southpaw23's reef

[southpaw23]

Hi all,

Well, the tanks still a good 2 months away from going up but figured this would be a good place to start discussing tank plans etc. Here's what i got so far

Tank Details

Tank Size : 66"x24"x27" (with 8" side overflow - makin the viewable 58")

Sump tank : 30"x18"x18"

Return Pump : Still deciding, tentatively 2 x OR3500

Chiller : Chill Down Drop in Coil and Compressor

Skimmer : Deltec AP701

Lights : ATI Powermodule 54wx6

Flow : Wavebox and probably 2 x Tunze 6045s

Tank Maker : Geo Aquatic

Other Details

Essentially, the tank will be an inwall/divider tank between the living room and the master bedroom

So a 2 sided viewing tank, one from the living room and the other from the bedroom. There will be no access to the tank from the living room as there'll be a false wall erected to give the impression of an inwall tank setup.

While in the bedroom, there'll be floor to ceiling cabinetry, which is where i'll be accessing the tank from and housing all the equipment. A lil difficult to imagine right now i'm sure but when i get pics and plans, i'll post em up to give ya'll a better idea.

[bluezing]

all da best bro~

cant wait to ssee the pics!

[southpaw23]

all da best bro~

cant wait to ssee the pics!

Thanks buddy...unfortunately pics won't be up for quite a bit..it'll have to be schematics and plans for the meantime

[southpaw23]

I've drawn up an initial diagram to work on with the tank maker...the overall layout isn't firm tho but it'll give you an idea of what kinda stuff i'm tryin to incorporate into the tank setup. Oh and this'll be a largely LPS dominated reef....will hold out on venturing into SPS for now

[kenYO]

Looking good bro

for light should go for ATI Powermodule 54wx8, as for Tunze make it 6055

[hammy]

Looking good bro

for light should go for ATI Powermodule 54wx8, as for Tunze make it 6055

as ur tank is big , tunze nano might not be a good choice, go for bigger stream ( 6060/6080)as the radial flow they cover is wider and more effective.

[southpaw23]

Thanks for the input guys...as for the lighting suggestion..the way i see it, if it's not sufficient, i'll just DIY another 2 T5-HO's to suppliment the existing powermodule... Plus, i got the existing PM off another reefer at a good price so will stick to it for now

As for flow...seeing that it's an LPS dominated tank, i didn't see the need for too much flow, plus, don't quite like the sigh of the existing streams in the tank. The nano's are a lil more "aesthetically" pleasing

[kenYO]

As for flow...seeing that it's an LPS dominated tank, i didn't see the need for too much flow, plus, don't quite like the sigh of the existing streams in the tank. The nano's are a lil more "aesthetically" pleasing 

ever consider close loop??

phil will be able to provide perfect cut holes on glass using laser

[southpaw23]

Did you go with a closed loop on ur system? The way i see it, the Nano's are more power efficient than the pumps that is needed to run a closed loop. Plus the flow would be a lot narower. Unless ur talkin about incorporating an inductor to the outlet. Phil mentioned that to me previously

[kenYO]

Did you go with a closed loop on ur system? The way i see it, the Nano's are more power efficient than the pumps that is needed to run a closed loop. Plus the flow would be a lot narower. Unless ur talkin about incorporating an inductor to the outlet. Phil mentioned that to me previously

initial idea is to have 2 close loop out let locate @ the front base glass firing toward the back overflow. But becasue of the braceless tank design, we decided not to drill to many holes on the base glass. Intend to replace with tunze 6055 but afraid not strong enough for sps tank so in the end go for 6100 insteal...I agree a bit bulky.

btw any idea who's selling inductor locally

[southpaw23]

initial idea is to have 2 close loop out let locate @ the front base glass firing toward the back overflow. But becasue of the braceless tank design, we decided not to drill to many holes on the base glass. Intend to replace with tunze 6055 but afraid not strong enough for sps tank so in the end go for 6100 insteal...I agree a bit bulky.

btw any idea who's selling inductor locally

Not quite sure where to get inductors..why don't u check with Phil?

The closed loop is still a consideration but like u, i'd like to try and stay away from drilling holes in the base glass...cannot afford a leak in the bulkheads at that location

But again, since i'm not going with SPS...think i'll be ok for the flow...might get the 6055 if it comes out in time and if the hole in my pocket is patched by that time

In the meantime, i will be relying on my returns and the wavebox to provide the flow for the tank at the initial stage.

