My 90 Gallon Mixed Reef Build

[Matthew Frost]

I got my return pump in today. Jebao DCT-6000. Plumbing starts this week, I have an interesting road ahead. I don't have much space and I am looking for this all to be super neat.

 

[oneasianguy]

nice refugium build. super bright.

 

[Matthew Frost]

nice refugium build. super bright.

The light is 138 watts, its incredibly bright and incredibly pink. I'm hoping for a couple things; it grows cheato, it doesn't grow algae everywhere else in the sump, I can contain the light behind the doors of the stand.

 

[Matthew Frost]

I have the return pump wired and the manifold built and installed. I have a couple small things left and it will be time to take it off the bench put the tank on it and leak test the whole system.

 

[Matthew Frost]

Tank is wet. Have a small air/water leak at the drain bulkhead at the sump. I think the drain down spout is too long?

 

[Dukeap]

Looks good, i also have a 90g. Not sure if you thought about this but are you going fish only or reef? Because you might want to think about doser and the chemicals holders because you look pretty full down in your stand.

 

[Matthew Frost]

Looks good, i also have a 90g. Not sure if you thought about this but are you going fish only or reef? Because you might want to think about doser and the chemicals holders because you look pretty full down in your stand.

I don't intend to do any heavy dosing but if I do go that route I have some room on the left side. Not a lot but some. I'm probably just going to do softies and maybe a little LPS. Nothing that requires 2 part.

 

[Matthew Frost]

So I scored a few more wins on Craigslist this weekend. Found two barrels that came from somebody who had Vodka in them and I got a steal deal on two Danner mag drive pumps. They were a little dirty but they cleaned up and work awesome. I plan to use the larger pump to pump water from my RODI barrel into the mixing barrel and I made a stirring pump out of the other for inside the mixing barrel. I figure these two together should turn the mixing barrel into a mini tornado.

 

[Neo Jeo]

Looks great Matt! What heater did you fit in the eshopp? I got a r-200 and im having a hard time finding a heater.

 

[Matthew Frost]

Looks great Matt! What heater did you fit in the eshopp? I got a r-200 and im having a hard time finding a heater.

This is an R-300 so I have a little more room, but this is an Eheim jager 150. I will eventually run a second one for redundancy. You may be able to get away with running two 100' s depending on your total water volume. Here in AZ heating aquarium water isn't a big concern about 10 months out of the year.

 

[Neo Jeo]

Total water is 120g. People have said I need 2 - 200w

 

[Matthew Frost]

Total water is 120g. People have said I need 2 - 200w

Couple questions:

Is the tank glass or acrylic? And what is the ambient temperature of the room it's going in?

 

[Neo Jeo]

Glass, tank is 90g my sump is acrylic prob around 30g. Room temp is 70d no sun light

 

[Matthew Frost]

Glass, tank is 90g my sump is acrylic prob around 30g. Room temp is 70d no sun light

That's the same size as mine, I don't think you need 400 watts of heater. 2 Finnex HMO 150' s should be awesome and should fit. You could also look at cobalt neotherm, I know they are pretty compact.

 

[Neo Jeo]

That's the same size as mine, I don't think you need 400 watts of heater. 2 Finnex HMO 150' s should be awesome and should fit. You could also look at cobalt neotherm, I know they are pretty compact.

I read you should have 2 heaters if 1 fails. So the 1 200w heater wont turn on until there is a prob so the other 200w will be the main. I did not want to get a 150w as a main because it would run more I would think using more elec. I read that cobalt neotherm melt/crack. Is this true?

 

[Matthew Frost]

Its always a good idea to have redundancy, that much is true. Cobalt makes a great product and they sell A LOT of them, even the best brands are going to have failures. I use Eheim and have used them in freshwater tanks forever, that's why I went that route. I still think 2 150 watt heaters would be plenty. You're going to consume the same amount of electricity either way and I would almost prefer to have a heater turn on and stay on for a longer period than have a larger heater turn on and off multiple times. The cycling on and off is what is the hardest on them. (Unless you have them on a controller)

 

[Neo Jeo]

Its always a good idea to have redundancy, that much is true. Cobalt makes a great product and they sell A LOT of them, even the best brands are going to have failures. I use Eheim and have used them in freshwater tanks forever, that's why I went that route. I still think 2 150 watt heaters would be plenty. You're going to consume the same amount of electricity either way and I would almost prefer to have a heater turn on and stay on for a longer period than have a larger heater turn on and off multiple times. The cycling on and off is what is the hardest on them. (Unless you have them on a controller)

Thanks. The cobalts are $$$ lol true they do sell a lot. I will have a ink “name thing” controller as well to ensure extra protection. Wouldn’t the big heater turn on get it done then turn off? Smaller heater turn on get it done but takes some time then turn off? Seems like it will would run the same. Just thinking out loud

 

[Matthew Frost]

Thanks. The cobalts are $$$ lol true they do sell a lot. I will have a ink “name thing” controller as well to ensure extra protection. Wouldn’t the big heater turn on get it done then turn off? Smaller heater turn on get it done but takes some time then turn off? Seems like it will would run the same. Just thinking out loud

Exactly, the bigger heater turns on and heats up faster but it would in theory turn on and off more. If your going to run a controller it may not matter for "wear" on the heater. I still thinking 200 is excessive. My 90 is in the garage where it gets into the 60' s at night and it still cycles off.

 

[Neo Jeo]

Exactly, the bigger heater turns on and heats up faster but it would in theory turn on and off more. If your going to run a controller it may not matter for "wear" on the heater. I still thinking 200 is excessive. My 90 is in the garage where it gets into the 60' s at night and it still cycles off.

OK thanks. I still have to figure out this heating set up with 2 heaters and a controller. What ones I set and how I set it lol

 

[Matthew Frost]

That's part of the fun.