New 65gal Setup - Looking for comments

[rharlow]

Hello BRS

I'm definately new to BRS and Reef aquariums. Been lurking for a couple of weeks and have been impressed with the community and the generosity of the good advice!! I have had freshwater for 20+ years but have decided to take the plunge and go reefing! I'm still in the planning process, but wanted to share my planned setup and get some comments/thoughts. I don't have any of the equipment other that the tank (currently in use - fresh). I'm making the stand/canopy and sump myself. This is what I've come up with:

Equipment
65gal AGA 36x18x24
20gal sump with 5gal refugium
Amiracle overflow
ASM G-2 skimmer
Eheim 1262 return pump into SCWD
SEIO Super flow powerheads
4 stage ro/di to container to auto topoff/sump

5-6" DSB in tank and of course lots of LR. My plans are for a mixed reef, primarily anemone, soft and LPS, but with some SPS. I'm still undecided on how I should go with lighting. My initial thoughts were to go with a 4x96w PC which would give me approx 6w/gal. My concern is the depth of the tank. Now I'm kindof leaning towards a 250 HQI pendant in the center with 2x96 PC. Please share your thought on this and above. I'm trying to get this all settled so I can start building stand/canopy/sump. Busy times ahead. Thank you

Chip

 

[marco67]

Hey Chip,
First off welcome!
Looks like you've given this some thought. The package you outline is a very nice starter system with the possible exception of the seios. Do some research on them before a final decision, while not a horrible choice they do have there set backs. I'm not trying to "slam them" basically plan on cleaning them frequently. As an alternative look at some MJ 1200s they'll last forever (~even if neglected).
As far as lighting goes if the MH is in the budget (and the animals you want to keep warrant it) go for it now you won't regret it. Just be aware of the temp issues/ concerns.
Any how I'm sure you'll get lots of good input here ....
Good luck with it
Marc

oops I just noticed,
The overflow... In the long run you will probably grow to regret that. Consider having the tank drilled! It will cost less, be more effective and more reliable.

 

[ReeferMedic]

I agrre with Marco on the lighting. You will spend alot of money upgrading if you don't get what you want, or are going to need, the first time. I don't even want to list the upgrades I've been through and I'm thinking of doing it again. I'm looking at the Aquamedic 7" fixture w/4 250 de hqis and t5s for my 210....

 

[Ray]

Looks like a good start! I would go with MHs if you can that way you can keep pretty much anything without worry about lighting.
I have never used the seios but seems to be a 50/50 thing with people I have talked to some love em some hate em. You could always put a larger pump in the tank and run that up to flow bars on each side for your flow.
I also agree with Marco to have the tank drilled and put in a couple of acrilc boxes and if you have that done you could always drill it for a closed loop.

Does your tank have a center brace?

 

[rharlow]

Marc: I know what you're saying about the SEIOs. I saw the bad rep of Rio and am still hesitant, but wanted a low profile powerhead.

Ray: Yes, the tank has a center divider which concerns me with putting a MH in the center.

Chip

 

[ReeferMedic]

The MH won't bother the brace if it's glass. It will block alot of light though......

 

[ian20]

I use seio's, although they need to be cleaned allot I like them. also if I was you I would go with MH I pc and upgraded 3 time before I figured out what I liked. I have some old lights if interested PM me. for the skimmer I don't no much about the ASM but you may take a look at a aqua C skimmer they are expensive but they work very well besides that it looks like you will have a very nice setup. welcome to BRS
I bailt my canopy too they don't make one for the 72 bow
here's a pic

 

[this is me]

I agree with eveyone that said MH is the best way to go to avoid future upgrade.
And your plan looks good. The only thing I would want to change is the pump. I would either use a cuple of MJ1200 or a tunze stream.
I have a SWCD running on my return and it cuts a lot of flow from the pump(it works for me because my overflow cant handle the flow from the return). Have you looked at a seaswirl? or perhaps the ocean-motion squirt?
If you have a lot of room in your sump, put some of the LR in there instead of the display tank. it's much easier to aquascape and it looks nicer if a tank is not packed with LR, and it also gives the fishes room to swim and your coral to grow.
With what you planning to keep, LPS and SPS, have you consider a calcium reactor or build your own reactor? You'll definately need it. Maybe not the first 3-4 months, but as you stock your tank with high calcium/alk demanding corals, you'll eventually need a reactor or you'll find yourself asking yourself "did I dose my tank with the supplements it needs this morning?"
I hope that helps and btw, Welcome!

 

[gurumasta]

i have the asm g2 skimmer and i love it. its excellent if your gonna do an in sump skimmer.

 

[Ba19Ma88]

I also would have th tank drilled and go with MH also.

 

[meemoo]

I second that and am learning from my mistakes.

 

[RichConley]

Hey Chip, I'm in the process of setting up an Oceanic 58g (about an inch or 2 shorter than your tank height wise, but the same footprint.) It looks like you may be a little ahead of me in the process at this, but if you want to run anything by me, or want to participate in any of the threads I've put up about it, feel free.

