Will this work for an mostly SPS tank?

Justin James · #1 05/31/2007, 08:43 PM

I have a 150 gallon tank. 6 feet long x 2 feet wide x 20" inches tall. The tank is acrylic. I have a 75 gallon sump with a Eruo Reef RS 250 in it. I use a Magdrive 1200 return pump split by a scwd to change the water flow around a bit and create some waves. I also use two Seio 820's in the tank for flow. I have a refugium in the sump as well. I keep two reef structures in the tank at each end. Each reef mound has it's own MH light. I run two 250 watt DE Megachrome Marine 13,000K bulbs in two Luminarc lll mini stealth DE reflectors on Electronic ballasts.

Here are some photos.

Justin James · #2 05/31/2007, 08:47 PM

These are random photos from different stages in progress along the way of my build. I built everything myself and really hope it is good enough. This is my first advanced tank with decent equipment. I've had smaller reef tanks before but they didn't have good lights or skimmers. I put everything I had into this one but don't be shy to tell me if it sucks.

svb57 · #3 05/31/2007, 08:50 PM

Nice set-up......

I dont think you will hae many issues with keeping SPs.

Only thing I might say is I am a firm believer in lots LR andf your sysyem seems to be on the light side. But thats just my opinion.

Again nice set-up

Jim Mc

supervdl · #4 05/31/2007, 08:55 PM

This should be working out fine for you. What output do the powerheads have? How many pounds of live rock is this?

Justin James · #5 05/31/2007, 09:01 PM

My powerheads push 820 GPH each plus I have my return pump hooked to the scwd. I might add two more powerheads to increase flow even more in a couple months but for now i'll try some corals to see what goes on.

Oh and believe it or not there is about 140 pounds of fiji rock in there. I know it doesn't look like that much though. I want to leave lots of swimming room for tangs and coral growth so thats why I choose to go with the two islands. Also this allows me to only need 2 MH fixtures but with my luminarcs I get the whole tank lit anyways. Yes believe it or not the Luminarc lll mini's light the whole 6 foot tank. If I were to have strong light requiring corals in the center I would add another one though but for now this is what I was going for from the get go with this project. Thanks for the compliments.

amike5 · #6 05/31/2007, 09:19 PM

IMO if you want to mainly keep sps in that tank, you are going to need 3000 - 6000 g/hr more flow in there. I suggest more powerful powerheads or a closed loop. Besides that, it looks great!!! Maybe add some LR rubble in the fuge for pod production though.

Justin James · #7 05/31/2007, 09:25 PM

Wouldn't my fish find it hard to swim if I add another 6,000 GPH flow on top of my 3,800 GPH flow? that would be almost 10,000 GPH flow?

Oh and I have some rubble in my refugium now but it doesn't show it in any of thouse photos.

Thanks.

DSMpunk · #8 05/31/2007, 09:26 PM

Your setup is almost exactly like mine, so I think your golden

One thing I would do is bump up your flow quite a bit. For SPS I would run at least 50x.

Justin James · #9 05/31/2007, 09:30 PM

Ok so more flow it is. I'll add a couple more seios or perhaps i'll add a couple Hydor Koralias.

amike5 · #10 05/31/2007, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Justin James
Wouldn't my fish find it hard to swim if I add another 6,000 GPH flow on top of my 3,800 GPH flow? that would be almost 10,000 GPH flow?

Oh and I have some rubble in my refugium now but it doesn't show it in any of thouse photos.

Thanks.

First, you need to deduct your head pressure from your return pump. It may pump 1200 at 0' head, but most likely you are only pumping at about 600 - 800 g/hr with that pump. 10,000 g/hr may sound like a lot of flow, but set up properly it really isn't. The thing is, you don't want direct flow (strong flow). You want random indirect flow (lots of circulation, but not tons of punching power).

amike5 · #11 05/31/2007, 09:32 PM

Fish will be fine once they get used to it. There is 1,000 times more flow than that in the ocean.

Justin James · #12 05/31/2007, 09:37 PM

This is why I like the Seio powerheads and the Hydor Koralias because they give a wide dispersal of water instead of an "unnatural" jet.

Yes stupid me I forgot to deduct my head pressure and the pressure I loose for using the SCWD. I probably only have about 2,300 GPH righ now.

amike5 · #13 05/31/2007, 09:49 PM

Thats ok, it's a start. Do you research before deciding how you want to add your flow. There are different ways of doing it, you surely don't want a dozen seio's in your tank. Check out closed look systems, oceans motions, tunze, the koralias, maxijets, etc. Just remember, you need lots of flow. I have 49.5X flow, and it still doesn't seem like enough. You can go up to 60X or more and be ok, generally the more the better for sps. Remember the food needs to be able to get to them (very small polyps).

Justin James · #14 06/01/2007, 09:57 AM

Ok I think i'll add a couple Hydro Koralia 4's. They are black and will blend in with my black background better than my grey seio pumps.

xtrstangx · #15 06/01/2007, 10:20 AM

If you add more flow, you'll have more success.

Also keep in mind that you want to keep the SPS in a 2'x2' area under the lights... You could have zoos/softies in the center.

DSMpunk · #16 06/01/2007, 10:55 AM

Most LPS would do nicely in the center also.

Justin James · #17 06/01/2007, 10:46 PM

Don't mean to bump but I just want to be sure there isn't anything i'm overlooking except for more flow.

Thanks to all who responded.

amike5 · #18 06/01/2007, 11:02 PM

Just make sure you have test kits and know what you are going to dose to compensate for Calcium, Alk, and Magnesium. Some methods of dosing may require additional equipment. If you are considering an sps dominated tank, you may want to consider a calcium reactor.