# converting my 230



## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

So eventually I am going to be converting my large tank to s.w.but u will be doing alot of planning and alot of saving. I plan on going high tech in my oppion. Im planning on a controller a way to dose and a way to do a small water change automatically everyday. I will upgrade my plumbing and make a bigger and better sump. Also ill need to upgrade lights and on and on. Kinda crazy but fun


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

Hey that sounds good, are you going to build it in? Are you doing FOWLR or REEF?


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## blurry (May 10, 2010)

Ive notice there is actually a lot of people switching over to salt water, im liking this


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

whats that cost for a selfwater change ?


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## albert_dao (May 28, 2012)

Is this your first SW tank?


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## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

No I have a saltwater tank that has been doing well for a while. Im going reef and I will be doing everything myself and as far as the water change my plan is to have a pump in my sump that when turned on will drain about 15-20g then another pump will pump mixed r.o water in and all the tubs and containers will be hidden in my furnace room. I will be doing this manually by shutting main power off then doing the water change. One day if I get brave it might be fully automated but I need to figure out alot of fail safes. Im a aircraft mech so im all about failsafes
Albert i need help desiding on equiptment have a euroreef 250 skimmer and coralife supper skimmer I might need both not sure, a calcium reactor, r.o. unit, carbon reactor and I need new lighting also upgrading to bigger sump and a apex controller is there anything else I should consider?


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## albert_dao (May 28, 2012)

Honestly, you should just do the draining part manually. Why? Because gravel vacuuming is awesome and encourages good reef keeping habits.

As far as equipment, don't even bother wasting the space and electricity to run the Coralife. It's a total piece of garbage. If you want a good skimmer for redundancy, check out the new Vertex Omega 150. You're not going to find a better product anywhere, IMO.

Skip the CA reactor and consider balling salts dosing. Actually, I'll just send you a PM, would be easier to talk about this over the phone, haha.


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

never in my years of reefceeping used a gravalvak for my reefs the sand is a bio filter


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## albert_dao (May 28, 2012)

scott tang said:


> never in my years of reefceeping used a gravalvak for my reefs the sand is a bio filter


Yeah... Well, you probably don't cater to the lower common denominator amongst hobbyists. I do not mean this in a derogatory sense, but rather I aim for the bottom line of practical habits that contribute towards success when I show people how to do a SW tank.

And no, gravel vacuuming does not interrupt your bacterial manifold............................. It does, however, remove a lot of the BS that your protein skimmer can't eat directly.


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## dabandit1 (Dec 6, 2010)

dino said:


> No I have a saltwater tank that has been doing well for a while. Im going reef and I will be doing everything myself and as far as the water change my plan is to have a pump in my sump that when turned on will drain about 15-20g then another pump will pump mixed r.o water in and all the tubs and containers will be hidden in my furnace room. I will be doing this manually by shutting main power off then doing the water change. One day if I get brave it might be fully automated but I need to figure out alot of fail safes. Im a aircraft mech so im all about failsafes
> Albert i need help desiding on equiptment have a euroreef 250 skimmer and coralife supper skimmer I might need both not sure, a calcium reactor, r.o. unit, carbon reactor and I need new lighting also upgrading to bigger sump and a apex controller is there anything else I should consider?


 Phosphate reactor,powerheads. No need to vacum a reef tank with a 20x turnover rate not much settles on the sand and the cleanup crew deals with what little does settle.alot of reefers drain through their plumbing definetlly a good idea. Theres all kinds of failsafes available some of which can text you if a sensor is tripped,a simple float valve should to the trick for your suggested use though.


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## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

I plan to vaccum just not every waterchange probley more like once a month and also plan on having crazy flow in the tank . Two massive powerheads my sum l pump and also a closed loop with inline pump


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## albert_dao (May 28, 2012)

dabandit1 said:


> Phosphate reactor,powerheads. No need to vacum a reef tank with a 20x turnover rate not much settles on the sand and the cleanup crew deals with what little does settle.alot of reefers drain through their plumbing definetlly a good idea. Theres all kinds of failsafes available some of which can text you if a sensor is tripped,a simple float valve should to the trick for your suggested use though.


20x? What are you running? A betta bowl? haha 

You want something more along the lines of 45x minimum for longterm success.

