Saltwater & Reef

carey · 01-31-2012, 12:19 AM

I've been mentioning this upcoming build here and there and figured now was the time to make my build thread.

What I have in mind is a full reef with SPS and tons of tiny little micro fish. I've been ordering parts here and there over the last 2 months and finally went down to the LFS to put a deposit on the tank. I got the deep blue 24 X 24 X24 cube with built in overflow and the matching series 1 stand.

So let me run these ideas by everyone...

Return Pump is a mag7.- Good enough? I plan on using a ball valve just in case.
Already got my LED fixture, 3 watts each for a total of 120 watts. I hooked the light up over my 20g for now and it's really nice and I'm pretty sure it will be enough coverage. I also got the brackets that get screwed into the back of the cabinet and will suspend the LED fixture.
I'm going to order my sand from that reefrocks place, I'm figuring 80lbs? Not planning on having a deep sand bed so I guessed that would be enough lol
I'm going with a 100watt aqueon heater, probably wont ever go on since I live in Florida but I wanted one just in case. I plan on one MP10 for circulation but will use the 425's from the 20g for a couple weeks probably. And I have on order a JBJ ATO.

Now comes the stuff I would like input on. Sump. The inside dimensions are 23 X 23 so i can't use a 20g tank and I cant use a regular eshopps sump cause they are 24" and up. I also only have 27" of room top to bottom so I have to find a skimmer that isn't too tall so i can't empty the cup out when needed. lol
That's all I got for now, but count on a ton of questions from me. This is gonna be a great build.

Thanks everyone for reading thru this long post. Please throw some ideas at me. Equipment, skimmer, gadgets, fish....Anything you want. I'm open to suggestions of any kind.

Bige · 01-31-2012, 12:34 AM

The mag 7 will work as a return but you wont get a ton of flow from it. That what I use on my biocube. You could run a closed loop.

Bige · 01-31-2012, 12:56 AM

Also I would go with a mp 20 if you can. Other wise you will have your mp 10 cranked all the way up. All the the time.

RJT · 01-31-2012, 02:09 PM

I think a mag 9.5 would work better. Also, since the tank is 2' by 2' you could get by with a MP10 and have great results for the sps

rebelyeller89 · 01-31-2012, 02:22 PM

Following, if only to learn, as I won't have any input.

carey · 01-31-2012, 03:45 PM

I think the mp10 will be fine, after all its only 24 X 24.

I would have gone with a mag 9.5 but I have this mag7 doing nothing so free is better than a new one. LOL I also don't want a tremendous flow coming back into the tank, I'll have good circulation with the MP10 I figure.

@rebelyeller You have opinions so you have input!! LOL

Like for instance, my next thought is if i should paint the back of the glass or not. Keeping in mind that it's a rimless tank. Not sure how I would paint the top of the glass, it most likely would peel. :-( If I do paint it I know it will be black.

I have soo many ideas I wanna run by you guys, lol, I'm trying to go through them slowly here so I can get some input before moving on to the next thing i have questions about. So please. let me know what you think everyone, you don't have to know the answers but any input is good input.

rebelyeller89 · 01-31-2012, 03:50 PM

Well I've never really thought about how to paint a rimless. But I couldn't stand it not having a background.

HPballer76 · 01-31-2012, 03:56 PM

carey, what about doing some black vynil on the back? i've always thought about doing this ever since i had my car wrapped. its pretty easy to put on and you can get some that should work on ebay for cheap.

rebelyeller, just saw your from greensboro. thats where i'm from originally and my family still lives there!

carey · 01-31-2012, 04:01 PM

Do you think it would look "ghetto" if I used a regular back ground and taped it? Also I've only seen rimless tanks with no back ground. Not a single LFS near me has it painted or has the acyrlic layer. Not sure if it matters, but the back will be up against a wall that is in a corner kinda that non one can see really.

On this subject, how far out should I leave the tank from the wall? Most of my tanks have some access for me to get the back kinda, but this one is drilled so I don't actually NEED the space plus its only 24 inches long so I can get to the tank pretty easily even with my short arms. LOL

**redsea** · 01-31-2012, 05:06 PM

I am so excited, congrats! I will definitely be following (I'm sure you already knew that, lol).

While I can't be much of a help equipment wise, I can offer some fish suggestions.

I think since you already have Green, Citron, and Yellow Clown Gobies, you should also get a Black and a Brown. They are such awesome fish!

I think the tank would look good with no background, or a black one.