[Highland Reefer]

I'm starting to put together a new tank build and am looking for comments on what I have planned.


Here is what I have so far:



 New Tank Setup.jpg (141.52K)
Number of downloads: 47

[Coral Hind]

I love tank builds. To me setting a tank up is the fun part.

Depending on the water level in the kalk tank watch not to create a siphon into the sump.
Why is the GAC/GFO on the overflow line from the tank to the sump?
What is the top drain on the sump for, overflow?
I would not put the return pump next to the drain line.

This post has been edited by Coral Hind: 27 July 2010 - 04:37 PM

[zygote2k]

Cliff-

I just did a 150 install somewhat similar to your proposal. I had a sump, r/o reservoir, and salt mix tank all hooked to a common drain to prevent accidental overflows. The existing tank also used a chiller to compensate for the halides. I replaced the halides with LED's and the temp dropped 6 degrees. Why not use a calcium reactor instead of a kalk mixer- it'll be a little safer plus you won't need a 55g tank for storage.

[Highland Reefer]

I put the GFO/GAC reactor on the return since I have had a lot of calcium carbonate build-up on the GFO in my current setup. I figured the further away from the kalk water the less likely the calcium carbonate build-up. I don't think there would be negative effects on GFO, but perhaps the GAC may not last as long.

I like using kalk water over reactors since there will be less contaminates added like heavy metals, since they precipitate out to the bottom and are not dosed using kalk water. Depending on how many SPS I add I may need to supplement with two-part. I do like softies though and have not needed to supplement other than kalk water in my current system. I already have plenty of Pepsi barrels & plenty of space. I also have problems with low pH in my current tank and the kalk water raises the pH up only to about 8.0.

I use a Reef Filler dosing pump currently in my kalk tank. It has a self adjusting flow and a primer valve which works great when I let the tank go dry. I am going to buy a dual Reef Filler for the salt water auto water changes. I like the pump since you can re-build it and they seem to last forever.

The top drain on the sump is for Murphy, should all else fail.

This post has been edited by Highland Reefer: 27 July 2010 - 05:16 PM

[Highland Reefer]

Here is a picture of the Reef-Filler 2000-2 6.5 GPD Per Head adjusting dosing pump I want to buy. There not cheap at $323.90 and they don't loose prime unless you let it go dry.

[Highland Reefer]

I would really like to add my 110 gallon tall tank to flow into the display tank, but am worried my back problems will prohibit cleaning it. I would like this tank to be a seagrass/macoralgae tank. I''l hold off on it for now, but if I do decide to add it, I don't see any problems with the equipment I currentyly have.

[jason the filter freak]

you're return pump is well huge, why?

[Coral Hind]

Good point about the build up on the GFO. I was just thinking that the particulates in the water may clog the reactor fasters.

Are you going to use any mechanical filtration like sponges or filter socks?

[Highland Reefer]

jason the filter freak, on 27 July 2010 - 08:43 PM, said:

you're return pump is well huge, why?

It probably is too big. I'm using on the current system which pumps from the basement up to the next level. Could be too large for this as well. I was thinking about buying a smaller pump. I would think that would help reduce a lot of heat as well, which is a problem in the current system.

I have a Hayward filter on the current system, which I could add in. It uses a 75 micron cylinder poly filter. I have to empty it though if I bi-pass it. Too much sulphur.

Could use a fitler sock which is much cheaper then those swimming pool type filters.

This post has been edited by Highland Reefer: 28 July 2010 - 05:59 AM

[ctenophore]

Thoughts in no particular order:
- Valve back the panworld to give it some back pressure. It should make it run a little quieter IME. It is probably a good choice if you are going from basement to 5' tall on floor above (~13' vertical head pressure?)

-Gravity feeding the carbon/gfo is a good idea, but the carbon will exhaust faster and the oversized skimmer won't have much to do. Why not swap the gfo for some PCL pellets, I think those would do really well when gravity fed some nice oily surface water, and the output placed right next to skimmer intake pump. Move carbon to a small open-top basket that the skimmer effluent dumps into, that way you get more efficient use of carbon and a microbubble trap as well.

-a 55gal kalk reactor is really cool (I'm thinking of upgrading mine to that size) but I think you'll precipitate the CaOH as CaCO3 long before it's used in your system. Even with a closed container, it tends to go stale in 2-3 weeks. 55 gallons in that time is a lot of evaporation for a 125. What about a 30gal barrel?

- I used Reef Fillers starting in 1992 and recently helped a friend install the new model. They work great but are still as noisy as ever. Keep that in mind.

[Highland Reefer]

-Valve back the panworld to give it some back pressure

I did that on my present setup and cut it off since I had the pump driving quite a few things. Sounds like I should do it again. Good point and it will save some mone.



-Gravity feeding the carbon/gfo is a good idea, but the carbon will exhaust faster and the oversized skimmer won't have much to do. Why not swap the gfo for some PCL pellets, I think those would do really well when gravity fed some nice oily surface water, and the output placed right next to skimmer intake pump. Move carbon to a small open-top basket that the skimmer effluent dumps into, that way you get more efficient use of carbon and a microbubble trap as well.

Sounds good. I never would have thought of that.


-a 55gal kalk reactor is really cool (I'm thinking of upgrading mine to that size) but I think you'll precipitate the CaOH as CaCO3 long before it's used in your system. Even with a closed container, it tends to go stale in 2-3 weeks. 55 gallons in that time is a lot of evaporation for a 125. What about a 30gal barrel?

I have not had any degrading of the kalk water so far. I know other hobbyists who use a very large kalk tank without problems. Randy uses two tanks who together for when he goes on vacation and his tests showed no degradation of the kalk water after 60 days as long as you keep a fairly tight lid and do not stir it after mixing. We will see, I can always just add smaller amounts to the tank since the barrel was cheap and I have it.


I'm dropping my setup to the basement so I have plently of room and am not concerned about the space and sound. My current Reef-Filler does sounds like the old time electric clocks you could faintly hear, but not real loud. The dual pump may put out more noises.

I appreciate the advice

This post has been edited by Highland Reefer: 28 July 2010 - 09:18 AM

[Highland Reefer]

I may try the PCL with this setup. I forgot about that. I'm interested on how it will function in a dead rock & dead sand setup. I'm going to sterilize the rock and sand first with bleach and then use a HCL bath to help rid any phosphate & heavy metals before I start this tank. I'm most concerned about bringing in any bad best algae like bryopsis, Derbesia and a few others. My current tank is too much for my back which I had operated on and is making re-think how I want to do it.

I'm thinking about putting in the sterilized rock and only using a smaller amount of it then previously. Perhaps add to it slowly. See if algae or other pests develop while using PCL before I introduce any organisms. That way I can always bleach the tank if necessary to get rid of unwanted pests. Definitely going to setup a quarantine tank this time around. I've learned a lot so want to use as much knowledge to prevent problems as possible. I hate some of these stubborn algae pests.

[jason the filter freak]

youve got a good amount planning here just wondering are you going to use a controller? if so which one

[Highland Reefer]

No controller planned at this point.