Upgrading Questions!

[Kingumar]

I am thinking about upgrading my 55gal to a 90 gal. My 55 is a mixed reef and is my first tank since in this hobby. I want to go sps dominant with some lps and zoos with the upgrade.

 

55gal:

Live rock

Live sand

octopus hob skimmer

hob fuge

powerheads

light: 6x54w t5's "Nova extreme pro"

With these lights iv been able to keep large verity of corals and even good growth on sps.

 

I am looking for a 90 gal reef ready tank so i wanted to know about equipment.

 

is 30 gal a good size for the sump?

What kind of skimmer should i be looking for?

Do i need to upgrade the lights? Iv seen some pretty good setups with t5's but are MH's going to be better?

What about water movement what kind of powerheads? I dont want to have 5 powerheads in my tank but also dont want to spend hundreds on vortechs. any alternatives? I know sps need a lot of flow.

What power return pump should i get within a reasonable price?

 

I also wanted to know whats the best sand for reef's and a sps tank? for my 55gal I use "Natures ocean bio-active live sand" that you can get from petco. This sand seems to blow around a lot, a little glass cleaner movement near the sand make a cloud.

 

If you have any pics of 90 gal i would love to see them to get some ideas.

Thanks for reading, any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm really serious about upgrading and want to get started asap.

Edited May 12, 2010 by Kingumar

[Der ABT]

In my 90 i have a mag 9 (well an ehiem right now as i took the mag out to clean and never got around to putting it back in) which is dailed back cause when i bought the tank it had iddy biddy overflow holes and i didnt have time to drill new ones.

I use a tunze 6080 on the back and have added 2 K4s on a wavemaker and have one 6025 for water movement at the top of the tank. flow may be a little over kill but i think its great for the rock work.

I went bare bottom and love it.

I have a build thread i have not updated it in a long time though.

I am running 2x250 SE 20k bulbs and 2x54w t5s with space for more t5s if need be. Rob should chime in soon and talk to you about LEDs as they have come a LOONG way and there are several members on here that have had some good results if im not mistaken, i still love my MH though.

if your looking at sps get a Ca reactor or dosing set up. (i just got a Ca reactor from Grey Seas that is soon to be set up)

 

30g sump is fine, really any size sump that fits your skimmer etc is fine. personally i like big sumps but my 39g just sprung a leak and i have moved to ghetto status with a bin

 

I run a modded asm g3 that ive had for a while now and it pulls alot out, i know grey seas makes some great stuff and is local, reef octopus and sever others are all good.

 

Really get your budget down, you can spend alot or a little, i went the little route and almost everything is used or DIY style. I see where i could spend a little more buck and be happier but i can use that money for hoosiers(tires) or corals.

 

Look into an overflow, i love the "calfo" style off the back but there are many other ways that dont take up a ton of space in the tank. other then that just plan everything out get it set up and cycling then move your 55 over if you have the ability to run the two for a while, thats my suggestion, i wish i had the time to do that.

oh yeh and start a build thread when you begin, its always fun to look at old pics

[steveoutlaw]

First off, your lights should be fine. 6 t5s are good enough to keep SPS on the sand bed of a 90g.

 

The skimmer question is a rough one. If you want a good skimmer with local support, I would look at a Grey Seas Aquatics. Made in the USA by one of our members Dandy7200.

 

Return pump - I wold go with a smaller return pump (900-1200 gph) and concentrate my flow with a vortech or a tunze setup.

 

30g sump is fine for a tank that size.

 

Oh, and welcome to WAMAS!!

Edited May 12, 2010 by steveoutlaw

[Origami]

You'll probably find the front-to-back width of a 120 visually more pleasing than a 90. For either a 90 or a 120, there's more depth to penetrate than in a 55, so you may consider a bigger lighting setup but may be able to get away with what you have listed. T5's and MH both grow SPS. If you go with MH, I'd go with at least two 250W bulbs with decent reflectors.

 

A 30 gallon sump is sufficient.

 

In-sump skimmers are popular. There are many to select from.

 

Koralia powerheads move a lot of water on a budget. There's a newer "magnum" version available that I'm less aware of but they're supposed to move a lot of water. Just be aware that the cheaper version doesn't run well on most budget-wavemakers which are on-off controllers. They also have magnetic mounts which stay put better than suction cups. Another alternative is a

 

According to the charts, an Eheim 1262 will move around 700 gallons per hour at 6' of head pressure (less with dynamic friction losses). That's more than enough for the sump size that you're talking about. While it's one of the more expensive pumps out there (for it's size), it's energy efficient, reliable and very quiet. A Danner Mag 9.5 will get similar performance and is cheaper, but will run a little hotter, will be a little noisier than the Eheim, and will cost a little more per year to operate ($15-$20 a year more).

 

Sand will become "live" (or populated with bacteria) naturally. You really don't need to buy pre-packaged live sand. Taking a cup or so of sand from an established reef aquarium can help seed the bacteria population but this is not absolutely necessary. There are some commercial bacteria packages around that accelerate cycling time and provide bacterial diversity. Pick something too coarse and it becomes a trap for detritus, and hence a nitrate factory; too fine and, as you've observed, it blows around. Rinse any new sand well to remove dust before using it. Sand does become a little more "sticky" as bacteria colonize the surface. This helps to hold some of the finer grain sands down with time.

[gmubeach]

Where are you putting you new tank 55 can go upstairs a 90 can't?

[Integral9]

I also started with a 55 but I am upgrading to a 135. I always wished I had a 75 or 90 when I started, so I am going bigger, hoping to not want to upgrade again. I would definately go with a insump skimmer, if you can. IMO, the HOBs are just messy in comparison. I've been very happy with my ASM Mini-G skimmer, but it's not enough for my 135, so I got an SWC Xtreme. A 30g sump is fine, but more is always better. Why not use your 55g tank?

[Kingumar]

thanks soo much everyone for the input and suggestions. I will have more questions tho. soon

 

here is my 55 gal

http://www.wamas.org/forums/topic/37173-my-first-55-gal-reef/

[Kingumar]

okay guy i recently got a 90gal for almost no cost. The tank is reef ready and is drilled for close loops "if thats what its called" for more water movement. i got the pump and everything for it to get started. One problem i do have is the pipes are like directly in the middle of the tank. That will hold be back from doing rock work of my choice as i would have to put rock on and round the pipes to hide them. I will post a pic soon so you guys can get an idea.

 

I wanted to know if getting a close loop is any better then just reef ready with powerheads for flow. I just dont want pipes showing in my display.

[Kingumar]

any suggestions on that anyone?

[zygote2k]

you can always remove the pipes and put caps in the bulkheads.

[Integral9]

Um, yeah, what zygote2k said works if you want to get rid of the pipes. But, post a pic of your tank. Lets see what you're working with.

[Gatortailale]

Got a pic of tank?

 

Closed loop will add more flow & better IMO than just a reef ready tank. If in you budget, you can add oceans motions device to change flow on closed loop. Where are the holes? You can always paint the outside of back glass to hide pipes. If you can't find local shop, you can get black PVC pipes and some fittings at http://www.savko.com/ who I used in the past when I set up my 215.

[Kingumar]

I will try to pist some pics up in a day or two. thanks for teh suggestions. I like teh tank, its just i feel like the pipes in the tank are too big. They come off easy but i still didnt want to mess with getting plugs to plug up the holes as im afraid they might come off sometime ont the future by accident.