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View Full Version : Help me pick my new tank


alex.parker
12/17/2007, 08:26 PM
It will soon be time for me to move myself and my marine pets to a new house, and in the process I want to build a new home for them, both to get a bit more room for things to grow and to have a second chance at doing some aspects of my first tank build better.

The original tank is a 20L that has been running 9 months or so. Its saga can be seen here:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=119022

Basically it is a T5-lit SPS/LPS/softie mix with two fish (candy basslet and Randall's goby, both adults). I need more space to allow for coral growth and to separate some LPS that are not nice to their SPS neighbors (Echinophyllia especially). My GF would like to have a pair of clownfish as well, so I will need more space to bump up to four fish.

Finally, I would like the extra space I get out of the upgrade to be somewhat more gently lit than my present setup, so I can keep some Ricordea and other corallimorphs (which do not do well under the very bright 5xT5 regime I have now).

So I am thinking either 30B or 33L, both of which represent the same footprint (roughly 4 square feet) but with differing floorplan. Of course, I could go with the taller version of either tank (16" versus 12" tall) and have a 40B or 40L. Not sure how much the extra height gets me, though, since it is mostly floor area that dictates how much room is available for corals. If there was a stock tank that was 5 feet long by 1 foot high and one foot wide I would jump on it (I guess that would be about a 42 XL).

Finally, I need suggestions for a better closed-loop circulation pump. I have had two cheap Quiet One pumps on the present tank, and tell you what, once they quit working they are very quiet indeed. I want to use an external pump on the new tank that will feed through a SCWD (or even two, as on my overly-complex present setup), and will be durable enough to handle daily start-stop cycles, as I intend to have the CL off at night to allow the corals to feed in gentler currents. I would love to hear what you think is the highest-qualty external pump out there. Should be fairly modest output, maybe 1000 GPH at zero head.