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New setup suggestions.

P

PMolan

Now that I have my 210 reef newly setup and almost settled.

210Reef.jpg


My 110 Fish only is looking a bit old.

110Fishonly.jpg


My new project I want to start is a little complex. Both of these tanks are in the living room. Under this room I have a 4'L x 6'W x 3'H area under my stairs. I was going to plumb from the 210 reef to this area so that I can have a 110 fuge plus whatever size sump I can fit in there. I was going to load this fuge with ~100lbs more live rock, cheto, and mangroves.
Then I had an idea. I am also going to redo my 110 with a new megaflow tank and new stand and canopy. While I am doing this I can easily plumb this tank to the same sump under the stairs. Since I am going through all of this work I will probably load this tank with ~100 lbs of Tonga LR. So the total volume will be 210+110+110= 430 equivelant tank size and ~250+100+100= 450lbs of LR.

I plan to keep my lionfish, dwarf lion, a puffer or 2, and my wife's favorite Emperor Angel in the 110. Basically all of the fish that we like that are not reef compatible.

Is it crazy to link the 2 tanks in the event of a disease outbreak? All fish are healthy with a minor ich outbreak here and there. Any pro's and con's anyone would like to share?
 
E

Erich

The water change could be a real job to do.

Not to say your electric bill would be interesting to see.

What kind of back up do you have when the power goes out? A nuke plant I hoep is close. Just kidding good luck, I am interested on how it turns out.
 
I

IrradiatedReef

Pros:
LARGE water volume.
Easy to move stuff from one tank to the other.
Only have to do maintenance on 1 sump/fuge system.
One big water change
Cons:
Any type of outbreak <algae, bacteria, etc> effects both tanks at once.
Water change is big, can't do one tank one week, the other tank another week.
Any equipment failure will effect both tanks. eg. Heater burns out.
If power goes out, have 2 tanks syphoning into sump, watch for flooding.


Thats all I can think of at the moment. Sure there is more.
 
JohnS_323

JohnS_323

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
One thing you may want to consider is the type of coral you plan to keep in the reef tank. Puffers and lions are messy eaters and will leave your system with less than pristine water. SPS may not fair so well but LPS and softies may be OK.

As far as that much volume, no problem! We have a 120g display (soon to be a 180) tied into another 380g in the basement. All of the tanks share a common sump and run off of one pump. It makes water changes and maintenance very easy. You'll just need to make sure you invest in a good, high flow pump.
 
P

PMolan

Great stuff. I am planning to purchase an aquacontroller 3 in june with the group buy. This should be very helpful in maintaining this system. Also I do not own a calcium reactor or an ORP controller. I was looking to purchase those along with the June group buy. It gives me some time to plumb things correctly and get at least the LR to cure in that time. I also like the idea that if a fish is picking on my corals I can pick him up and throw him in the other tank without worry of acclimation.
 
C

Carlo

PMolan, do you have lions and puffers in the same tank now? I've always wanted to do this but everything I've read say it's a No, No. I decided to go lion & triggers instead of puffers. Just something to think about if you haven't done it yet. I myself would love to talk to someone who has done this to see how it worked out.

I'm personally working on doing almost the same setup you are talking about and John/Phyl are doing it now. I myself like the idea of a central equipment room instead of equipment for each tank.

IMHO the biggest downside is with algae, bacteria and especially parasite outbreaks (ich). If one system gets it they all do. Ozone and UV can surely help with this but you still can't count on it solving the problem. The best advice I'd give is to transfer your fishes into a holding tank. Re-setup each tank. Dip all your corals in Iodine before moving them to their final destination. Leave your system fallow (without fish) for 45 days. Then QT each fish (can do a few fish at a time) using the tank to tank transfer method to rid the fish of ich/velvet or other similar parasites before adding them to the display tanks. Yep it's a pain (going through it right now myself) but will be more then worth it in the long run. Then anytime you pickup something new you QT it before it goes into your system. Basically just doing going husbandry.

Carlo
 
C

Carlo

I got a lot of good ideas from the link that Phyl posted including the manifold which is a super excellent idea!
 
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