Review my Plan of action.

I have been heavily planning a new reef tank setup in the past months. I've read all kinda of websites and recently have been on 3reef alot. I like the community here and thought I'd join and actually start talking to people about my ideas... so here I go

Heres what I plan to keep:
Live rock
Clowns
Tangs
Anemone
after I get comfortable I will add some corals
so for a while I will have a FOWLR tank then move in some corals, is this a bad idea to put in corals late? I don't see why not.


I have a 90 gallon tank.

For lights I'm not sure right now. I'd like PC's because the sound good because of the low wattage use. I'm shying away from MHs because of the heating issue with the water. I've just starting thinking about T5. I think I might be able to snag a cheap fixture from lowes or home depot and put some T5's in it. Good idea? And what kind of wattage would i need with 20 inches to the top of the sand bed? 5 wpg means at least 450 watts and thats a lot of blubs.

I found a PVC pipe DIY overflow project on 3reef that I am going to make.
I'd like to hit about 700- 800 gph for water flow. To much to little?

I also would like to use a spray bar across the top from a mag drive 7 - mag drive 9 pump.

I'd like to eventually have 100 - 130 lbs of live rock and a 3inch sand bed.

Sump would include heater skimmer live rock and micro/macro algea.

I'm planning on getting a 30ish gallon tank and gluing in some baffles myself to create a sump/refugium.

250w heater

and a prizm skimmer.

Would ceramics benifit me if I put them in with the return pump or should I have enough Biofitration with the LR?

Also I live on the 4th floor of my apt, it's a reasonable new building but has anyone had problems with floors warping on an upper level floor?

Also I have a small chip on the outside of the front/back glass. I guess it happend during transport. I've concluded that I can epoxy a 3/4" thick piece of glass over the chip to prevent any problems. Has anyone had any trouble like this?

 

Welcome to 3reef.
First of all since you have the time I would drill the tank and not run water over the edge and risk an overflow. If you don't want to do it then take it to any glass store and they usually do it for $20.00.
If you are thinking about coral later on then you had better choose the right lighting now and not have to buy more later on. With a 20" deep tank T5 are going to do you no good to keep color of any SPS except for the very top of the tank. MH's heat can be dispersed with a couple of fan and not have any problems with it. I run 3-400w MH's and with two 132cfm fans blowing across the top of the tank I see a .7 degree rise in temp when they are on. You can check out my tank stats in my signature.
As for the floor in your apartment, I doubt that the tank will weight any more then a standard water bed.

 

You would need a much better skimmer than a Prizm for what you plan on keeping.

 

welcome to 3reef
imo here is how i rate lights from weak to strongest.no phlorescent,vho,pc,t5,mh.with a 90 gallon i'm sorry to say but you need mh,and i'm a t5 guy but they won't reach the bottom of a 90 but if you must,then you need to know that nothing at home depot is suitable for a reef tank.i got my t5 at a hydroponics store but time will tell if i was wise.i also use the prizm but once again it is not suitable for a 90,unless you get the jumbo delux one,but you may not like the loud noise it makes and also hob skimmers cause micro bubbles in the tank that nusence algae need to thrive.i glued a deflector into my prizms out flow so the bubbles are deflected towards the waters surface where algae can't use it.i'd get an in sump skimmer.i have a prizm and t5 on my tank and keep softy's,lps,and sps but i only have a 55gallon and my sps are getting just enough light at 10 inches below the waters surface.

 

+2 on keeping your skimmer in your sump. I have never used a HOB skimmer, but I always hear of problems with micro bubbles. Plus, a HOB skimmer takes away some attention from your display. I just started using AquaC's Urchin in my sump, and I'm very happpy with it. For your setup, one of AquaC's EV series skimmers might be a better choice. Same technology, just a different design and more skimming power...

 

To 3Reef!!!​

Glad you found way here.

A prizm skimmer is not that bad, if you are on a low budget, if you mod it.

Lots of mods on net...here is one. Good luck. Keep us informed on how all goes.



Replace the air tubing with slighly larger diameter tube. Basically buy silicone air line as large as possible that will still seal around the nipples.


Raise the skimmer higher on the back of the tank. Put the large plastic screw in the bottom of the 2 holes and raise the skimmer body by placing a block under the outlet so as the screw just has enough glass pannel to fix against. I was able to raise the body an extra inch or so. The screw just has enough glass to connect to the back of the tank without risking it slipping off.
Raise the collection cup up a little so as it just seals with the rubber o-ring.
Use mechanical media sheeting (the stuff that comes in sheets, usually blue or white and is coarser than foam and stronger than filter wool) and cut it so as it will completely fill the overflow chamber. you might need to add extra pieces to completely fill be space. The idea is to make sure all water has to flow through this on it's way out of the skimmer body. This mod will eliminate the micro bubbles and increase the contact time within the skimmer.
Ensure you bleed all the bubbles out of the inlet tube when priming the skimmer.
Once it's primed set the water level valve to the 10 pm/4 am position or so as the foam level is slightly under the rubber o-ring.

The Tao of Marine Aquaria
Tips for Our Hobby and Life

© 1997 Adam H. Whitlock
Edited By Elizabeth M. Lukan 11/25/00




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Thank you for all of the replies. I would like to think I'm on some sort of budget But I would rather save money and do things right or as close as I can get at least.

I will look into the skimmers more, thanks for letting me know that piece of info.

As for lights, I guess MH is the way I must go. If I keep my household a/c at about 75 then I think I should be ok right? Also what wattage should I be looking at? I think about 600 - 700 w should be enough MH?