I’m in the final stages of settling on new construction just south of the canal and if all goes well I’ll be moving to slower lower by the end of the year. As if the new home wasn’t exiting enough, now I have the perfect excuse to upgrade. ;D
My current plan is a main floor 150 gallon starfire display tank with a remote 90 gallon refugium and sump located in the basement.
The house itself is still under construction so this really afforded me the opportunity to plan the house around the tank for a change. About time.
The main floor is one big open concept. The tank will be situated under that awkward horizontal window on the far wall.
The horizontal window measures 6’ in length and sits 5’2" off the current subfloor. I was debating between a 6’ 180 gallon or a 5’ 150 gallon tank and opted for the later. A 150 gallon allows for a little breathing room on the sides if we decide to add some window treatments.
The electrician did me a solid and is drilling two 2" holes that he will cap prior to drywall going up. It should be easy enough to cut a small hole into the drywall and snake the 1" flex pvc drain and 1/2" flex pvc return through the basement once we settle in.
The drain and return lines will enter the basement just to the left of the egress window. It’s a bad angle but I should have plenty of room to work on that wall.
I’ve talked to the folks over at SC Aquariums and I have to say I’m pretty pleased with the level of customer service and all the reviews I’ve found online so far. I’m going to be purchasing their complete 150 gallon starfire PNP system that comes predrilled with a 52"x17" sump and their 150 gallon skimmer (supposedly a reef octopus clone).
Here are a few pics of the complete system I’m looking at . Direct link to the site below.
As far as lighting I’m going to be purchasing my 5th Odyssea lighting setup. I’ve been mostly happy with the previous units I’ve purchased from them and have had thousands of hours of running time with very minor complaints for the price.
The ballasts can be iffy so I’ll probably need to purchase one more 250 watt ballast to compliment my two icecaps at some point.
Their 60" unit comes with 3x250 watt metal halides, 4x80 watt T5’s and 8 dual moonblue LED’s. All for under $350 shipped. I want clams, I want SPS. If anyone can recommend a LED unit that can handle a 5’ tank for around $350… let me know. I like the idea of running LEDS in this build but I think the cost is going to be prohibitive.
I’ve been brainstorming how to build the refugium for the past few days and I’d like to run my thoughts on the subject by you guys.
First off, I love the idea of adding water volume. A 90 gallon is going to be a massive increase to the overall volume of this system. So much so that I’ll probably add my existing coralife super skimmer 125 to the sump to assist the 150 skimmer.
Having run a bare bottom reef tank for the last couple of years has really taught me about how much detritus a reef system can generate. I’m not really looking forward to going back to a substrate in my display but I miss the look of it. In order to compensate I will be adding a second MP40 ES that I will sync and run with their nutrient transport mode to hopefully keep stuff off the bottom. Where I would like to have a bare bottom would be the 90 gallon refugium.
The display would drain directly into the 90 gallon refugium. I’m thinking that I could build a shelf out of pvc and eggcrate to float an entire wall of live rock in the 90. I’m hoping that most of the detritus would settle down on to the bottom of the 90 and be easily siphoned out during water changes. The 90 would also host a good deal of macro algae and maybe some mangroves just for fun. I’d drill it to allow for a gravity overflow into the sump which would house two independent skimmer sections.
Has anyone played around with this concept before?
You would be hard pressed to find LED units for under $350 to fit what you’re looking for - for a 60" long tank - unless you were ok with having dim spots on either side or one in the middle. I run 2 value fixtures over my 90 gallon (48") and there are some dimmer spots.
Looking at the sump layout - if it were me - I would move the skimmer over to the chamber next to where the drain will be. Fill the drain area with rock, or siporax or whatever you want in there, then let the dirty water flow into the skimmer area. Then, I would remove the next 2 baffles to make a very large fuge area, and add a powerhead or 2 in there, then the flow out go right to the return and be able to send pods and other goodies into the display. I don’t know if I would use 2 skimmers though. I would probably just run the one that comes with it, and store the old one. Chances are, the new one will outcompete the Coralife anyway. Plus, add in different water levels for different skimmers, just sounds like it’s more work than what it’s worth - IMO.
