Well im looking to get a reef tank set up, i have had a 125 gallon salt water tank previously but it wasnt a reef tank.
what i have on hand is 6 - 29 gallon tanks 4 of which are drilled and one 40 long, mh and vho lighting and skimmer. Im thinking of building a stand to sit two 29 gallon tanks over the 40 long and use the 40 long for the refuge. could also set up 4 - 29’s over the 40. have plenty of dead rock from a previous attempt at a nano tank that went sour because i had no idea what i was doing. so im looking for some suggestions and HELP!
One question i have is why do you use rodi water? whats in the tap water that makes it so terrible?
:Welcome) rodi to be sure its pure the list of bad is very long with tap water
[quote=“dunk, post:2, topic:4319”]
:Welcome) rodi to be sure its pure the list of bad is very long with tap water[/quote]
Can you hit me up with some of the big issues? curiosity gets the better of me.
depending on well or city, but nitrates, nitrites even, metals like copper, chlorine(city), iron, with well could be fertilizer from farms too. those are some of the big ones. You want pure water then when you mix your salt you get the proper mix of elements. A buddy of mine used city water in smyrna and he would buy snails they’d be moving in the bag as soon as they hit the water they would go motionless instant death he had a high level of copper. I think it was the old pipes in the house. it took draining the whole thing two times with rodi the copper soaked in to the silicone we think.
Smyrna, guess thats tidewater utilities… not sure what thier source water is, but if it was copper poisoning then it was more than likely caused from old infrastructure not the soure water…
:Welcome)
Good to have you here. Where ya from?
All you would really need, imo, under the 125 is just that 40g as a sump/fuge (i use a 30g under a 125) the rest of what you plumb in would just be icing on the cake, or more work. depends on what you want to accomplish really. What do you plan on stocking the tank with? That would dictate some of the setup…
i would research some key items before setting up ( i hope everyone else throws in ideas too)
type of substrate… what size sand, shallow sand, deep sand bed, plenum, bare bottom… all have their pro/cons and lots of people using each with success, but pick one, and do it right.
The proper amount of flow… in your display, and amount through the sump/fuge
plumbing… that avoids micro air bubbles, and floods… and gurgles for that matter… btw is your tank drilled?
is your skimmer adequate? if not, thats fine to start with, just leave room in your sump for a bigger upgrade if thats possibly in the near future. and leave some space for a phosphate removing / and or carbon reactors.
Lighting…, make sure your bulbs are the proper lighting spectrum, and you have fans to keep it cool, and promote evaporation (NO GLASS LIDS)… and the proper lighting for the macro algae in the refugium.
rock structures… i wish mine was different, its a “traditional” pile of rocks. not great for cleaning time, and it collects crud, and blocks flow. I believe its important to disturb rock as little as possible once its placed… lots of organisms grow in the dark, as well as light and if it keeps getting flipped and placed in diff flow and lighting it takes time for it to “settle” in and regrow light/dark life.
Next time i setup a large tank, i’ll take some time on this step, make some cool structures out of dry rock, and get it in place before the water goes in.
some cool member tanks with rock work i like are, Timh07, Rosti, and Billrob71, check them out… but its really personal preference, and making that look work with the amount of flow, substrate choice.
thats the main things i have for now… :
:
I dont have the 125 any more so im limited to multiple 29’s or the 40L. Im not looking to stock fish, just want to try my hand at some soft corals and such, maybe some clams? I really dont know just yet, kinda looking for ideas and useing what i have on hand for now. I can be very resoursefull and have a small machine shop and wood shop to make what i need…
Oh yea, im in stanton, stones throw from newark…
[quote=“aonemarine, post:7, topic:4319”]
I dont have the 125 any more so im limited to multiple 29’s or the 40L. Im not looking to stock fish, just want to try my hand at some soft corals and such, maybe some clams? I really dont know just yet, kinda looking for ideas and useing what i have on hand for now. I can be very resoursefull and have a small machine shop and wood shop to make what i need…[/quote]
nothing like having your own shop :
:
Are you doing a “pretty” setup, or “basement” who cares about looks as long as coral grow type setups?
and list the specifics of the equipment you want to re-use in this setup, lighting/ bulb types… the skimmer, pumps… and the dimensions of that 40g.
