Feel like a newbie - all over again

[bostonian88]

Hi all. After 4-years and some serious prodding by my son, we are going to start my 75g reef tank again. The original tank was torn down after losing a battle with flatworms and valonia.

We were all set to use the bullet proof GARF system with a plenum covered by 120# of caribsea aragonite crushed coral but after some extensive searching BRS and RC - the plenum seems to be taboo now.

Our plan is to salvage as much from my old system as possible. MH assisted by VHO lighting, 20g DSB sump, ETSS reef devil skimmer and the now dead base rock (i really hope the Flatworms have died sitting dry in a rubbermaid container for 4 years!!!)

Before we make our next steps, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the GARF system. I'd really hate to make a wrong decision this early in the planning stages.

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[smcnally]

People that use the GARF system seem to like it, but I honestly don't know anyone that uses it personally. If you're going with a DSB in your sump, I would just go with a shallow sandbed in your display. Run a nice medium turnover rate through the sump and display, and then provide the rest of the flow in your display with either some high flow propeller style powerheads or a closed loop.

BTW, Welcome to the club!

 

[bostonian88]

Thanks for the quick response. I appreciate the feed-back.

Do you think the 20g sump would be large enough to handle the bio-load of a 75g tank? Is there a rule of how many square inches of DSB area are recommended per gallon of water?

BTW, your tank looks awsome!

 

[smcnally]

I've never heard of any rule regarding how many sq inches should be used. Many people have actually made remote DSBs in a 5 gallon bucket and had luck with that. IMO, a 20 gallon sump would be a bit small for a sump/fuge combo. You wouldn't have much room for anything other than the fuge. The standard 75G stand is real hard to fit much more under it though...I had to deal with that when I had my 75. I actually removed the center brace between the doors temporarily and slid a larger sump in.

Thanks for the nice words about my tank. It will be getting pulled down in the next few weeks for my new one. I just have to build the new one first

 

[pillowfish]

Hi and Welcome to BRS!

 

[Firefish]

glad to have you back in the hobby and even more so to see that you are doing your reasearch beforehand! you will save yourself so much aggrivation this way

 

[bostonian88]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I got a chance to speak with Rich @ Skiptons yesterday and he was very helpful in explaining all of the potential PROs and CONs of my proposed setup. The anticipation is building but I'm trying to make sure we don't overlook anything during this phase. I'm trying to remember all of the things I wish I had done differently last time... "should i invest in a chiller?" "Is an RODI system as challenging as they look?" "should I go with a remote sump (to Steve's point - not much room in the stand) I'm sure there will be plenty of questions in the coming weeks/months and I appreciate everyone's input!

 

[Gina McReeferson]

Welcome back bostonian! Welcome to the BRS!

-Gina and Dave

 

[Chris L]

welcome to the club