[Samper]

I hope that's all I forgot besides an air driven sponge filter. The new article on Q tanks from reefkeeping magazine suggests one so you have a bacteria colony built up so when you have to run the q tank you can. I definately am gonna have and make use of a q tank beside my sump inside the stand.

I'm the worst about run on sentences.......

[charlie]

Looking back, I wish I would have set up a Q tank. Luckily, I haven't had any problems, but you never know.

[Samper]

Read that article it's not too late but one day it could be.

[Samper]

Here is what I have so far

The stand is built.
The tank is on it with dual corner overflows and 1" bulkheads.
The sump is being built but I need imput on baffles, the skimmer chamber and what's the best way to put the pump on or in.
My refugium will be finished Friday a 20g with a 3/4' bulkhead for gravity feed.
My euroreef ES 8-2 is on it's way.
48" Coralife 260w Actinic Fixture for supplementation and a 24inch pc for the fuge.
I plan on running two tunze 6060's and 2 maxi jet 1200s on a wave maker as well as the closed loop I had planned from the sump.
The sump is in the design phase so I need to figure out if I want an external pump or internal. I'm a little concerned about the heat added by an internal pump and also concerned about the tendency to leak via the externals. I also don't know what size I might need with the flow listed above and could use some advice. I would also like to learn about the various probes and controllers that are available so any imput on this project of mine will be greatly appreciated.

I still have to order Oolite and a refugium kit
150lbs of Walt Smith show rock
Calcium and Neilsen Reactors via MRC
And my lighting which will consist of two 250w 10ks and 1 250w 20k all in pendants. For ballasts........I know I want electronic. Do they make one that will run all 3 lights? Or one that will run the two 10ks atleast with an added one for the 20k?

[Reefland]

Originally Posted by Samper

Here is what I have so far

The stand is built.
The tank is on it with dual corner overflows and 1" bulkheads.
The sump is being built but I need imput on baffles, the skimmer chamber and what's the best way to put the pump on or in.
My refugium will be finished Friday a 20g with a 3/4' bulkhead for gravity feed.
My euroreef ES 8-2 is on it's way.
48" Coralife 260w Actinic Fixture for supplementation and a 24inch pc for the fuge.

Sounding VERY NICE my friend.

I plan on running two tunze 6060's and 2 maxi jet 1200s on a wave maker as well as the closed loop I had planned from the sump.

The Tunze Streams will not operate on a wavemaker, or should I say shouldn't be operated on one. I believe I read that they should be on for at least 1 hour increments.

The sump is in the design phase so I need to figure out if I want an external pump or internal. I'm a little concerned about the heat added by an internal pump and also concerned about the tendency to leak via the externals. I also don't know what size I might need with the flow listed above and could use some advice.

I like internal pumps for the applications we are using them for (less than 1000gph). The Mag pumps are relatively cheap, quiet and don't produce much heat. I think this would be a good pump for your 75 gallon application as well. For your tank, you could probably use a Mag 12 (which is more than needed for the sump but I know your running 'fuge too) and control overall output with a ballvalve.

I would also like to learn about the various probes and controllers that are available so any imput on this project of mine will be greatly appreciated.

Lots of little gadgets available; a pH monitor would be good or you could go out and pick up a Neptune Controller. There is also a new monitor on the market from Digital Aquatics for Temp and for wavemaking you might want to check out.

I still have to order Oolite and a refugium kit
150lbs of Walt Smith show rock
Calcium and Neilsen Reactors via MRC
And my lighting which will consist of two 250w 10ks and 1 250w 20k all in pendants. For ballasts........I know I want electronic. Do they make one that will run all 3 lights? Or one that will run the two 10ks atleast with an added one for the 20k?

A couple of notes here. 1st, 150lbs seems like a lot of rock for a 75, even with a 'fuge; could probably get away with 100lbs or maybe less. We have about 65lbs of Kaelini in our 75 for reference.

Each light will have to be powered by a separate ballast; if they do make them there are multiple ballast in one enclosure.

[Samper]

Originally Posted by Reefland

Sounding VERY NICE my friend.
The Tunze Streams will not operate on a wavemaker, or should I say shouldn't be operated on one. I believe I read that they should be on for at least 1 hour increments.

What options do I have then without having crazy amounts of powerheads in the tank. I definately want to simulate day/night on the reef but with the closed loop I don't really know how to incorporate it and still have the nice clean feng shui that I'm going for.

Mag 12 it is...this actually saves me some money and space in the cabinet.

