RxReef - a 220g bad idea (thanks dad!)

[nbooks]

Hi, my names Nathan and I'm betting you want to hear the story of how I wound up here....

I grew up in a house with a 50g saltwater tank and helping my father do water changes, and have always been a science nerd. When I was little I wanted to be a veterinarian at the aquarium (specifically for the penguins actually), in middle school I competed in a science competition of which the prize was getting to go to San Diego and spend a few days working along side Bob Ballard (the guy who discovered the titanic wreckage - my dad was actually working on the ship that drove right over it and didn't see it shortly prior...) and no as an adult...I literally do nothing even close to that. I'm an oncology pharmacist (now that Rx in the title should make more sense) but still a nerd.

Summer 2020 rolled around and I was bored in quarantine so I ordered myself a 40 gallon AIO to play with. It's currently overstocked and only sort of growing coral, but is nice to look...my wife never loved the spot I chose. As we all do I started dreaming of a larger tank, but every spot I thought up seemed to have joists going the wrong direction to support a decent sized tank so I shelved the idea and figured it would happen eventually.

And then my Dad got involved - remember that 50g tank I mentioned earlier? it's been running for probably close to 30 years at this point and some fish randomly died early in lockdown. Being older and not great health he stayed home for basically a year...where does he go o nhis first trip out? the LFS...and comes home with a juvenile emperor angel that he did ZERO research on. Fast forward to Thanksgiving 2021 and he jokingly tells me I need to start working on a home for his now sub adult emperor, to which my wife replies "you're going to have to pay fish support!"....and he agreed....

Soooo after some facebook marketplace searching I have a deposit on a 220g setup. I was hoping that I would have taken ownership by now, but unfortunately the seller is upgrading to a massive new 300+ gallon system and on setup day found that the stand was not the correct size...

these are the pictures from the listing. It's in great condition in person, about 2 years old and professionally plumbed/maintained.

 

[nbooks]

The equipment list is pretty solid in my opinion, but as I'll be going down the sps road I will be making some changes. I'm also not taking any of the livestock pictured as only some are reef safe since it was a FOWLR.

Tank - best I can tell its a marineland or similar 220g at 72x24x30 with dual corner overflows. Corners were not by first choice, but this is setup as a herbie and was virtually silent.

Return Pump - thinking of going to a dual setup with individual over the back returns (Syncra 7's or 9's likely)

Wave pumps/circulation - running Nero 3's on my aio, like them but hate the wires in the tank. Unsure if ill go Nero 5's or mp40's

Lighting - currently has fluval marine lights, but will be going with two neptune sky's

Controller - Full apex, tank already has some flow monitors on it. My other hobby is setting money on fire by racing cars so we are gone for a long weekend every month or so. My dad is responsible for watching from his desk so I promised him remote monitoring.

I am totally open to any suggestions anyone has!

 

[IKD]

Nice!

 

[DeniseAndy]

Enjoy the journey! Sounds fun.

 

[i cant think]

I’m looking forward to this!! My favourite question to ask anyone with a new tank or plan for a new one:
What other fish do you think you’d add??

 

[nbooks]

I’m looking forward to this!! My favourite question to ask anyone with a new tank or plan for a new one:
What other fish do you think you’d add??

right now in the 40 ive got:
2x bangai cardinals
1x sleeper goby
1x purple firefish
3x green chromis
2x rose blood (i think?) clowns that were supposed to be misbar...

all will likely transfer over.

after that:
- obviously we will have the Emperor angel (adding last
- im sure the classic zebrasomas

-wrasses will be the key component as my wife loves the colors and seems actually almost excited about some lol. still working my way through the wrasse guy's compatibility chart. Plus this tank is going in our basement as a bit of a divider wall to make a tv/hang out area and wrassesare fun to watch!

 

[i cant think]

right now in the 40 ive got:
2x bangai cardinals
1x sleeper goby
1x purple firefish
3x green chromis
2x rose blood (i think?) clowns that were supposed to be misbar...

all will likely transfer over.

after that:
- obviously we will have the Emperor angel (adding last
- im sure the classic zebrasomas

-wrasses will be the key component as my wife loves the colors and seems actually almost excited about some lol. still working my way through the wrasse guy's compatibility chart. Plus this tank is going in our basement as a bit of a divider wall to make a tv/hang out area and wrassesare fun to watch!

