Planning a tank and have a few questions

[smslavin]

I'm in the planning stages of building a 150-200 to put against our dining room wall. I've been doing a lot of reading (books as well as this site) and have come across tons of invaluable information but I still have a few holes. Here are a few questions.

What is the added benefit to including a refuigium along with a sump tank? Some setups I've read about have one, some do not and some seem to have a refugium built into the sump. How does the addition of the refuge affect the plumbing?

Does anyone have any experience with the Solaris lights?

Is there a formula for planning your water turnover and the number of returns you put into the tank?

A lot of you mention a CL line when you talk about your tank setups. What does that stand for? Is this the same as what comes from your overflow box or something different?

What is the best way to determine the optimum size for your sump?

Some overflows I've seen have 2 pipes, one larger and one smaller, while others have a single durso standpipe. Is one preferred over the other or is it just a matter of noise reduction?

In the plumbing, what's the best position for a UV sterilizer?

Here's a list of the hardware I'm considering. Feedback, both positive and negative, would be appreciated.

AETech ETSS 600 XR Skimmer
Aqua Ultraviolet UV Sterilizer
Korallin Calcium Reactor
Pan World 150PS and 250PS pumps
SpectraPure RO/DI system
DigitalAquatics Reefkeeper 2 w/ pH probe
Solaris LED lighting
Tunze Turbelle Streams and Multicontroller

Thanks

Sean

 

[Anonymous]

SMSlavin of the ermag BB???? :lol:

 

[smslavin]

SMSlavin of the ermag BB???? :lol:

oh crap. can't hide anywhere. yes it's me.

 

[Anonymous]

LOL.

<----galleon

I hung out there for a while a couple years ago. You come to the right place for info on reefs.

I'll take a crack at your questions.

First: is this gonna be a coral tank? What kind of corals?

Skip the refugium.

Solaris lights are new. LED technology is in a steep developmental curve. I would personally stick with tried and true metal halide setup.

CL = closed loop. It's a secular circuit that only serves to circulate tank water, no filtration. It usually entails a pump pulling watter from the tank and sending it back to the tank. Good for adding extra flow to a tank full of stony corals which need lots of circulation.

Optimum sump size is up to you. It needs to contain enough water so that evaporation won't cause the sump level to drop too much between top offs and it needs to have enough room for the skimmer.

ETSS skimmers SUCK. Don't waste your money. Lots of folks around here can give you the scoop on whats best on the market at the moment.

UV's are kind of a pain. If its a coral tank, they'll need to be cleaned a lot.

Never used Pan World, but my personal preference is Iwaki.

Tunze makes good stuff as a general rule.

 

[smslavin]

ah, coolest. i haven't seen you around over there for awhile but i haven't been spending too much time there either. it started to get too difficult figuring out who was trolling who. i haven't been doing too much surf photography lately either as i've been so busy with weddings and families. trying to plan a trip somewhere for this year. maybe samoa again as i had such an awesome trip there last year.

yes it's going to be a coral tank. probably mostly stony. thinking of trying to keep everything from the same corner of the world.

i like the power and heat savings with the LEDs. there is what seems to be a solid, but a year old, review of the lights at advanced aquarist.

with a CL, how do you plan out how many you might need?

thanks for the tip on the etss skimmers. i'll dig a bit on here and find out what's good and what isn't.

are the sterilizers a must have or something that's a nice to have?

from what i've read, pan world was started by an engineer who left iwaki.

 

[Anonymous]

ah, coolest. i haven't seen you around over there for awhile but i haven't been spending too much time there either. it started to get too difficult figuring out who was trolling who. i haven't been doing too much surf photography lately either as i've been so busy with weddings and families. trying to plan a trip somewhere for this year. maybe samoa again as i had such an awesome trip there last year.

Nice. I haven't been able to paddle out in a couple months. I did just snowboard for much of December though, from Tahoe to New Hampshire.

with a CL, how do you plan out how many you might need?

It's subjective, based on how much flow you want and how big your tank is. For a 150-200 tank, I'd use 1 or 2 in addition to your normal overflow/return. Search for Closed Loop here to get some good examples.

are the sterilizers a must have or something that's a nice to have?

They can be nice, they cut down on potential nasty things in the water, like bacteria that can turn on your corals.

from what i've read, pan world was started by an engineer who left iwaki.

You're thinking of Blueline (check out championlighting.com's site for more info), which I have used and would use again.

 

[Anonymous]

ETSS skimmers SUCK. Don't waste your money. Lots of folks around here can give you the scoop on whats best on the market at the moment.

Zuh? First I've heard you saying that. I'm happy with them.

 

[Anonymous]

from what i've read, pan world was started by an engineer who left iwaki.

You're thinking of Blueline (check out championlighting.com's site for more info), which I have used and would use again.

I think PanWorld and Blueline are the same pumps marketed under different names. Check out the marinedepot.com site.

 

[Anonymous]

since you're planning a big tank, check out vortech pumps instead of a closed loop. I have a closed loop on my 58 (eheim 1262 pump through an oceans' motions supersquirt) and would rather have a vortech. you can also get a battery backup for the vortechs.

DI units are all pretty much the same. they're all the same fixtures with different quality filters. You can search around and see that some are overpriced for what you get.

Overflows: the larger pipe is for the main drain, the smaller one is the backup. don't try putting two durso standpipes in the same overflwo. they end up fighting and they don't work nearly as well.

