Revamping my AGA 120
 

I originally posted this in the Reef Discussion forum, it got a lot of views but no replies. I'm hoping that you local guys might be a little more helpful. I have talked to Warnberg about it a little. I have worked with him for about 6 yrs now. Let me know what you guys think. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

So I have decided that it is time to revamp the 120 that I have. It has been up for about 3 yrs but is serious need of a redesign. In addition to revamping the way that the tank is set up I am also going to build a new stand and canopy. The followinig is a list of equipment that I currently have:

- All Glass Aquariums 120G pre-drilled 4ft x 2ft x 2ft (corner overflows)
- 30G Acrylic Sump (from FAOIS)
- Gen-X PCX55HP for return pump
- Euroreef CS6-2 Skimmer
- 2 IceCap 250MH Ballasts with 2 250W XM 10K bulbs
- 1 IceCap 660 Ballast with 2 Super Actinic 4ft VHO bulbs

LR/LS:

- Approximately 150 lbs. Fiji rock
- 3 Inch sandbed

Current Inhabitants:

1 Gold Striped Maroon Clown
1 Royal Gramma
1 Mandarin Goby
2 Pepperment Cleaner Shrimp
Assorted small crabs and snails for cleanup.

I originally went with MH lighting and supplememtal VHO because I really wanted to get into SPS. However, I don't think that the flow in the tank is really adequate. I have read various threads regarding closed loops in addition to return pumps. Some others have approached the problem by adding Tunze streams or equivalent powerhead pumps. I still have two MAG 7 pumps sitting around, they were the previous return pumps. I was reading a thread here where Anthony Calfo had suggested dropping some MAG drive pumps in the overflows and plumbing up from there to a closed loop manifold. That way no additional holes need to be drilled in the tank. Any thoughts on this one.

I know that lighting and flow are two of THE most important things to be considered when it comes to SPS tanks (excellent water quality being a given). Is the lighting that I currently have adequate for most SPS? What are the suggestions for tackling my flow problem? At this point I am really looking at completely redoing the plumbing when I move the tank to the new stand. I am open to any suggestions you guys have in order to set this up the way it needs to be done.

Grain-O-Salt,

It appears you have the great lighting on your tank. If you are using a single Gen-X PC55HP, I would think you would want some additional flow if you want to do an SPS set up.

You mention putting a Mag in your overflow and running the plumbing from it, I don't think I would recommend doing that. I would guess your current PC55HP is circulating about 1200 GPH. I personally would not want to send anymore water over your overflow weirs.

Something else you can consider is running a penductor. You pump is a high pressure pump and can run a penductor. If you have not seen penductors they really can increasae the flow. And the nice thing about the penductor is the flow through your sump will not increase.

If it was me, I would add a penductor and I would want to do additional powerheads or a closed loop system. I don't like powerheads in my tanks so I would look at doing a closed loop system.

Good luck,
Chris