sturman8r's 57g rimless

[sturman8r]

hey guys and gals! well obviously im new here and i wanted to start a build thread of my new tank. i just picked up this 57g oceanic illuminata rimless tank this weekend at the denny's anniversary sale.

so far...
57g oceanic illuminata
reef octopus 110 skimmer
rio 3100 return pump
aqueos level 2 sump
coralife 2 x 150w hqi fixture with 20k bulbs (soon to be phoenix 14K)
koralia evo 1050 gph x2

still need..
aqua controller jr
100gpd ro/di unit
and some other things

now to the pictures....

 

[broskie]

So far so good. I own one of these tanks and they look amazing. Nice gear by the way

 

[sturman8r]

thanx broskie! i cant wait to get all my livestock and have everything running!!!

 

[tyson256031]

Looking good man! Can't wait to see it stocked and going!!

 

[Jesse_emel]

I'm a huge fan of these tanks and have one myself. no problems to report. On mine i did put a piece of 1/4 acrylic over the top to prevent carpet surfing fish from jumping out. It cost me $25 at a local glass shop and looks great on top.

 

[Skimmy]

looks great!!
but dear god, throttle back that return pump!!!
one of the biggest mistakes made is attempting to make the sump throughput accomodate the high flow requirements of the main display.
for efficient needlewheel skimmers and media reactors, you only want like 3-5x the main display going through the sump, (that skimmer is probably processing about 100gph of water, and media reactors with GAC/GFO should only have about 150gph going through them, so all other water going through the sump isnt being filtered at all)... so in your case 180g-300g total of flow @ 4' of head is what your shooting for... the rio 3100 is just over 1000gph if i remember correctly, so big waste of watts. my suggestion for a return pump would be a eheim 1260(600gph @ 0') with a valve to throttle back the flow a hair.
there's some used ones for sale in the 4 sale section.
....not to mention that rio's are infamous for puking in the tank when they fail and toxifying everything,
and that eheim pumps will last you 10 years if u take care of them.

then for aesthetics, i would remove the locline from the return line in the tank...it really takes away from the clean lines, and i would put a black plastic back on the back of the tank to hide the overflow box, powercords and make the tank's contents "stick out" more...

i wouldnt run the socks in the sump 24/7 either... i would only run them when you are doing WC's and cleaning in between WC's,
you want that particulate matter to be floating around and feeding the corals before the skimmer takes it out.

also, i would set those powerheads up in a gyre configuration(behind the rocks so you dont see them), the laminar flow from a gyre is more benificial than ramdom/chaotic flow or opposing powerheads (i.e. have both powerheads pushing the water the same direction)

 

[tyson256031]

The rio is about 900 gph at 0'... At about the 3 feet it is going up it will be about 500-550 gph.

As well he won't be running any reactors so im not sure where that came form, this is the flow he wants running threw the sump.

 

[Skimmy]

no... it's a waste of watts, and rio's sux....
pretty cut and dry scenario.
even 550 gph @ 3' is still almost twice as much flow as he needs through the sump. :idea:
and if he doesnt have a media reactor (and everybody should have one)
then he is filtering even LESS gph of water going through the sump...

so as i said, the skimmer is processing like 100gph, maybe 150gph, there is no media reactor, and refugiums will remove more nutrient if there is more dwell time through the macroalgae,so HOW is it benifiting him to provide more flow than required through the sump with a comparatively low quality, high watt consuming pump???
the only thing that would benifit from more flow would be mechanical filtration, which as i mentioned, for the sake of the corals/any invertebrate filter feeders, should not be employed 24/7 anyway....

 

[sturman8r]

I don't plan on having the filter socks in 24/7... this pump will be good for now to start with.

Thanks though.

 

[Skimmy]

I don't plan on having the filter socks in 24/7... this pump will be good for now to start with.

Thanks though.

your welcome.
it's an easy thing to cut your return line and add a 3/4" valve to throttle the flow back in the mean time.
i only offer my criticism so that you may learn from my years of experience in designing reef systems, not so that i can belittle your equipment choices...
ultimately i could care less how you guys want to run your reefs, i just hate to see poor equipment/methodology employed by seemingly nice or new reefers with good intentions.

 

[tyson256031]

I wasn't trying to argue either... I was just talking for him as he was busy with work. Lol

 

[mfinn]

That is going to be nice when it's setup and has fish and corals in it.
I was talking with another reefer about that exact same system this morning and how many possiblies there are with it.

I'm another one that likes a slower flow through the sump.
Cuts down on evaporation, less chance of micro bubbles back in the display, etc.
It's something you will have to see and make that decision later.

 

[Jesse_emel]

looks great!!
but dear god, throttle back that return pump!!!
one of the biggest mistakes made is attempting to make the sump throughput accomodate the high flow requirements of the main display.
for efficient needlewheel skimmers and media reactors, you only want like 3-5x the main display going through the sump, (that skimmer is probably processing about 100gph of water, and media reactors with GAC/GFO should only have about 150gph going through them, so all other water going through the sump isnt being filtered at all)... so in your case 180g-300g total of flow @ 4' of head is what your shooting for... the rio 3100 is just over 1000gph if i remember correctly, so big waste of watts. my suggestion for a return pump would be a eheim 1260(600gph @ 0') with a valve to throttle back the flow a hair.
there's some used ones for sale in the 4 sale section.
....not to mention that rio's are infamous for puking in the tank when they fail and toxifying everything,
and that eheim pumps will last you 10 years if u take care of them.

then for aesthetics, i would remove the locline from the return line in the tank...it really takes away from the clean lines, and i would put a black plastic back on the back of the tank to hide the overflow box, powercords and make the tank's contents "stick out" more...

i wouldnt run the socks in the sump 24/7 either... i would only run them when you are doing WC's and cleaning in between WC's,
you want that particulate matter to be floating around and feeding the corals before the skimmer takes it out.

also, i would set those powerheads up in a gyre configuration(behind the rocks so you dont see them), the laminar flow from a gyre is more benificial than ramdom/chaotic flow or opposing powerheads (i.e. have both powerheads pushing the water the same direction)

The eheim 1260 is the exact pump i used in the exact same tank. but my sump is a 20 gallon tall. Good choice. very quiet and produces just enough flow.

 

[Burke]

I've had my Rio for over 10 years and have had it in service for about 7 of those years. I've not had any issues with mine till recently, the impeller needs to be replaced and I have to mess with it to restart after it's been turned off. I'll probably get a new pump and keep the existing one for backup.

I'm not sure why everyone bags on Rios. I'm happy with mine and will buy another...

 

[mfinn]

I'm not sure why everyone bags on Rios. .

they use to have a big reputation for breaking down and whatever was on the inside..... ended up on the outside. I read alot of posts on RC about people losing their whole tank.
I would have to guess that for 5 times I read the stories, 3 were repeats.
I have used rio's without any problems.

 

[beoks]

can we put water in it yet?

 

[sturman8r]

Water is in! I will post an updated pic in a little bit!

 

[sturman8r]

i got the tank at the dennys anniversary sale for 275 and its made by oceanic

 

[broskie]

Wow you stole that I paid $100 more for mine. The non-RR was $275 when I bought mine.

 

[sturman8r]

yeah i got a hell of a deal! well its all cycled now and cleanup crew is doin its job should have some stuff to put in tomorrow and i will post up some pics!