How's this set up and question about water flow

[Captnmorgan02]

just wondering what everyone thinks about this set up. It's been running for about 1.5 months now with no real problems. Eventually I'd like to have some Soft Corals, possibly some SPS, and 2-3 fish. Or, if anyone else has ideas i'm open to anything.
Enough of me rambling here's what I got so far:

45gal tank
30lb live sand
40lb live rock
coralife 2x96 pc, 10k&actinic w/night led's
2 powerheads- AquaClear 70, Zoo Med Powersweep 226
600gph overflow
10gal fuge
coralife skimmer
Rio 1400 as return pump to tank

My second question is how can i slow the water flow down going to and from the fuge?

Flow is: Tank- external overflow-fuge-tank


Thanks for taking the time to read this, sorry it's so long.

[mystikdragon7]

How big is that skimmer? I can promise you that Zoo Med will crap out on you, I would look into getting maxi jets. The lighting you have will be fine for softies but not SPS. Maybe SPS like Montipora placed high in the tank. I had a Rio 2100 and it had a valve on it that you can turn to slow the flow down but I don't know about that model. Is there a valve you can turn on it coming out of the return?

[bertoni]

You can make a T joint in the return line and put some of the flow back into the refugium.

You'll want about 500 gph total flow in the tank. I don't know the ratings of the various pumps you have, so I can't comment more.

[Captnmorgan02]

Thankyou for your replies.

The pump rates are:
Aquaclear 70, 400GPH
Powersweep, 190GPH(Yes this powerhead sucks, rarely works. I'll definately be trashing this soon)
Rio 1400, 400GPH(return pump)

There is a valve i can lower the rate on the return pump but then i think the fuge would overfill unless i can slow the rate of flow coming from the tank( i think but i havent tried it yet)

the skimmer is the coralife super skimmer rated at 70 gallons and seems to be working great. about every 3 days or so i empty it. i have it running fairly dry.

As far as the lighting i really like the fixture so i don't really want to buy a new one. is there lighting i can add for SPS?

A T joint in the return line, I may try that when i switch the return line to PVC.

[bertoni]

The flow level sounds fine.

The rate of flow from the tank is limited to the rate of flow of the pump. There should be enough spare space in the system so that a power outage doesn't cause a flood.

Most people who keep Acropora and other high-light corals seem to use metal halide or T5 lighting, with good reflectors. I don't know how your setup looks now, but adding more lighting might be difficult, depending on how much space is available, etc.

[Captnmorgan02]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7188919#post7188919 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bertoni
The flow level sounds fine.

The rate of flow from the tank is limited to the rate of flow of the pump. There should be enough spare space in the system so that a power outage doesn't cause a flood.

Most people who keep Acropora and other high-light corals seem to use metal halide or T5 lighting, with good reflectors. I don't know how your setup looks now, but adding more lighting might be difficult, depending on how much space is available, etc.

Thanks for the input. I'll try turning down the pump and see how that works. I do know it wont overflow the fuge, I made sure to check that when i hooked everything up.

I know I couldn't fit metal halide's in the canopy w/ the current lights. I'll have to see what kind of options are available with T5's. I may be able to fit them down the road when i start stocking. Are there any good on-line places to look at them?

[bertoni]

I don't know anything about T5 lighting, really. I use MH and PC for the moment. There are lots of stores with retrofit kits. PremiumAquatics.com, MarineDepot.com, and HelloLights.com are a few of them. You'll want a unit with a reflector per bulb to keep the intensity up.

[Captnmorgan02]

Thanks I'll check them out. What kind of lighting do zoanthids prefer? I would like to have a few of them.

[bertoni]

They aren't picky, IME, but grow differently under different lighting. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. :)

[Captnmorgan02]

Thanks for all your help.