New aquarium: which technique?

[tubastrea1]

Dear friends,
I'm planning my new tank and I've to admit that after some years in this hobby....I'm still pretty confused. :roll:
Actually there are a lot of methods/techniques available:
Jaubert, berlin, Miracle mud, Zeovit, DSB, refugium with algae and maybe someone else that is not so popular here in Italy.
As far as I know each one has got some advantages and limits.
For example my current Jaubert + skimmer is doing pretty well but I'm constantly battling with a too low PH.
Now I tell you which kind of tank I would like to obtain so you can better suggest me the proper technique or a mixture of them.
I like an aquarium with a lot of biodiversity.
A tank that resemble an ideal reef portion that includes LPS , SPS and some Cerianthus in a low lighter corner.
I like also fishes and I would like to add all my Tangs and obviously my Navarchus.
Considering that it will have a square shape with a volume of approx 350 gallons, it will be lighted with 4x250 watt (HQI)
and the available space for the sump will be slightly less than the tank surface, which kind of technique/ filter solutions would you suggest me?
Thanks in advance.

 

[ShipMate]

I also keep a 375 gal tank, mixed with lps sps soft corals and various fishes.

There is a lot of controversy about which way to go, mainly because those corals have very different requirements.

Sps do better in pristine waters with low nutrients: ie barebottom+high to very high flow+live rock+high light (not for all) + powerful skimmer

Lps do better with gentle flow+lower light higher nutrients then above.

Soft corals/tube worms/sponges/tunicates do better with low to moderate light, moderate or low flow and higher nutrient water (small or no skimmer ok imo)

See what i mean? That is why many experts recommend sticking to one family of corals, or one biotope.

I can only tell you from my experience. I chose to use a shallow sand bed, high nutrient water (no skimmer). The filtration is done in a 100gal tub full of caulerpa and chaetomorpha, that i harvest every two weeks. Carbon is used periodically. I also use a ferric oxide based phosphate binder (rowaphos or phosban) when phosphate levels go up. (every few months) my other sumps have some caulerpa and many small sponges and few tunicates that contribute a little, i suppose, to the total filtration.


Soft corals grow very well in that system. SPS growth is slower that in other systems i have seen.

Water movement is big challenge.

I suggest you use different bulbs or lighting intensities for the different zones of your tank.

Once again there are many ways to do this, with success...