100 lbs show rock will do I guess...you're right though I want room for corals to grow not to just show off the rock.


Lighting is gonna be the biggest and last purchase I make on this unless something awesome comes up.

[dougc]

The Streams pumps should be run on a multicontroller (7094) or a single controller (7091). Tunze does not recommend putting the Streams on any other kind of controller or wavemaker because it will damage the pumps. The MultiControllere gives you all sorts of wavemaking options (alternating, low power, pulsing). They can also be run in a tide mode that switches pumps every 6 hours, but you will want to wait for the new model controller to be released if you want to use that option. The new model runs the idle pump briefly every few minutes to keep critters from taking up residence while the pump is off.

I run my Streams in pulse mode, which sends out a wave of flow every few seconds. Combined with the returns from the sump, this is plenty of flow. You might not even need the Maxijets, unless you end up with some dead spots.

[Samper]

You run yours on pulse but earlier in the post reefland said he thought they were supposed to be run for an hour or more at a time. I definately like the streams and have some time so I'll research the controllers for them.

[Poseidon]

The Streams need a gradual ramp up of voltage, (from what I've read anyway, I don't have one.) Looking at the design, I think if you just flipped it on and off repeatedly it would definately hate you for doing it... Make sure to check the prices on those too Samper, when I looked they were almost 200 a POP! Combine that with the controller and you are on par (no pun intended) with what your lights will cost!

[Samper]

I don't care how long it takes me to get everything together or the cost I'm doing it right!!

[dougc]

The hour on/off cycle is necessary if you are NOT using the Tunze controller. Running on a shorter cycle with a regular old wavemaker or timer will shorten the life of the pumps. The Tunze controller has electronics that start the Streams gently and control the brake that is built into them and do not face the same limitations.

[Samper]

Very good to know......The multicontrollers aren't a bad price it's finding pumps for a good price that worries me.

[Reefland]

But not all of the Streams can be ran from teh controller correct? Or am I thinking of something different?

[Samper]

seems like they make special controllers for the larger more expensive streams.

[Samper]

Let me see if I can explain this.....I was at the shop that built the overflows in my 75g. The ones they built for me take up the entire back corners from the bottom to the top. They have started building a them differently. Instead of taking up the whole corner it's just a square box maybe 6 inches tall. The bulkhead hole is near the top of the tank instead of the bottom. This leaves a ton of room to do the rock scape and frankly to me it looks a heck of a lot better. Instead of having a durso pipe the plumbing just is a T coming out of the bulkhead. The top of the T is open allowing for the air to just rush in. What are you guys opinions of this type of overflow? The shop says some prefer the small boxes with the hole at the top and some prefer the whole corner box with the hole at the bottom but they don't know why. I really like the smaller boxes and was told by them that if I decided they would swap me tanks. I know my boxes cost a little more cause more acrylic was used but unless you guys see a reason not to use the smaller boxes with the hole at the top I might switch switch tanks with em.

[Poseidon]

Personally I think the plumbing would be easier if it comes out the bottom. By having it come out the side you are adding at LEAST 2 additional 90's that will slow down the flow as well.

[Samper]

Either way the hole is on the back glass, it can either be on the top of the glass or the bottom. The difference is where the holes are and the size of the overflow.

[Samper]

It's been the best nightmare I've ever had putting this together, here is my newest dilemna......I have my tank already but the more I got to looking at nice systems the more I want my return to feed through the back so........I called the shop back here is what they will do for me. They will trade my tank plus 40 bucks for this. Instead of having the overflow boxes take up the entire back corners they are going to build new ones that have a bottom and will only go down maybe 6-8 inches. This leaves me a ton more options for aquascaping. Beside each overflow will be a 3/4" bulkhead and in the middle of the tank spaced a 1' to 1.5' apart will be two more 3/4" bulkheads. All of these will be plumbed to my return pump and will have those screw on nozzles that you can aim. I have pics drawn to illustrate but I can't get em small enough to upload here. Will try my gallery. Hope I got what I'm talking about across so you guys can understand.

The shop that did my holes and overflows said they would take my tank as a trade for the new one and only charge me $40 bucks extra so please lmk what you think so I can give them the go ahead.

.

Oh and poseidon I forgot to add the I was told the AGA can't be drilled in the bottom. I think I misunderstood you previously.

[Samper]

Well I've changed formats, sizes etc and can't get it down to the right size for uploading so.......dangit.

[Samper]

Noone has an opinion on my new design? I need to let them know in the next day or so.