new 210 gallon project getting started..

S

spsaddict

Guest
the tank is purchased, i got the wood for the stand and canopies.. now it is time to figure out just what pieces to this puzzle go where..
ill start off with lighting.. this tank will be sps dominated but i will have lps along the bottom on the shallow sand bed, and some euphillias along the base of the rockwork.. however as i stated this will be a sps and clam dominated tank. the tank itself is a 210 gallon megaflow all glass tank. it has 2 braces that run across the top essenitally cutting the tank into 1/3rds. my origional plan was for duall 400's and using my old 175s for some less light demanding corals on the sides... but that will be impossible to do because of these braces... so i am now looking at either 3 400w mh or 3 250w hqi de's. any preferences to either.. i personally am leaning twards the 250w de just for cost reasons and they are very close to 400w se in terms of par.
for the bulbs themselves i will be useing xm 20k's. i had a great experiance with themn in the 175w and untill they backfire on me i will support them :)
next step protien skimmer.. this is one piece of equiment i am havving trouble picking out. so many good ones out there and so many bad ones, i feel if you purchase the wrong skimmer your tank is doomed from the start. so everyone on this board with a 200 gal tank, what skimmer do you have and why did you buy it.
this tanks overflows are capable of handling 1200 gph, so i bought a mag 18 for that, i will be using a mag 12 for a closed loop. and i will also be adding 2 tunze turbelle streams 6100 with the wave simulation, foodtimer, operation in night mode sequential pump circuit and tide simulation. so i should be around 9000 gall per hr turnover..perfect for sps :) anyone using this tunze product.. if so what are your thoughts... thanks in advance
 
robchuck

robchuck

Active Member
Congrats on the tank and it sounds like you've got a very nice plan going there.
I'm in the middle of planning for setting up a 150 display with Euphillias, clams, and SPS so I can sympathize with a lot of what you discussed in your post.
I like your idea of going with the 3x250W DE lights instead of the 400W SE. Your wallet will thank you with the lower energy costs, but just make sure to get a good pendant to get the most efficiency out of the lights.
For the protein skimmer, I would look into either needle-wheeled or Beckett skimmers. If quiet equipment or electrical efficiency are important, go with a needle-wheeled skimmer. Euro Reefs are a no-brainer, but Geos Reef makes some really nice skimmers powered by Sedra needle-wheel pumps for much less than an ER. Beckett skimmers are very powerful, but are noisy and require large, pressure-rated pumps. A My Reef Creations MR-3 dual Beckett skimmer powered by a pressure-rated Iwaki is what I'll be using on my setup, because it will be in a fish room (so noise isn't much of a concern) and I need to skim more than 300 gallons of water (including refugium and sump; I think this skimmer will do a great job on this size system). Also, I was able to purchase it used locally for a really good price.
The Mags both seem like the right amount of power, but have you considered external pumps at all? You can find more efficient external pumps that will transfer much less heat to the tank water than the Mags (but it's still hard to beat the price of a Mag).
Nice choice on the Tunze Streams! I've got a pair of 6000s with multicontroller on order that should be in by the end of the week (I got an email from the distributor today saying they're in!). I've seen them in action on a few tanks and was sold on using them versus a closed loop. I plan to put them on my 65 just to play around with, and will take them off if they are too much.
What are your plans (if any) for a refugium or sump? What do you plan on using for substrate?
I look forward to following the progress of your setup and maybe even sharing some notes on our similar future setups!
 
S

spsaddict

Guest
rob & kip thx for the replys both were just what im looking for! Kip im planning on having a late sept or early oct for my unveiling date... taking it slow reasercing every product and finanally making a decision on which way to go. My fiancee is already going nuts..
rob mags have been very dependable for me and like you said the cost :) if they do fool me before this is finished id likley switch to an ampmaster 3000..
as far as substrate, i will be having about a 1" sandbed. i had a dsb in my 55 gal and i riped it out, but ever since ive had a slight redslime problem... its partially to do with my switch back to 10ks a well as the sand bed plus i get alittle indirect sunlight... all feed into the equasion imo. however i didnt have the slime problem with the dsb.... with that said, i love bb tanks and truely wish i could go that route, forces you to learn correct husbandry imo, however i do want some sand for my prize rics and zoas and sometime soon blastos, cynaria, scolys, and wesophillyia's... so ill get a couple cukes and possibly a sandsifting star and that will take care of the sandbed. (yes i know the stars eat sandbed fauna)
as far a s a fuge, i have a 55 gallon that would make a great fuge/ sump... slap some acrylic baffles in there and wham... im set there.
as far as the lights i will be buying retro kits and installing them in a hood... i wish i could do pendents but my current situation doesnt allow my to screw into the celling quite yet.. so ill have em 8" or so off the water.. i will be using reflectors as well as sheet metal of some sort to keep the light bouncing around.
as far as cooling i have no plans for a chiller quite yet. however i will be adding 2 "squirrel" fans for cooling plus a couple 4 inchers in the back.
 
S

spsaddict

Guest
i know someone must have some info on skimmers for me..
i also forgot about calcium reactors.. anyone inparticular better than the rest.. rob thx for the geo page. hes got some great looking products... just want to get all my options :)
 
reefer44

reefer44

Member
i would deffinitly go with the euro-reef models if you have that kind of money...also as many other ppl disagree with you can't over skim...so i would get the biggest one you can afford...specially with the sps
just a little of my knowledge (well the little i have...lol)
Brad
 
dima96

dima96

Member
as far as reactors go mrc makes a great reactor for the money. lights 250 de are plenty, i really like my reef optix and blow wave ballasts, btw i'm running xm 10k and am very happy with them. i would look am getting vhos for actinics. skimmers, you can't beat euroreefs or asm skimmers, go big something along the lines of an 8-3. i also would give external pumps a look over the mags. and you have the right idea with the tunze streams, my acros love them.
 
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