Lemon's butterflyfish dominated reef

[yikai]

Whilst tearing down my old tank, have been planning my new tank with reddevils. The initial thought was to take a short break from chionging LFS, reefing etc. The break will only last 2 months sadly, because the new tank will be arriving in 2-3 weeks, and after counting in the cycling period, it will only be around 2 months from now before i can officially start reefing again.

Tank Specs

Display will be 3.5 x 3.5 x 2, giving a total of 183.3 gallons for the main tank

3 panel crystal glass, front and 2 sides

Black silicon, 12mm glass

Black cabinet and hood

Black Oyama paper at the back

Euro bracing on top and bottom.

Overflow box will not be external, and will be on the left side.

The Sump will not be underneath the tank, but instead, will be on the floor in it's own cabinet by the right side of the display

Sump will be 3 x 2 x 2

A large portion of the sump will be cordoned off as empty space for future uses, i.e, frag growout, fishes, nano fishes, fuge, etc

Cabinet for the sump will have an open top door which can flip open to give a top down look at the sump.

Doors at the front as per normal too. Maybe one at the side.

Equipment

Return pumps, 2 x Eheim 1264

One of the 1264 will pass through the chiller before hitting the main tank

1/3HP artica? Have not fully decided on the chiller yet

Deltec 2060 for the skimmer

CR, deltec PF 501?

For lightings, 2 x 250W MH, supplemented by T5. Am thinking of maybe asking razali to do.

A denitrator if i still have enough budget left ._.

Livestock

Livestock wise, i want to go into SPS this time. Have been playing with softies and LPS for awhile now and i think it would be fun to try something new

Fish wise, i will be geering towards butterflyfishes and some angels. My goal is to showcase beautiful non-reefsafe fishes in a reef tank. Butterflies are very overlooked due to the misconception that they are difficult, touchy and expensive. This is not entirely true. True, there are alot that feeds on nothing but corals, but there are a good handful that are hardy and can adapt to aquarium fare.

The only way to achieve this is to go SPS as they are relatively safe from the jaws of most butterflies and angels.

Till my tank comes, i hope that some of you guys can chip in about SPS and maybe comment on some of my equipment chosen. Equipments are not finalised yet (except the deltec skimmer), so i hope some of the more advance SPS keepers can comment on the choices, and give some suggestions

Also would like some advice on SPS husbandry too! For very long i've always admired SPS and this will be my first time attempting them.

[yikai]

Here's the deltec SC2060, the new SC series. If anyone has any reviews about this skimmer please feel free to share!

Here's the technical data from reef depot's website.

Technical Data

- In Sump Version - Deltec SC2060 - This stands for Single Chamber, body diameter 200mm and total height 600mm

- Significantly exceeds performance of AP701/AP851 (600 lts of air - 230V) - Footprint - 280 by 220 mm

- Total air produced - 1100-1300 lts/hour

- Power consumption - 25-28 watts

- Water level in sump - 180mm min 260mm max

- Outlet 50mm

- Neck diameter 110mm

- Tank Suitability 1400 lts heavy stocking 1700 lts normal stocking

- Patented Twn Chamber bubble chamber

- Remote drain of skimmer cup

- Air silencer

- Micro adjustable skimmer setting

- High water flow through the skimmer

- Optional self cleaning system

- New colour scheme

- No feed pump required, skimmer draws water directly from the sump

[Dispar_Anthias]

Welcome back and with a 183 gallon BANG!

3 feet with 2X250watt will be really hot! Have been there done that and you definately need a big chiller to handle it especially with the hot weather nowadays.

Anyway I have a feeling, its gonna be a nice tank!

[yikai]

Welcome back and with a 183 gallon BANG!

3 feet with 2X250watt will be really hot! Have been there done that and you definately need a big chiller to handle it especially with the hot weather nowadays.

Anyway I have a feeling, its gonna be a nice tank!

Thanks DA! hope to be back ASAP so can chiong more shipments with you guys. Especially now that i'm gearing towards butterflies and angels! Can ask RB bring in some special ones hopefully. I want C. semeion.

I hope it will be great too. I like the dimensions and the scaping possibilities will be quite cool.

[Terryz_]

Anticipating your large tank!!! What is the cost.. Pm me?

[yikai]

Anticipating your large tank!!! What is the cost.. Pm me?

yeah im very excited too lol. large tank but not long! WIDE! lol

[Terryz_]

Cube tank is the way to go... LOL...

[yikai]

Cube tank is the way to go... LOL...

yup! but not really a cube lol.

[LaW]

it satisfy 2 out of 3 parameters of a cube so its almost a cube-like though.

order those needed equipments yet?

