I want some help designing a new setup

[VanHalen]

I plan to upgrade my tank, stand and lights by the first of the new year and I'd like some suggestions :D

I want to build my own stand cause I have some neat ideas for it. For example, I plan to house both a frag-tank and a display tank side by side and have drawers and stuff. If anyone has some good advice or suggestions on a diy stand, throw them my way :D

I plan to get more into sps corals too so lighting is gonna be concentrated on heavily. I want strong lights across the entire width of the tank. I havent decided if I will go with halides ( old skool ) or go the T5 route ( new skool ) Any suggestions about this is very welcome because I know NOTHING about t5 lighting ;)

Thanks everyone !!

 

[ficklefins]

What size tanks were you thinking? Were you going to have a sump below the two tanks?

 

[VanHalen]

I'm seriousely considering a 6 foot 125g tank :D If I did that, then I might have to put the frag tank below. I do plan to use a sump.

I'm toying with the idea of going bare bottom and installing a remote DSB in the sump along with a fuge. I think BB would be the way to go since that seems to be the way most sps reefers do it :D Seems logical that you'd do that since you'd be able to crank up the GPH flow-wise.

For a frag tank, I'm think I'll go conservative and get something like a 20 long and keep the frags rotated quickly. there are just so many possibilities when planning a new setup :D:D lol

 

[VanHalen]

Well, after thinking about it some, I think what i'm going to do for the meantime is work with my current tank and work on a new system secondary.

I have another 150W halide pendant that I think I'll gut, along with gutting my current Outer Orbit fixture's lights and build a new hood. This will give me 500W of light ( 2X 150 halide + 2X 100W PC ). Will this setup provide me with enough light to make some SPS happy or am I chasing my tail in circles with that? If I need to, I'll buy a couple of 250W halides. My ultimate goal is to have a mixture of sps and zoa's. I'll probably ditch most of my leathers.

 

[killingseed2000]

on a 24" high tank 150w are like low light, unless you dont mind putting all the corals on top and the lower part of the tank want be that bright.

i have more then that on my tanks and its only a 75.

mostly depands on what you plan on keeping a tank like that would do better with 250w MH or even 400w. for the most part its a starter kit.

but thats my 2 cents.

 

[VanHalen]

on a 24" high tank 150w are like low light, unless you dont mind putting all the corals on top and the lower part of the tank want be that bright.

i have more then that on my tanks and its only a 75.

mostly depands on what you plan on keeping a tank like that would do better with 250w MH or even 400w. for the most part its a starter kit.

but thats my 2 cents.

When you say 250 or 400, do you mean per individual bulb? Cause with my two bulbs plus my two pc's, i'd have 500W total. I sorta understand though that each bulb would still be punching through the water the same depth, right?

As far as what I'd like to keep; I'm thinking I want a birdsnest, some stylophora, etc,,,,you know, the hard to keep stuff LOL The stuff that will probably die on me in a month haha

If i go with SPS I will also siphon out my sand ( I have a 3" bed now ) cause I'll probably toss in my two SEIO 1100's and maybe even get something more powerful...dunno yet.

 

[VanHalen]

BTW, your .02 are most valuable to me ;)

 

[chadfarmer]

flow---- i had that setup in a 29 it warmed up the water good raised the temp 3 degree just adding the pumps


how dirty is your water?

you can use the 150w setup you have now, no problem

what bulbs are you going to use?

 

[VanHalen]

flow---- i had that setup in a 29 it warmed up the water good raised the temp 3 degree just adding the pumps


how dirty is your water?

you can use the 150w setup you have now, no problem

what bulbs are you going to use?

I thought about the heat from the pumps too but I keep my house chilly so my heater is on all time as it is LOL

The water is not sparkling clear but it's real clean. I skim daily and run carbon 24/7 and toss in phosguard about once every two months or so.

You mean that my current 1X 150 + 2X100 pc setup is good? What advantage would I get from putting in another 150 watt light?

Currently, I have a 150W XM 14K halide and 2 50/50 pc's both SunPaq's.

 

[killingseed2000]

well most a 6 ' light hoods come with 3 and even 4 MH. i wanted to go 250's but didnt for now. i have a 75 gl that will close to 500w.

500w is only like 2.5 w per gl in a 125, thats not much. you'll do ok to starting with but you may not get the growth you want , you may not get good color out of the corals you might wont.

there are a couple sites with light charts that may help a little.

http://www.marineandreef.com/Info/lightingchart.html

 

[chadfarmer]

1 metal halide for every 2 feet


you arent going to get shaded spots on the sides of the tank if you run 2 of them

 

[fishes2889]

My suggestions for a 125g...:)

3 250w MH's
Combination of some nanostreams, 6045's & 6055's....your choice
return pump i dunno...never had a big tank
nice big sump, crap load of LR
Skimmer dunno, too lazy to check em out lol

 

[VanHalen]

1 metal halide for every 2 feet


you arent going to get shaded spots on the sides of the tank if you run 2 of them

You mean vertically, correct? Every two feet from left to right? What 'formula' do you use to figure out how much wattage per bulb you need? I'm sure though that if I got 2x 250W halides, I can't go wrong right?

btw, from the lights to my sandbed is 26" :D

 

[VanHalen]

My suggestions for a 125g...:)

3 250w MH's
Combination of some nanostreams, 6045's & 6055's....your choice
return pump i dunno...never had a big tank
nice big sump, crap load of LR
Skimmer dunno, too lazy to check em out lol

I was thinking that when I setup my new one, I'm going to put my sump in my crawlspace. I can then get a L A R G E sump :D

I'm thinking something like 3 of those 45Gallon rubbermaid tubs. That way, I would have easily-partitioned sections. First for the input/skimmer, 2nd for a refugium/remote sandbed, and a 3rd for the return and heater or whatever else might be useful.

also, I plan to take advantage of the plumbing in the crawlspace and install an auto topoff via rodi somehow. This might not be feasable cause I use kalk for my topoff water and I don't know how I'd automate that part just yet.

For heating, since everything will be in the crawlspace and more susceptible to the cold during the winter, I figure i'll put in two, maybe three high wattage titanium heaters ( two for heating and a 3rd for backup ). Of course, this all is just me thinking on the fly :D

If anyone has ever seen revhtree's old tank, you'd have an idea of what I plan on tank wise ;) His old tank was marvelous!!!

 

[VanHalen]

oh, i currently have an ASM G2 skimmer. Would that be good enough to use for a 125G SPS tank or would I be better off geting a newer model?

 

[killingseed2000]

skimer sounds cool, i like the 3x 250 for sure myself, but does the tank have a center brace? is it glass? or plasic

 

[killingseed2000]

i think 2x 250 would be cool for a min.

 

[fishes2889]

most 125's have 2 braces. One every 2 feet so its usually not in the center. I wouldnt even think of not doing 3x250's or even a 400watter in the center...

 

[killingseed2000]

i was asking because i have seen at my LFS with 125 in stock and only have 1 brace and i have seen the 2. you may not want a light over the brace if its plastic

 

[killingseed2000]

a pic of the tank might be helpful