and its all relative, but perhaps a few setups and companies you have had success with would be quite benefitial. As for protein skimmers what are name brands (and models) that you have found success with.

thanks much in advance

 

[Rob Top]

Lighting, I like PFO products. there are several e-bayers that have good pricing on them, Marine Depot has great prices too. All as DIY equipment. I have never bought a complete hood system, just the guts and built my own. What is the messurments of a 90 corner? I am betting that 1-400w with your pc's will be perfect. Skimmers well there is a lot to choose from. I have never used a euro-reef, but that always get good reviews, I have an Aero Foamer and love it. Also lots of diy plans out there if you are so inclined

 

[Anonymous]

This is a corner tank as in a triangular tank? If so, pay attention to how you set up your flow, its really hard to get it so there are no dead spots. no matter what I do with mine there always seems to be a dead spot right in the back bottom corner. An very hard to reach place.

As far as skimmers go the only thing I can say is that the Aqua C Remora Pro has been good for my 54 gallon, but I am not sure it would do it for a 90.

 

[skylab1]

I recently setup a 100 gallon custom corner tank shapes like a diamond. I use two 96 blue 20K PC bulbs and one 175 double ended MH for lighting. The tank is about 32" tall so is almost like your 90 gallon, what I did was I added two large mirror at the back glass. The mirror makes the tank look so much bigger and it reflect the light to all corner of the tank. I got the mirror from home depot they happend to have the exact size so I didn't have to cut any part of the mirror. Try it, your like the way your tank looks.

As far as the dead spot kuncklehead is talking about, here what you can do to avoid it. (this is why I did on the 100g corner) The return discharge from your return pump place it above the water not under it. Use an 90 degree elbow so the water can spread across the surface of the water. You should have two returns one at each corner, have the elbow at 45 degree to each other so the return water can cross each other like a "X" pattern. Both the drain and return pipe should be 2" PVC, don't use 1" pipe, they are too small.

For the drain, if you havn't start then consider this: Drill two to three hole big enough for 2" inch PVC at the bottom glass for overflow. The water need to be drain from the bottom of the tank not at the top. To do this, cut an opening at the bottom of the overflow box and cover it with a screen. The water will drain through the screen at the bottom the flows up and over through the top of the 2" PVC down to the sump.

The turn over ratio should be 10 times the water volume, in this case is 900 GPH, so you will need a pump can do 900 GPH at 5' or 6' head. The fast the water come out on the top the more current there will be. That is why a 2" pipe is use here. The water will circulate from top to bottom, at 900gph there will be no dead spot anywhere even the hard to reach place. That is also why the water are drain from the bottom, when the current reach the bottom it will kick off the dirt at the bottom of the tank, the dirt will then flow with the water through the drain screen and up and over down to the filter in the sump. And you won't need any other pump in the tank for circulation.

As for the skimmer, I don't use it so I can't help you there.

Hope this helps.

skylab1

 

[NMreefer]

Well, if you plan on going with a sump. I love my new Euro-Reef skimmer. I would think that a 400w MH would be a given considering the depth. I prefer the VHO's of PC's, but if you already have the PC's, that would be less expense for you.

You'll get lots of help here.

Phillip