My Dream Tank

[yacn]

My dream tank is about to come true.
Our carpenter just finished remolding our entire family room and my lovely wife allowed for a built in reef tank. I am approximately one month away from setting up the tank...I hope. We are having the room painted and wood stained/finished etc.

What I have purchased already:
150 Gallon AGA w/ twin mega flow overflows
3-250 watt MH BlueLine 14K single end bulbs w/BlueLine electronic ballasts
2-160 watt Super Actinic VHO's w/ Ice Cap 430-008 electronic ballast
Aluminum retrokit will be mounted above open water tank in cupboards
2-120mm Ice Cap variable speed canopy fans
Mag Drive model 12 pump
300 watt Visi-Therm heater
Carib Sea Arogonite reef grade sand 120#
40 Gallon acrylic Refugium w/ 10k daylight & actinic 03 blue T-5 light strip
Euro-Reef RS 110 Protein Skimmer
60 lbs of live rock...I need to get more (I have a tank curing live rock that will be used as a quaritine tank once the main tank is set up) It has compact flourescents and a hang on protein skimmer with hang on filter.

What I need help with:
I plan to hook up either a RO or DI unit in the basement for water top offs and bi-weekly water changes. I'm not sure which is the best water purification way to go. I live in Detroit Michigan with good city drinking water although I have never tested it.
I want to have some type of automatic top off system in place (need help here) What compnents make up a relaible top off system. Do I need a sump or can it just go directly to tank with float valve?
I plan on filling a plastic garbage can with purified water, aerate it, heat it & add salt mix for bi-weekly water changes using a pump of some sort.
I have drilled holes through the floor wear the sump is located beneath the main tank leading to the basement to feed the python syphon to a laundry tub and return line from garbagecan w/ salt water for water changes

I plan on having all types corals, anemone and fish etc. in my tank, as long as they get along with one another. This is too far down the road to discuss now but hopefully helps when giving advice.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Feel free to comment on current equipment needs/changes/suggestions. Please don't read and not offer a comment..I am thirsting for knowledge. I want to do this right the first time!!

Thanks & Happy New Year!!

Nick

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Nick, :welcome:

I would definately use RO/DI water for your tank. Buckeye Field Supply is a great place to buy RO/DI units.

I would use two float switches for your auto top off system. That way if one fails, your tank doesn't get flooded with fresh water.

Take a look at my 300G tank thread. Click the link below in my sig line. You'll see what I did with mine.

Feel free to ask more questions too. That's what were here for.

Louey

 

[yacn]

thanks Louie,

I checked out your thread....wow!

What is Starboard? Since you don't use any substrate is that why you need the Ca reactor and kalk? Will I need either or both of these?

I really didn't want to use both RO & DI. I was hoping someone would recommend DI alone as good enough water purification for a reef tank. I don't like the thought of all the waste water with RO systems.

 

[trido]

HI yacn. I wanted to touch on a few key items you have listed. It looks like your off to a great start with your equipment list. A built in tank is a real nice way to go. IMO you are lucky that you have the basement as a remote location for your equipment.
150 Gallon AGA w/ twin mega flow overflows
Mag Drive model 12 pump I want to have some type of automatic top off system in place (need help here) What compnents make up a relaible top off system. Do I need a sump or can it just go directly to tank with float valve?
With overflows in a drilled tank the water level(in the display) is constant. The evaporation will be noticable in the sump or fuge. You will need to mount your ATO system there. This is the product I Used. http://www.autotopoff.com/products/DS1/index.htm
Also, you will need more flow if you are going to keep many corals. By the looks of your lighting I'd guess yes. You will want a minimum of 30x turnover and as much as 50x + in the display tank. To get extra circulation you can either use powerheads or a closed loop system. You will also want some sort of wave maker. Alot around here have used this with a CL. http://www.oceansmotions.com/store/prod ... 6385e714d6 I personally think that your mag 12 might be little underpowered as a return pump since it is coming from your basement with probably 8-12 of head pressure. Here is a chart showing the mags head loss.
http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_pow ... sp?CartId=

Carib Sea Arogonite reef grade sand 120#
That should give you about 4".

40 Gallon acrylic Refugium w/ 10k daylight & actinic 03 blue T-5 light strip
How many watts is it? Depending on what you are trying to grow down there you may not need alot of wattage. With Macro algeas you can get away with as little as a 23 watt house hold 5000K florescent. I just replaced my 96W 50/50 Quad with a simple 13W flood light (5000K florescent) over my fuge and my Pulsing Xenia coral is even doing fine.

60 lbs of live rock...I need to get more
Yes you do.
What I need help with:
I plan to hook up either a RO or DI unit in the basement for water top offs and bi-weekly water changes. I'm not sure which is the best water purification way to go. I live in Detroit Michigan with good city drinking water although I have never tested it. I live in the Seattle Area and my TDS is reading only 19 right now. I still would not use straight tap water. The RO/DI is worth it.

Nick [/b]

I would use a sump as well as your fuge. More water volume is better. Also youmay want the extra room for your skimmer, heaters and the list will go on as your addiction progresses. :lol: If you take a look at my build thread there are also a few good ideas. It is not nearly as nice as Loueys but never the less functional.

 

[Anonymous]

Nick wrote:

What is Starboard?

It is Marine Board. Like cutting board. Some people use it in bare bottom tanks, which has become fashionable lately. I have ran tanks with DSB (deep sand beds) and now this one bare bottom. I believe that bare bottom tanks are easier to maintain. The DSB can become a nutrient sink. Also, with a BB tank you can have more flow, which helps keep detritus in suspension which aids the protein skimmer.

Do a search for "starboard" and you'll find a few threads about it.

Since you don't use any substrate is that why you need the Ca reactor and kalk? Will I need either or both of these?

Having a substrate (or not) doesn't effect the need for a CA or kalk reactor. The types of animals you keep does. If you want to keep stony corals or clams, you'll need a CA or kalk reactor, or both, depending on the calcium demands of your tank.

Louey

 

[yacn]

thanks Trido,

the top off system you recommended looks reliable.

what does IMO mean?

The fuge will be place directly below the tank in a cupboard, not in the basement...will the Mag 12 be powerful enough for corals, etc?
I plan on having a large container of purified top off water & salt water for water changes in the basement below the tank setup with a pump leading up to the fuge/tank. I never thought of placing the fuge and other equipment in the basement too.

The lighting above the fuge is 28 watts...I only plan to grow macro algea in it.

 

[Anonymous]

IMO = In my opinion

IMHO = In my humble opinion

Louey

 

[trido]

I use a mag 18 for a return pump on my SPS dominated 120. I also use a Sequence barracuda rated at an additional 4400GPH on a CL system. I dont think that a mag 12 would be enough flow any corals really. You would most likely have alot of dead spots causing algea. You WILL need to use either powerheads or a CL system for more flow if you plan on having corals.

 

[Anonymous]

IMO = In my opinion
IMHO* = In my humble opinion
Louey

*Note: Louey almost never uses the imHHHo option

I'm kidding, Louey really knows his stuff.


Welcome yacn, you may want to start a thread down in the Member's Tank forum so you can have a dedicated thread and post nice pictures for us to envy! It's also a handy thing to link to, as Louey has done, to refer others to your tank's specifications if you ever post up with a question. Having that information in it's own thread saves you a lot of typing as that will be the first thing anyone will want to know.

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=23