seecrabrun
Active Member
I'm searching for all new equipment for my 20g tall reef tank.
I set up this tank during colder weather, but now spring is upon us down here is Alabama and it is already in the 80s. It's hot, and only going to get hotter! This has turned out to be a problem for my tank. The equipment and light I have on it now give off quite a bit of heat and I want to try my best to avoid having to buy a chiller.
There is also the fact the equipment needs to be upgraded anyway, regardless of the heat situation. So here is my thought process on what I need, correct me if I am wrong and feel free to make lots of suggestions!
I currently have 3 low power pumps creating the flow, which isn't enough. Yes 3, and it still isn't right... I'm building a sump that will have its return and then I'm hoping to get away with just 1 power head to create the right flow. And it needs to be something that doesn't put off much heat.
So ideally I'm looking at the mp10es since none of the electronic parts would be in the tank and it would give off the least amount of heat to the water. I can find it on clearance for $175 brand new. I'm always iffy about buying used electronics as they won't have their warranty, plus I've only seen the used mp10es at $140-$175 used and now I can get it brand new for $175. It's a crapload of money, but is it worth it if it's the only one I'd need(plus the return) and not contribute to the heat?
Then there is the return pump itself. I've ordered an eheim compact 1000 just to try out. I know they can be hot, but how do I know which will be hotter than others? I'm looking at running it at 130-180gph. I won't know for certain until I have it actually set up, but this is for a refugium only setup and not a sump. There will be rock and macro only, no skimmer or additional equipment. This is to cultivate the pods for my scooter blenny and also export some nutrients, but my levels are already low as I only have 1 fish who mostly eats live foods.
Then we are on the lights. I have a current orbit that I'm just borrowing from my other tank until I find something better. The new light needs to be tank mounted, but if it is so close to the surface like the orbit it's going to heat up the water. My orbit is only at 40% as I'm still acclimating some coral and it's already heating the water. If It is a light higher off the water it won't be able to heat it as much, but I can also place a small fan to try and blow the heat away. I can't do that with the orbit, the fan would just blow over the top and not between the light and water. And the light obviously needs to be LED as they put off the least amount of heat.
What I've found so far is the radion, kessil, AI, and nanobox. All of which are expensive and require their own fancy tank mount kit. From those the one I like the most is the kessil a160 on a gooseneck. It seems to be the cheapest in the end as the AI prime that is coming out is indeed cheap, but I'd absolutely need 2. I'm hoping I won't need 2 kessil. It seems very likely I will be able to just do 1, but if I need to do 2 I feel more comfortable with that than immediately starting with 2.
There are also cheaper lights like the chinese box, reefbreeders and such like that, but I need the light to also be controllable so the whites and blues can come on at different times as this tank gets a lot of white light from the sun and room and so I run the blues much longer than the whites.
So please weigh in, let me know if I've missed something or if what I've come up with is really the best option currently. I'm not happy about the expense of all the new equipment, but there isn't much option. I'm already going to spend money on these things, might as well get the option that creates the least heat in hopes of not needing a chiller on a 20 gallon tank...
I set up this tank during colder weather, but now spring is upon us down here is Alabama and it is already in the 80s. It's hot, and only going to get hotter! This has turned out to be a problem for my tank. The equipment and light I have on it now give off quite a bit of heat and I want to try my best to avoid having to buy a chiller.
There is also the fact the equipment needs to be upgraded anyway, regardless of the heat situation. So here is my thought process on what I need, correct me if I am wrong and feel free to make lots of suggestions!
I currently have 3 low power pumps creating the flow, which isn't enough. Yes 3, and it still isn't right... I'm building a sump that will have its return and then I'm hoping to get away with just 1 power head to create the right flow. And it needs to be something that doesn't put off much heat.
So ideally I'm looking at the mp10es since none of the electronic parts would be in the tank and it would give off the least amount of heat to the water. I can find it on clearance for $175 brand new. I'm always iffy about buying used electronics as they won't have their warranty, plus I've only seen the used mp10es at $140-$175 used and now I can get it brand new for $175. It's a crapload of money, but is it worth it if it's the only one I'd need(plus the return) and not contribute to the heat?
Then there is the return pump itself. I've ordered an eheim compact 1000 just to try out. I know they can be hot, but how do I know which will be hotter than others? I'm looking at running it at 130-180gph. I won't know for certain until I have it actually set up, but this is for a refugium only setup and not a sump. There will be rock and macro only, no skimmer or additional equipment. This is to cultivate the pods for my scooter blenny and also export some nutrients, but my levels are already low as I only have 1 fish who mostly eats live foods.
Then we are on the lights. I have a current orbit that I'm just borrowing from my other tank until I find something better. The new light needs to be tank mounted, but if it is so close to the surface like the orbit it's going to heat up the water. My orbit is only at 40% as I'm still acclimating some coral and it's already heating the water. If It is a light higher off the water it won't be able to heat it as much, but I can also place a small fan to try and blow the heat away. I can't do that with the orbit, the fan would just blow over the top and not between the light and water. And the light obviously needs to be LED as they put off the least amount of heat.
What I've found so far is the radion, kessil, AI, and nanobox. All of which are expensive and require their own fancy tank mount kit. From those the one I like the most is the kessil a160 on a gooseneck. It seems to be the cheapest in the end as the AI prime that is coming out is indeed cheap, but I'd absolutely need 2. I'm hoping I won't need 2 kessil. It seems very likely I will be able to just do 1, but if I need to do 2 I feel more comfortable with that than immediately starting with 2.
There are also cheaper lights like the chinese box, reefbreeders and such like that, but I need the light to also be controllable so the whites and blues can come on at different times as this tank gets a lot of white light from the sun and room and so I run the blues much longer than the whites.
So please weigh in, let me know if I've missed something or if what I've come up with is really the best option currently. I'm not happy about the expense of all the new equipment, but there isn't much option. I'm already going to spend money on these things, might as well get the option that creates the least heat in hopes of not needing a chiller on a 20 gallon tank...
That's why most tanks need heaters. It sounds to me like you're trapping the heat in the tank with the light being that close to the top of the tank. If you could raise the fixture (prop it up with wood slats or anything the depth of the tank), I think this might help your heat issue. I don't know about the light spectrum of the Kessils and how well they will grow corals, but I do like the gooseneck mounting option... plus they look cool. You certainly wouldn't have a heat issue with one (or two) of them.