Hypothetical tank upgrade

[Anonymous]

If I were to feel like stimulating the economy and purchased a new Marineland 60G cube (24x24x24) what do I need to set this up for a full reef of SPS/LPS/zoas/clams?

I have the following currently.
300W heater
Ranco dual stage controller
Vortech MP10
Korilla 1
Mag5
maxijet 1200
Litremeter III
~40 lbs of LR (in the biocube now)

I would transfer everything from the Biocube to this tank at once and add more LR/sand/water when setting up the tank.

I need to keep the electric consumption down as the circuit is shared by the TV, lights, stereo, games.

What kinds of lights? a single 250W MH? I would like a canopy on the tank if I can find one that will fit. otherwise the tank will have the glass top on it to keep the kids out of it. It has to look like a nice piece of furniture not something charlie brown made out of cardboard and plywood.

Sump?
Skimmer?
I would like to fit a small reservoir ~10g for top off in the stand as well.

What else? Thoughts?

 

[Anonymous]

Well lets see, heater should be sufficient unless you have a basement tank.

I'd make sure your flow is top notch however, MP10 is nice, but that would be far from sufficient IMO, the Koralia would be a waste of space simply because its too large to be useful (like blowing from behind stuff), the Maxijet if you got one of the maxi-mods would be a good flow addition. Ideally a couple of Mp10s would be good (and look clean since they're very low profile, but I understand not everyone wants to shell out 2 bills on a pump.

Rock could be sufficient, depends how creative you are with stacking/making your rock structure, too often I see people just fill tanks with rocks and it looks meh at best.

Lights, I think a single 250W halide could work, I like supplemental lighting however personally, so that would leave out using a lumenarc type of reflector (too farking big) so I'd go DE bulb, then some T5s of blue/actinic variety, can get pricey... another thing to keep an eye out is some of these LED strips that are popping out, a bit pricier than T5s, but could be useful over the long run.

Sump of course, where else is your skimmer going to be? (I hate HOB equipment). I'd shoot for a higher end skimmer, and if you don't want to break the bank there's quite a few Sicce pump skimmers out there that could work nicely.

My advice, cut back on fish, hell I'd put no fish in their initially just to let everything set up, but that's just me

 

[Len]

A Lumenmax Elite reflector (by Sunlight Supply) would be perfect over this tank. 250W is more then plenty (it's what I use on my larger tank). The new Lumatek electronic ballasts are very cool in that they are multi-wattage. You can select from 150, 175, 250, and 250HQI. This will give you lots of options with lighting. You can consider LED supplementation instead of VHO/T5s. Ecoxotic makes LED strips in 450nm and UV-A spectrums which would probably suffice.

It's up to you to decide if you want a sump. The problem with a sump is 24x24" isn't a lot of real estate, so it's going to be a smaller sump (if you still want room for a 10g reservoir). No return pump will also save you 1 amp of power (100 some odd watts) to use on other stuff plugged into your circuit. The downside is it's a bit harder to neatly run reactors, but it's possible.

BTW, get a tall reservoir ... something like 20Lx6Wx20H. That's what I use and it is a real space saver.

With a sump, you got a lot of choices in skimmers. Without it, there's still some nice HOB nowadays from Warner Marine and Octopus, all for under $300 per unit.

I think 40 lbs of rock is actually enough if you want a more open layout and if you get creative with the rocks I use 100 lbs in my 176 gallon, so roughly 2/3rd pound per gallon.

 

[Anonymous]

Another note. I would transfer all the corals and fish I have today to the tank on day one.

Also where can I get a custom hood made that will match the tank stand?

 

[Anonymous]

This be getting closer to reality.

Debating on these 2 tanks.

30 x 30 x 18 Corner-Flo Aquarium Cube (70 gallons)

Or

30 x 30 x 24 Corner-Flo Aquarium Cube (93 gallons) 8)

I will need more LR for this tank.

The tank will have a sump and some sort of decent skimmer. Recommendations?

Would a single 250W HQI work over this tank still? I really wanted a canopy but do not know of that would work with the MH. If I did not have a canopy how can I add LED or actinic lighting that still looks good.

How would I accomplish this upgrade I can not run both tanks at the same time due to not enough electric and room? I have lots of Zoas, acans, LPS and fish that need to be moved.