200 gallon planning phase

[Fresh_Water Reefer]

Like the title says, I’m currently in the beginning phase of planning my tank. I’ve been doing a good bit of reading, and scouring YouTube trying to learn as much as I can so I can get a foundation of reefing. I’m not new to fish keeping, as I have three well established freshwater tanks that have thrived, one being a planted setup as well.

The plan for the tank, like many, is a mixed reef setup, starting off with soft corals and eventually moving (much longer down the road) to hard corals, with nice mix of fish and some invertebrates.

My goal with this post is to create a list of everything I need. Obviously coming from fresh water, I do completely understand there’s a good bit more equipment involved in saltwater. I’m in a position that when I’m ready, I have a 200-gallon tank, stand, hood, and sump waiting for when I have the space. From my understanding once the tank is established and fish have been added is when a skimmer will come into play. Is a reactor required? Or is that an item that you can get by with out having? Good friend of mine that has been working on getting me into saltwater swears up and down that having a refugium isn’t worth the hassle, but I really like the idea of using macro algae for filtration, can someone give me some better clarification to this? I’ve been looking into the apex systems, which I have the budget for, but would like someone’s firsthand experience with them. I understand there is a requirement for routine maintenance , far more than what you regularly find with freshwater, but I’m wondering what’s the odds of having a setup with auto dosing, auto top off, and something to keep check on water paramotors without me having to physically test water daily, is it possible to, at least to some extent, reduce the amount, or stream line the process? This question culminating in what exactly would I need to have in order to at least get close to that? I will be setting up an RO/DI system, along with water storage, and will also have a quarantine tank as well. I have a decent budget, so it would great if I could get a point in the right direction, it’s so daunting even looking at what’s out there because there’s just so much. So what skimmer, reactor (if necessary), power heads (preferable something I can control through my phone) heater, lights, dosing and auto fill setups and anything else should I add to the list of what needs to be purchased?

Thanks in advance, looking forward to learning!

 

[Dr. Phil]

I can give a little first hand experience on some of the Apex automation. I am currently working on automating as much of my tank as possible. I currently have the apex monitoring conductivity (salinity), ph, pro, and temp. The apex is also tops off the tank with rodi through the auto top off kit, does automatic water changes through the DŌS and I am working on getting it setup to automatically flush and dump when my rodi turns on to refill my auto top off container.

So far I am extremely happy with the performance of the system. It is fairly simple to setup (I enjoy tech so ymmv) and has been very stable. The Neptune forums here and on their website have been very helpful as I've gone through the process of implementing this system.

 

[Fresh_Water Reefer]

Thank you Dr.Phil, how exactly are you setting up the water change function? I assume this requires having plumbing setup, and somewhere for the water to go.

 

[zoomonster]

My 200g build thread has some details as do other build threads. My goal was to be fully automated but still not quite there with water changes. I have added and removed stuff but a short list to start would be
Lights, Controller, Skimmer, Sump, ATO, Heater, power heads, return pump

I also use ozone, bio reactor, calcium reactor, cheap light fixture with 6500k CFL bulb for refuge in sump.

I used to use a kalk mixer and a BRS two cannister for carbon and GFO

Depending on where you live and how much AC you use maybe a chiller.

 

[Fresh_Water Reefer]

My 200g build thread has some details as do other build threads. My goal was to be fully automated but still not quite there with water changes. I have added and removed stuff but a short list to start would be
Lights, Controller, Skimmer, Sump, ATO, Heater, power heads, return pump

I also use ozone, bio reactor, calcium reactor, cheap light fixture with 6500k CFL bulb for refuge in sump.

I used to use a kalk mixer and a BRS two cannister for carbon and GFO

Depending on where you live and how much AC you use maybe a chiller.

Are the reactors necessary? And I'm in Georgia and it does get pretty hot, I have an issue now with one of my tanks that sits on an exterior wall and during the summer I have issues with it getting to hot.. what are you using for auto dosing? Honestly I don't mind water changes, but would like to keep everything else as automated as possible.

 

[Scotty Buttons]

Reactors aren't necessary especially at first. Many people use them for phosphate control in SPS dominate tanks, and they do have other functions but you shouldn't need one at first. I think a sump with a refugium is a great way for nutrient export.

 

[Fred2482]

Had multiple tanks in GA, never owned a chiller, however keep my house chilly! Definitely advise apex!!! Love it. Lights are preference, BRS has done a great job comparing some of the options. T5's always safe and not too expensive. I ran skimmer in all my tanks as soon as bacteria had a chance to settle! If your not convinced on refug yet, try reactor's to reduce nutrients. There are so many methods to control nutrients now it's really about preference of what speaks to you.

 

[Fresh_Water Reefer]

Correct me if I'm wrong, isn't there an apex kit that also checks water parameters which would eliminate manual testing? I love the idea off being able to always see where my water is at. Are there any recommended auto top off systems?

 

[zoomonster]

Are the reactors necessary? And I'm in Georgia and it does get pretty hot, I have an issue now with one of my tanks that sits on an exterior wall and during the summer I have issues with it getting to hot.. what are you using for auto dosing? Honestly I don't mind water changes, but would like to keep everything else as automated as possible.

Well the Ca reactor keeps my calcium, magnesium and kh up. I have an established tank and use the bio reactor along with chaeto in sump to keep nitrates within reason. In 30 years never owned a doser. There's really no need with a Ca reactor. I do use an ATO to add water and it used to flow through a Kalk mixer which is now removed. A complete Ca reactor setup is a little pricey but cheaper in the long run than buying dosers and constantly buying overpriced additives. Kind of along the lines of cheap ink jet printers that suck a fortune in ink. Even living in FL I have gotten away w/o a chiller but run AC a lot. 83-84F is the occasional worst case for me and a fan is usually good for a 2F drop with evaporative cooling. Vitamins, aminos, iodine and a few others just get manually added a couple times a week.

As far as ATO theres a lot to chose from but I only ever use Tunze.

 

[Fresh_Water Reefer]

Please correct if I'm wrong, but if I'm understanding this right, the reactors take place of having s dosing system, and seems to be a more natural way of keeping certain elements up? Please forgive my ignorance, but do people run both reactors for certain elements, and have dosing units as well? I really want to build an optimal system that once the tank is established will be relatively hands off aside from water changes.

 

[Fresh_Water Reefer]

As for power heads, how does one figure out what they need? is this all based off of what the tank will eventually house? Also assuming how big the tank is being factored in as well