My New Shopping List

[LeslieS]

OK, here is my new list:

120 gallon room div tank with cabinet and canopy
300W heater
1/3 HP JBJ dig control panel chiller
3012 Eco system filter 30x12x16
1264 Eheim water pump
50 gal PD R/O unit
36" T5 light units 4 36W bulbs ea.
Corlife power center
check valve (will also have siphon break)
Tunze Turbelle? Stream Kit TS24 (6100x2, 7095x1)
Deltec APF 600 or MCE600hang on sump

Does it look better?

 

[herman]

That is better that just good!!! Some good choices you made. The only thing I would have done differently is the ecosystem and just gone with a custom sump.

 

[Sean]

Looks good but why not get a larger refugium?

the 3012 is rated for a 75-100 gallon tank and way to small to handle the water volume of a 120 gallon tank.

the 3612 or even better the 3616 would serve you better

 

[LeslieS]

Ugh! I am having space issues. Want to fit everything in the cabinet which has a round front which eats up some space.

I have about 38" x 17 X 25tall to work with.

Can you be more specific about how the 3012 size will impact my set up. Plumbing or water quality?

Thanks,
Leslie

 

[Quang]

Leslie, you will have kick ass tank.
Btw, do you have a temperature controller like Ranco for your chiller/heater. You might want to look into that. Great panning so far .

 

[GQ22]

wow. all i can say is you spared no expense!!. doing it right from the get go. good stuff. one thing about the Ro/di, i would say get one for 100+ gpd. if u live in an apt building in manhattan your water pressure may not be good, so u might need a water pump. it help in any case. check out the ones on EBAY. just type filter and ro in the search and you'll see a bunch of them for cheap. the lights u may want to upgrade later but that shouldnt be a big deal.

 

[reefman]

sump

make a sump as big as possible. even if u have to customize it. u will thank me in the future.

 

[masterswimmer]

I like most of your choices Leslie. The recommendations from those before me I like too. I would also like to suggest a bit of a variation on your lights. A 4 x 36w T5 is going to be restrictive for a mixed reef that includes SPS and clams. Your tank is 48" I believe. I'm not sure why you're not going with a 48" fixture, and, 6 bulbs.

Here's the 36" x 6 bulb TEK light.
And the 48" x 6 bulb TEK light.

swimmer

 

[LeslieS]

Haha, here we go again. I am printing all of these out for quick reference. It is starting to look like War and Reef...I mean "Peace".

Before we get started, any thought on the pump? That is the only piece of equip that has not rec. comment.

My bad on the lights. I actually have 2 Tek fixtures. Each one is 4 36" 39w bulbs. The 48" does not fit because the front of my tank and cabinet is rounded. Actually only have about 38" to work with. Sorry again - my bad info.

Our RO/DI unit has a pump, but the high pressure switch is broken. We are still getting about 20 gal/day from our own water pressure. When tank is delivered LFS is going to bring us a new one.

If I get the skinny deltec MCE600 (rated for 200 gal tank or heavily stocked 120), I can get a bigger sump. If I went custom, I could go taller, but not wider if I get the APF600 which is already an almost impossible fit. I need to read more about custom sumps and custom skimmers. Thanks to everyone for giving me lots of good places to start researching.

What is miracle mud??? Is it good? I thought I would just put live sand in my ref...

Thanks again to everyone!!!!

PS. Please don't mention the word expense. It gives me heart attacks. Just hoping that putting it together this way the first time, will save me $$$$ and equipment parts sitting around my apartment in the future.:flower:
Besides, I am saving all that money by using "green" energy!!

 

[Reefer420]

I'm not an expert on lighting by any means, but if you have a chiller anyway why not go MH? Replacing the 4 T-5 bulbs a year would be almost as much $$ as replacing 2 MH bulbs... though you probably would spend more on electicity I think..

I made the mistake of going w/ PCs instead of MH before-and now I regret spending the $$$ on that instead of a little more for a MH fixture (this was before T-5s were out though...).

 

[Sean]

Ugh! I am having space issues. Want to fit everything in the cabinet which has a round front which eats up some space.

I have about 38" x 17 X 25tall to work with.

Can you be more specific about how the 3012 size will impact my set up. Plumbing or water quality?

Thanks,
Leslie

If you turn your main pump off some of the water from your main display will fall into your sump so you have to be sure the water volume can be handled by the sump or refugium. It seems they are trying to compensate for the undersized refugium by using a check valve, but what if the check valve doesn't work(I've had this happen to me in the past and learned not to use them). Also the larger refugium can handle more algae to support more life. This is why they rate the filters for certain tank sizes. I find that most manufactures overrate their filters. So if the filter is rated for 75-100 gallons then I would recommend it for a 60-90 gallon tank.

hope this helps

 

[jhale]

:headache: they still are pushing the check valve?

tell them not to waste the time, any one who is pushing a check valve I would never let near my tank plumbing.
there are few check valves made that I would trust. the good ones are german and cost quite a bit of money. I'm sure the one the lfs is using is not the german type.

 

[MightyMike]

Hey Leslie, what are you planning on keeping in particular that made you go with the Tunze Turbelle? Stream Kit TS24 (6100x2, 7095x1)? Should be an amazing set up!

 

[LeslieS]

I have not narrowed down what I am keeping. Not really into fish - just corals. I am beginning to realize that hard corals like the heavy current, right? I am not locked into the heavy corals. Actually, I may go with soft corals that need less current. I may want to make it more of a species tank for sea horses (B. Fishy really wants a seahorse), but I need to do more research.

What I like most about the Tunze package is that it is adjustable, and I hear they last forever. I don't want to have to mess around replacing equipment, and as I learn more about what I like, I can adjust the flow!