Recommendations for 6ft tank

[Techie_]

Hey everyone, I'm coming back into the hobby again after about 10 years and I'm super excited.

I've had the opportunity to inherit a tank 215g (72x24x29) from my retiring uncle and need some advice on what to do. I've already gone ahead and broken down the tank, storing the rock in trash cans and set up an intermediary tank for some of the LPS and a couple of fish. I'm in no rush here and know good things don't happen fast, especially in reefing, and want to get it right this time as far as equipment goes. I think I've got the lighting figured out with 3 AI 32HDs

Just from looking at the tank while it was set up, there are a couple of things that jumped out at me. The overflow setup is a dual Durso with variable height PVC pipes, I'm sure they were more common awhile back, but I'm more interested in sealing up the old holes and drilling for a BeanAnimal style overflow. He only had a single IceCap 3K gyre for flow, which, for his coral selection and quantity was probably fine but I'm looking to enjoy some more motion with largely LPS dominated mixed reef. Good news is I still have my gyre from when I had my 90g set up so I can work with those if need be. I've been seeing a lot of people enjoy the MP40s these days, too. So my questions are as follow:

1. What is a good starting point for flow? Point the gyres at each other and call it a day until I've got some problems or go with a mixture of gyres + MP40s?
2. What size drains/returns should I use on an external BeanAnimal with this tank size?
3. Where can I find a good external overflow box that can support the aforementioned drains?
4. Is there a hard and fast rule on where to drill the tank or is it dependent on the overflow?

TIA and I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys suggest!

 

[ReefTankENG]

I recently upgrade to 90” long 20 wide 32” tall tank. I have a Sicce SDC 9.0 for the rerun pump. It is a glass cages tank that came with a Shadow v3 overflow that has the herbie configuration. I have two MP40s on one side of the tank and two Tunze 6045’s on the other. The over flow is great ( and very small footprint in the tank) - specs for the holes are on their site. My tank goes through the wall so all my stuff is on the ends. Ultimately I have to have high flow at the ends to get movement eVerywhere in the tank. Which I thought I would have and LPS dominant tank is now mostly SPS with some softies and LPS in key locations. Congrats on the new tank!

 

[littlefoxx]

Lets ask @BeanAnimal himself about his set up!

 

[bradreef]

If you haven't purchased your lights yet, ide recommend against the 32 hds. Not much bang for the buck imo. Reefi uno 2 would be similar price and way more power if you ever needed it. 29 inches deep and 90 watts per 2 ft is very minimal with not much chance for upgrades.
For flow mp 40's are the standard. Gyres do a great job of a sheet of flow, but, require regular cleaning. I like mine more on my frag tank. If money matters, ide say look at dmp-40's.

 

[Techie_]

If you haven't purchased your lights yet, ide recommend against the 32 hds. Not much bang for the buck imo. Reefi uno 2 would be similar price and way more power if you ever needed it. 29 inches deep and 90 watts per 2 ft is very minimal with not much chance for upgrades.
For flow mp 40's are the standard. Gyres do a great job of a sheet of flow, but, require regular cleaning. I like mine more on my frag tank. If money matters, ide say look at dmp-40's.

Noted, the only reason I had "settled" on the Hydras was they're what my LFS stocks, but sounds like I'll be better off getting powerheads and pumps there based on the slim lighting selection

 

[bradreef]

Noted, the only reason I had "settled" on the Hydras was they're what my LFS stocks, but sounds like I'll be better off getting powerheads and pumps there based on the slim lighting selection

LFs don't often have a ton of lights in stock. People usually purchase online. Research lights on here if interested


Lights that grow anything. There are a bunch of other options than these.

Budget
Noopsyche k7 3

Standard
Radion xr30

Hottest value
Reefi uno 2.0

 

[Techie_]

LFs don't often have a ton of lights in stock.

Yeah, one of mine does, one doesn't (where I have the credit). They'll order anything from suppliers for you at cost, though. The credit I have would cover the cost of the lights and return pump which is why I'm more interested in the Hydras than the Reefi uno. I'll reach out and see if they can order some Reefis for me.