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Pedro Noriega

Help to start my reef Tank in a good way

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Pedro Noriega
, 03-21-2015 at 04:20 PM (23759 Views)
Hello Reefadicts.

My name is Pedro and I am starting in this amazing world of reef tanks. I have previous experience with fresh water aquariums, but I want to change to saltwater!
I am doing a new Tank for my house in Madrid and I would appreciate to know your oppinion if the equipment that I am considering are correct or I should consider some other options . Even more, if I am considering some equipment that are not needed, please tell me.
The aquarium will have the following dimensions:
115 cm(45 9/32") length x 55cm (21 21/32") width x 65 cm (25 19/32") height.
This aquarium will have fishes, life rock and coral LPS and maybe SPS.

What should be the best configuration in terms of stability in parameters of quality water and the life of the corals/fishes? I am considering the following:
1. Aquarium.dimmesions indicated above.
2. Sump with refugium (see model F in melev's reef web page) (40"x 16" x 16")
3. Proteín skimmer (High efficiency). Any recommendation? Any Brand? How can i select the correct capacity?
4. Waste skimmer (like reoctupus collector). Any recommendation?
5. Power heads (2 Ecotech Vortech MP40quite)
6. RO water Filter. Any recommendation / mínimum recomended capacity?
7. RO flush kits for cleaning.
8. Lights LED. I am considering 3 Radion XR3wPro for the Tank (not for sump).
9.calcium reactor. Any recommendation? Capacity, brand, mínimum capacity? CO2 tecnology? Biopellet?
10.nitrate and phosphate reactors. I am considering a TLF two little fishies phosband reactors (2 reactors)
11. Pumps for reactors (3). 1 maxi-jet for the skimmer, 3 maxi-jet for the reactors (1 calcium and two nitrate phosphate reactors) . Any recommendation? Type of reactors, number, technology, brand, capacity?
12 Recirculating Pump from sump to Tank (on hold the capacity). Any recomended brand?
13. Heaters. 2 of 3-4 W per galón.(1 for spare).
14. Refractometer
15. Conductimeter
16. pH meter
17. Test kits: KH, magnesium, calcium, High resolution nitrate, High resolution phosphate.

Please, any recommendation will be highly appreciated. You can just send me your comments making reference to the corresponding ítem number above.
One of my main doubts are related to the skimmer, reactors and the associated pumps.

Thanks in advance for your comments
Pedro
PD: I will include pictures once it is being installed.

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Categories
‎ NEED HELP STAT! , ‎ Lighting , ‎ DIY projects , ‎ Questions - Need some input , ‎ Equipment

Comments

  1. melev's Avatar
    Welcome to ReefAddicts Pedro. I just got back in town and am heading to bed, but I'll review this tomorrow and answer your questions.
  2. melev's Avatar
    Based on your dimensions, the tank holds about 113g of water (+/- 10g).

    Skimmer:
    I would look for a protein skimmer rated for 125g of water, no more. There are many brands on the market, but I don't know what you can get in Madrid. I'd look for a skimmer that has a decent reputation with hobbyists, has a good warranty, and the replacement pump cost is affordable. If the pump is crazy expensive, that would probably make me chose a different skimmer.

    Sump:
    The Model F layout is easy to mimic, many people have. The skimmer section needs to be the correct water height for the skimmer you use. If you buy a skimmer rated to be in 8" of water, the baffles should be 8" tall -- or you need a skimmer stand to lift the skimmer up to the 8" depth. (If the baffles are 10" tall, a 2" skimmer stand would be needed.)

    A waste collector is great and you'll want to find one that matches your skimmer. The ReefOctopus option has the perfect features to install it safely and keep the floors clean.

    Two Mp40wQD pumps will be great for your tank.

    100gpd 5-stage RO/DI system would be my choice for this size tank, without a doubt. You don't need a flush kit, you need the ability to bleed off the water before the DI stage for about 90 seconds each time you turn it on. That allows the DI resin to last and avoids wasting it prematurely. Article and video here: http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.p...thy-of-concern

    Two Radion Gen3 lights would be fine for this tank. I don't think you need the Pro model since your tank isn't deep (tall).

    For a calcium reactor, some type of small one would be ideal. You'll have to shop around.

    For Phosphate, I use Phosphate Rx and don't run GFO. Link: http://www.melevsreef.com/node/61
    For Nitrate, you can try Biopellets in a Biopellet reactor. You'll want something like the NextReef reactor or maybe AquaMaxx. Both have been reviewed here on ReefAddicts.
    For running carbon, you could use a TLF reactor for active carbon filtration.

    Pumps:
    The return pump should likely be an Eheim 1262. For the reactors, a single pump that feeds multiple reactors would be nice, and you would have to build a manifold of valves to throttle out flow rates to each device. The skimmer will have its own pump.

    Heaters: 113g x 3wpg, so 340w needed. Two 175w heaters would be good.

    Refractometers are excellent - that is what I've used for the past 10+ years to measure salinity.

    For test kits, here's my article: http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.p...-Water-Quality

    Some of these things I could in fact sell to you and ship overseas. The sump is just too big, fragile and expensive for such a shipment, but the equipment and test kits you've mentioned I do sell. We can discuss that via email if/when you are ready.
  3. Pedro Noriega's Avatar
    Here the final Result. Thanks Marc!![IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]
  4. Pedro Noriega's Avatar
    Now I want to show how I biult it step by step. [IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]
  5. Pedro Noriega's Avatar
    [IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG]
  6. Pedro Noriega's Avatar
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    [IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]
  10. Pedro Noriega's Avatar
    This is the final result. THANKS MELEV'S REEF and VIDA MARINA Madrid. [IMG][/IMG]