Cali Kid Corals

This neophyte needs Equipment help...

Crosis

Crosis

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OK... its established, I'm the FNG...

Looking for a little help to get my tank up and cycling...

I need a Sump, Lighting, Skimmer, Plumbing, arm, leg, and you get the idea...

Sump - Still looking into, either going to DIY from scratch, buy a tank and DIY from a tank, or Buy a completed one... Size, looking for something ball park 48" L x 24x W x 20" T... (ballpark 100g sump give or take a bit)

Skimmer - Reef Octopus Super Reef 5000sss Internal - Only does 600gph... Could be a problem since I've read I need a Skimmer that can keep up with the overflow / return... which will be around 1500gph...

Plumbing - (My tank is not pre-drilled, nor does it have an overflow area...) - Glass-Holes 1500 GPH Kit - Figured this kit would solve both of those problems...

Return Pump - Mag-Drive 18 Dialed back a bit to lower the flow...

Internal pumps - I'm picking up 2x Vortech MP40w's tomorrow from someone on RC... (if I need more I can look into picking up more)

I picked up a Koralin 1501 (and upgraded the pump making it a 1502) Calc. Reactor from Mario...

Lighting - I plan on going full LED... I am in the process of figuring out exactly how many LED's I need and all before I make the final purchase...

I would appreciate any and all guidance I can be offered here... Anything I am missing, Please list it here and I will look it up and figure out what I want to go with...

Thanks!
 
Crosis said:
OK... its established, I'm the FNG...
Click to expand...

But what can we do about it? Exhibit A:

P3130227.jpg


Save a few $$ and dial the return pump down about 3x! Save a bunch of money on the pump AND the electricity to run it. With the MP40's in there you'll be great. Your tank will actually resemble mine so-to-speak
 
Look forward to seeing your build thread. That is a big sump! What size is your display tank? Following on Dave's comments about saving power with a smaller return pump, I love my Eheim 1262 return. 70 watts, reliable, strong.
 
I would considre the RO 2000 rather than the 5000 for this tank size.

I wouldnt worry so much about running alot of volume through the sump.
I like my sump to run a little slow.. gives my skimmer some time to work on that waste.

I only turn over about 300 gal per hour on my 24x24x48 w/ 50 gal sump.
 
Mr. Ugly said:
I have an All-Glass 120g, 48 x 24 x 24 if you can use it.
Click to expand...

That would be outstanding, I could definitely use it!!!

houser said:
Save a few $$ and dial the return pump down about 3x! Save a bunch of money on the pump AND the electricity to run it. With the MP40's in there you'll be great. Your tank will actually resemble mine so-to-speak
Click to expand...

So basically you're saying the kit to drill into the tank is fine, just put in some ball valves to dial it back from 1500 gph to something lower, and then get a return pump that puts back a lower gph... something like a Mag 9.5 ?

99sf said:
Look forward to seeing your build thread. That is a big sump! What size is your display tank? Following on Dave's comments about saving power with a smaller return pump, I love my Eheim 1262 return. 70 watts, reliable, strong.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm doing the finishing touches on the stand this week and should have the tank drilled and on the stand by the end of the weekend... Display tank is 72" L x 36" W x 24" Tall... I'll have to look into that pump, thanks...

sfsuphysics said:
where is the tank going to be, temperature of the area? etc... having a beefy return pump might be useful as a heater as well
Click to expand...

Tank will be in the downstairs room on the side of the house the Sun comes up in... In the summer its the coolest room in the house, and in the winter its fairly cold in the house... I will definitely need heaters for winter months, Summer should be ok...

BigMac said:
I would considre the RO 2000 rather than the 5000 for this tank size.

I wouldnt worry so much about running alot of volume through the sump.
I like my sump to run a little slow.. gives my skimmer some time to work on that waste.

I only turn over about 300 gal per hour on my 24x24x48 w/ 50 gal sump.
Click to expand...

I was just going off what RO said the skimmer was rated for (400 gallon tank)... I figure a full reef tank with a fair amount of fish would have a high bio-load, toss in the tank will have around 250 gallons when filled, and another 70 - 100 gallons from the Sump and we're talking 320-350 gallons of water there...

Is my math off on the skimmer?
 
Um, with these dimensions, this is more like a 100 48" L x 24x W x 20.

Duhh I reread your post, I thought those were the dimentions of the tank you have not the sum you want..

Reading skills are slipping.. sorry.
 
