General Equipment Questions...

[mrramsey]

Howdy All,

As the 120 project is picking up momentum I am figuring out all of the little details from a hardware perspective so I have a few questions.

Heating:
I am estimating the water capacity of this build to be ~ 150 gallons. What should I look for in a saltwater heater? 2 smaller ones or 1 larger one? Standard or digital?

Protein Skimmer:
The skimmer is definitely older but is new. It is just a venturi skimmer so no needle wheel. I think I saw somewhere it was rated to 200 gallons. I did try it in a tub with fresh water and it bubbles. Obviously no foam in freshwater I am wondering if it is worth a shot? The manufacture was Americle and I haven't found much info on them. Would I be better off getting a newer one?

Pump:
I know Cliff thought my Mag24 pump would be fine in another thread. Do I need to be overly concerned with Heat? Am I better with using it as a submersible or should I look at external pumps? I guess a good advantage to a submersible is no worries if the pump leaks.

I am still thinking through the lighting. I am thinking I would need at least 6x54w t-5 for SPS corals. I have not ruled out going to LED yet. Again Heat is a concern for me not only in tank but in my office as well. Energy consumption is also a concern. Is it possible to make a hybrid utilizing say 2x54w t-5 and LEDs?

Thanks again for the info.

[mrramsey]

Oh and to add to this ongoing list.... What are your thoughts on Wave makers? I was planning on having two of them but am unsure of how to properly size them.

[Cliff]

As the 120 project is picking up momentum I am figuring out all of the little details from a hardware perspective so I have a few questions.
Heating:
I am estimating the water capacity of this build to be ~ 150 gallons. What should I look for in a saltwater heater? 2 smaller ones or 1 larger one? Standard or digital?
.

Not much different from FW, at least IMO. Get yourself two quality 200 or 300 watt heaters that will fit in your sump. I am using two 200 watt heaters in my 120 gallon sump and 2 inline 300 watt heaters in my 180, but the room both tanks are in seldom gets over or under 75F

Protein Skimmer:
The skimmer is definitely older but is new. It is just a venturi skimmer so no needle wheel. I think I saw somewhere it was rated to 200 gallons. I did try it in a tub with fresh water and it bubbles. Obviously no foam in freshwater I am wondering if it is worth a shot? The manufacture was Americle and I haven't found much info on them. Would I be better off getting a newer one?
.

At some point I would certainly recommend a better skimmer. IMO, this is the second most important pc of equipment in a reef tank (lighting being #1). Brands like: Vertex, Skimz, Reef Octopus, and Bubble Magnus are all good med-quality skimmers that won’t break the bank and should perform nicely on a set-up like yours with a moderate stocking of fish. The below link might be able to help you pick a proper sized one. It’s really based on the GPH (water flow) and LPH (air flow) the pump is capable of producing.
http://www.reefaquarium.com/2013/sel...a-new-skimmer/

Pump:
I know Cliff thought my Mag24 pump would be fine in another thread. Do I need to be overly concerned with Heat? Am I better with using it as a submersible or should I look at external pumps? I guess a good advantage to a submersible is no worries if the pump leaks.
.

I would not be very worried about the heat from you pump. About the only thing bad that would happen is that your heaters would cut in less. The only time this becomes a issue is if the temp in the room gets over 81F and you are trying to cool the tank.

I am still thinking through the lighting. I am thinking I would need at least 6x54w t-5 for SPS corals. I have not ruled out going to LED yet. Again Heat is a concern for me not only in tank but in my office as well. Energy consumption is also a concern. Is it possible to make a hybrid utilizing say 2x54w t-5 and LEDs? .

I had grown SPS very well in a 90 gallon tank (same hight as yours) with only a 4 bulb T5HO fixture. 6 would work fine, but could save some cash and get a 4 bulb. If energy consumption and heat are your biggest concerns, LEDs you be just about your only option. I would not mix the two as the heat from T5s would likely cause the LEDs to get warm and that would be a very bad thing for your LEDs. I had very good luck growing SPS in my 120 gallon with 3 units of AI SOLs. They would be the cheaper of the high quality LEDs out there right now


The below links might also be of help
http://www.reefaquarium.com/2012/set...ne-aquarium-2/
http://www.reefaquarium.com/2013/com...ine-aquariums/
http://www.reefaquarium.com/2013/10-...nner-mistakes/
http://www.reefaquarium.com/2012/the...nd-movement-2/


I really like using wave boxes on a reef tank with SPS. SPS really do need both water circulation (from your powerheads and equipment) and water movement (from a wave box) to truly thrive. I would suggest a Tunze nano wave box with a Tunze 6105 controllable power head. That worked great for my 12o gallon set-up

[Crispy]

just to add to what Cliff said, I like using titanium submersible heaters. they seem to be the most reliable and longest lasting. 2x 300w heaters should be plenty.

one more piece of advice, when you start running your skimmer, it will take some time for it to get "dialed in". which means perform at it's best. keep in mind that changing water levels will have an effect on your skimmer. it may need to be "dialed in" every few days if there is alot of evaporation. this is why alot of reefers use auto top-offs on larger tanks.

[mrramsey]

Thanks everyone... Excellent info as always.

Here's a lighting question. I have a local fellow how is selling an led setup that he built. He tells me it is the equivalent to 2x 400w metal halides.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1389703836.629884.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1389703850.734900.jpg

It has 3 separate power supplies and dimmers. Running a total of 180watts.

This is what he told me
"Mike
According to cree the xp-g r5 leds put out 348 luminous at 1amp there are 48 = 16704 luminous for the white and the blue xp-g put out 30 luminous there are 36 of there giving you 1080 luminous total out put is 17864 luminous its the light output of 2 400w metal halide bulbs"

He is asking $200 for it. Just curious if I should jump on it or run for dear life.

[Cliff]

If I'm reading this correctly, there is a total of 180, 1 watt cree LEDs. Those are good quality LEDs. Does he list the angle of the lenses ?

To put that in prospective, I used 72, 3 watt cree LEDs (on my AI SOL fixtures) on my 120 when it was set-up as a reef. I ran them at roughly a little over 50% and had great lighting. This put me around 110 watts of LED lighting (combination of 70 and 40 degree angles) which worked great for everything to grow, including the anemone at the bottom of the tank

That fixture should be OK, provided he has the proper heat sinks to keep the fixtures cool and that you can run them a lot less than 100% ( 50 or less is best) to help keep them cool. As these are DYI, it might not be possible to hook them up to a 24 controller, which could be a problem if you want one down the road.

The price certainly seams good to me, but I'm sure you can negotiate a little better price

[mrramsey]

Yes the price is tempting but it is someone else's DIY. That concerns me a bit. I have been looking at reefbreeders.com. Looks like they have some decent stuff.

[DC180]

Hi, I was thinking about setting up a salt water tank but fish only no coral reefs. Now i heard that a salt water tank is a lot of work to maintain is that true?

[mrramsey]

A fish only tank is not really any more work. The costs will be higher for sure.

[Cliff]

My 180 gallon reef tank is no more work than my heavy planted 90 fresh water tank.

The only time any type of aquarium becomes difficult is when you do not take your time to research first or you cut corners on needed equipment. That equally applies to fresh water aquariums