I have a basement sump and have 2xs more water in my basement then my dt. I have 180g dt and about 300g in my basement. 80g frag tank,75g fug,2-150g rubbermaid tubs tied together(for power outage if needed) With building your home and putting the filtration in the basement why limit your self to just a 90g sump/fug?
Yes i know i have way too much over kill. But it doesnt limit me on space or anything else.
:Welcome) back Jason. Looks and sounds like it’s gonna be a nice build. Will you be breeding clown fish again? also, Aquatrader also have full spectrum LED on sale now for $89.97 with free shipping.
[quote=“beadlocked450r, post:11, topic:7613”]
I have a basement sump and have 2xs more water in my basement then my dt. I have 180g dt and about 300g in my basement. 80g frag tank,75g fug,2-150g rubbermaid tubs tied together(for power outage if needed) With building your home and putting the filtration in the basement why limit your self to just a 90g sump/fug?
Yes i know i have way too much over kill. But it doesnt limit me on space or anything else.[/quote]
You know, they sky really is the limit when we’re dealing with the basement. I can definitely expand at a later time. My current DT is a 90 Gallon. That’s the only reason why I’m considering starting off with a 90 Gallon… it’s going to be available for use!
[quote=“reefman66, post:13, topic:7613”]
:Welcome) back Jason. Looks and sounds like it’s gonna be a nice build. Will you be breeding clown fish again? also, Aquatrader also have full spectrum LED on sale now for $89.97 with free shipping.
Ok, so how many of these units would I need to adequately cover a 60" x 24" tank? And would these full spectrum be able to support a clam at 24" deep?
The units are 16" x 8.5" and I have a feeling that I’d need to run them perpendicular to the tank to eliminate any dark spots. Would I need 6 of them or could I run them parallel and get by with 3?
I had use 3 of them on my 225g 72x24x30 with 90 degree optics. I did run them perpendicular and yes, it will support any clam you have. In fact I had 2 clam in the tank and they love them.
Of course like any other LED. They are powerful and you must let the animals adjust to the light.
[quote=“reefman66, post:13, topic:7613”]
:Welcome) back Jason. Looks and sounds like it’s gonna be a nice build. Will you be breeding clown fish again? also, Aquatrader also have full spectrum LED on sale now for $89.97 with free shipping.
Oh, and didn’t mean to miss the clownfish part. I’m absolutely going to get back into breeding. We knew the move was coming so I intentionally scaled back my operation about a year ago.
I was going to post a thread in a few days but if anyone is looking for juveniles, I have some great Onyx, Platinums and even a Picasso that I’d like to move locally prior to the move. The less fish I need to transport the better!
[quote=“reefman66, post:17, topic:7613”]
I had use 3 of them on my 225g 72x24x30 with 90 degree optics. I did run them perpendicular and yes, it will support any clam you have. In fact I had 2 clam in the tank and they love them.
Of course like any other LED. They are powerful and you must let the animals adjust to the light. [/quote]
Did you use these specific LED’s? Were there any dark spots. I wasn’t even sure what 90% optics were!
Are you saying that 3 of them would comfortably get the job done? I’d be willing to take a chance for the price!
[quote=“reefman66, post:17, topic:7613”]
I had use 3 of them on my 225g 72x24x30 with 90 degree optics. I did run them perpendicular and yes, it will support any clam you have. In fact I had 2 clam in the tank and they love them.
Of course like any other LED. They are powerful and you must let the animals adjust to the light. [/quote]
Did you use these specific LED’s? Were there any dark spots. I wasn’t even sure what 90% optics were!
Are you saying that 3 of them would comfortably get the job done? I’d be willing to take a chance for the price![/quote]
No specific LED, just what it came with. Not really dark spot, just low light for lower light corals. I had 60 degree optics on them and it was shining straight down. Yes, you can put different degree optics on them for light concentration. Like 60 degree will shine almost straight down and 90 degree will spread out for more coverage in the tank. So, from my previous experience with it I would go with 90 degree optics for more coverage.
And yes, I do believe 3 will be more than sufficient for 60" tank with 90 degree or no optics at all.
One more thing. It can be dim, but not controllable. Meaning to be use with APEX controller. Unless you modify it and yes, it can be done.
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