If You Could Start Over..

[pk1]

For those of you that didn't see my selling thread a while back, I'm in the midst of redesigning my 180 right now, after some initial set up/design flaws eventually got the best of me. I want to make this one more user friendly....easier water changes, no power heads in the tank, less of an energy hog etc etc. So I'd love to hear some of your set up and upgrade experiences, good or bad.
What I'm really after is almost complete self sufficiency with this system. My interest in this hobby wavers from obsession to not really caring at all, and I want the tank to be able to flourish during those times where I could really give a rats behind. And with a 1yr old and 3yr old, my time is really limited.

What have you done that has really helped you maintain your tank(and sanity!)

What would you do different if you restarted?

Patrick

[Buckyez]

Well, here are some of my thoughts:

1) Big room in the canopy - I always regret that I did not make the canopy bigger. I have to be "creative" as I slowly add MH, fans, etc.

2) A bigger sump tank - My current sump tank does the job, but it would be nice to have extra spaces to put rocks, plants, or whatever you don't want from the main tank.

3) If you're planning to keep SPS, then go with that plan instead of slowly "upgrading" equipments for SPS.

Well, that's my thoughts so far.

--Bucky

[jjjimmy]

I have a 180 that I am in the midst of re-setting up right now. I am not changing any of the equipment because I believe that I have it at a happy medium of self sustenance and work that I have to do.

The system is running with fresh water as we speak just flushing the entire system out before I begin to re-stock the tank.

I live in Algonquin but you are welcome to come and see what I have running.

Jimmy

[Tremolo]

I wish i had a nice big sump with plenty of room for a fuge and all equipment so it is out of the tank. I would also have the tank drilled for overflows and closed loop. My current tank has a HOB fuge and HOB closed loop. It works but i think it would be nice if everything was better hidden. I would also have a T and some valves coming off of the sump return pump to pump water out for water changes and add a mixing area under the stand for fresh salt water with valves to fill the sump back up.

[rickyb]

Some of mine

The good:
1. Expending the extra bucks on the Tunze's
2. Water containers above main tank water level for auto top off and water changes
3. No canopy makes it a lot easier to get in and out especially at the begining of setup
4. No close loop, less plumbing and chances of a leak
5. Buying great quality light reflectors and ballasts
6. One pump runs my entire circulation system (not including main tank-see #1)
7. An "enclosed plenum"

The not so good:
1. Not having enough space, wish I had a bigger house.
2. Water containers too small and wish I had above #1 to change them
3. Not buying the 400 watt light system I knew I was going to need because the tank was going to be 98% SPS
4. If I had #1 the tank will be bigger! Pending boss approval of course

[N3gative Cr33p]

Originally posted by pk1
What have you done that has really helped you maintain your tank(and sanity!)

What would you do different if you restarted?

I have been keeping a more consistent cleaning routine to keep my tank maintained, which in turn, helps keep my sanity intact.

I'd definitely not bother with having xenia in my tank, if I had the chance to restart my tank's setup.

[anjhof]

If you have any plans to keep SPS, I would avoid adding mushrooms. I was given a rock with mushrooms on it when I first started and I must have 100 mushrooms in my tank now. They take up valuable real estate where I would like to put other corals.
I would also have bought all the rocks I needed first, rather than trying to get by only to have to add rocks later - this makes for really tough aqua-scaping.
I would also not buy a fish that may or may not eat specific corals - I bought an emperor angel who ate my zoos - while he is pretty, I don't like limiting what corals can go in the tank.
I would put a water sensor on the floor - before I spend a few hundred to repair an auto top-off problem.
That being said, I would suggest an auto-top off device. I believe that it helps with the corals health.

[svb57]

My goal when setting up my system that I currently have was the same as what you’re looking for.....Nirvana

Now for reality.....

I was looking to set up the system for as little as possible day to day...week to week maintenance. I wanted to "tinker" with it when I wanted to...not because I had to.

I wanted to have an auto top off that I didn’t have to worry about. So I did what I was told not to do, and has worked flawlessly for 3 years, which is to run the RO/DI right into the sump. Using a redundant switching system. Yes, this uses up the DI cartridge more often ...but for three years I have not had to do anything with that part of the system.

Another thing I did was to "automate" the water change as much as possible. I have a 110g tank that I divided the tank in two. On section is in circulation while I am filling the other up with RO/DI water. Once that side is filled I add a 50g bag of IO salt, flip a switch (which turns on a heater and RIO pump). The next day I come back…turn four PVC ball valves and now the “new” water is in circulation and I dump the other side. I can do 50g water changes every two days without ever “touching” the water.

I made sure I had a good skimmer and calcium reactor. I run carbon 24/7 and phosphate remover 24/7. The system has a RDSB and a 130g fuge that is filled with LR. I believe that one issue many people have is they do not have enough LR in the system. I am firm believer you can’t have too much of it.

Total system includes: 300g / 125g reef tanks, 130g fuge, 80g sump, 40g RDSB, and 110g water change tank.

So far I have accomplished what I wanted. Which is a system that I enjoy and if I don’t want to do things I don’t have too.

This works for me and I can tell you that I am a very lazy person when it comes to daily/weekly required "maintenance"

[pk1]

Thanks folks some good advice here. My old tank crashed because I didn't have time to add the equipment I already had lying around, mainly the calcium reactor (OD'd my tank on the 2 part).
I'm upgrading my sump from a 55 to a 100. I've had an auto top off for quite some time, I don't know how anyone can have a tank without one! I am planning on a hard plumbed water change system like you describe Jim. I'm downgrading my MH's from 400 to 250's (thanks Rickyb for casting doubt on that choice!)-most likely 10k's for higher par. And upgrading the VHO's I had to T5's to make up for the par loss on the MH's. I'm ditching the tunze's for a closed loop with 3 sea swirls. I'll add a Vortech later if that doesn't do it.

Some things I would have changed, but I have to live with now? My stand is 43" high. It looked great at first, I don't have to bend down to see inside the caves and such-but my kids can't see it, and when viewed from a sitting position all you see is the bottom of the corals. The ugliest part! The tank is an in wall, and I have no front access. What a PITA that is.

And andjhof-I have red shrooms that have been alive in my tank, without bleaching, for over 6 weeks-with no light what so ever. tank temp is 70. Even the aptasia have bleached.

Keep the idea's coming!

[rickyb]

I wouldn't suggest it but if you going to ditch the Tunze's let's talk. I got 3 sea swirls to swap.

[NewSchool04]

I would have planned out my aquascaping more thoroughly and taken the time to build myself a nice PVC structure to cut down the amount of LR needed and allow more flow through the LR structures.

I'm doing that now and it's going to be a huge pain with the tank full, sand, corals, etc.

[KeithT4]

I hated making 40 gallons to do a water change, I now drip in 2 gallons of salt water a day and take 2 gallons out through my skimmer overflow. I am very happy with the results. I work at home and can make minor adjustment, but I am sure there are methods of having a accurant consistent constant water change.