Dustin,
What I'm saying is that the overflow you called out doesn't necessarily have to have all 1500GPH going through it. Rather than throttle the overflow, you throttle the pump and/or get a smaller one.
 
Instead of ReefOctopus 2000 or 5000, for 240 gallons, consider the 3000.
Seems about right for 240 gallon DT. (That is what I ordered)
Sump volume is largely irrelevant for skimmer size if you have no bio-load in it.
You said sump, not refugium / cryptic zone / etc, so assuming just water.
 
Regarding return pumps:
If you already have a large pump, and want to reduce it, consider a flow accelerator (eductor)
They really reduce the flow, since they need pressure to operate.
But you still get the same flow or more in the main tank, due to flow-acceleration.

Side note: Restricting flow FROM the return pump is fine, and reduces power as well.
Just the way mag drive pumps work.
 
BigMac said:
Um, with these dimensions, this is more like a 100 48" L x 24x W x 20.

Duhh I reread your post, I thought those were the dimentions of the tank you have not the sum you want..

Reading skills are slipping.. sorry.
Click to expand...

I missed this as well for 2 days of this thread!
 
BigMac said:
Um, with these dimensions, this is more like a 100 48" L x 24x W x 20.

Duhh I reread your post, I thought those were the dimentions of the tank you have not the sum you want..

Reading skills are slipping.. sorry.
Click to expand...

Its not your fault, I wasn't clear enough in my posting, Sorry...

houser said:
Dustin,
What I'm saying is that the overflow you called out doesn't necessarily have to have all 1500GPH going through it. Rather than throttle the overflow, you throttle the pump and/or get a smaller one.
Click to expand...

I understand that... I figure with a DT of around 250g the 1500gph was what I should be pushing through the system... But throttling wont be a problem...

rygh said:
Instead of ReefOctopus 2000 or 5000, for 240 gallons, consider the 3000.
Seems about right for 240 gallon DT. (That is what I ordered)
Sump volume is largely irrelevant for skimmer size if you have no bio-load in it.
You said sump, not refugium / cryptic zone / etc, so assuming just water.
Click to expand...

I will definitely look at the 3000... Ah yes I planned on having a refugium inside the tank...

rygh said:
Regarding return pumps:
If you already have a large pump, and want to reduce it, consider a flow accelerator (eductor)
They really reduce the flow, since they need pressure to operate.
But you still get the same flow or more in the main tank, due to flow-acceleration.

Side note: Restricting flow FROM the return pump is fine, and reduces power as well.
Just the way mag drive pumps work.
Click to expand...

Sweet, maybe I should keep my eye on the Mag-Drive then...

houser said:
BigMac said:
Um, with these dimensions, this is more like a 100 48" L x 24x W x 20.

Duhh I reread your post, I thought those were the dimentions of the tank you have not the sum you want..

Reading skills are slipping.. sorry.
Click to expand...

I missed this as well for 2 days of this thread!
Click to expand...

I guess I should have been more clear... Sorry Gentlemen...
 
On the topic of flow from the tank into the sump...

the tank will be 72"L x 36"W x 24"T

What should my GPH turnover be from Display Tank to Sump, Sump into the Display Tank?
 
Okay so I'm going to get the 1500 GPH kit from glass-holes.com, and use a Mag 12 return pump for it...

figure with the head and bend count I will be sitting on roughly 950-1100 GPH return... Throw in my 2x mp40w's and that will give me enough flow in the actual tank...

the sump will house the Super Reef Octopus 5000 (not getting the sss model) and going with that size considering the actual gallons in the DT will be around 235g and the sump (with refugium) around 85g bringing me up to a total of 320g so a 400g rated skimmer is over kill by a little but not enough to be called crazy...

Lighting I have been talking with Mark about and it I think I'm ready to put in my order, I will do a write up of it, my tank stand build, and my tank build all in the same tank thread once I get this off the ground...



Anyone see any issues with my Flow, Skimming, or other plans?
 
I'm doing less than 400gph through my system. 150g display and a 65g sump. Total/actual system volume of 146g.

Yours is roughly proportional to what I'm running. Seems pretty good to me.

I like having the turnover through the sump on the slow side. Less noise, fewer bubbles, less salt spray. Junk settles out for easy cleaning.

I actually have a spare pump sitting in the sump. When the return pump goes off for feeding, sometimes I'll run the spare pump to kick up detritus for the skimmer to pick up.
 
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