New Tank Setup - Suggestions or Improvments

[llcoondaddy]

I have a 75 gallon Tank that I started 1 1/2 months ago. I have this Equipment and Livestock so far and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions or comments on my equipment. Did I get good quality or am I going to have problems in the long run.

Also I am in the Military and will be leaving this to my wife for 8 months at a time while I deploy. Therefore if there is anything I can do to make it fairly self efficient so I don't come back from Afgan to a dirty tank and dead fish lol. Other than water changes and feeding of course.

I have 75 lbs of live rock
.75 lbs of live sand ( which I just switched from crushed coral, due to the recommendations of this site).
1 Yellow Tang
1 Blue Regal Tang
1 Maroon Clown
3 Damsels
1 Bubble tip Anemone
1 Torch Coral
Cleaner crew

110 Aqua Clear Hang on Filter
Lifegard Fluidized Bed Filter
SeaCloan 100 Protein Skimmer
AquaVim MH reef lighting system with 2 MH 250 Watts and 2x54w T5HO
3 Heaters because I was having problems keeping it stable at first.
2 Fans hanging

[Nick540]

hey, i would add some power heads to create more flow and i would put the lights on timers so your wife will not have to worry about turning them on and off every day, just one less thing to worry about. Thats all i can think of for now. Have a safe trip.

[Reefscape]

Flow is something that certainly does need addressing on the tank...You need to be getting about 1500 gph water flow in the tank...the aqua-clear filter will provide you will about 460 gph...you, so you need to be adding another 1100 gph flow via powerheads.....

Everything else looks goof to me. The mention by Nick above about putting the lights on timers is a very valid point indeed and save a lot of work..

Niko

[llcoondaddy]

Great, I will go get some power heads today.

Question once I get the Power heads how should they be used (not much experience with them other than my HO Fluidized bed filter. Do I just put them in and let them blow or should I hook a hose of some kind to point them in a direction. I have read on here that the BTA like alternating current . Do they make an attachment for the Power Head so that will do this.

I have a timer for my lights but have read everything from 4 hrs for the MH and 8 hrs for the others to 10 hrs for the MH and a total of 14hrs for the others. What is your opinion for my lights.

Thanks for all your help.

[Reefscape]

Powerheads will be mounted inside the tank. What your also trying to acheive with powerheads is getting random circulation so there are no dead spots in the tank.

When i refer to a dead spot, i mean an area with either very low or nil flow. These areas then start to collect food particles, detrius build up which, in turn, will start to generate a high nitrate count, which is what we dont want..

get them both in tank, people usually put them at opposite ends of the tank blowing into the middle at slightly different angles, this generates the random flow. Ensure though, that the flow from the powerheads does not start to blow the sand off the bottom, else it will all start to get messy for you...

You can buy a device called a wavemaker and connect, usually up to 4, powerheads which all work in a set pattern and generate the random current..

My lights run on this pattern...Actinics on from 12 mid-day till 10pm, metal halides from 2:00pm to 9:30pm..Moon light from 9:50pm till 7:00am....

Any more info on any of the above, just holla...

Niko

[llcoondaddy]

Alright, Thanks for the help.

I will get two power heads today (Money, I have spent around 3000$ in the past two months). Then in a week get the wave master and a couple more Power heads for it.

I will adjust my lights schedule to around the same as yours and see how that works. Earlier but the same length of time.

I am really enjoying this Hobby. I tried a FW 10 ga a few years ago but never got into it because i was so restricted with space (fish Cap) and money.

[Reefscape]

No problem...the only thing to concider with powerheads and wave makers is Maxijet Powerheads. They are prone to sticking off when using these with a wavemaker...

Good luck, let us know how you get on..

Niko

[Longinus]

I would suggest getting an ATO with those MH on the tank, save your wife the trouble of adding more RO/DI to the tank every day.

[llcoondaddy]

Ok, I got two Power heads = Aqua-Tech 170 GPH +Penguin 1140 300 GPH. Thats a start tell I get paid and can get a wave maker and some more Power Heads.

Not sure what an ATO is but from your reply I am assuming it adds water for me. I plan on getting a RO unit before I redeploy in Sept. Not allot of room under my Petsmart fish stand. Can you give me a description of what you are talking about or a link so I can check it out.

Thanks

[Longinus]

An ATO is an auto top off unit. It has a sensor called a float switch which turns something(in this case) a pump on when the water level changes to a certain extent.
Here is a website that sells them

http://www.autotopoff.com/

I dont know anything about the site, since I am most likely doing mine DIY with parts from hardware stores.

[Longinus]

Heres a link to one someone made for their nano,
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=29093
cost him ~10$, you could always replace the air pump with an aqua-lifter to remove the need for an air-tight reservoir.

[llcoondaddy]

Ok thanks for the tip and the links. I have some time still so I think that will be a DIY for me in a month or so down the road, but difinitly will get that done before I go. Probably get it done after i get an RO unit.