BadMagnificentFirefish
New Member
Hello all,
I’m a newer member to the forum. I’ve kept nano reefs for about 6 years now, but now I’m scheming up a much larger setup. I did reef maintenance full time for about a year for a LFS in my area, so I’m comfortable working on larger tanks, but I haven’t done as much initial set up.
That being said, now I have to figure out the best way to do stuff like sumps and skimmers and plumbing and all that jazz. My wife and I just got our first house, so I am trying to keep the budget reasonable(ish). It will probably be a year or so before I get the spousal approval.
It’s been a fun research project, and I hope you all can provide me with feedback on the plan so far.
For context, the goal is to create a peaceful mixed reef community. I want to keep mostly soft corals, with a few LPS and maybe a few more hardy SPS. For fish, gonna keep inhabitants on the smaller side, most of the species I want top out around 3-4”. Not really planning on any tangs or angels.
Here’s the plan:
DT: Aquarium Masters 120g tank (48” x24” x 24”) I do like the look of rimless tanks, but for something that size I’d rather have the security of a top frame. Euro-braced tanks are probably out of my price range. My LFS owner had nothing but good things to say about this brand of aquarium. In two decades, he has had around 430 tanks from this manufacturer and only had a problem with one, which was shipping damage. He’s also drilled most of them himself, which is what I’m planning on doing for the external overflow box and return(s).
Stand: DIY 2x4 stand with 2x6 upper frame
Sump: Aquarium Masters 40g breeder with Fiji Cube baffle kit. This sump has 2x4” filter socks, but I may not use them. Chamber two I think will just be some rubble kept in the dark. Chamber three will house the skimmer and two 150W heaters. Return chamber will house the return pump and an ATO sensor.
Overflow: Fiji Cube Low Profile EOB (1200gph) This overflow box has 3 1” drains, plan is to do one unrestricted drain, one tunable drain with a gate valve, and one emergency drain.
Return Pump: Simplicity DC pump (1600gph). I’m targeting around 700gph of flow through the sump. This will give me about 5x turnover per hour of the total system volume. Plumbing plan is still being sorted out. One option is to do a short section of 1” silicone hose, then tee off to two 3/4” returns on the left and right sides of the back pane. Other option (if people think it’s a good idea) is to just do a single 3/4” return. I’m not yet sure if one return will be sufficient for my target GPH.
Gonna do 3/4” Loc-Line for flow direction on the display side of the glass.
Skimmer: Simplicity 120 DC Protein Skimmer. As you can see, I’m a fan of the Simplicity brand. A lot of maintenance accounts that the LFS had set up used that gear, and I found it to be quite reliable and easy to work on. Not crazy expensive either, which I am a fan of.
Heater: Two 150W Eheim Jagers split off an Inkbird controller (ITC 308-S). I wanted to go with two smaller heaters for greater redundancy, as well as better ease of placement due to their shorter length.
ATO: AutoAqua Smart ATO Nano. I actually already have this new in box, bought it when I had an employee discount at an LFS. Should have bought a skimmer and return pump too, but I wasn’t thinking that far ahead.
Lights: Reefi Uno 2.0 Pro x2, suspended above the tank. I’ve heard great things about these lights, and the owner is a local to the PNW reefing scene. I’ve never had a “good” light, previously have just run black boxes on my nano reefs.
Wavemakers: Jebao SOW-8 x2. I ran an SOW-3 for a few years, and that thing was awesome. No qualms about going for these guys. They move water!
Sure they’re not as fancy as the MP-40s, but they’re also a fraction of the cost.
Thanks for reading so far, and let me know if I can clarify anything further! What do you think?
Pic of the current tank for attention:
I’m a newer member to the forum. I’ve kept nano reefs for about 6 years now, but now I’m scheming up a much larger setup. I did reef maintenance full time for about a year for a LFS in my area, so I’m comfortable working on larger tanks, but I haven’t done as much initial set up.
That being said, now I have to figure out the best way to do stuff like sumps and skimmers and plumbing and all that jazz. My wife and I just got our first house, so I am trying to keep the budget reasonable(ish). It will probably be a year or so before I get the spousal approval.
It’s been a fun research project, and I hope you all can provide me with feedback on the plan so far.
For context, the goal is to create a peaceful mixed reef community. I want to keep mostly soft corals, with a few LPS and maybe a few more hardy SPS. For fish, gonna keep inhabitants on the smaller side, most of the species I want top out around 3-4”. Not really planning on any tangs or angels.
Here’s the plan:
DT: Aquarium Masters 120g tank (48” x24” x 24”) I do like the look of rimless tanks, but for something that size I’d rather have the security of a top frame. Euro-braced tanks are probably out of my price range. My LFS owner had nothing but good things to say about this brand of aquarium. In two decades, he has had around 430 tanks from this manufacturer and only had a problem with one, which was shipping damage. He’s also drilled most of them himself, which is what I’m planning on doing for the external overflow box and return(s).
Stand: DIY 2x4 stand with 2x6 upper frame
Sump: Aquarium Masters 40g breeder with Fiji Cube baffle kit. This sump has 2x4” filter socks, but I may not use them. Chamber two I think will just be some rubble kept in the dark. Chamber three will house the skimmer and two 150W heaters. Return chamber will house the return pump and an ATO sensor.
Overflow: Fiji Cube Low Profile EOB (1200gph) This overflow box has 3 1” drains, plan is to do one unrestricted drain, one tunable drain with a gate valve, and one emergency drain.
Return Pump: Simplicity DC pump (1600gph). I’m targeting around 700gph of flow through the sump. This will give me about 5x turnover per hour of the total system volume. Plumbing plan is still being sorted out. One option is to do a short section of 1” silicone hose, then tee off to two 3/4” returns on the left and right sides of the back pane. Other option (if people think it’s a good idea) is to just do a single 3/4” return. I’m not yet sure if one return will be sufficient for my target GPH.
Gonna do 3/4” Loc-Line for flow direction on the display side of the glass.
Skimmer: Simplicity 120 DC Protein Skimmer. As you can see, I’m a fan of the Simplicity brand. A lot of maintenance accounts that the LFS had set up used that gear, and I found it to be quite reliable and easy to work on. Not crazy expensive either, which I am a fan of.
Heater: Two 150W Eheim Jagers split off an Inkbird controller (ITC 308-S). I wanted to go with two smaller heaters for greater redundancy, as well as better ease of placement due to their shorter length.
ATO: AutoAqua Smart ATO Nano. I actually already have this new in box, bought it when I had an employee discount at an LFS. Should have bought a skimmer and return pump too, but I wasn’t thinking that far ahead.
Lights: Reefi Uno 2.0 Pro x2, suspended above the tank. I’ve heard great things about these lights, and the owner is a local to the PNW reefing scene. I’ve never had a “good” light, previously have just run black boxes on my nano reefs.
Wavemakers: Jebao SOW-8 x2. I ran an SOW-3 for a few years, and that thing was awesome. No qualms about going for these guys. They move water!
Sure they’re not as fancy as the MP-40s, but they’re also a fraction of the cost.
Thanks for reading so far, and let me know if I can clarify anything further! What do you think?
Pic of the current tank for attention:
