A major setback

Well I just took a huge hit financially. So my tank is going to have to wait 5 months. I already have the tanks, a 40G breeder and a 20G sump.

These are the items I was going to order today but since I got the bad news a few days ago I will have to wait.

main pump: Gen X GX4100 submersible pump 650gph @ 5 feet head 68.00

power head: seio m820 820gph 56.00

protein skimmer: octopus needle wheel one size above the 100 gallon rated one 175.00
OR: pacific coast ps-1000 needle wheel skimmer 145.00

overflow box: still not sure if I am going to drill the tank or not but if I dont its about 58.00

testing kit: seachem marine basic test kit 36.00

salt: Kent marine salt bargain bucket about 50.00

sand: aragalive special grade 20lbs 25.00

ro-di: a non brand name 4 stage 100gpd 185.00 A friend runs this unit with his tanks and it is very effective

lighting: belize sun 250w 14k double ended hqi fixture with t5's and led moonlighting. 560.00

heater: ebo jager heater 250w I dont know the price. found the price to be around 30.00 ish

Some of this could change in the 5 months before I can order who knows.

I am also thinking of making some rock since I will have plenty of time to soak it.

So what do you all think of this for my tanks?

 

I would def. drill the tank, much easier to deal with. As for the RO/DI unit, I have a four stage, 100 gpd unit too and it only cost $100 at airwaterice.com. My tap water was initially at 20ppm nitrates and now I get 0ppm. I dont have a tds meter, but the membrane is rated at 98% effective.

 

Sorry to hear your going to delay your build out...

For my RO/DI system I chose to go with the one sold by BulkReefSupply.com

For salt I have been using the Reef Crystals by Instant Ocean sold through drsfostersmith.com as shipping is not by weight, so it is a bit cheaper to get to the house and a 5 gallon bucket is about $42.

Have fun with your planning.

 

I did a side by side comparison with the seio 820 and koralia 4 in a 32 gallon trash can. Over night the water in the can with the seio was several degrees higher.

Also I don't know about that Gen X pump. I had a Gen X PCX 40 and it's very noisy. Other reviews say it's noisy... Might be different with a submersible but I just shy away from that brand now.

 

Well on the power head I would go with either a Koralia 4 or a Modded maxijet 1200.
Salt you can get the D-D H2O salt for a great price from Marine Depot. The lighting fixture I would go with an all T5HO set up, less heat lower cost on electric and lower price then the 650 for the fixture you mentioned.

 

So you think the t5ho will do as well as the halide for corals? I want to be able to have everything, and by "have" I mean thrive and grow not just keep it alive. Oregon blue tort is what I want the most.

 

yes with T5HO you should be able to keep anything you wanted. Get atleast a 4 bulb unit. Ive seen many sps tanks thrive with T5HO setups. they are 39w so 4 bulbs would give you right around 4w per gallon, and since the tank isnt deep you would even be able to put sps at the bottom as well. They put off less heat then MH bulbs so you might be able to get away with not having a chiller. The best bulbs IMO are the Power Chrome bulbs from D-D. You could also go with nova xtreme bulbs.

 

Yes you can drill a 40g breeder anywhere if I'm not mistaken. I drilled mine in the side. At any rate. Sorry to hear your dream is on hold.

 

If you are looking at housing anything you want and having whatever you put in there thrive I would go MH no doubt. To combat the heat you will need to hook up 2 small fans blowing across the water which will increase evaporation but if you have your own RODI unit it won't be a major hassle. Look at my tank thread (link in my signature) and you can seen how I hooked up my fans and vents. If you have MH on the tank you will be able to put a clam or whatever else you want in the sand with no worries. That is why I went with them for my 55...

 

here is a t5 sps tank
Reef Central Online Community - T5 SPS tank from Thailand