Suggestions On Equipment

[reef keeper]

hi all. I have a 150 mixed reef with 55 g sump.

It's lit with 2 radions with wide angle lenses which gives pretty good coverage. I'm thinking of adding a 3rd one.


I have 10 or 11 sps frags and a couple nice torches. Also a toadstool and a couple collies of mushrooms and zoos.

I also have a maxima clam.

My levels are in line with where they should be and I do 25% every 7-10 days for water changes.

I have a carbon reactor and a gfo reactor in the sump.

I'm wondering if I should look at a kalk reactor or some piece of equipment to keep calcium and alk up. I'm looking to go more sps as time goes on and I think using 2 part is gonna get expensive. I current dose 30 ml every other day to keep things even.

Any help would be great.

 

[saltyair]

Depending on your cal, mag and alk uptake.
if the two part works keep it up, you can always use kaulk in an ato to help stability.
If your demand for cal and alk are high look into cal reactor.

 

[TORX]

Answer to that would be in your testing. Dosing without testing will inevitably end in disaster. Do a water change, test all your levels. Three days later, do all your testing again. Then subtract day 3 testing from day 1 testing and that will show how much was used in three days. Then divide that by 3 to know how much you use in a day. Post all your results and the sps guys will surely give great advice.

 

[saltyair]

Use this http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

very helpful in dialing your #s

 

[AdInfinitum]

Mixing your own 2 part from bulk chemicals keeps the costs down (if you're not already doing it yourself) and is easy and reliable. I love using Kalk but eventually it will not be able to keep up to the needs of a stocked coral tank and you will have to make the transition at some point. That transition was difficult for me to make without losses...I should have seen it coming....

If you are an equipment guy who likes to tinker then a calcium reactor might be fun to play with (I am thinking about it) but not really necessary until you get into huge systems. IMO

 

[reef keeper]

Ok. That's great advice. I need to do a wc today. I'm falling in love with sps and montipora and I can see where this is heading lol.

I'm glad I picked up the frag tank yesterday from reefer keeper. That's going to help with grow out and back up.

What are people using to keep up with a sps heavy tank to keep up with the demands.

And I AM a tinkerer lol

 

[saltyair]

For a high demand sps tank I think the following are a must.
over sized skimmer
bio pellets
wave makers
carbon reactor
Doser or calcium reactor
top end led or mh/t5

 

[reef keeper]

Right now I have a

gfo reactor
Carbon reactor
2x Ecotech mp40
Skimmer could use a boost
Lights are Ecotech radion
Right now I dose daily but have added some corals and will be rechecking dosage

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Those frags probably wont consume much until they take off.

 

[reeferkeeper420]

You should start a thread in member tanks and put up some.pics of ur display. Lets see your set up!

 

[reeferkeeper420]

And if u can id highly suggest tryin to tie in ur frag tank to ur main system, itll be a lot easier to keep thing steady in the frag tank. And u wont have to worry about params matching up when u switch stuff from tank to tank..minus lighting.

 

[saltyair]

Oh and a reefkeeper or apex help tie it all together.

 

[reef keeper]

I can't tie it in to my main tank. It's in a whole other part of the basement. Once we move (someday) I'll have a room for the equipment behind an in wall beast of a tank.

Once the lights come on I will take some pics and post in the thread.

That digi I got from you already has full polyp extension and the lights just began to come on

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Good to hear. Im sure eveything else will do just fine.

 

[reeferkeeper420]

But id def get a controller if ur budget allows it.. id go with the apex tho since you do run ecotech equipment, theyre all compatible with the apex. And i believe apex is more user friendly IMHO.

 

[reef keeper]

I'm looking at an apex with my x mas bonus. I definitely need to automate this thing. I looked at a few different ones and the apex looks the best.

I built the stand for the tank today in an hour for 17 bucks lol.

I have to organize my sump better. There's stuff all over in there lol

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Awesome. Cant wait to see it running!

 

[TORX]

Apex for sure! I put a controller up there on the needed equipment list.

You can always plumb something into something...just a matter of how many holes you need lol. My DT is across the house from my main.

 

[reef keeper]

Moving the stand down today and I have to plumb it all and get the light hung. Need to get another ATO and its off to the races. Looking forward to getting all this organized.

I dose 2 part now. How long is that going to be ok? Am I looking at getting dosing pumps for that?

 

[reeferkeeper420]

2 part is fine as far as i know. If its keeping ur params stable its fine..dont forget to check your mag aswell. And dosing pumps would be great if u dont wanna have to do it manually everday. And the dosers will spread it through the day to keep it more stable.