Nik's Reef Savvy SPS 240 Build

nikunjpatel · Jan 12, 2019

Hello R2R, Its been awhile since I've had a reef tank. My last tank was taken down in 2014 after all sorts of chaos and stress. With that being said, I've got the itch again after taking my nephew to the Long Beach aquarium last fall.

So with the purchase of a new home, and soon some remodeling I thought I'd sneak this in past the wife... well not entirely. It's going to be a pleasant surprise. I've decided to annex the entire garage for my setup. I don't want to deal with issues of water spills, plumbing through walls, system growth and most importantly endless chiming in about my insanity by my wonderful wife

I was going to wait to start this thread but I wanted some input on lighting and overall set up from all the great minds of R2R.

I placed my deposit for my build right before Christmas but since Reef Savvy's lead time is approx 7 months I was told there would be time for changes . My Goal is to have an SPS dominant tank

Tank (So Far) :
72x48x18 peninsula with dual ghost overflows and euro braced

Skimmer: ATB 1040A, purchased

Return Pump: Abyzz 400, purchased.

Lighting. TBD, thinking about ATI sunpower 60' inch 8 bulb, but still debating, could run 3x 36' inch 8 bulb lights perpendicular , maybe add Kessil's 360x's in between them. I had the ATI powermodule LED for my last build and loved it but honestly I didn't see much benefit of the added LED. It was great having some control and a single power cord but other than that I couldn't justify the additional cost and power consumption.

SUMP: TBD

CARX: TBD

Controller: Neptune Apex

Flow: TBD, leaning towards Panta Rhei ECM 63, also debating and internal closed loop with the drain on the side of the return lines.

Please , I could use much input as possible, so please chime in .

thanks,

nik

nikunjpatel · Jan 12, 2019

Daniel Waters · Jan 12, 2019

Sounds like a great build. I run a 72" x 24" x 18" tank, so not quite the dimensions of yours. I like the shallow depth for some things, but in retrospect, I wish I had a bit more height. If I had to do it again, I'd probably go with 21" to 24". That's still shallow enough to make it easier to work in the tank, but I think the extra height gives you a little bit more flexibility in a few areas. For instance, with the extra depth, you can get higher par on the first 18" and bit lower par levels in the deeper part of the tank. This is nice if you want to run a mixed reef and have corals that appreciate lower light. The other reason is it just gives the fish a bit more space. I have done fish that like to stay at the very top, some in the middle, and some on the bottom. At 21" or 24", I think it would just give a little more room and be better visually. I also like having some pillar type structures. I just don't get quite enough differentiation in my aquascape having 18" height, as you typically want to leave room above, so my structures may only go 12" high. Having an extra 3" to 6" would be nice so I could have some areas a bit taller than other areas in the tank. I think the 48" width will be awesome, though!

Lighting for a 48" wide tank will be a challenge. I love the ATI T5 lights, but I don't think you can get by with one 8 bulb fixture with that width for an SPS tank. I think trying to run 36" units perpendicular is a mistake. I think you'd wind up needing 3 or 4 units. That's a lot of bulbs and $$$ to change. Your options for lighting (if you don't want to consider metal halides with large reflectors) are

(1) go with two rows of LED units (so something like 2 rows of 5 to 6 kessil A360x on each row).
(2) go with a panel style led like the orphek Atlantik and run them perpendicular. Probably need 4 of those and I'm still not sure they will give you the par you would need on the edges of a 48" wide tank, but that may not be an issue depending on how you plan to do your aquascape and coral placement.
(3) if you prefer t5, go with 2 rows of 60" ATI fixtures with a small gap in the center. 6 bulb or 8 bulb units each. If you go with a 21" or 24" deep tank, I'd definitely do the 8 bulb units. In fact, I'd encourage mounting the units a bit higher (like a 12" to 15" mounting height) and go with the 8 bulb units anyway. You can always choose to just run 6 bulbs on each if you don't need all 8 on each unit. Plus, you can choose to add some led units in between the two ATI T5 units. The kessil units are good for this as they have very wide angle lenses. At a 12" to 15" mounting height they will cover the 48" width pretty well. Note: you won't get much par from the kessils relative to the T5 units at this mounting height. The purpose of the kessils at this mounting height would be more to give you a little bit of shimmer, allow you to fine tune the tank color from the T5s, and they are great to use for dawn / dusk (t5s just don't give near the same actinic and royal blue as LEDs can in my opinion). You'd probably need 4 of the kessils to supplement the T5s. If you want them to actually provide more significant par contribution, you would want more units (but I doubt it would be needed if you go with two ATI 8 bulb T5 units...you should have plenty of par through the whole tank).

