The future..

[Sheol]

Hey, I'm looking for suggestions for a second reef tank project you veteran reefers. Aside from going bigger ( which is a given:) what did you all do for a 2nd tank? Specific habitats or types of reefs?

Matthew
36 gallon mixed LPS & Softie tank established in 08/05.

[Blown 346]

I started with 75 reef and went to a 90 inwall. Then I missed having more of the aggressive fish, so I got a 125 long and did a fowlr tank.

[tkeracer619]

The biggest improvement has to be plumbing and the general build.

A lot more snazzy and well thought out this time around. A plan is key =]

[LarryW]

yeah, I am working on my 4th tank, (and setup my 5 already) and Planning is the key. I did that for my 3rd tank, but only on certain items. on my current 120g project, I have laid out a plan for everything. I am also trying to make it look more professional, and clean. I would like to keep certain other fish, that will not work in my 120g, so I may look at a longer, bigger tank to keep a few tangs that would freak in a 4' tank later down the road.

[BigDaddy]

Planning and the most automation possible.

[Twitterbait]

I have always wanted to do either a jellyfish setup or a octopus setup

[Sheol]

I like that cold-water thing a couple of people have done here, though a chiller might be too costly.
I'm thinking maybe of incorporating the smaller tank into a 75 or 90 gallon system, and doing a mixed SPS & LPS tank. The 36 could be a sump/refugium add on to that, making a 120 or so. I definitely want a few more fish. Anyway, this is still some months away. I have to move soon (again.. Growl). My current house wouldn't hold the weight. anything bigger that a 55 gal would sink through the floor. waiting for a house with a cement foundation is a must.
At present, I'm just building on the current reef to see how far I can go towards my dream tank. This isn't it, but practice, practice, practice..

Matthew

[adimal]

get a 400 and a porcupine puffer with some chromis and watch him get big and he can be like your puppy

[Sk8r]

I've been tempted by coldwater critters...green nems and all.

[rppvt]

a real tall tank with seahorses and sea grass
or a long, long tank for swimmers...

[boxfishpooalot]

My new setup when done will incorporate less technology. Especially electronic equipment. Electronics are prone to failure a lot. And I strive for less automation by technology. BB is my new regimine. Skimmer and lights with flow. Thats it. The water will be maintained by room temp, no more heaters for me.

Ph monitors are useless. Providing alkalinity is within range ph will be good. Alk test kits are all you need.

[hahnmeister]

Do you mean second tank as far as time wise or your next tank, or second tank as in addition to the main tank?

For a 'next tank' I would suggest 'smart' planning, as in eco-friendly and user friendly. So often I see tanks put together that must be nightmares to maintain. My main suggestions would be:
1. natural lighting as part of main lighting... a skylight or solatubes with blue T5s to suppliment would be a great way to cut the electricity and heat. If this is not an option in any way, halides on light mover rails are a very slick way of getting 2x the light from a single light.
2. Tunze streams 100%. Sorry, nothing else beats them, not a closed loop, not even with eductors and an oceansmotions. Of course, they are in the tank and slightly harder to hide... well.. plan that into the tank. Have extra compartments in the overflow/back wall to hide the Tunzes in, or position them in the rockwork to cover them up. Look at Iwan Lasser's tank... it has 3 tunzes in it, but you cant see a single one from the front due to good prior planning. In the future, the SEIO polario might give the Tunzes a run for it...
3. sump room/closet/etc. A seperate room for the equipment is the most convenient, but just plain leaving enough space for all the equipment is a good thing. Basement sumps, in wall tanks, etc.
4. could be part of #3, but ventilation/or lack of it. Ventilation is needed to keep the tank healthy, and evaporative cooling is often all you need to keep a tank at 80 degrees even in a 90 degree room, but all that humid air needs proper handling. If you use a canopy, vent it with 4" pipe to the outside with a fan. If you have a fish closet/room/etc... contain that air, FRP and seal the walls, etc... and keep it vented to the outside. A good part of our electric bills can be from the A/C trying to keep up with all the heat and humidity from our tanks... venting this air to the outside... keeping it from getting into the rest of the house, is the best way to save some big bucks on the electric.
5. Quarantine. Always have a QT tank on hand, and space to use it frequently.
6. Look into alternatives to Live Rock from the ocean. Im not preaching environmentalism here, but it makes money sense. Aragacrete, reef ceramics, and dry rock can be used as the structural base to a reef for very cheap. There is little sense to stocking an entire reef with expensive Marshall Island rock or Lego-Rock when a good amount of its surface will not be visible. Aragacrete can be used to perch rocks on pillars up off the bottom for better flow and less detritus buildup, and can be formed to cover up back walls and overflows, adding valued rock-space for coral mounting in a space that would otherwise just be black painted and covered with algae... so it can make a cool background as well.
7. seperate frag tanks are very popular. A halide on a light mover or something like that is all you need, and the frags you make can help offset the expense of the hobby.
8. Calcium Reactor, or Calcium Reactor + Kalk reactor or DIE. There is no other good way IMO.

