A while back I was asked about installing an salt water aquarium for my in-laws. They are converting a existing fresh water system over. After building my current systems I discovered many things I would have done differently. Through what I learned in the past I get to put forward in making a superior system as compared to my own. So for the next months, to years I’ll be working on it. Their plan is to have a lot of LPS coral. They have a preference for coral with movement. I will be designing it with plans for a mixed reef that will include SPS in the future.
Their System
Their current system is a 160 gallon peninsula display. The size is roughly a custom 48″x30″x30″ with 3/4″ acrylic. I would have preferred glass, but this is what we are currently working with. Being a peninsula makes it a little tricky. I don’t want any unnecessary power heads sticking out on the end since a lot of foot traffic will be walking by. Also due to acrylic thickness and fewer options I am opting to go with the Maxspect GYRE XF350 bundle. I currently have the older model in my frag tank. It is rather noisy, but keeping it on a lower speed minimizes that some. The new XF350’s are however not as noisy and redesigned for that purpose. I will be placing one on each side of the overflow vertically and alternating flow for turbulence.
For the rocks I plan on using Stax rocks for the base, and Marcorocks Reef Saver Aquarium dry live rock or ARC Reef Stacker Dry Rock. The rocks will be attached by Oatey Fix-It Stick Epoxy or other reef safe epoxy, CA glue and acrylic rods for stability. I plan to create a floating rock sculpture so that fish can swim below the rock work. For sand we are undecided. We do plan on using sand since we also plan on having a wrasse or two. However, not a very thick layer.
For the lighting I plan on using 3 Aqua Illumination Hydra 64HD‘s. It might be a little overkill, but when I add SPS in the future, the amount of light will help reach the 30″ depth. I do not like that the new lights are not connected by wifi. However, if I need to make a change in the lighting schedule I still can make modifications via Bluetooth.
For the sump, we are going to use a Reef Octopus Varios-4 Controllable DC Pump. I have had great luck with smaller pumps. My current system has a Various 4 running at 10%. If properly plumbed the headloss will be minimal. Plus since I will be running a system similar to triton, a slower flow will adequate, especially when compensating with flow from the Maxspects in the display. At least that is my hope. We might have to go with a Varios-6 if it isn’t enough.
For the sump itself, we have decided to go with a Crystal Reef Aquatics Triton TRS30 reef sump. This sump has a decent size for a chaeto refugium. The refugium will be lit by an AI Prime Fuge. We will also place a Nyos Quantum 160 Protein Skimmer in the second section of the sump. I haven’t used their skimmers, but many of my friends have. Anything is better than the one I have, so as a recommendation I am going with Nyos. Also I plan on adding a ceramic medium like Continuum Aquatics Exxodus-Bac to increase surface area for bacteria.
I’ve run systems with and without a controller. For this system I will be running it with minimal accessories. I will be using a Duetto Dual Sensor ATO System. I have one currently in my frag tank that has worked flawlessly for a year. For heating we will use a 150 Watt Jager Trutemp Aquarium heater. During the winter we may decide to go with two, but we will play it by ear as well as possibly add a Inkbird temperature controller. Currently I have one on my frag system as well as a back up to the Jager’s internal thermostat.
In the future I plan on adding a doser to minimize the need for water changes. Which doser we choose will be done at a later date. For the time being when needed I will dose with Red Sea Reef Foundation. I’ve had great success with it. That doesn’t mean in the future we don’t opt for a cheaper way to maintain Alk/Cal/Mg. Red Sea just came out with Energy AB+. So I probably will dose that for coral when the time comes. I currently occasionally use their old Energy liquid on my systems now.
We also plan on a media reactor to maintain phosphate. Depending on the bioload, we will make that calculation as needed.
I will add photos as it progresses. We will probably make a bunch of changes as well, but for now this is the list. I realize we could utilize similar compatible accessories and go all EcoTech Marine, or all Reef Octopus. However, I found some products are better than others. Most equipment come with their own controllers, so mixing companies isn’t all that big of a deal. This won’t be a cheap system, but it also won’t be the most expensive setup as well. AI, Reef Octopus, and Maxspect have cheaper options than EcoTech Marine and in many ways are just as successful. For this system, my in-laws want a minimal maintenance setup. I created my own Triton style setup with lots of success in the past, so that will be mimicked in this new setup as well.
