Quote:
Originally Posted by
ShinyPebble http:///t/391311/the-long-road-to-my-custom-tank#post_3469860
Thank you for all the info and please keep it coming! Just brainstorming about the available space that I am going to have to work with, I'm coming up with a 29gallon tank for my sump/refugium, in order to keep everything hidden under the tank. Is this going to be big enough for them to be combined into the same tank? I will skip the UV sterilizer as suggested(This piece is optional and there's no real correct or incorrect answer as to use or not use it. If run correctly can be benefical). For the heater I was wondering if there was a certain brand/type that is recommended over others? I prefer either Jali, Finnex or Ebo Jager heaters. The first 2 mentioned are titanium heaters, but most find the Ebo Jager heaters on the large side, but these are my recommendations. As for the protein skimmer, is there any advantage to having an external skimmer verses an internal skimmer? Running external or internal is totally personal choice. Most opt for internal due to not having the ability to hide the skimmer out of site, and internal is virtually no plumbing work involved where as an external skimmer requires more plumbing and usually an extra pump to feed the skimmer itself. Would I even have room for an internal skimmer if my sump/refugium is only 29 gallons and in the same tank? I like the idea of the closed loop system with the wavemaker setup and will end up going with this, the ability to maintain proper flow and have less hardware in the tank sounds perfect to me!
Flow inside the DT can be achieved many numerous ways....CL are ideal if you have the room to work with plumbing, and keep in mind that you would need a dedicated pump to push the CL itself....It is basically a self contained loop. As with PH's don't let anyone fool you....There really is no PH that isn't intrusive on your DT.....They all have a foot print, and depending what you can live with will dictate which way you go. I will also be going with sand, just as a personal preference and the fact that it is more natural and houses helpful critters for the tank. Is live sand better then other types of sand? What type of sand is recommended (I would prefer a very fine sand if possible). I looked at the above statement and you must keep in mind that running CL's and PH's and depending on flow rate inside the DT you may have issues with sand blowing.....There are ways (some) possible ways around sand storms inside the tank, but there's nothing set in stone that they will or won't work. Again I caution about using very fine sand if your going or intending to use tons of flow inside the DT.....Again sand choices comes down to personal preference....You could use all dry sand and use a cup or 2 of quality live sand to seed your sand bed saving you tons of money. The statement you made prior about sand housing helpful critters.....True and untrue.....Tanks as you know can be run without a sand bed, and there's no set rule that states you have to have a sand bed to have critters....Your sand bed/choice should be thought about depending on the "critters" you choose to house...... Bare rock will be used for my aquascape, will end up epoxying a cluster of rock together with different height shelves. As far as lighting goes I will most likely pick up another LED fixture like the one I currently have and that should be more then enough lighting i would assume
(any pointers would be most appreciated). I want to stay with LEDs, just personal preference. Again lighting is a personal preference, but as long as the LEDs are of decent quality that will dictate what you can and can't keep as far as corals.... As far as my stand goes is there a thread on this forum that could help me with that as far as a base design would go for spacing the supports on the frame so on so forth. If you check the DIY forum there are plenty of good examples in build threads on good practices on stand construction. Also you'll get tons of ideas as to what might or might not be useful to you when you build your stand.... Unfortunately due to the location of the tank an auto top off is out of the question
I will just have to keep up with the maintenance myself. The salt I plan to use is Red Sea's Coral Pro Salt (Accelerated Coral Growth) would this be a good kind to use? There is no proven data out there that proves 1 salt is any better than others.....This has been a big debated topic forever, and bottom line, what works good in 1 system may not work in another....Just to many variables....I'd recommend start with a salt and do research and if you google you'll find a good thread over on RC outlining findings and such on different salt brands and parameter readings on the salts as well, which you might find handy....It's basically a guide line as to what to look for to get you in a target area your shooting for.... Do I really need an Aquarium Controller?No.....A controller is more a luxury item, but it does make things very convenient as far as controlling lights, pumps, temp, and can even send email alerts and what not if your at work or away on vacation....It can also be used to controller your ATO and can be configured to perform automatic water changes depending how fancy you want to get. Wouldn't proper manual dosing do the same thing as the Controller? Yes and No....A controller as explained in the previous statement does quite a bit more, but it can be configured with dosing pumps to dose your tank accordingly, but depending on the consumption of your tank it might be easier to manually dose the tank as you've suggested. Lastly to touch on the BRS dual reactor, my dad has a 90 gallon tank in our family room and we have a
RO unit in the basement (click "RO unit" for link to EXACT system) I believe the BRS reactor is included in that as well? Sorry maybe a bit of confusion on your or my part, but the BRS reactor is a totally different piece of equipment than the RO unit.....They are totally independent of each other and perform totally different functions....The BRS reactor and I think it was Seth that mentioned them are used to run carbon and GFO in. The RO unit is what produces pure water to be used for water changes, and top offs..... I apologize ahead of time for two things, one being the dumb/noob sounding questions but I want to be sure I am doing this right! Secondly the lapse of time between questions and actual assembly (mid June)
as I have stated before I just want to be sure I do everything correct the first time around! Any and all helpful feedback is very much appreciated!!
Trust me....There are quite a few of us that no about long drawn out builds.....Myself included......
Tank you!
~Steve~
first post here and I got a lot of questions.
. I am some what new to setting up and cycling a saltwater tank and I want to do it right. For starters I would also like to include a sump, and a refugium. What size should each of these be to sustain my tank properly? In the refugium I plan to keep marine plants, what type of lighting is recommended? In the sump I plan to have the water fall through some filter pads/media filters and other essentials, then flow over live rock then over to the refugium and back into the tank. Is a UV sterilizer needed and if so what is recommended? What size heater should be placed in the sump? What type and size Protein skimmer should be used? Inside the tank I understand that it is very important to maintain proper water flow so that corals and fish can thrive. Is a wave maker better then a standard power head? How many power heads/wave makers are recommended? I plan to keep SPS/LPS corals and REEF SAFE FISH ONLY!!! I also cannot decide if the tank should be a bare bottom or sand substrate. I prefer sand, any recommendations for that choice or is that personal preference? As for the rock in the tank, should I just be using bare rock or cultured live rock? I hear that if I go with live rock that it must be cured first, is this true? I have no problem starting with bare rock I like to see things grow and progress! I also have an LED fixture from another tank i have that I was going to use for this tank. It consists of 55 LED cells, 25 white and 30 royal blue. Each bulb is 2w giving me 120w of output, will this be enough for the tank for ANY type of SPS/LPS coral I would like? And finally
, I am trying to cut cost as much as possible on this and I would like to build my own stand. Is there some type of formula that I can be pointed to so that the stand will be able to withstand the weight of the tank, water, and rock? Tank will be made for me as a birthday gift to myself in June! So I would like to sort out these details in the meantime so as not to make this a money pit and loss of fish/coral! ANY info is very much appreciated!!!