B

 

[Anonymous]

ETSS skimmers SUCK. Don't waste your money. Lots of folks around here can give you the scoop on whats best on the market at the moment.

Zuh? First I've heard you saying that. I'm happy with them.

Really????? Where were you when Rich and I were bitching about them?

 

[mr_X]

here's one persons' experience with solaris LED lighting:
http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.p ... laris+junk
also, i've seen a few tanks with the solaris fixture over them, and i have to say, i'm not too impressed with the look.

i have a closed loop on my tank and i like it. i actually wish i would have gotten a larger pump, but otherwise, it's good.
click on my build thread.

 

[Anonymous]

A Euro-Reef CS-2 will be fine for that tank...good skimmers.

 

[Anonymous]

ETSS skimmers SUCK. Don't waste your money. Lots of folks around here can give you the scoop on whats best on the market at the moment.

Zuh? First I've heard you saying that. I'm happy with them.

Really????? Where were you when Rich and I were bitching about them?

Dunno. What don't you like about them?

 

[Anonymous]

I'd like to know why Young Old Poo recommends against a 'fuge. What instead? See my thread in the Sump, I'm goin' grandmaw on all your asses.

 

[smslavin]

Thanks for all the pointers.

X, I took a quick peek at your thread and will go back to it when I have more time to read. Nice looking tank.

Jim, EuroReef seems to be one of mainstays for skimmers from what I've read on here and a few other spots. I'll take a look at the model you mentioned.

Seamaiden, a 'fuge isn't an absolute necessity correct? If I've absorbed thing correctly, it's an extra step of bio filtration which isn't really a bad thing I suppose. Is there more to it than just having more natural process working on the filtration? I'll hunt around for your other thread.

 

[mr_X]

thanks smslavin!
BTW i happen to think a refugium is important. maybe not an absolute necessity, but i think it's a big step towards a healthy tank.
not to mention, you can sell your overgrown macroalgae to other reefers, or your LFS.
the macroalgae would be a tool in your ongoing nutrient export task, not unlike your skimmer. if you are implementing a sump, it doesn't take any extra work to throw in a 'fuge while you are at it.
here's something to chew on-
http://www.reefland.com/rho/0105/main2.php
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=948

 

[stubbsz]

LOL.


Skip the refugium.

Why?

ETSS skimmers SUCK. Don't waste your money. Lots of folks around here can give you the scoop on whats best on the market at the moment.

They don't suck. There may be better skimmers but mine was incredibly consistent, maintenance free and performed damn well, main reason to get rid of it was for more convenient footprint of replacement BM 160.

Never used Pan World, but my personal preference is Iwaki.

Where does that come from? PanWorlds are excellent in my experience and I didn't want to spend way more and not have a power lead on my pump just to have the iwaki name.

Tunze makes good stuff as a general rule.

No argument there.

I hate these blanket statements...

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the pointers.

X, I took a quick peek at your thread and will go back to it when I have more time to read. Nice looking tank.

Jim, EuroReef seems to be one of mainstays for skimmers from what I've read on here and a few other spots. I'll take a look at the model you mentioned.

Seamaiden, a 'fuge isn't an absolute necessity correct? If I've absorbed thing correctly, it's an extra step of bio filtration which isn't really a bad thing I suppose. Is there more to it than just having more natural process working on the filtration? I'll hunt around for your other thread.

Hi Slavin'. My thread is in The Sump, my hubby and I are expecting our first grandchild, a little girl. (I lived in San Carlos for many years, btw, love Solana but a bit rich for my blood. Encinitas could have been home.)

No, a 'fuge isn't absolutely necessary, by any means. Simply doing frequent water changes can be your only filtration, I've kept things I collected in 5gal buckets by doing this. However (as someone who worked on a book that strongly encourages utilization of the 'fuge), I personally think it's a better way to go in terms of more complete filtration, as you get the full benefit of biological filtration down to nitrate reduction (breakdown of nitrate into its components that are not toxic) as occurs in nature. My own experience in the trade left me with a distaste for high maintenance systems, so anything that reduces the futz factor is good in my book.

Now, get this, with a really well set-up refugium, lots of people use only that, and not even foam fractionation. That macroalgae Mr. X speaks of can also serve as FOOD for your inhabitants, thus reducing the cost of filling that nutritional requirement. To me, it seems to be a win-win-win all the way around.

The book is "The Natural Marine Aquarium--Reef Invertebrates", by the way.

 

[Anonymous]

Seamaiden, a 'fuge isn't an absolute necessity correct? If I've absorbed thing correctly, it's an extra step of bio filtration which isn't really a bad thing I suppose. Is there more to it than just having more natural process working on the filtration? I'll hunt around for your other thread.

It can also store/accumulate detritus, ie, extra nutrients/bacteria which can be bad for your corals. It also grows macroalgae that releases organic carbon which grow bacteria which can be bad for your corals. Live Rock will do all the biofiltration you need.

 

[Anonymous]

Where does that come from? PanWorlds are excellent in my experience and I didn't want to spend way more and not have a power lead on my pump just to have the iwaki name.

8 years of experience maintaining and continously running hundreds of pumps of multiple makes. March, Blueline, Dolphin, Hayward, Iwaki, I-Walchem etc. I never once had to repair an Iwaki or had one die, so that's really the only reason. Has nothing to do with brand name. I don't even know what they cost these days.