If you mean 'secondary tank', as in addition to the main tank, then a frag tank is first, then maybe a lagoon tank (lower light for LPS, softies, lower flow, shrooms, etc.), then a seahorse, seagrass, pipefish, mandarin tank.

[Sheol]

Well, anyway, your last point is taken. Actually my LR in the current tank was primo FIJI from an established Reeftank someone got tired of. I think I wll continue in that vein. Maybe seed base rock with my current LR & Live sand.
As far as automation goes, I'm not a big fan. The only thing I'm unhappy with in the current tank is that the timers I got for my lights won't work & I couldn't find any at the dept. stores that would. That means lights are manual, as is Kalk dosing. I'm not that upset, since my origional guru is John Tullock. Less Technology, more biology.
I'd like a bit more flow in the next tank, though.
One thing is certain, no more plastic or rubber suction cups. get the least bit of algae or diatoms on your glass and the blasted things are useless.
I'd also like to try to see if their is anyway to make some use of sunlight in the tank. Two examples are in "Ultimate Marine aquariums" & they are quite impressive.
*****
As for specific habitats, I'm leaning toward deepwater reef at the moment ( Yeah, I know those fish are usually pretty pricey, but once your bitten by the bug..)

Sincerely,
Matthew

[hahnmeister]

The problem with timers is that most are not compatible with induction ballasts (any bulb that has a ballast). The Aube TI033 is a good example...
http://www.smarthome.com/4258w.html

Most regular timers either wont turn on/off, or can actually heat up and melt/catch fire.

As far as LR, the other reason I was going to say combine cheaper aragacrete and ceramics with actual LR is because alot of the LR coming in these days is total crap compared to what it was say... 5 years ago. The Fiji for instance, is actually farmed from seeded rock much like how tampa-bay does it in florida. The Fiji rock is no longer coral skeletons and the cool stuff it once was... now its just mined rubble. Well, heck... I can do that myself! www.garf.org for some grunge, and some dry base rock, and Ill farm my own rock.

[Sheol]

Oops, I missed your first question. I mean as a second project. Possibly incorporating the first reef. ( It will still be around in some form, QT, sump, LR farm. You get the idea.)
As far as timers go, I made the mistake of buying before i looked at the ballast on my lights ( then in layaway). However, I used the timers with my herp collection until I moved. The things never stayed on schedule & always had to be reset. I'm no longer a fan, though its nice to have lights out at a set time, if you must be at work.
My major issue with the current tank IS current. I'd like more flow & more variation. Something that will be planned on a second tank. Got some ideas I'd really like to try.
One thing I'm not going to do is go straight to SPS & Acropora dominated reef(s). To my mind, too many people do that. Not my thing, but that is just me. I still like a nice mix.
Now I just gotta write it all down.

Matthew
PS.
My Fiji was a mix of rubble & dead coral. But I was able to pick out every piece ahead of purchase. the stuff still delights with the biodiversity I got.