Planning New Tank

[Erik R]

I am planning a new tank. This is not my first tank, but its been a number of years, so the learning curve is back. Here is what I have planned and would like folks to give suggested changes if you see something I am missing, over-killing, or doing that I should not. I know one of the first recommendations is going to be "Get a bigger tank". That MAY be possible, but I am space constrained. Given unlimited space, I would make a MASSIVE tank. LOL

I am going to build this in phases:
* 1 - Basic Tank Setup
* 2 - Control/Cooling
* 3 - Sump
* 4 - Dosing

So, Phase 1:
Tank - Red Sea Max-E 170 (37 Gal display, 45 gal total water with sump in Phase 3)
Light - Hydra 26 (comes with the tank)
Heater - 2x Aqueon 200w heaters (I like redundancy in such things)
Waves - Jebao WP-25
Chem Test Kit (API), Salt Mix (Red Sea?), various other utilitarian toys
Live Rock, sand
Once cycled, introduce a couple fish

Phase 2:
Cooling - AquaEuro USA Max-Chill 1/13 HP (It gets quite hot in my house during the summer)
Control System - Neptune Apex (This will become more important/useful later)
Add a few more fish, mushrooms, anemone

Phase 3:
Sump - Red Sea Sump Upgrade (Converted to Refugium)
Light - 6500k LED 70 Lumen (Should be sufficient for refugium)
Add chaeto, possibly a clam, SPS.

Phase 4:
Pump - Jebao DP4
Chems - Red Sea Foundation + Colors
Chem Test Kit
No additions, monitor and maintain.

 

[Zero Nitrates]

Sounds like a great plan!
Congrats on the new build.

Red Sea coral pro is a good salt. The two heaters is a good idea. ;)

Are you using live sand? Bare bottom?
What kind of rock?

 

[mcarroll]

You can opt for the tank that comes without lights if you'd be interested in doing something else. Spotlights aren't for everyone, and some folks really don't like the shadows they create. (I don't mind them myself, but it's something folks tend to feel and spend strongly about.)

Chinese pumps are tempting due to price, but I'd select some Tunze's for in-tank flow and I'd spec a properly-sized AC pump for the return. Quiet One is great on the lower end of prices....they run silent. On the higher end is Sicce's Syncra or Syncra Pro line, Danner's Mag pumps as well as Eheim and others.

Seems like you should be able to avoid the chiller....SD isn't all that hot 24/7/365 is it?

From a quick look it seems you guys are about 70º on average almost year-round. True? How often does it get >80ºF (I see records of 86ºF-89ºF), and do you or could you use AC to cover just those peak temperatures? Just thinking out loud....you probably already thought of all this. ;)

I really like the Marineland Precision glass heaters with the lifetime warranty. Treat em how a heater should be treated and they last seemingly forever.

 

[Erik R]

You can opt for the tank that comes without lights if you'd be interested in doing something else. Spotlights aren't for everyone, and some folks really don't like the shadows they create. (I don't mind them myself, but it's something folks tend to feel and spend strongly about.)

Chinese pumps are tempting due to price, but I'd select some Tunze's for in-tank flow and I'd spec a properly-sized AC pump for the return. Quiet One is great on the lower end of prices....they run silent. On the higher end is Sicce's Syncra or Syncra Pro line, Danner's Mag pumps as well as Eheim and others.

Seems like you should be able to avoid the chiller....SD isn't all that hot 24/7/365 is it?

From a quick look it seems you guys are about 70º on average almost year-round. True? How often does it get >80ºF (I see records of 86ºF-89ºF), and do you or could you use AC to cover just those peak temperatures? Just thinking out loud....you probably already thought of all this. ;)

I really like the Marineland Precision glass heaters with the lifetime warranty. Treat em how a heater should be treated and they last seemingly forever.

Lights - that is one of my areas of concern and lack of knowledge. I don't know if these lights can suitably support my tank. The rock arrangement I have personally n mind will make use of the light direction and minimize shadows. But on this I am very open to suggestions and advice.

Pump - totally understood and thanks for that. I deal with China a lot and found that quality is very inconsistent, support is often impossible, and materials are questionable.

Temp - you are correct as an average. But I live inland and it definitely gets 90-100 in my house with some consistency. Last summer I broke down and purchased a good size room AC. It helped a ton, but we don't run it a lot because of expense. My previous aquarium was a bit larger and seemed to get on the hot side, but I didn't have many sensitive species in there. As I have setup the build phases, I plan on watching to see how the heat affects things.

Heaters - I will look into those. I am always afraid of glass breaking. It's not happened to me yet but I am always terrified it will.

 

[mcarroll]

It's definitely all about the microclimate you're in!!

