coder0000
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2017
- Messages
- 16
- Reaction score
- 16
- Location
- Toronto, Canada
- What state or country do you live in
Hi guys,
I've had freshwater fish for many years, and recently bought a Reefer450 to setup as a Mbuna Cichlid tank because I loved the look of the Reefer tank + stand. My dream has always been to setup a marine tank, but I've been daunted by the maintenance + upkeep due to my busy work schedule. However, after talking to folks and researching online, it seems like a lot of things can potentially be automated to help with the maintenance aspect -- so I've decided to take the plunge and go marine instead! The past few days of research have been like drinking out of a firehose, but it's also a heck of a lot of fun planning everything out!
One of the big considerations in my setup that it's going into a living area, and wife-acceptance factor deems that it be as quiet as possible.
I've ordered a bunch of equipment already and in the planning stages of the design, but needed some advice on a few things right off the bat:
Plumbing
I'm getting an Apex and eventually want to go the continuous AWC route, but even before that I don't want to be lugging buckets around. I'm going to investigate running PVC up from the basement into the wall behind the tank. What kind of basic plumbing do I need in place, and what types of things will need expandability in the future when I can't easily move the tank?
I know zero about plumbing and PVC but looks simple enough (famous last words!). Do I run different PVC for each of the things (eg. Drain, ATO from RO/DI, Saltwater mix pumped from basement, etc) or do I stick in a couple of larger PVC's and then just run multiple flexible hoses (eg. 1") through it so I can expand as needed in the future? I'd also like to keep the look of the pipes coming out of the wall as clean as possible.
Lighting
The tank dimensions are: 59" x 20", and a height of 22". I had purchased 2x XR15w Pro's (gen4) when I was going freshwater, but now I'm trying to figure out what I need to add for Marine. Recommendations seem to be to add lots of lighting, but then I see most people turning down the intensity to 50-60% to avoid bleaching.
From what I can tell, an XR30W is going to give me higher PAR, but is not required for 22" height and doesn't provide any more coverage than an xr15W. If I end up turning down the intensity anyways, what's the point of getting an XR30W? Isn't it more important for me to get even coverage + even PAR across the width of the tank?
Given the improved spread of the gen4's over the gen3's, I'm leaning towards just adding one more XR15w in the middle. If I go SPS in the future and need more PAR, I'm assuming I can then decide to either upgrade the lights if needed or simply plant them higher up? Does this make sense or is there another reason for me to consider putting in an XR30W instead? Keep in mind this is my first foray into marine, and I'll probably be sticking with fish + soft coral + LPS for a long time until I get a better feel for it.
Glass Repair
I had a major setback right off the bat with my new tank. Unfortunately it got a nasty chip in the corner during transport. Looking at it closely, it's only on the front pane, and there's no damage to the silicone. Leak test is good, and there shouldn't be an issue with pressure since the damage extends about 42mm down, and the water line is around 40mm from the top.
It's extremely depressing considering how much I paid for this darn thing, but I'm starting to get over it now since it appears to be cosmetic in nature and not affecting the integrity of the tank. I called a bunch of glass repair places, including the mobile windshield repair guys to see if they could fill in with clear epoxy but nobody wants to touch it.
At this point I'm thinking of the following, but would like other peoples thoughts before I go ahead with it:
a) Use a windshield DIY kit to just fill in epoxy so that the damage does not continue to spread
b) Construct a black aluminum (or something) L piece that I glue onto the top corner, perhaps with a top end-cap to make it more aesthetically appealing and protect the repaired area
Thoughts? Other options I should look at? The tank placement:
Closeup of the damage. Annotations were for the glass repair places that I had reached out to:
Top view shows the depth of the chip:
I've had freshwater fish for many years, and recently bought a Reefer450 to setup as a Mbuna Cichlid tank because I loved the look of the Reefer tank + stand. My dream has always been to setup a marine tank, but I've been daunted by the maintenance + upkeep due to my busy work schedule. However, after talking to folks and researching online, it seems like a lot of things can potentially be automated to help with the maintenance aspect -- so I've decided to take the plunge and go marine instead! The past few days of research have been like drinking out of a firehose, but it's also a heck of a lot of fun planning everything out!
One of the big considerations in my setup that it's going into a living area, and wife-acceptance factor deems that it be as quiet as possible.
I've ordered a bunch of equipment already and in the planning stages of the design, but needed some advice on a few things right off the bat:
Plumbing
I'm getting an Apex and eventually want to go the continuous AWC route, but even before that I don't want to be lugging buckets around. I'm going to investigate running PVC up from the basement into the wall behind the tank. What kind of basic plumbing do I need in place, and what types of things will need expandability in the future when I can't easily move the tank?
I know zero about plumbing and PVC but looks simple enough (famous last words!). Do I run different PVC for each of the things (eg. Drain, ATO from RO/DI, Saltwater mix pumped from basement, etc) or do I stick in a couple of larger PVC's and then just run multiple flexible hoses (eg. 1") through it so I can expand as needed in the future? I'd also like to keep the look of the pipes coming out of the wall as clean as possible.
Lighting
The tank dimensions are: 59" x 20", and a height of 22". I had purchased 2x XR15w Pro's (gen4) when I was going freshwater, but now I'm trying to figure out what I need to add for Marine. Recommendations seem to be to add lots of lighting, but then I see most people turning down the intensity to 50-60% to avoid bleaching.
From what I can tell, an XR30W is going to give me higher PAR, but is not required for 22" height and doesn't provide any more coverage than an xr15W. If I end up turning down the intensity anyways, what's the point of getting an XR30W? Isn't it more important for me to get even coverage + even PAR across the width of the tank?
Given the improved spread of the gen4's over the gen3's, I'm leaning towards just adding one more XR15w in the middle. If I go SPS in the future and need more PAR, I'm assuming I can then decide to either upgrade the lights if needed or simply plant them higher up? Does this make sense or is there another reason for me to consider putting in an XR30W instead? Keep in mind this is my first foray into marine, and I'll probably be sticking with fish + soft coral + LPS for a long time until I get a better feel for it.
Glass Repair
I had a major setback right off the bat with my new tank. Unfortunately it got a nasty chip in the corner during transport. Looking at it closely, it's only on the front pane, and there's no damage to the silicone. Leak test is good, and there shouldn't be an issue with pressure since the damage extends about 42mm down, and the water line is around 40mm from the top.
It's extremely depressing considering how much I paid for this darn thing, but I'm starting to get over it now since it appears to be cosmetic in nature and not affecting the integrity of the tank. I called a bunch of glass repair places, including the mobile windshield repair guys to see if they could fill in with clear epoxy but nobody wants to touch it.
At this point I'm thinking of the following, but would like other peoples thoughts before I go ahead with it:
a) Use a windshield DIY kit to just fill in epoxy so that the damage does not continue to spread
b) Construct a black aluminum (or something) L piece that I glue onto the top corner, perhaps with a top end-cap to make it more aesthetically appealing and protect the repaired area
Thoughts? Other options I should look at? The tank placement:
Closeup of the damage. Annotations were for the glass repair places that I had reached out to:
Top view shows the depth of the chip:
