Re-thinking current 90 gal. tank setup

[Cajun Reefer]

I think I'm at an early point in the hobby that I need to take 2 steps back before I can successfully move forward. I would like to limit the amount of money that I seem to waste buying equipment that online reviews, online stores and LFS say are great but are later contradicted on this site which I deem are the professionals. Currently, I'm battling a case of Ich. However, I am in the process of setting up a quarantine tank to solve this problem. Once it is in place, I feel it will be as good of a time as any to implement changes to my main tank.

My plans are to run my main display tank as FOWLR for the next 6-9 months to fine tune my tank managing skills before I jump into a reef / fish mix.

I currently have the following 2-month old setup:

1. 90 gallon glass tank (48" x 18" x 24")
2. an unknown venturi protein skimmer (says Octupus HOT on the sales receipt but resembles a Bak-Pak 2R+) with a GX-1000 submersible pump (which is big & gaudy).
3. Marineland Emperor 400 Bio-wheel Powerfilter (too small for aquarium, not sure why LFS sold to wife).
4. Eheim Wet/Dry Filter System Model 2229 (I added about 3 weeks ago).
5. 250 watt Visi-Therm Stealth submersible heater.
6. 2- Maxi-Jet 900 powerheads hanging in the back corners.
7. 80 lbs of live rock and 40 lbs of deco rock.
8. 2 inches of live sand bed, 75 lbs (according to receipt).
9. Corallife Power Compact lighting, 2-65 watts Actinics 450 nm & 2-65 watts 10000K.
10. Niveaumat Top Off Water Replacer.


From what I have picked up in a few posts from this website (please correct me if I'm wrong), I should remove the Marineland Emperor 400 Bio-wheel and Eheim Wet/Dry 2229 Filter which are nitrate factories. If those are removed, do I need to add anything to my tank or will my live rock be able to sustain the ammonia/nitrate/nitrite levels? In the future, I would like to have a reef tank along with a Powder Blue Tang, Yellow Tang (which I have now), and 2- clownfish.

My protein skimmer seems to do an excellent job; however, it does retrieve water several inches below the water's surface. I have contemplated buying an AquaC Remora Filter Box to get my skimmer to filter more of the surface water and to somewhat hide the gaudy GX-1000 pump.

My next purchases are going to be a portable refractometer, Hanna pH/EC/TDS Combo (test conductivity / water quality), and Pinpoint PH monitor to be installed in main aquarium. I also plan on increasing my water flow with another powerhead.

Thanks for the help and any suggestions.

-Dennis

 

[Reefdaddy1]

Well can I say "MORE FLOW". I think that is major thing I would look at right away, Adding 2 to 3 Sieos or MJ 1200 Mod'd would help out and Not damage the pocketbook to bad. Then you could save and upgrade to Closed loop later. Adding a Fuge would also help on Chemical reduction in a tank. For 90 gal like yours I would add a 40 long as fuge. this would increase water volume by 1/2 and give a place for equipment as well as filtration with Cheato. Thats just my 2 cents, if I was changing all of it like your going to, that is what I would look at.



Oh yes loose the Eheim and Bio wheel ASAP.

 

[Krish]

Welcome to RF again Dennis! Sorry to hear about your ich troubles...Seem like a lot of people are experincing ich these days :doubt:

As for your setup changes, let me see if i can get the ball rolling for ya!

From what I have picked up in a few posts from this website (please correct me if I'm wrong), I should remove the Marineland Emperor 400 Bio-wheel and Eheim Wet/Dry 2229 Filter which are nitrate factories. If those are removed, do I need to add anything to my tank or will my live rock be able to sustain the ammonia/nitrate/nitrite levels?

You've got it man...Anything in a wet/dry environment cannot process nitrates and therefore become nitrate factories as nitrates are their end products. For filtration purposes, your live rock will provide it all for you. Nothing else necessarily needed in that depeartment where bilogical filtration is concerned. Some people will use a macro algae like chaeto for eg to bind up nitrates and phosphates to be exported or use a sand bed to perform biological filtration, but in a nut shell, the rock is the foundation. I have a nitrate free tank without a sand bed or a macro algae in it and I use just rock so it can be done and is done all the time

My protein skimmer seems to do an excellent job; however, it does retrieve water several inches below the water's surface. I have contemplated buying an AquaC Remora Filter Box to get my skimmer to filter more of the surface water and to somewhat hide the gaudy GX-1000 pump.

I run the Aquac nano skimmer on my Aquapod and it does a great job! It too sucks about a few inches below the water's surface, but doesn't seem to affect the production of skimmate any. I couldn't say for sure if it will increase your skimmer efficiency with getting the box, but definately won't hurt anything IMO

My next purchases are going to be a portable refractometer, Hanna pH/EC/TDS Combo (test conductivity / water quality), and Pinpoint PH monitor to be installed in main aquarium. I also plan on increasing my water flow with another powerhead

Which powerheads were you considering? If you have none in mind yet, I'd suggest either the Seio's http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=RIO or the tunze streams http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Tunze_pumps . They both will give you a wide stream that will cover more area than your standard powerheads that have all of there flow focused basically in one direction

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress! Also, if you have any more question, just post them as you think of them

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Remove the bio balls and filter media a little at a time and let the rock's filtration ability grow or you will most likely get a spike in ammonia/nitrites/nitrates. Your tang and other fish will thank you.

