Start up new tank

[waddleboy]

Hey all. So as it says what i need. I am new to the community salt water but not the whole water scene. I was going to go buy a 65 gallon tank to start off but i came home today and was offered a 90 gallon size tank for free... so long story short i said yes and now i feel like i may be in a bigger challenge than i signed up before but im excited to go for it and from what i know more water in a tank is better and easier. So my long term plan for the tank is to be a combo tank. I want to have a wide variety of range of coral to have and fish. I think i am going to sand the bottom of the tank. For the lights i was going to use a T5 HVO 108w with 10000k (2) and actinic (2) bulbs and its going to be sumped. Heating, power heads are simple.. My short term plan is to do just life jock mainly with some basic coral and a few fish

Sorry for the list of questions but its probably the easiest way to do it....
So my questions are:
1) Lighting: Is that sufficient? Do i need more or less? when it says 108w is that per bulb or the whole set up? And lastly what are lunar lights purpose and do i need them?
2) Sump: For the sump i was going use a 29g tank. I was going to have it split into 4 compartments. First is a 200 micron filtration, then over a ledge to a refugium of live rock ( heard this was better than bioballs?) and live sand and heaters in here, then into an are with a protein skimmer, and finally into the return area
3) Now my last and worse question. Filtration. I am going to use an overflow system but i am going to have to drill the tank. I cant drill the bottom cause it is tempered so its going in the top middle of the tank in an acryllic over flow box i am going to make. I was going to drill two holes with two pipes running down into the sump. After the sump it will return into two lines on each side of the tank. Thats it simple right? My question is with all this are dimensions im going to need to use. I was going to bulk heads be 1" inlets into 1.5" pipe. Out of the sump i was going to use a mag18 or danner pro. for the return pipe i was going to use 1.5" tubing into a t split. These would be my returns and should i put them over the edge of the tank or make two holes and attach powerheads to them?

Sorry for the attack but just thought i get it over with and try to pick up as much info as i can from you guys! I also flexible on changes idea cause im new to this :biggrin:

 

[Somethings Fishy]

hey welcome to RF, 104 watts seems underpowered to me, i guess the real question is what are you planning on keeping in it?

 

[waddleboy]

What i was looking at was this. I didnt know if this was good enough or not also idk if thats the total watt power. Keeping on it basic corals for now and fish. But i eventually wanna do somemore adv corals so i was just going to buy the lighting for it now and then have it for then

 

[dtd87]

I don't know the size of your tank but I'd go with atleast a 6 bulb like this http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5...-Output_Fixture_(Graphite)_by_Sunlight_Supply

also if you order it from there you get to choose ati bulbs and they are the best on the market that I know of.

 

[waddleboy]

I don't know the size of your tank but I'd go with atleast a 6 bulb like this http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5...-Output_Fixture_(Graphite)_by_Sunlight_Supply

also if you order it from there you get to choose ati bulbs and they are the best on the market that I know of.

thanks okay i will go with 6 bulbs. I am guessing 3 regular and 3 actinic. Does any one have any brands or places to buy protein skimmer, heater, and return pump?

 

[jrgilles]

So my questions are:
1) Lighting: Is that sufficient? Do i need more or less? when it says 108w is that per bulb or the whole set up? And lastly what are lunar lights purpose and do i need them?

Probably want 6 or 8 bulbs I would guess. I have a 75 gal (same deminsions but shorter) and have 2X250 W MH (14k now, but have done 10k) and 4X96W CF (2X420 and 2X460 nm)

2) Sump: For the sump i was going use a 29g tank. I was going to have it split into 4 compartments. First is a 200 micron filtration, then over a ledge to a refugium of live rock ( heard this was better than bioballs?) and live sand and heaters in here, then into an are with a protein skimmer, and finally into the return area

I would ditch the 200 uM filtrations. You want the protein skimmer in the first chamber before the baffles (bubble wall). If you want a fuge, I would do something like this:
Sump - Model E
with separate flow to both the fuge and sump fill chamber. Probably want slower flow across the fuge. Could have it all inline though. 4 chambers is too much, not enough room in your sump. I have a 50 breeder sump, and couldn't really even fit the fuge in there and have it any decent size. So, my sump is just two chambers with 3 baffles in between.

3) Now my last and worse question. Filtration. I am going to use an overflow system but i am going to have to drill the tank. I cant drill the bottom cause it is tempered so its going in the top middle of the tank in an acryllic over flow box i am going to make. I was going to drill two holes with two pipes running down into the sump. After the sump it will return into two lines on each side of the tank. Thats it simple right? My question is with all this are dimensions im going to need to use. I was going to bulk heads be 1" inlets into 1.5" pipe. Out of the sump i was going to use a mag18 or danner pro. for the return pipe i was going to use 1.5" tubing into a t split. These would be my returns and should i put them over the edge of the tank or make two holes and attach powerheads to them?

I would recommend reading up on 'Herbie' style drains. run virtually silent, you will need 2 drains though on your display tank. 1.5" pipe sounds good. I am running 1" on my 75 and it works fine.

Sorry for the attack but just thought i get it over with and try to pick up as much info as i can from you guys! I also flexible on changes idea cause im new to this :biggrin

 

[Peppie]

+ 1 on the above. Very good info.

 

[waddleboy]

Thanks jrgilles! All the stuff you said was really helpful. I will convert my sump over and remove the filtration and go to a 6 light system. Should i just go with MH as that will handle all future accommodations also? I read up on the herbie design and also found the bean design. Something I should have mentioned was that i would be building my own overflow but on the back of the tank. The bottom of my tank is tempered glass so no holes there. Can i still use the herbie design or should i go with a bean design? would 1.5" bulkhead be to much flow or do i bring them down to 1"? Thank again for your help

 

[jrgilles]

No prooblem, glad to offer advice. Lighting comes down a bit to personal preference. There are many ways to successfully light your tank. When I set up I did a lot of reading, and I went with a MH combo for a couple reasons. First, I got a good deal on a used light. Second, I really wanted the shimmer effect that you only get from MH or LED lights. If you went with T5 and decided you wanted to add in shimmer, you could always stick on an LED strip.

I am very happy with the MH's though. Maybe a bit expensive, as they really need to be replaced fairly often, as the spectrum/intensity shifts/decreases, but I think they are beautiful lights. I started with 10k and am now using 14k, and I really like the 14k (and my corals also seem to like it a lot.)

For a herbie, you just need 2 drains. One drain is used all the time and ran at a full syphon (no air in the line.) The second is there as a backup. Since you are running a full syphon, if a snail or something got in there and clogged it, you would have water all over. In that situation, you want a second drain there to 'catch' it, so it doesn't go on the floor. I have a 1/3 inch plastic netlike thing in my main drain to stop things from going in it, but algae can sometimes grow on it. The algae will kick mine over to the second drain until I clean it off.l

I am not familiar with the bean design, but I will look it up when I get home.

I originally planned out my setup with 1.5" pipe then went down to 1", which seems to handle plenty of flow, and was more standard on overflow boxes (bought mine off ebay, maybe thirty bucks a piece, they hang off the back of my tank.)

I think either will work fine for you. I see a lot of people using 1.5". Parts cost a bit more and maybe 1" stuff is a bit more standard/easy to find at your local hardware store.

If I didn't have a second drain, I would have done 1.5". I put 2 drains on everything (DT and fuge) as flood insurance, second drains hardly ever kick in. Maybe never on my fuge. Just figured better safe that sorry....

gotta run. I will look up Bean drains later

rob