Where to put reactors and which ones?

[FrancineJ]

Hello,
I have a new tank set up starting...
It’s a 110g RR corner tank
I have a COR 20 for my return
And I have an emerald (well the blue one that’s the same) 39” trigger sump
And a skimmer (rated for dense 185g)

I have a couple questions for those with the trigger 39”

Where do you put your reactors and which ones do you use?
I plan on having a mixed reed but no SPS.... just some zoas, LPS and softies and not an overwhelming amount....

I’m going for more fish less coral.... I will have about 3 islands and plan for zoas near one, LPS (frogspawn, some hammers, brains etc) near the other and then some softies near the other.... but I’d like it to be focused more on ghe fish for now...

So back to my questions what reactors should I run and where do I put them in the emerald 39”? I have a TON of room in my skimmer section and room
In my return section.... I’m just not sure what I should be running and what is the most important and where to put it....
In my Fuge so far k just plan to have some (either sand or mud) some dry rock with some Chaeto tied down to it and seeded with pods....

I won’t be using live rock, I have done this with my other tanks and it works out nicely.... (using Caribsea life rock)

All ideas welcome!!!

 

[Huff747]

What are you planning to put in your reactor? You may not even need one. My smaller tank probably has too many fish but there is one SPS that came as a freebie and then zoas, LPS, and hammers, and I'm down to only running a skimmer. I had a refugium on it but everything seemed to like the water a bit dirtier so now the refugium is even shut down. Sometimes I put some carbon in a bag and run it in my sump but everything you listed above tends to like water with more nutrients so you may not even need a reactor depending on what you wanted to run in it.

 

[FrancineJ]

Well that’s what I am wondering... do I need reactors? And which ones are most Imporant...
The tank is 110g with 110lbs of rock and a 40g sump...
it will all be set up with Neptune apex...
I plan on having 3 island types.... the 2 on the sides with be like Stax type rocks and the middle will be a large cave with arches attaching to at least one of the sides.... hard to explain until I get it all glued and in place...
I will have a DOS that will do water changes about 2g a day and then I will do a monthly manual clean (sand vacuum ect)

I plan to keep only easier corals... no plans right now for sps but maybe a year or so down the road... but again no plans....

I have the skimmer section and then a LARGE refugium again that I plan to just stock with pods etc... so it will have a mud (not sure which one yet) and then dry rock with Chaeto tied down to the rock at first and a decent light running opposite light time as the tank... then there is a spot you can put bags of carbon or purigen ect... then it has a large return section that my cor 20 does not take up all the space... maybe I will try running it dirty like you suggested and see where my levels end up with my plan...
if things are off I suppose I could always add something later....

I’m just wondering with a larger tank if I should be running like 2 part...(add another dos system) or if there is something better I can run?

I also want to keep a couple cycled bags of media for my hospital tank and qt.... but not sure where the best place to put them is....

I’ve only ever run AIO tanks so this is a new start for me lol

Any help would be great...

 

[Hemmdog]

Well that’s what I am wondering... do I need reactors? And which ones are most Imporant...
The tank is 110g with 110lbs of rock and a 40g sump...
it will all be set up with Neptune apex...
I plan on having 3 island types.... the 2 on the sides with be like Stax type rocks and the middle will be a large cave with arches attaching to at least one of the sides.... hard to explain until I get it all glued and in place...
I will have a DOS that will do water changes about 2g a day and then I will do a monthly manual clean (sand vacuum ect)

I plan to keep only easier corals... no plans right now for sps but maybe a year or so down the road... but again no plans....

I have the skimmer section and then a LARGE refugium again that I plan to just stock with pods etc... so it will have a mud (not sure which one yet) and then dry rock with Chaeto tied down to the rock at first and a decent light running opposite light time as the tank... then there is a spot you can put bags of carbon or purigen ect... then it has a large return section that my cor 20 does not take up all the space... maybe I will try running it dirty like you suggested and see where my levels end up with my plan...
if things are off I suppose I could always add something later....

I’m just wondering with a larger tank if I should be running like 2 part...(add another dos system) or if there is something better I can run?

I also want to keep a couple cycled bags of media for my hospital tank and qt.... but not sure where the best place to put them is....

I’ve only ever run AIO tanks so this is a new start for me lol

Any help would be great...

That’s an excellent sump. Besides the skimmer and fuge you won’t need anything. I wouldn’t do any mud or anything in your fuge either. Just macro algae and maybe some good porous live rock. The more coral you have the more fish you can have (sort of) because coral helps consume nitrates to an extent. So less coral more fish doesent really matter, just get what you want to get

You won’t need purigen, or anything like that, extra media bags for hospital tanks is a bad idea because it will be over a year until you should even be looking into extra ways of nutrient export. Extra media could keep your tank from doing well.

To answer your questions about reactors, which you don’t need. You just get small little pumps like a mj600 or little sicce and put the pumps in your skimmer chamber or wherever you have space really. Then soft plumb them to the reactor(s) where you have space to put it, it doesent need to be in the water. You can hard plumb if you like but more valves and plumbing means more possible connections you have that could possibly form leaks imo.

Here to help. Sounds like a sweet build! I’m very jealous of that sump! I have the emerald 26 on my 90g. I also have 2 very nice reactors and pumps that have never touched water, just trying to help you save some money where you can

 

[FrancineJ]

Ok so don’t worry about any reactors at all??
I get so confused lol.... others say use reactors for purigen or carbon or use 2 part etc....

And I want the bags for my hospital or QT because why would it be a year before using it???

I will be qt’ing many fish and corals along the way... I don’t plan on adding a full stock to a 110g all at once....
so I will need a qt everytime I add fish....
And as for the hospital tank I could need that media anytime!! Learned that one the hard way when I added a tiny frag without qt’ing it and ending up with velvet that wiped nearly all of my sons stock... (and it came from a reputable place so it goes to show you!)
Also as I slowly add CUC they will need to be QT’ed....

So I’m just curious as to why you think it would be a year before I need a qt or hospital tank?

So you have never once put any of your reactors in the water and don’t dose anything?