 

[Cajun Reefer]

Thanks, guys! I'm assuming y'all do not believe in running any type of activated carbon either continuously or periodically to remove dissolved organic matter from the water, simply relying on the live rock & protein skimmer to tend to them? Should I just run the Marineland Biofilter with only the plastic carbon holder installed and the filter and biowheel removed? Or just scrap it totally?

How well do the Maxi-jet 900's work when they are modded like the 1200-mod? From what I gathered, it's just a matter of using a Dremel tool to trim off the nozzle. Right?

How do the Seios compare to the Tunze Streams as there is an obvious difference in price? If I were to purchase 2-Seios, where would be the best place to put them? Rear corners facing the front-center glass like I have the two MJ 900's? Also which Seios (M620 or M820) would you recommend? I don't want to overdue it with too much water flow, if there is such a thing? Or are a pair of Tunze Streams that great that I should bite the bullet and go that route?


Thanks,
Dennis

 

[Herefishyfishy]

I am VERY fond of seios based on performance in ratio to dollars. I have 5 of them. 2 in each tank and one for quicker mixing of salt and as a backup. They also can be purchased used in many forums at an excellent price. I only periodically use carbon to help with chemical warfare between corals and softies. The marineland adds some flow, and you can turn it into a little fuge too.

 

[Krish]

Hmmm...Let's see

I'm assuming y'all do not believe in running any type of activated carbon either continuously or periodically to remove dissolved organic matter from the water, simply relying on the live rock & protein skimmer to tend to them?

A lot of people run carbon as I do 24/7, but change mine out every week. I use to let it go every 3 weeks then cut back to 2, but when I saw all the detritus that built up in the media bag, I figured I'd just let it go a week, but people run carbon all the time. It just varies from one person to the other how they run theirs. Alot of people will only run it for 1 day out of the week

Should I just run the Marineland Biofilter with only the plastic carbon holder installed and the filter and biowheel removed? Or just scrap it totally?

By all means if you want to use it, I would. It will provide you with great surface aggitation and also provide you with a place to run carbon. Just ditch the bio-wheel and you're good. One thing you may have to do though is "block up" the holes in the spray bar that sprays the bio-wheel because without the bio-wheel there, it may be noisey hearing the water splashing from the spray bar and not to mention it may cause you to shoot micro-bubbles in the tank

How well do the Maxi-jet 900's work when they are modded like the 1200-mod? From what I gathered, it's just a matter of using a Dremel tool to trim off the nozzle. Right?

Never tried it, but I hear people swear my the maxijet mods. They have tons of threads here on them and I think there is a website you can buy the kit from with all the parts to convert your maxijet without having to DIY anything yourself. As far as making one goes from scratch, I have no idea what all you need

How do the Seios compare to the Tunze Streams as there is an obvious difference in price? If I were to purchase 2-Seios, where would be the best place to put them? Rear corners facing the front-center glass like I have the two MJ 900's? Also which Seios (M620 or M820) would you recommend? I don't want to overdue it with too much water flow, if there is such a thing? Or are a pair of Tunze Streams that great that I should bite the bullet and go that route?

My favorite subject! Flow!!! I've had botht the Seio's and the Tunze streams. When I had my 90gal, I ran (2) of the 820 gph Seio's and they were nice. I got pretty good coverage, but needed a bit more so I bought a Tunze (the smallest one at 1600 gph) and took out both Seio's. The Single Tunze was increadible! I got great coverage with just that one powerhead, but still wanted more so I bought another Tunze (1850 gph on a controller) and that did a great job! I then switched to a 75gal and transfered then over and at one point in the 75gal I had 3450gph coming from tunzes, 950gph ffrom a closed loop and about 800 gph from a sump return and was happy. Infact I removed the closed loop and was still happy by just the Tunze placement. I put one Tunze on either ends of the tank, both pointing at the front glass at the center where they collided. That provided great turbulent flow and coverage. Here's a picture of how I had it




As for your tank, it all depends on what you want to accomplish. I like tons of flow and I'm a bit extreme because I did have almost 4,000 gph in a 24 inch tank (38 gals) but seeing I've tried the Seio's before, I wouldn't go with anything less than the 1100's in a tank that size, but still prefer the Tunzes eventhough the Seios are great and provide a nice broad stream as well. Here's a thread that may interest you as to what people use for flow in various sized tanks.
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18140

Good luck and I hope I helped you some

 

[ronj]

