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ccscscpc
02/07/2010, 07:39 AM
Hi…I havent been on here in a while and just got back into the hobby after 5 years.
I just recently bought a 135 gallon tank complete setup with dual overflows from someone. It’s 72x24x18 and has dual overflows going into two sumps underneath that are connected with a pipe towards the bottom of each sump.
He has rock in one sump in various spots and the other sump has bio balls. I always thought those were not good to have because they just collect nitrates.
Question 1: Do I remove the bio balls?
I am looking to go with a 1 sump system. Hard piping the supply and returns into one sump and using one external Iwaki 100 for the return line.
Question 2: Will it be ok to come from each overflow supply with pipe and join them with a T and then go into the sump? And then is it ok to go from the Iwaki 100 and T that to both returns into the tank? Will that give me enough turn over? I am going to put valves everywhere and even a check valve.
Sorry that Question 2 was like 3 questions in one.
There are only 7 fish in the tank with live rock. The fish are pink tail trigger, Picasso trigger, huma huma trigger, a tang, a 3 stripe damsel, and a pair of gold striped maroon clowns.
Question 3: What is the best food for them and how often should I feed them?
I would like to add more fish and some soft corals eventually.
The lights – He has a Coralife PC light on there, it is still on, but I may be picking up a MH dual 250 and T5 fixture tomorrow.
Question 4: Will that light I am picking up be good for this tank with what’s in it now and what I want to put in it? I want to make sure I have the right lighting for fish and corals all at once.
Last 2 questions for now…I am sure there will be many more…
What should all the levels be at for Ph, Salinity, optimal Temp?
What additives do you or should I be putting in the tank? Like trace elements or calcium, etc…
Thank you in advance for all your help!!
Charlie

SleepyJ
02/07/2010, 07:59 AM
My 2 cents:
1. I would remove the bioballs. The LR in your sump and in the display should do the trick. Have you thought about making one of the sump chambers a fuge?
2. Decreasing the overflow will decrease your turnover from that system, but powerheads will easily rectify that. Maybe someone with a more elaborate plumbing system can answer but theoretically your idea seems to work.
3. Homemade food with various seafoods, nori, and vitamins works well. I feed every other day to keep nutrients down, but folks with fish like anthias feed up to twice per day. You could also hang nori for the vegetarians.
4. The MH fixture should be good to keep anything. Just make sure you acclimate your existing corals really slowly. PC to MH will be a big change. Watch your temp with the MHs. You will probably have to add fans to run over the water surface but may also need a chiller in the future.
5. ALK 8 - 10, temp around 78, pH 8.2 but watch your ALK, salinity 1.025 - 1.026. Only add what you will be testing. If you only have softies, there probably isn't a need for additives beyond what your salt mix provides. Once you get into LPS and SPS (which you will), you will want to test for Ca, ALK, and Mg and dose according to those tests.

ERICinFL
02/07/2010, 12:07 PM
Bio-balls are fine... IF you want to do the extra work. If you do water changes every two weeks, they'll need to be removed and cleaned thoroughly. If not maintained, they'll become nitrate factories. When I purchased my first tank, it was established and came with a wet/dry filter and had bio-balls. There was a terrible hair algae problem and I could never get the nitrates down below 10. After reading a bunch of posts here on RC, I removed them and all the sponge filters. Within a month, my nitrates were zero and the hair algae was gone.