New SPS tank design help

Twistedpro · #1 09/21/2006, 05:23 AM

Hi Guys,

well i have had the worst week of my marine keeping life, my house got flooded last thursday. I had 2-3" water throughout the ground floor. The problem with this was the cabinet on the marine tank got very wet and the chipboard expanded. Can u guess what happened next the marine tank cracked and gave way. I Managed to save the stock though which was my main concern.

So now i am in a position that i might be able to put a new tank together. I am not used to designing a large tank as i have only ever had a maximum of 150litres. What i would like to design is a 3'x2'x2' tank with sump. I dont want to have any powerheads in the tank and run it on a closed loop and sump return.

For the closed loop i was thinking of a sequence 10000 with an oceans motions 4 way, 2 outlets, in the base at the front blowing at a 45degree angle back over the rock. and 2 outlets back corners. I am unsure of where i should place the intake

I thought i would have a central weir with the 2 outlets coming back either side of it. With the overflow i thought i would hard pipe it into a deltec APF600 skimmer to feed it. I would like to run the tank on ZEO where should i have the reactor?

For lighting i would like to retrofit as i dont want a expensive pendant, was thinking about getting lumen arc reflector and 2 t5 tubes fitted into a pelmet that sits on the top of the tank, leaving the pelmet open. Would i need more than 1 reflector? Should i go 400w or 250w?

I would like a shallow sandbed in the tank and was going to put live rock on reef rack. I dont want a massive rock structure to allow for more growing room for the SPS. I will use the rock from the old tank, how long do u think it will be before i can place the SPS back in? Would i need anything else in the sump area? Would i get enough flow? can anyone think of anything else i would need

Thanks for your help

regards

Peter

REEF-DADDY · #2 09/21/2006, 09:24 AM

"For the closed loop i was thinking of a sequence 10000 with an oceans motions 4 way, 2 outlets, in the base at the front blowing at a 45degree angle back over the rock. and 2 outlets back corners. I am unsure of where i should place the intake"

Just keep it low and try to position it behind your rock work, Mine is about 3" from the bottom

"I thought i would have a central weir with the 2 outlets coming back either side of it. With the overflow i thought i would hard pipe it into a deltec APF600 skimmer to feed it. I would like to run the tank on ZEO where should i have the reactor?"

Is the reactor external or hang on back? Either way you'll want it feeding the sump, I have a small table next to my tank with the skimmer and Ca reactor.

"For lighting i would like to retrofit as i dont want a expensive pendant, was thinking about getting lumen arc reflector and 2 t5 tubes fitted into a pelmet that sits on the top of the tank, leaving the pelmet open. Would i need more than 1 reflector? Should i go 400w or 250w?"

On a 3' tank you could use 1 lumenarc with a 400 watt bulb. You won't have full coverage on the edges but that area is good for moderate light need corals. Do your research and get a high par bulb/ballast set up and you'll be fine. Look for something 140 ppfd or greater, preferably greater.

"I would like a shallow sandbed in the tank and was going to put live rock on reef rack. I dont want a massive rock structure to allow for more growing room for the SPS. I will use the rock from the old tank, how long do u think it will be before i can place the SPS back in? Would i need anything else in the sump area? Would i get enough flow? can anyone think of anything else i would need."

I would give the tank as much time as you could to stabilize and re cycle if there is any die off on the rock. Assuming the corals you have are in a stabile environment. Are you looking to use the Sequence 1000 for flow?

Twistedpro · #3 09/21/2006, 09:56 AM

Thanks for the answers, i am looking to use the sequence 10000 as flow as well as my return pump. this would give around 12000lph which equates to 44x turnover.

Skimmer and reactor will sit in the sump or cabinet, i will leave room to fit those in

naka · #4 09/21/2006, 10:10 AM

Sequence 10000 does about 2200 gph right? It's way too strong for your return pump. You don't like the idea of having power heads in your tank?

James

REEF-DADDY · #5 09/21/2006, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Twistedpro
Thanks for the answers, i am looking to use the sequence 10000 as flow as well as my return pump. this would give around 12000lph which equates to 44x turnover.

Skimmer and reactor will sit in the sump or cabinet, i will leave room to fit those in

I thought that was your closed loop. You should really have a smaller return. I would run a Ehiem 1262 as your return and get a Sequence Dart for a closed loop. 44x is really on the low side, that should put you about 70x off the top of my head. All for less than 240 watts total.

Twistedpro · #6 09/21/2006, 11:44 AM

sorry, the sequence was for the closed loop and an ehiem 1262 for return. How much does the sequence dart run at?

naka · #7 09/21/2006, 12:06 PM

Eheim 1262 is also too strong IMO. I would look into 1250 Peter. Don't try to use the return as part of your main circulation. RefloDart is rated about 3600 gph/140w. I think it's perfect for your CL.

James