[BFG]

I really like your plan. Gravity fed skimmer is good, I've should have done it with my setup but am using a APF600 only. My only regret is that I should have gone with a bigger sump and the skimmer would be placed in it to contain any mishap that may arise.

[iceman]

Bro, nice set up.

Although u r keeping oly LPS, i think it better to get the TS 24 for that tank size .

I'm using TS 48 for my 5' and there are still many die spot.

[southpaw23]

BFG - Yeah...i liked the idea of the gravity feed to the skimmer as well, it was my tank makers idea. Seems like a much more efficient setup that way As for putting the skimmer internally...i dunno...i'm still on the fence about that...barring any mishaps...i like my skimmer clean externally..

Iceman - TS24? My only problem with that is the bulky tunze's in the main tank, which is why i'm opting for a concealed wavebox and maybe a couple of nanos. I wanna keep the tank as clutter free from equipment as possible. Might look into a couple of 6055s hooked to a multicontroller perhaps

[acidjazz]

Kenny, i will suggest replacing the OR3500 with Aquabee 5000 or Eheim1262.

Having tried all 3 pumps in the same tank, the Aquabee gave me the best performance of all.

As for lightings wise, 2x MH will be better. But tt's just my personal opinion cuz i like the effect of MH.

[southpaw23]

Kenny, i will suggest replacing the OR3500 with Aquabee 5000 or Eheim1262.

Having tried all 3 pumps in the same tank, the Aquabee gave me the best performance of all.

As for lightings wise, 2x MH will be better. But tt's just my personal opinion cuz i like the effect of MH.

I heard that the Aquabee 5000s have issues with their impellors. Don't have any experience with them so can't comment. How has your pumps been doin thus far? No issues? As for the suggestion to use 1262s, aren't the flow rates the same?

No flexibility on the lights for now i'm afraid as i've already purchased the powermodule off another reefer previously. Think i'll stick to them for now...i'll miss the shimmer but like the coverage of the T5s and the different color temp options available with the different tubes.

[southpaw23]

Hi guys...

After much debating, am considering replacing the original plan of two ORs with a single Red Dragon. Just wondering which of the models should i go with. It's now a toss up between the 10m3 or the 12m3.

I'm leaning more towards the 10m3 but i know some here would suggest more is better which is why i'm puttin this up for discussion.

Got a question tho, is there any ill effects to throttling down the output of a Red Dragon? I read that Sequence pumps become more power efficient when throttled down but not sure if the same applies to an RD? Cos if this were the case and if i were to find the flow too excessive, i can always reduce it some.

As of now, the plan is to split the output to two one on each diagonal ends of the tank. My thinking is if i do go with the 12m3 and it's too powerful, i could always split it to 3 outputs instead.

Anyways...lotsa weird ideas...what are your thoughts?

[piero]

Kenny, i will suggest replacing the OR3500 with Aquabee 5000 or Eheim1262.

Having tried all 3 pumps in the same tank, the Aquabee gave me the best performance of all.

As for lightings wise, 2x MH will be better. But tt's just my personal opinion cuz i like the effect of MH.

Would have to agree with you.

But somehow the problem I find with Aquabee pumps is that they seem to get pretty as the distance increases as compared to Ehiem pumps.

[southpaw23]

more pics to be up soon

[southpaw23]

After months of waiting, the tank is finally up Tank details have changed slightly from the original plan. Here's the latest tank details

Tank Size : 66"x27"x28" (8" external overflow)

Sump tank : 36"x18"x18"

Return Pump : Red Dragon 12m3

Chiller : Chill Down Drop in Coil and Compressor

Skimmer : Deltec AP701

Lights : DE T5 Retrofit 80wx6

Flow : Still undecided

Tank Maker : Geo Aquatic

Finally got around to sorting out the pictures from taken over the last few weeks. Here's the first pic of the wall completely torn down I had the plumber run a pipe outlet along the left side wall to facilitate water changes.

[southpaw23]

Here comes the tank stand :

[southpaw23]

Tank stand height at 39 inches.

[southpaw23]

Tank stand view from the living room. It's yet to be put in its final resting place in this pic.

[southpaw23]

Fast forwarding 2 weeks from the delivery of the stand, with major cabinet work completed, here's a look at the tank view in the bedroom.

[southpaw23]

The incompleted false wall and view from the living room