Hoping to pick up the tank this sunday if all goes well. Its a acrylic 4' 150 gallon tank. I will be running a heavily modded ASM g5 (Modding to come soon). Lighting I am thinking of going with 2X250 watt halides with 2 Mars aqua leds and if I can fit it 2 T5. Not sure what size sump yet but most likely will be a forty breeder.
My plans as of right now (subject to change without notice lol)
Skimmer as stated is going to be a ASM G5 mainly because I picked it up really cheap. In my opinion the ASM is a decent skimmer but is way outdated so I will be upgrading it. First the skimmer will not fit under the stand so I will be doing the recirculating mod on both pumps to make it a external skimmer to sit out side the stand. I will be plumbing it to my overflow. Now since the tank has duel overflows I know it is next to impossible to get water level consistency if hooked to 1 of the overflows as in the reef tank we can not control how much water goes down each overflow and the water level in the skimmer will fluctuate. To combat this the tank has 2X1" overflows that I will plumb together into a 1.25" or 1.5" pipe so both overflows go to the skimmer. This should fix the issue and keep the water level consistent. Then I will be installing a bubble plate inside the skimmer. Then the pumps that came with the skimmer are shot and IMO the sedera 9000 pumps are just not very efficient pumps given whats out on the market. As of right now I am not sure what direction I will be going. I was thinking of getting some bubbleblasters and running those but then looking at my currently up and running lifereef I am starting to consider buying a couple venturi injector nozzles from lifereef this way I can run say duel mag 9.5s or what ever pump looks good. I like the idea of having the flexibility to run whatever pump I feel is fit for the job.
The tank is not coming with a stand but I already have a cabinet that will be able to hold the ank just fine and just needs so paint and a few mods to it. It does come with a canopy That has been hacked up to fit a 8Bulb T5 fixture. Thats not what I am planning to run but going to take the canopy as its free and might be easier (and cheaper) to mod the canopy to fit my lights rather than build one from scratch if not its not the first time I have built a canopy so should not be a problem.
The sump will be a simple design as the skimmer will be external the output of the skimmer will of course run to the sump. Not sure yet if I want to add a filter sock but either way sump will be just a large refugium some baffles and return pump. Simple and effective just the way I like it.
The return pump I have not picked out yet but it will have a manifold plumbed to it for reactors or what ever I decide to add at a later date. From all the tanks I have owned I have found when it comes to plumbing it is best to leave room for later upgrades now rather than hacking your plumbing to bits later.
Thats all I have for now if anyone has any opinions or comments feel free.
Oh and reef2reef keep my name in mind when giving away that return pump that would help solve one of my decisions I am going to have to make
My plans as of right now (subject to change without notice lol)
Skimmer as stated is going to be a ASM G5 mainly because I picked it up really cheap. In my opinion the ASM is a decent skimmer but is way outdated so I will be upgrading it. First the skimmer will not fit under the stand so I will be doing the recirculating mod on both pumps to make it a external skimmer to sit out side the stand. I will be plumbing it to my overflow. Now since the tank has duel overflows I know it is next to impossible to get water level consistency if hooked to 1 of the overflows as in the reef tank we can not control how much water goes down each overflow and the water level in the skimmer will fluctuate. To combat this the tank has 2X1" overflows that I will plumb together into a 1.25" or 1.5" pipe so both overflows go to the skimmer. This should fix the issue and keep the water level consistent. Then I will be installing a bubble plate inside the skimmer. Then the pumps that came with the skimmer are shot and IMO the sedera 9000 pumps are just not very efficient pumps given whats out on the market. As of right now I am not sure what direction I will be going. I was thinking of getting some bubbleblasters and running those but then looking at my currently up and running lifereef I am starting to consider buying a couple venturi injector nozzles from lifereef this way I can run say duel mag 9.5s or what ever pump looks good. I like the idea of having the flexibility to run whatever pump I feel is fit for the job.
The tank is not coming with a stand but I already have a cabinet that will be able to hold the ank just fine and just needs so paint and a few mods to it. It does come with a canopy That has been hacked up to fit a 8Bulb T5 fixture. Thats not what I am planning to run but going to take the canopy as its free and might be easier (and cheaper) to mod the canopy to fit my lights rather than build one from scratch if not its not the first time I have built a canopy so should not be a problem.
The sump will be a simple design as the skimmer will be external the output of the skimmer will of course run to the sump. Not sure yet if I want to add a filter sock but either way sump will be just a large refugium some baffles and return pump. Simple and effective just the way I like it.
The return pump I have not picked out yet but it will have a manifold plumbed to it for reactors or what ever I decide to add at a later date. From all the tanks I have owned I have found when it comes to plumbing it is best to leave room for later upgrades now rather than hacking your plumbing to bits later.
Thats all I have for now if anyone has any opinions or comments feel free.
Oh and reef2reef keep my name in mind when giving away that return pump that would help solve one of my decisions I am going to have to make