Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

Ok, I finally get to upgrade from my 18 gallon nano to a larger tank, and I decided on a 75 gallon from AGA with the “Mega-Flow” overflow. It was kind of a trade off with my wife because I wanted a 100 or 120, and she didn’t want to take up half the living room with an aquarium. However, I did get one of the spare bedrooms to turn into a fish room. I wonder how may tanks I can get in a 12 x 14 room?

Lighting: I really had to upgrade my lighting for this project, so I’m going with 2 175 watt MH and 4 65 watt PC’s. I already had the pc’s, I just need to take them out of the fixture they are in now and install them in the canopy I build.

Live Rock: I say some good deals on eBay, but I think I found some rock I like better. It’s Buna Branch from reefer Madness, and it looks like some very nice rock.
http://www.reefermadness.us/Buna_Branch.htm

Skimmer: I’m going to use a Turboflotor 1000 Multi that I had bought for the prop system I’m working on building, and will replace it once I have the new fish room running and the prop tanks ready.

Sump: I have a 30 long that I will be using for the sump. Above one end of the sump there will also be a 10 gallon refugium. I plan on putting a tee from the main tank overflow running into the refugium with an overflow running into the sump so there won’t be a pump.

Pump: Here’s where I need some help. I really don’t know what kind of pump to use on this system. I don’t want any power heads in the display tank, so all water movement will have to come from the return pump. I already have a SCWD I would like to use to create alternating currents. Any ideas on the pump size?

OK, now it's time for the feedback. Let me know what you think so far and if there is something I should look at changing.

If your sump is drilled a Gen X is a good choice. If not I like a Mag 12. you could probably go with a larger pump with the Mega-flow but I don't know how much they can handle.

Everything else looks good. That is some interesting live rock, let us know how it looks when you get it. I would have gone with the 4 foot long 120, I think it will be my next tank. I have a 100 (5 foot long) and the center brace is a pain in the rear.

Thanks for the info Scott. I did want to get a bigger tank, but I was also going to order 6 33 longs for a new propagation setup I'm working on so I had to stop somewhere.

According to the AGA website the Mega-Flow can handle 600 gallons per hour.

We closed on the house today and I'm ready to start work on the new tank. My new RO/DI unit came in yesterday and the MH lights should be here Friday. The tank has been ordered and should be here some time next week.

Breadman wrote:We closed on the house today and I'm ready to start work on the new tank. My new RO/DI unit came in yesterday and the MH lights should be here Friday. The tank has been ordered and should be here some time next week.

Did you get the tank in yet?

Breadman wrote:...according to the AGA website the Mega-Flow can handle 600 gallons per hour.

Here is my 2 cents that's really only worth about 1 cent... Depending on what type of corals you want to grow you'll need more water flow than 600 gph. A 75 gallon tank should have a minimum of a 10 time turn over rate per hour (i.e. 750 gph). A squid will handle up to 1200 gph (I think), but your overflow will only handle 600 gph.

I suggest you get an overflow that will handle at least 1200 gph and put in a pump that will supply that much flow. Assuming the top of your tank is 5' above the top of your sumps water line then a mag 12 will get about 1120 gph. That's the best you can do without a closed loop system, that squid, and no power heads in your tank.

I don't think that is enough though. Personally, in my 65g reef, I run a mag 9.5 in the sump (750 gph @5') because I thought a 11.5x turnover would be fine. I have since added 2 Rio 1100 power heads (2x350 gph @0') for a total (equivalent ) water turn over rate of 22 times per hour. I think 20x per hour is a good number for SPS corals. If you only want soft corals (but then why did you buy the 2x175 watt MH?) then the 10x turn over rate should be fine.

I also don't think you will like that squid very much after you start putting that much flow through it. It might vibrate and rattle at the high end of its flow curve. I would just simply split the discharge of your return line in two and either run 2 squids or 1 squid and 1 direct return.

Well, like I said, there's my 2 cents.

Typical, a wife cringes when a reefer brings a tank in the house. You really wonder what is going on in there brains when we start cutting holes in the walls.

I can tell you what is going on in the brain... WTF... hope you are going to patch that when you change your mind

KrazyPlace,

Thanks for the input. I had already decided on a few changes and I should have posted an update here. The 600 gph through the sump should be fine, but I do want some more flow inside the tank. I also don't like how fast the SCWD switches at high flow rates, so I will be installing a closed loop and a Oceans Motions 4 way Squirt to provide the flow.

snoopdog,

I can't complain too much. I'm also getting a fishroom with 12 10 gal. tanks and 9 29 gall. tanks to start with.

SaltnLime wrote:

Breadman wrote:We closed on the house today and I'm ready to start work on the new tank. My new RO/DI unit came in yesterday and the MH lights should be here Friday. The tank has been ordered and should be here some time next week.

Did you get the tank in yet?

Well, yes and know. When I went to the LFS to pick it up it seems that he had forgot to order it. I was a little upset about that so he made me a deal on another tank he had in stock. I had ordered a 75 with a single overflow, just the tank. I left with a new Ocean View 100 with dual overflows and a Ocean View stand for the same price as the 75. It wasn't the tank I had ordered, but once I got it home and in place I like it. I think the extra 1 foot length looks good. I've still got a lot of work to do on it. I'm painting the stand today and will start work on the hood this week end.

With the bigger tank I'm going to have to rethink my plumbing and pumps for the tank. Any suggestions?

For the lighting I had bought 2 175 watt MH to use on the 75, but with the extra length of this tank I don't think they will be enough so I'm buying a 250 watt MH from Josh to put in the center with a 175 on each end.

a 100 is a nice sice, as you said, it's pretty much a 75 w/ an additional foot on it... I had one for a while.

I have a 100 gallon. It is nice to have the extra length but that center brace is a pain in the rear. I only have 2 250's and 4 4 foot VHO's. One 250 in the center might be ok but you will have to keep the brace clean. Unless you are planning on keeping SPS the 175's are fine and you could really get by with VHO's.

If the tank is still empty I really suggest you look into getting the tank drilled.....I have played with overflows before and they are a lot more trouble....they catch air bubbles and stop extra wk cleaning ect...if you could have it drilled on each end or sometimes drilled along the back you will be much happier...other than that it is looking great.....I hope one day to set up a frag system but so far no room.....I think it is ocean view here in Pascagoula that will drill your tank while you wait....

tbmoore wrote:If the tank is still empty I really suggest you look into getting the tank drilled.....I have played with overflows before and they are a lot more trouble....they catch air bubbles and stop extra wk cleaning ect...if you could have it drilled on each end or sometimes drilled along the back you will be much happier...other than that it is looking great.....I hope one day to set up a frag system but so far no room.....I think it is ocean view here in Pascagoula that will drill your tank while you wait....

The tank is drilled. It wasn't when I bought it but Bill at Crystal Reef drilled and installed a 1.5 inch bulkhead in each bottom corner. I just picked up all the parts to build Durso stand pipes for these today. Now I just need to have some glass cut to build the corner overflow.

I have just about finished the hood. I just need to finish painting it and installing the 250 when I get it next week. Along with the 2 175 and 1 250 MH I went ahead and installed 4 60" (140 watt) VHO's. This will give me 1160 watts of light over the tank and should be enough for anything I keep.

I'm going to start working on the sump this weekend. Unless I can find a used 55 cheep somewhere I'm going to use a 30 long I have. Does anyone have any suggestions for an external pump for this thing? With all the lighting I'm running on the tank I don't need to add any more heat to the water with a submersible pump.

I used a 30L for my 100G setup... I used an submerged pump tho.