You really need to use th rodi water you can buy it at some pet stores but eventually it will be cheaper to spring the money for a RODI filter And I would put the 40 gall on top your eventually gonna want every fish and coral you see. so the bigger the display tank the better and when building a sump/fuge build it around your skimmer I made that mistake the first time and was limited on skimmers I could use
Reefer, what i am thinking is to use multiple 29’s all draining into the 40 and having each tank set up with a different enviroment. hope that makes sense… Yea i wish i had my 125 back but its gone so im stuck with what i have…
Its a 40 long, 48" long to be exact looks just like a 55 but not as tall, probably going to be a what ever grows coral set up but still want it to be nice.
yea for shure you could do that kind of just like the pet stores do sounds a little crazy. but I guess it would be cool to house diffrent species that cant be put together but it would probly make more sense to keep one seprate to use as a qt tank cause you still will not be able to treat fish.
Assuming your skimmer was from your 125g and was sufficient for that size here is my recommendation: 4-29 g displays 40gal fuge and your 2 spare 29g can be used for quarantine and hospital tanks as needed. This setup will limit or eliminate some animals from a tank size point such as tangs and most anemones but will allow you to keep many non compatible animals as well so its a trade off. And i would add some fish in for a little diversity . I have read that clowns will sometimes host in long tentacle favia if there is no anemone which could be cool.
The important part is to think through every scenario before you do anything. Plumbing 3 tanks together can be a difficult undertaking as flooding becomes an issue if your overflow rates and your return rates aren’t matched, and even if you’re able to match them at set-up a rogue snail in a pipe can disrupt everything.
For instance, if you’re putting 1 29 over another, and you’re draining from the top in to the middle and then in to the sump all 3 must be draining at the same rate or the top tank will overflow the middle tank, if the return pump is pushing more than the 29s can drain then you’re going to overflow the top tank, if the 2nd tank drains faster than the return pump can push than you’re going to overflow the sump.
You might want to consider keeping at least a couple small fish in your frag system as they will add nutrients to the water that your corals will use for food.
Which brings up the “different environments” issue of using a combined sump. If you want to keep SPS you’re going to want pristine water conditions, if you are keeping pristine water conditions that your softies aren’t going to do well, and your LPS are going to struggle.
RODI keeps source water nutrients to a minimum which will cut back on algae and clarity issues.
Just a few things to think about. Personally I’d just set up a 29g nano and a sump. Or look around for someone that has a larger tank available for a display tank. If you’re interested I have a 55g sitting that I can let you have cheap.
If you set the tanks next to each other and plumb one to the next have a feed line on one end tank and return on the other end tank it will function the same as one big tank and pull the return water through the tanks. Are they bottom drilled or back drilled if back drilled just run level horizontal lines between the tanks just put some grates or mesh over the openings to keep critters where they belong
Heres what im thinking and what i have, 4 tanks back to back over the 40 all draining into one sump/fuge.
ho some cleaning up to do but it all still works. just need to build a stand. Then again if that 55 is drilled I might sway that way…
Usually you can’t drill 55 gall tank depends on the glass
I’ve yet to come across a 55 that wasn’t tempered.
I think it’d be easier to add a hang on overflow to the 55 than try to plumb 4 tanks together through 1 sump, but there’s also nothing like a good challenge to bring about even greater satisfaction.
[quote=“aonemarine, post:17, topic:4319”]
Heres what im thinking and what i have, 4 tanks back to back over the 40 all draining into one sump/fuge.
ho some cleaning up to do but it all still works. just need to build a stand. Then again if that 55 is drilled I might sway that way…[/quote]
that could be pretty cool ::