Blog Comments

That's what I figured. I have already moved on and am not planning on using one. Thanks for confirming my notions though.

Running a mechanical filter requires you to clean it out on a regular basis. I've not used one in over 10 years for my tanks. I had a canister filter that I ran from time to time, but eventually I put that behind me as well.

A lot of people run carbon for a minimal period of time 3-4 times a month to polish the water, you micron filter would probably accomplish the same thing.

Not sure about Home Depot sand, I would be concerned about silicates and other bad ingredients.

Premium Aquatics is the vendor I know carries Tropic Eden sand. Shipping rates and whether they have it in stock at the moment, I do not know. You can use other sands, such as Caribsea's various substrate grades. I really do prefer aquarium sand over something purchased from Home Depot. People have definitely saved money going that route, but complain about cloudy water and just about every time something disturbs the sand. Aquarium-prepped sand tends to be cleaner, both initially and long term.

A DSB in the display is good because of the massive footprint compared to doing so in your sump, so keep in mind that you don't have the same volume, thus your system will be less forgiving. Especially since you plan to use lost of base rock and only a little live rock. It is going to require that you be very patient and not overload the system with livestock during the first 12 months.

Salinity by Aquavitro (see my review on these boards). Like it alot, dissolves almost instantly, with very consistent numbers.

I use Instant Ocean, it used to have a problem with low Magnesium, but the last couple buckets I've bought they seem to have reformulated and corrected that issue. I let mine disolve overnight in a Brute can with a power head and heater. So I don't see any reason to switch.

i like the seachem reef salt, have never had a problem with dosing trace elements. it also disolves quickly in ro di thats at temp

At one time or another I have used all most all the salts mentioned above but now using Reef Crystals for the past several years. I purchase large quantities whenever it is on sale either at LFS’s or online.

When I had my 110 set up I used to use Oceanic. Lots of people complain about the calcium levels being too high, but I didn't seem to have any problems. That was around 2006 or 2007 and If I remember correctly a bucket was about $60.

I used to use IO for a couple of years, but recently switch to Aquavitro Salinity salt. So far my corals seem to like it.

I've used Instant Ocean from the start in my tanks. I've never had any problems like some others seem to have. It's also what we use at the store. I figure if it's not broke, why fix it?

I'm happy it helped. I was looking at your sump's layout.

I've used Kent Sea Salt for years with my reef tanks. It costs more than Instant Ocean, but I felt it dissolved better so that is why I went with it. For the past two - three years, I've been using Red Sea Pro Reef salt. Being in the middle of the U.S. salt costs more than it does for those on the coasts. Buying a bucket locally can be around $65 or more, so I watch for specials at my LFS. If I can get buckets for $35 to $42, I'll buy a few at a time.

I also have 2 T5 bulbs that span the width, toward the front of the tank. I can leave these there, and still move around in the tank. I did have to build a platform that allows me to stand 3 feet high over my sump, so I can reach all the way down into the tank. Works pretty slick, and I can just lift it out of the way when not in use.

Thanks Melev for your knowledge and inspiration with sump design and advice. Everything I learned was from your site, and made me feel comfortable about designing and building my sump.

Perhaps you can put some simple 'under cabinet' LED fixtures on the ceiling so when you move the pendants, you still have a way to shine some light into the reef to see what you are doing. Those are low profile and would be handy.

Thanks for sharing your project with us.

Black back on tank came that way from manufacturer...i know, I wish it wasnt there. It is stuck on, so I figured I better leave it. I have room enough to reach all areas of the tank when the lights are removed. I thought about a track, but opted instead to just use spring-loaded clips and plugs to easily remove lights when needed. I can still do most reaching w/o moving lights if I needed to do something simple.

Looks great, but am curious about how you'll add rock and do maintenance with the back and sides black and without taking your lights down. Food for thought, a guy in my club ran a bed sheet behind his tank for aesthetics and if the need arose he could just take it off. He used velcro to hang it. You could also make/buy a slide rack for your lights to make it easier on yourself

Years ago, my reef suffered from very high levels of PO4: it measured 3ppm!! I used everything I could get my hands on, and didn't have much luck with any of them. This included Phosban, Silphos, Rowaphos, Phosguard, and a few others that I can't recall at the moment. What worked for my reef was Phosbuster Pro, by CaribSea. I'd dose 1.5 bottles of their product, and overnight the phosphate levels dropped to 0ppm. I used this from time to time as needed for a couple of years. Then Blue Life USA came out with Phosphate Control, which is a small eye dropper bottle. Instead of pouring in about 1000ml of liquid (guesstimating here), I could drip in 120 to 150 drops of this product to get the same results. Either product works overnight.

So I only use my Phosban reactor for active carbon filtration.

FYI, even though the Phosban 150 is labeled as such, it can take care of a 300g system. Or you can buy the bigger Phosban reactor if you wish, which came out last year. I wouldn't combine the two (Carbon and GFO) in the same reactor since carbon is only good for a brief time while GFO should last significantly longer.

I dose vodka daily in my tank, and that helps keep nitrate down. I also think it slows down phosphate accumulation, but it doesn't keep it out. Perhaps I don't dose enough vodka to make it handle both - I don't know.

Melev, I see you are using a Phosban...maybe 2 Model 150s? In one pic, it looked like you were running 100% carbon, then in other pics I saw just phos absorber. The instructions online say you can run a full tube of 100% carbon, or just phos absorber in certain amounts, or you can mix them.

I am sure each tank requires different setups; however, what have you tried with your Phosban reactors?

I am considering getting one of the larger Model 550s, and depending on my future water conditions, either running all carbon, or a mix of carbob and ROWAphos.

What are your thoughts?