Welcome to the forum Dennis!!!!...first of all, i would leave the Emperor 400 on the tank..loose the biowheels though..they will collect nitrates..also, if you ever need/want to run carbon, this will come in handy!!! as for the Seio's, they are nice..i just bought a Seoi 620..it doesn't even move the water much at all..i was told this before i bought it, but i figured 620g of flow was alot..it isn't when it is in a wide flow range like that...i would go with 2-Seio 1100's AT LEAST!! http://www.aquariumextreme.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=AE&Category_Code=PH
if you have any questions about ich, make a new thread under Steve s' Marine Fish

 

[Meche]

I'm assuming y'all do not believe in running any type of activated carbon either continuously or periodically to remove dissolved organic matter from the water, simply relying on the live rock & protein skimmer to tend to them? Should I just run the Marineland Biofilter with only the plastic carbon holder installed and the filter and biowheel removed? Or just scrap it totally?

I agree with Mike, I would keep the carbon running.

 

[Cajun Reefer]

Guys, thank you for all of your input. It has been quite helpful. I believe I am on the right track.

...One thing you may have to do though is "block up" the holes in the spray bar that sprays the bio-wheel because without the bio-wheel there, it may be noisey hearing the water splashing from the spray bar and not to mention it may cause you to shoot micro-bubbles in the tank

The Biowheels have been removed. The noise from the spray bar was easily fixed by just turning them towards the back. Now they are spraying on the plastic removable media holder. No additional noise at all. I will wait a few days and begin to slowly remove bio-media or Ehfisubstrat from the Eheim Wet/Dry 2229 filter. I'm assuming if I do this over a week, that should be sufficient time for the bacteria in the live rock to compensate. Or should I wean my tank off of the wet/dry filter a little slower? I guess I'll sell it on eBay then.

Back to the Marineland Biowheel: As I mentioned earlier, I'm also trying to clean up the appearance of the back of my tank; however, the intake tube has a lot to be desired. What are y'all thoughts on a canister filter like the Magnum 350 Deluxe (~$74)? If I'm not mistaken, I can run activated carbon & PhosGuard through it, correct? If I get one of those installed, then I may be able to hookup a UV in the future? Then again, the flow may be too fast. The Marineland Biowheel then can go on my QT.

I have decided to go with 2- Seio 1500's. They are only $12 more for the pair compared to the 1100's. Also, I think I'm going to play with modding my 900's and put at least one of them in my QT.

Krish,
What is that square object in the top-left side of your 90 gal aquarium? An overflow box?


Again, thanks!
-Dennis

 

[Cajun Reefer]

And to think that my LFS set my wife up with the Biowheel & Protein Skimmer and told me that I had everything I needed to run corals! And I thought I was kind of over doing it when I added 2-MJ900's!

-Dennis

 

[Krish]

I'm assuming if I do this over a week, that should be sufficient time for the bacteria in the live rock to compensate. Or should I wean my tank off of the wet/dry filter a little slower? I guess I'll sell it on eBay then.

It all depends really on how much your system is relying on it. I would probably do it over the course or 2 weeks just to be safe, but you can always see how things are going though by testing your water a day or so after removing some of the bio-media to see if you got any spikes in ammonia or nitrite etc...You may be fine after just one week.

What are y'all thoughts on a canister filter like the Magnum 350 Deluxe (~$74)? If I'm not mistaken, I can run activated carbon & PhosGuard through it, correct? If I get one of those installed, then I may be able to hookup a UV in the future? Then again, the flow may be too fast. The Marineland Biowheel then can go on my QT.

I've had a few of the Magnum 350's as well as the H.O.T magnum and they are really nice. I think I prefer the H.O.T magnum a bit more though because it is much easier to do a media change with it, but the fact that you want to clean up the back of your tank, I think the Magnum 350 is the way to go as you will basically only have tubing running off of the back of your tank. As for the UV sterilizer, that would be a great way to plumb it in. I guess you will just have to search for a UV sterilizer that will function properly with about 350 gph of flow for your size tank

I have decided to go with 2- Seio 1500's. They are only $12 more for the pair compared to the 1100's. Also, I think I'm going to play with modding my 900's and put at least one of them in my QT.

Sounds great!! Let me know how they work for you! I see a big difference between the 620 and the 820 so I can imagine the 1500's

Krish,
What is that square object in the top-left side of your 90 gal aquarium? An overflow box?

That's OCD at it's best!! I put a blue acrylic backround on the inside of that tank when I set it up and wanted to hide my CPR overflow a bit so I had a blue acrylic cover made to hide it a bit.

Here's a link to it
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12686


Good luck and keep us posted on things

 

[Krish]

And to think that my LFS set my wife up with the Biowheel & Protein Skimmer and told me that I had everything I needed to run corals! And I thought I was kind of over doing it when I added 2-MJ900's!

-Dennis

LOL! I hate to say it, but it seems LFS' steer people in the wrong direction all the time. Good thing for forums!!! I was in the same boat. I ran a wet/dry as well in the beginning