They really are fun!! Also, I find the compatibility chart to be rules you can twist in certain circumstances. As seen with pretty much all of my wrasses (None of them should be compatible).

 

[nbooks]

the one that really got her attention was C. solorensis, one labeled as a red headed fairy. was certainly a looker for sure.

 

[i cant think]

the one that really got her attention was C. solorensis, one labeled as a red headed fairy. was certainly a looker for sure.

apparently they can be more aggressive to other wrasses but I bet if added last it’ll be fine OR if you find a mild specimen in the store.

I haven’t ever seen the Red Head (C. aquamarinus now) become aggressive though. I dont think you should shy away from it though!! Definitely try it, no fish is the EXACT same as another

 

[Sean Clark]

I'm excited!

 

[jmichaelh7]

Looks like a project that soon will be rewarding

 

[nbooks]

apparently they can be more aggressive to other wrasses but I bet if added last it’ll be fine OR if you find a mild specimen in the store.

I haven’t ever seen the Red Head (C. aquamarinus now) become aggressive though. I dont think you should shy away from it though!! Definitely try it, no fish is the EXACT same as another

im hopeful the tank size will play in my favor if i can find some smaller/younger fish. but yeah, i have to try my best to stick to the plan of making a list and spending the time to plan the order of p=adding them.

Looks like a project that soon will be rewarding

hopefully. the current tank has been a much needed distraction at times for sure! bigger funnder fish must be better of course...right? lol

 

[nbooks]

as luck would have it, BRS just announced a sicce sale. after some sketches it looks like ill wind up at about 12 ft of head pressure.

I'm not sure if i should do syncra 7's or 9's, seems both would be running below max which is what im after. looks like the 7's would provide a minimum of about 700 gph in each return. Planning to do the initial exit from the pumps in flexible silicone hose since the syncra's outlet can be angled and therefore eliminate at least one 90 from each.

will also be using VCA 1.25" random flow generators on the outlets.

1400gph return flow would likely be about 7x turnover through the sump...

​

 

[i cant think]

im hopeful the tank size will play in my favor if i can find some smaller/younger fish. but yeah, i have to try my best to stick to the plan of making a list and spending the time to plan the order of p=adding them.



hopefully. the current tank has been a much needed distraction at times for sure! bigger funnder fish must be better of course...right? lol

I mean, people say Cirrhilabrus naokoae gets aggressive, mine doesn’t care about the leopard or pink streak in my 20g (He’s not big enough to go into the main 4’ tank and is rather docile in comparison to the Jade wrasse).

 

[Sean Clark]

as luck would have it, BRS just announced a sicce sale. after some sketches it looks like ill wind up at about 12 ft of head pressure.

I'm not sure if i should do syncra 7's or 9's, seems both would be running below max which is what im after. looks like the 7's would provide a minimum of about 700 gph in each return. Planning to do the initial exit from the pumps in flexible silicone hose since the syncra's outlet can be angled and therefore eliminate at least one 90 from each.

will also be using VCA 1.25" random flow generators on the outlets.

1400gph return flow would likely be about 7x turnover through the sump...

​

I vote Syncra 9

 

[nbooks]

I vote Syncra 9

even with dual pumps? tank is currently on a varios 8 single return.

 

[Sean Clark]

 

[Sean Clark]

You can always tune them down, it's really hard to tune them up.

 

[nbooks]

You can always tune them down, it's really hard to tune them up.

fully agree. im sitting right on the fence since it looked like im sitting at like 60% ish on the 7.

but...i realized i made an error in my math. after re reading the brs article on sizing, i realized my numbers above included counting each foot of lateral runs of pipe as a full foot and not 0.1

my real numbers appear to be closer to 8-10 feet.

is there any issue with running a dc pump down at like 30% full time?

i believe the drains are 1.5", so with two it should handle whatever flow.

 

[nbooks]

Good news, finally picking up the tank next week.

time to get to work!