[yikai]

it satisfy 2 out of 3 parameters of a cube so its almost a cube-like though.

order those needed equipments yet?

chiller, skimmer and the two returns i guess. the rest not yet. no rush lah. settle the important things first hehe

[desideria]

Lemon I really think you should go for a condenser unit.. you have a PES and you can put your condenser there hidden by your mom's plants! your 1/3 is not going to be able to chill your tank AND your sump... I doubt it.... dont' make the same mistake as me and now have to throw more money on LED and have an expensive light set in my store room!!!

so go for a 1HP condenser drop down coil !!!! REALLY! tell your mom it will be worth it to spend that money

and i love my new skimmer from deltec.. I think the one you intend to get is the bigger version of mine and I think it's good. I clean the cup every 3-4 days.

good luck and can't wait to see!

[yikai]

Lemon I really think you should go for a condenser unit.. you have a PES and you can put your condenser there hidden by your mom's plants! your 1/3 is not going to be able to chill your tank AND your sump... I doubt it.... dont' make the same mistake as me and now have to throw more money on LED and have an expensive light set in my store room!!!

so go for a 1HP condenser drop down coil !!!! REALLY! tell your mom it will be worth it to spend that money

and i love my new skimmer from deltec.. I think the one you intend to get is the bigger version of mine and I think it's good. I clean the cup every 3-4 days.

good luck and can't wait to see!

i was thinking that the 1/3 might be abit too weak. wanted a condenser but the piping will be hell from the patio to the tank! not to mention the amount of pipes running around everywhere... my tank is quite a distance away from the patio.

[desideria]

hell for 1-2 day better than regret for the next 2-3 years!!! Btw your patio not THAT far away.. it's like from my tank to my planter.. but I can't put a condenser on my planter otherwise I would! 1/3 is too weak for that kind of size and the heat from your MH... trust me.. I KNOW!

[yikai]

hell for 1-2 day better than regret for the next 2-3 years!!! Btw your patio not THAT far away.. it's like from my tank to my planter.. but I can't put a condenser on my planter otherwise I would! 1/3 is too weak for that kind of size and the heat from your MH... trust me.. I KNOW!

ok ok thanks for the tip. back to the drawing board!

[Ketchup]

Shd be ok la.. not very far away from your PES ma..

[[V]tEc]

+1 on that..also price of the drop in will be lower than the 1/3 comparing both brand new. go iwarna n look at how fast the coil can pull down their tank temp. i regretted i did not get that chiller.....

[raydiative]

Wow... great tank in the making... i think the compressor would be a better idea too..

Good luck!

[LaW]

chiller, skimmer and the two returns i guess. the rest not yet. no rush lah. settle the important things first hehe

good, if possible squeeze in a compressor.

[Eniram]

+1 on compressor

[Terryz_]

Ya... Get a compressor... I am using a 1 HP for my tank which is smaller than your tank.. But my practice is always overkill is better than under powered... Typical kiasu Singaporean..

[MarcoVan]

Ya... Get a compressor... I am using a 1 HP for my tank which is smaller than your tank.. But my practice is always overkill is better than under powered... Typical kiasu Singaporean..

Not kiasu bro. It's called buying insurance! And the return is more than just premium given the level of satisfaction derived from having a great looking and growing marine tank!

+1 on compressor. In fact, the price of a compressor is almost equivalent to the price of a brand new Artica chiller, the difference is the horsepower. I believe 1.5k can get you a 1/4 or maybe 1/2hp chiller liao.

the only problem is you have to choose between drop in or external coil chiller. Depends on the space in your house, otherwise drop in is the best for constraints (:

[davidluvfishes]

Not to dishearten you, but for such a big tank you are going to have, you will definitely be one of the "favourites" for SP serices in terms of the monthly power utilities bills. Suggest that you plan carefully since you still have a choice now.. This is solely based on my personal experiences from my bills for running my current 4 x 3 x 2 tank.

[yikai]

thanks everyone for comments, have decided to go for 1.5HP (? not sure, but there abouts) compressor, 2nd hand from reefer. all in all it will definitely be way cheaper than getting a new 1/3HP chiller which will not even cut it.

need a new coil and some drilling in the walls first though.

Thanks for the concern david, my home electrical bills are actually very high now. way above normal because of my consistent air conS usage

with the new tank, definitely have to forgo my aircon especially when sleeping at night.

[MarcoVan]

thanks everyone for comments, have decided to go for 1.5HP (? not sure, but there abouts) compressor, 2nd hand from reefer. all in all it will definitely be way cheaper than getting a new 1/3HP chiller which will not even cut it.

need a new coil and some drilling in the walls first though.

Thanks for the concern david, my home electrical bills are actually very high now. way above normal because of my consistent air conS usage

with the new tank, definitely have to forgo my aircon especially when sleeping at night.

wow bro, that's quite alot of horsepower you are getting there.

[yikai]

wow bro, that's quite alot of horsepower you are getting there.

yup best of all, it's free since my friend isn't using it anymore but need to service i think since it's not been used for awhile. all in all will be way cheaper than a new chiller.