Starting reefer 170

[Soundwave12]

Hello Everyone,

After having been away from the hobby for quite a while (moving, family member battling cancer,...) I’m planning on finally getting back into it since things are settling down. I'll be starting a red sea reefer 170 and wanted to check with you guys if my current equipment choices are good to go.

I’ll be taking the deluxe version so the lighting will be included. My toughts are going towards LPS/zoa’s/ricordea’s etc with around 4-5 fish (say size of a gramma loreto). No SPS corals.

I would like to work with the triton method so to that extend I need a pretty big refugium. My plans right now are this:

Skimmer: Tunze 9004 DC (hanging in the tank on the left side of the overflow so I can use the sump skimmer area as a refugium), I’m wondering if I could fit a 9012 in the same area and it it would stick past the overflow, feels like it would be an overkill for the system tough.
Streamer: Vortech MP10
Return Pump: Eheim Compact+ 2000 (1100.22)
ATO: Tunze 3155
Heater: Eheim Jager 200W set up in the overflow
Dosing pump: Coralbox WF-04
Refugium light: Kessil H380

So what do you guys think of the equipment, would you change anything? If so what and with what?

Thanks for the help everyone

Have a nice day

 

[DaveK]

I see several areas that I think you should reconsider. Your setting up a fairly small tank, about 34 gal. You are also planning to keep generally easy to keep fish and corals.

The key thing you want to be doing is to get the equipment you need and avoid the cost of equipment you don't need. Also, when you do buy equipment you want to buy top quality.

I must say that I'm very skeptical about the Triton method. It's expensive. It generally requires using a lot of additives and it requires a lot of water testing. That's a tremendous amount of stuff to keep up with. I see these as "red flags". It also seems to be something you don't need, considering what you want to keep in the tank.

The amount of space you can devote to a refugium in something that will still fit under the tank is going to be limited, even if you don't place a skimmer there. If you want most of the advantages of a large refugium and using a lot less space, consider algae scrubbing. You'll get a lot more "bang for the buck" that way.

Hang on the tank skimmers are going to be a lot less effective compared to an in sump skimmer. I consider the skimmer choice to be a lot more important that the refugium. Consider using an in sump skimmer, even though you will loose some refugium space.

The Vortech MP10 is a good choice.

The Eheim Compact+ 2000 return pump is a good pump, but in this day and age you can do lots better. Consider a DC controllable pump. Here is one example - https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/varios-2-controllable-dc-pump-792-gph-reef-octopus.html There are many other good options here. The big advantages of DC controllable pumps is that they consume far less power, can be set to the exact flow you want, and offer option like a feed cycle built in. The one downside is that they are not pressure rated pumps. This is not a big factor in return pumps.

The Tunze ATO is good product, but I think the Red Sea tank your looking at comes with an ATO. You can try the stock one and see how it works out and add the Tunze ATO later, if you need it.

The heater selection is ok, but place it in the sump. It's a lot more out of the way there. Also consider getting a heater controller. Heaters are about the most prone to fail in a bad way device in reef keeping. Using a controller gives a lot better results and often a digital display of the tank's temp. Here is an example - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MDSWXY4/?tag=reefsanc-20 Note that this model can control a heater, and a chiller, and is not at all expensive.

I would completely skip a dosing pump until you determine exactly what you need to dose. Since you have fish and corals that are not demanding and generally don't consume a lot of calcium and alkalinity, you have a good chance of being able to maintain your water quality by partial water changes alone. Also, you will usually cause a lot more harm than good dousing a lot of additives. Most of the time they are not needed.

The Kessil light your looking is would work, but it's extreme overkill for a tank and refugium of the size you plan. Consider something like a Finnex FugeRay Planted+ fixture for use with the refugium. This fixture was designed for planted tanks and it has a massive amount of red LEDs. It's a lot less expensive than the Kessil, but it's not going to have quite as many features. You would need a timer with the Finnex.

That's my list of things you should think about.

 

[saintsreturn]

So Dave's response nailed it.

My only thoughts are (I do not know much, if anything, about RS aquariums) as follows:
1) Absolutely get a heater controller. I just had mine fail and cause some pretty significant issues to include HLLE in my tang. Also, place it in the sump.
2) Why triton? I have been reefing for about 10 years now and do not have any interest in this program for two reasons. Cost is way to high compared to other options and i truly dislike water testing.
3) Take your time when exploring the dosing routes. I do not dose and never have. The corals i have are very stable with just small water changes, which i enjoy as they help keep things clean. Outside of cleaning, i do not have a strong regiment with WC's and the tank has been doing great for years.
4) Try to avoid hang on back anything. Let the sump do that for you. People go back and forth on refugiums, but i put one n for almost a year and ended up pulling it back out. Now i just have my skimmer in that section. I did not care for the extra maintenance and did not see any benefits with it on my system. That said, i will be doing a chaeto reactor later.
5) Enjoy the setup