First barrage of questions...

Baffels · Apr 21, 2022

Ok folks, I said I would have a lot of questions... so here we are. I have fresh water experience as well have been keeping Jellyfish for a couple years now. So I am familiar with keeping water parameters, water changes, etc. But this will be my first reef tank.

1. Tank. I am looking for a rimless tank that's no more then 48" in length. I do not want an AIO, as I will have a separate sump.
-Suggestions for a tank? I'm looking to spend around 3k-3.5k on my starting setup, not inlcuding livestock or coral (tank, sump, protein skimmer, pumps, lighting). The Waterbox and Redsea look great, but there are just so many options and some are very expensive.

2. Sump stuff. I plan on having my sump a floor down from the tank in the garage. Just allows me to have more room, expansion room and the area is temp controlled with a sink right next to it.
-What kind of humidity am I looking at? It's a 2 car with a large extra work space. I have a server tower down there, so large amounts of humidity is a little concern. Most of the garage is concrete, but I can easily add some external fans if needed.

I thought I had more questions in my head but can't think of them right now.

blaxsun · Apr 21, 2022

1. Cade or Red Sea (G2) if you're looking for a plug-and-play setup. 3k-3.5k might be a bit unrealistic if you also want to include lighting, as that could easily run half your budget.

2. You'll need an oversized return pump that can pump the vertical distance needed. Are there any cars in the garage or is it just workspace?

Anemone_Fanatic · Apr 21, 2022

1: SCAquarium 120 gallon. Technically not rimless, but it has the same aesthetic. I would up the bare-bones budget to 4.5k, and get some neat stuff. Radions and an Apex.

2: You will need a very powerful return pump. The humidity shouldn't be a huge issue, but add a few fans just in case.

Baffels · Apr 21, 2022

blaxsun said:
Are there any cars in the garage or is it just workspace?

There is one car, and its about 15 feet from the area I would like to put the sump.

Lavey29 · Apr 21, 2022

Red Sea reefer XL425

blaxsun · Apr 21, 2022

Baffels said:
There is one car, and its about 15 feet from the area I would like to put the sump.

I'm not sure how any exhaust fumes might affect your tank.

adittam · Apr 22, 2022

blaxsun said:
I'm not sure how any exhaust fumes might affect your tank.

This. ABORT, ABORT!

Lavey29 · Apr 22, 2022

blaxsun said:
I'm not sure how any exhaust fumes might affect your tank.

This is an obvious concern but could be minimized with the right ventilation and filtration system in place. Would it be possible to have a plexiglass cover made for the sump also?

damsels are not mean · Apr 22, 2022

I am not sure that a remote sump like that is worth the trouble. What are you putting in there that needs more space? Unless you intend a separate display with macroalgae or something it's just going to be a pain to build and maintain.

blaxsun · Apr 22, 2022

Just throwing this out there: place the external sump in the stand under the tank, setup your water mixing station including RODI in the garage (saltwater and RO) since the containers are sealed and use something like a Neptune DOS for your ATO and water changes (you'll actually need a pair of DOS for this).

Baffels · Apr 22, 2022

damsels are not mean said:
I am not sure that a remote sump like that is worth the trouble. What are you putting in there that needs more space? Unless you intend a separate display with macroalgae or something it's just going to be a pain to build and maintain.

Honestly, sump in the garage for ease of use to be able to spread everything out. As well, the tank is in a rough spot to be able to get water to for top offs and water changes.

adittam said:
This. ABORT, ABORT!

Car is electric, so no fumes to worry about

Also, this is at my LFS, thoughts?

Baffels · Apr 22, 2022

damsels are not mean said:
I am not sure that a remote sump like that is worth the trouble. What are you putting in there that needs more space? Unless you intend a separate display with macroalgae or something it's just going to be a pain to build and maintain.

What makes it more of a pain to maintain/build? Honest question. Other then plumbing down a floor, wouldnt having more space for upgrades/quarantine tank/RODI etc make things easier? A sink right next to the system for cleaning parts... stuff like that?

Anemone_Fanatic · Apr 22, 2022

That is a good price for that tank. I would buy it. I do think that a beneath tank sump would be easier than the garage sump.

Baffels · Apr 22, 2022

Anemone_Fanatic said:
That is a good price for that tank. I would buy it. I do think that a beneath tank sump would be easier than the garage sump.

Can I ask why?

Anemone_Fanatic · Apr 22, 2022

The positioning of the sump inside the stand makes it easier to get to while working on the tank. The cost of all that piping and the extremely powerful return pump seems unnecessary to me as well. A below tank sump will also have less issues with dust, lint, rodents dying in it, causing high humidity in the garage, etc. Of course, whatever you like and think that you want to go with is the right system for you.

adittam · Apr 22, 2022

It would be nice to not have the constraints of a stand footprint for sump equipment, though.

Baffels · Apr 22, 2022

adittam said:
It would be nice to not have the constraints of a stand footprint for sump equipment, though.

This is my thought. I have a friend with a redsea with the sump underneath and its chaos. He has added so many things in the past that there just isn't enough room underneath. I like everything to be nice and orderly, and being able to spread out is ideal. Also... maybe adding a frag tank down the road.