Regardless, I don't know where this silly stigma over gravel vacuuming came from, but it's ridiculous. I have 90x+ turnover in my reef and I still siphon a veritable garbage heap worth of detritus from my gravel every couple of weeks. Gravel vacuuming adds about 10% more effort to a water change and safeguards against old tank syndrome. Why WOULDN'T you do it?


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## albert_dao (May 28, 2012)

dino said:


> I plan to vaccum just not every waterchange probley more like once a month and also plan on having crazy flow in the tank . Two massive powerheads my sum l pump and also a closed loop with inline pump


Skip the closed loop and invest in some good powerheads. Closed loops are outdated/irrelevant and are more of a liability than anything now that powerheads have become so efficient and affordable.

LMK if you're interested in a pair of brand new MP60s


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## dabandit1 (Dec 6, 2010)

albert_dao said:


> 20x? What are you running? A betta bowl? haha
> 
> You want something more along the lines of 45x minimum for longterm success.
> 
> Regardless, I don't know where this silly stigma over gravel vacuuming came from, but it's ridiculous. I have 90x+ turnover in my reef and I still siphon a veritable garbage heap worth of detritus from my gravel every couple of weeks. Gravel vacuuming adds about 10% more effort to a water change and safeguards against old tank syndrome. Why WOULDN'T you do it?


Certainlly nothing wrong with vaccuimng,the point was more that theres nothing wrong with his drain idea of doing water changes guess I could have been clearer. 20x is the standard for setting up sw most softies cant handle higher flow, more specialized coral need higher demands of course,me I run about 1500gph through my 35g sps tank....nothing settles including my sand lol that kind of flow would rip ALOT of lps and soft coral apart.


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## albert_dao (May 28, 2012)

Not to be THAT GUY, but again, I gotta disagree. 45x is the absolute minimum for a healthy tank, longterm. Softies can handle it fine, you just need to be strategic about where the corals go. Obviously, something like a colt coral or hammer (or some other large fleshy LPS) isn't going to be comfortable right off the muzzle of a powerhead, but that's what rock work is for. Accommodate for different corals with good aquascaping 

For the record, I grow zoas, LPS and anemones at home and SPS at my grow site. In both cases, 45x(+) turnover in the main systems.


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## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

my tank is drilled at the bottom and in the middle of the tank thats why i was going to run a closed loop i mean i hate to not use those bulkheads? what do you think my tank also has dual overflows.


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## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

i have two tunze monsters and two 1200 gph pumps in sump also a nosubmersable pump i was going to use in the loop


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

dino said:


> my tank is drilled at the bottom and in the middle of the tank thats why i was going to run a closed loop i mean i hate to not use those bulkheads? what do you think my tank also has dual overflows.


Plug them, my 8' tank is drilled on the bottom and I ended up getting sick of it and plugging it

I regret not doing it from the start because now I have stuff hanging down below the tank that's in the way


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## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

Id dont undedstand whats wrong with the two bulkhead being conected neatly underneath to a pump. One in one out it would give alot of flow and I could make it really tidy bolted to my cabinet


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## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

They are currently connected to my fx5 that I dont want to use


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## albert_dao (May 28, 2012)

dino said:


> Id dont undedstand whats wrong with the two bulkhead being conected neatly underneath to a pump. One in one out it would give alot of flow and I could make it really tidy bolted to my cabinet


The problems are numerous:

1. External pumps are another point of liability. The seals can leak, the plumbing can leak, the weight of the pump can torque and crack the bottom panel if it vibrates off of the cabinet for any reason, etc.
2. Close loops with in-tank draws are notorious fish and snail eaters.
3. Powerheads are about 10x more efficient (energy-wise) and effective (flow pattern-wise) than anything a closed loop can provide. Compare:

Reeflow Snapper - ReeFlo Snapper-Dart and Barracuda-Hammerhead Hybrid Water Pumps from Salty Critter
3600 gph @ 145 watts

Tunze 6125 - T6125_000 Premium Aquatics - T6125_000 Aquarium Supplies
3170 gph @ 22 watts

4. Powerheads have many built-in variable flow options such as pulse, feed, wavemaking, etc.
5. Powerheads can be easily removed for routine maintenance.
6. Powerheads are easy to position for optimal flow patterns.

Hope that helps with your decision


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## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

ok good to know thank you


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