Need Some Opinions.

My plans are for a 2 tank setup. Both are drilled 90's. 1 is currently cycling, the other is out on my patio waiting for plumbing. There'll be 1 common 50g sump for both tanks, 1 ReeFlo pump, Ca reactor etc.
I have a MH/PC fixture @ about 500 watts or so & another MH/T5 fixture @ about 700 watts.
My intent all along was to have one tank for softies/LPS & the other for SPS, etc. I'm trying to pull out all stops before I plumb everything together.

Question: Will there be or has anyone experienced anything detrimental as far as water quality issues with these 2 types of tanks being fed from the same water source? I'm talking water chemistry, blah, blah. I plan on shooting for the absolute best water quality I can manage. I've pretty much bought everything except for the pump.

 

thats a neat idea! i think you may have trouble down the road though with water quality problems like the water being to clean for soft corals? or to many lps vs sps and chemical warfare issues? 2 separate tanks might be a better idea or if you're firm about the setup just keeping 2 mixed reefs?

if it was me i would keep 10,000 bubble tip anemones on one side and a mixed reef on the other,or aggressive fish in one corals the other,or an octopus in one reef the other, man theres a lot of potential for something like that

 

As long as your water quality is tuned for the sps I would think that the lps/softie side would do very well. No reason it shouldn't.

When I decided to convert my fuge from a tote to an aga and changed the flow into the sump I oversized the return pump and added a tee with one valve to the line so that I could control flow. It worked real well and would for your set up imo. you could send more water to the sps and keep the other side lower. Just a thought.

 

Yup, same plan here. This pump will run it all (reactors, chiller, fuge, ATS, etc.). I plan on some of the new Koralias in the SPS tank if need be later. I just assumed "clean-clean" water would not work for softies.

Thanks.

 

Softies do fine in clean water. Some people think they do better in slightly dirty water and that may be true but they still do fine in clean. I would try to stay away from leathers. They can release some pretty nasty toxins that your SPS may not enjoy.

 

It's going to be an awesome set up and I'm looking for to following along. I hope you plan on sharing your chronicle.

 

No worries RM. Got photos of all of it!!

And mike, same thing I was thinking. Just didn't wannna start all of this only for it to become a mess.

Thank you.