At this point I'm going to be running 250w DE HQI 10K halides in the center (no center brace...thats why I wanted the oceanic) Other than that...still trying to figure out what I'm going to run. Let me know what you come up with, and how it works.

 

[blajoie]

Hey there,


I'm running 2 Seio 820 and 1 Seio 620 on my 55g. I've found that if you run the Seio's 24/7, you won't run into any problems. A people over on RC have claimed to be running them on wavemakers with success.. But i dont know about that .

I also have the ASM g2 skimmer with a recirc mod and the gate valve mod. Awesome Skimmer! If you do go the asm route, check out the mod section on asmskimmer.com
There is a lot of potentional with these skimmers. Word of advice. If you can fit a G3, do it. The bigger pump makes all the difference. Only about $50.00 more. ( Sedra 5000 --> Sedra 9000 )

For Lighting I am running a single 250W 14K HQI Metal Halide. Since the bulb is just blue enough I don?t feel the need to run actinics, which saves some $green$. I find it provides just enough light that I can keep just about anything I want.

About the return pump, I previously ran a Mag9.5 on a SCWD. But I got sick of constantly cleaning the SCWD because it would get clogged and reduce the flow 50%+. So you might have to get religious about your cleaning regimen. I am now running the Mag 9 (straight pipe back into tank) pushing about 450gph back into the tank, and the remaining into the fuge/reactors.
Good Luck!

 

[rharlow]

Thank you for all the great comments. It looks like I'm going MH. So, now the question is how much light. Since my tank is 36x18x24 I'm looking at 250W HQI. I do however have a center brace and so I'm thinking about going with 2 250w pendants. Would this be too much for this size tank? Also, what would I compliment it with. I was leaning towards 96w pc, but if I go with 2 MH, then I don't think I need more light, but rather just the right type of spectrum??? I'm also concerned with the PC blocking some of the MH, so I've thought about going with T-5s. Any thoughts. Also, I currently have a hood for my FW tank that is 2x55w PC - could I canabalize that. Bottom line, I'm trying to have enough light, but not overkill (my wallet). Thanks

Chip

 

[ian20]

you will probity need 2 250W bulbs. depending on how long the tank is. I would start with a 14K bulb. that seem to be most people favorite you get good growth and still get nice color.

 

[~Flighty~]

I think NateHanson might have already left for a vacation, but he has a 65g. You may want to do a search of his threads to find some pics and info on his setup. Of course he does have 6400 posts to go through

 

[Ba19Ma88]

In my 75 I have 2 250watt 10K MH and 4 24 in VHO's

Check the sale threads or post wtb and I am sure you will come up with soem good deals on used lights. Just a FYI ,,,always assuem you will need to buy new bubs with any light you get used, or be ready in a few months to get new bulbs.

Also you may want to think of heat with alot of light that can be a real issue.

 

[NateHanson]

Cindy harrassed me into joining the fray here. I need a break from packing anyways.

I have a 65g AGA with center brace, corner overflow, and a 55g sump in the basement.

I've removed my center brace and replaced it with clear acrylic before filling the tank, since I have three 175w MH bulbs over the tank (one right over the brace). If you're going to use one 250W MH, then you'll definitely want to replace the brace. It'll make an unsightly shadow in the tank otherwise. Even so you'll have to religiously keep the brace clean or it will block light and cast a shadow.

Personally I'd use two 175w bulbs or two 150w DE bulbs. Since you don't want to keep mostly high-light corals, you don't need two 250w MH, and I'm sure you'd have a heat problem with a tank and sump that size. You could try putting two MH with an actinic T5 (or PC since you've got it) between them, with all bulbs running front to back. IMO you only need the T5 for dawn dusk fluoresence, because you can control the daytime color of your tank with the MH bulbs you select. So you don't need a lot of actinic supplementation. Just enough to make it glow in the evening.

I'd ditch the SCWD and either get an oceanmotions device, sea swirl, or powerheads on a wavemaker. I have a seio that stopped working after a few weeks, but after sending it in for service, it has been running without problems for about 6 months.

I also agree with what everyone said about drilling the tank instead of using a siphon overflow.

Good luck! Have fun!

 

[nitrofish]

I heard 2 smaller bulbs are better for light distribution than one large bulb. so id do x2 175w halides

 

[rharlow]

Thanks Nate, Nitro and everyone!

The info on OM was great, I decided to drop scwd and go with OM Squirt! Still thinking about drilling tank (just something about breaking that barrier).

Big question is still lighting! Last night I read 60+ pages of a thread on RC about T5's. Seems T5s are somewhat controversial. Since they're newish, folks are trying to get the right bulb combos. So right now I'm stuck with going with two 150W MH Reef Optix vs. a Sunlight Supply 4x39w T5 with 2x95w VHO URI Super Actinics. Yes, I want a mixed tank - does that mean softies, LPS or SPS - yes all of the above, but I'm new so who knows what I'll like more. From what I can tell, everyone is comfortable with MHs, so that's kind of a no-brainer, but any thoughts of T5s? Thanks for all the great comments!

Chip