Hope this helps.

nikunjpatel · Jan 12, 2019

Thanks Daniel , really appreciate the input. I think you're right about the height. My last tanks dimensions were 72x36x22, rimless, I decided against the rimless because the salt creep and splashing of water during wave mode. My thinking on the lower height was simply easier access to the inside.. I was actually going go with a much lower stand height than my previous tanks stand, maybe 30 inches (48 inches , tank + stand) I really want to have the ability to look down into the tank without having to use a step ladder.

As far as aqua-scaping I was thinking minimal rock work, using lots of negative space with the width of the tank. Something like having a canyon between rock structures.

I like the idea of two ATI 60's and putting the kessil's in between for shimmer.

I think I will add another display , more for fish and rock work. I don't plan on adding a lot of fish to shallow build, maybe a few tangs and some anthias. This is probably more of a frag tank, but with the hope/option that frags can grow into colonies without having to move stuff around

Daniel Waters · Jan 12, 2019

Given your tank is so wide, I would definitely recommend going to at least 21" height and simply lower your stand height (which you mentioned doing). You probably could even go with a slightly lower stand and go up to the 24" height. I've found as long as I have enough room to fit my skimmer underneath in the sump and can take it out and put it in easily, I don't really need additional stand height. I'd rather have more fish viewing space, and I also like being able to look down into the tank and prefer having the top of my tank below my arm pits....it is just easier for me maintenance wise. With a 48" wide stand, you will have plenty of room to place equipment (assuming you are getting a sump that is at least 24" wide). In other words, if you have enough width, you can turn equipment horizontally to move in and out of the sump and don't need much extra height clearance above equipment (with skimmers usually being the tallest equipment). Thus, I'd go with a taller tank and shorter stand. I probably wouldn't go above 24" tank height as a lot of people really talk about that starting to be more of a pain maintenance wise. Your tank manufacturer may also have a certain height at which he would want to increase the glass thickness, which can be a large expense difference, so that may be able to guide you in your decision making on the final design.

Another reason a slightly higher tank than 18" is that I find it would be helpful for my powerheads. My vortech mp40s are such that I can't place them lower or they suck up sand. They now suck up air from time to time and it's annoying. If I had a 21" tank height, this would be a total non issue.

You mention 58" tank + stand height but a 30" stand. I'm not sure where you are getting that number? Didn't you say you were going to do an 18" tank? That would be 48". I just want to be sure I'm not misunderstanding things.

nikunjpatel · Jan 12, 2019

Opps, You're right the height, my mistake actually thats from my notes I made earlier on scatch paper. That mistake carried on in my head. Thanks for catching that . I think I will increase the height to at least 20, given the water level will be a bit lower as well. I'm planing on running bare bottom. But you are right, I will have more option by increasing glass height in the future if plans change.

Daniel Waters · Jan 12, 2019

Bare bottom is the way I'd go if I were doing a new sps tank. I just have a wrasse that likes to sleep in the sand and a diamond goby i don't have the heart to get rid of. I'm still able to get a lot of chaotic flow due to the number of powerheads I'm running, but I have to throttle a couple back because of the sand. In my experience, increasing my flow has been just as important (or more so) for my SPS corals than lighting.