Taking it slow will definitely give you all the answers – and time to make any necessary mistakes!! :)

If you tend to be hard on equipment or just generally klutzy, then I'd worry about glass too....but you also have to worry about metal heaters too. I've seen more dead titanium heaters than I've seen any other type – leaking voltage especially, but also just plain dead.

No heater is indestructable, but those Precision heaters will run and run if you let 'em! :)

 

[Erik R]

Sounds like a great plan!
Congrats on the new build.

Red Sea coral pro is a good salt. The two heaters is a good idea. ;)

Are you using live sand? Bare bottom?
What kind of rock?

Sand - definitely live sand. I used it before and the results made me happy. Rock - whatever live rock I can get from our local store. One place had rock that looked far too dead, the other had much healthier looking pieces. This is going to take me a while to obtain since how I want my scape to look requires certain shapes to a point.

Left side will be a steep cone for mushrooms. Top will arch to the right which is a column of offset shelves to provide landings for SPS. Probably have a clam in the middle. I will probably use a tank safe putty or some other glue(tank safe) to set things in place.

 

[Erik R]

It's definitely all about the microclimate you're in!!

Taking it slow will definitely give you all the answers – and time to make any necessary mistakes!! :)

If you tend to be hard on equipment or just generally klutzy, then I'd worry about glass too....but you also have to worry about metal heaters too. I've seen more dead titanium heaters than I've seen any other type – leaking voltage especially, but also just plain dead.

No heater is indestructable, but those Precision heaters will run and run if you let 'em! :)

On the heaters, u think that is the right rating? I did the math (forgot the calculation) and 200 was just above what I needed. Then two for redundancy.

 

[mcarroll]

I would forego the dual heaters in the display unless you think the sump is more of a long-term prospect. In that case, add both of these heaters in the display. I wouldn't add two over-sized heaters.

Ideally, I'd use one of these in the display:

It looks like the sump can't be more than 10 gallons, but they don't include any stats on their site (unless I missed it):

So in the sump I'd include one of these:

 

[Erik R]

Thanks for the info. On their website they have more information:
Display Volume: 37 Gallons
Rear Sump: 8 Gallons
Cabinet Sump: 11 Gallons
Total Volume: 56 Gallons

My plan for the cabinet sump was simple. Keep the upper filtration systems including skimmer running. In the main area of the sump, add a pile of Cheato and a light. Put the heaters in there, and also use this as the output location for the dosing system. This will also be where the probes for the Apex go.

Interesting how you divided the heating capacity. 150 in display, 50 in sump. I am going to have to think about this. As you suggested, I may have a heater in the rear sump and one in the lower sump.I want the inside of the tank as uncluttered as possible.

 

[Erik R]

Sand - definitely live sand. I used it before and the results made me happy. Rock - whatever live rock I can get from our local store. One place had rock that looked far too dead, the other had much healthier looking pieces. This is going to take me a while to obtain since how I want my scape to look requires certain shapes to a point.

Left side will be a steep cone for mushrooms. Top will arch to the right which is a column of offset shelves to provide landings for SPS. Probably have a clam in the middle. I will probably use a tank safe putty or some other glue(tank safe) to set things in place.

I have to admit that my thinking is quite old school. Back in the day, the advice was always to use live sand and live rock. The prospect of unwanted critters on/in the rock always terrified me. I did at one point have a very large black hairy worm. He was lightning fast, so only had glimpses of it, but it never seemed to do any harm.

I would be willing to consider revising my thought process (and saving a chunk of cash) on this after reading R2R's ultimate guide. But my question is then, how do you get the cycle started? Nitrogen cycle is relatively easy, but what about the algae cycle? Should I include a small chunk of live rock to facilitate that? Suggestions?

 

[Erik R]

Well, as expected, I had a slight monkey wrench thrown in. Red Sea says the Sump upgrade kit does not include a return pump.. Considering Red Sea produces solutions for people that are supposed to be self contained, this seems to be a very weird decision.

They did say a return pump capable of 650gph should be sufficient. As with all things, there are literally hundreds of options out there. Needle jumps into haystack. Anyone have a Max-E 170 tank with a sump? What do you recommend for a return pump?

I am almost ready to start ordering stuff. Santa has been busy compiling recommendations and reviews, preliminary shopping, finding suppliers who provide the most equipment at best prices, so on. Nearly ready to hit the Order button.

 

[Erik R]

Doing further research, I contacted the folks at Red Sea and asked if the protein skimmer works when you add the Sump upgrade kit. (Max-E 170). The answer is not only No, but that you have to get a new skimmer because apparently the included one wont stand up in the sump.

For me, that is an issue because I wanted to turn the sump into a refugium. So, is it possible to clamp/rig/contrive a way for the included skimmer to be in the proper position in the sump and take minimal space?