Returning to the world of Reef keeping!

Basssa · Jan 13, 2017

Hi everyone - I am thrilled to be returning to the hobby and the magnificent world of reef-keeping after about 8 years. Wow, how things have changed! I am about to begin the set up - and am pulling the trigger on a Red Sea Reefer 450, just love what I've read and the rimless tank looks fantastic. I hope to ask questions and get your feedback (for example: everything has gone LED! - I was using VHO's).

First up: submersible return pumps - I need 1060GPH flow, and would like super quiet. DC, or AC? Reading about Reef Octopus and SICCE pumps. The Octopus Varios-4 is a bit low on gph, the Varios -6 a bit high. I assume that with the control available I can tune down the 6? Thoughts on that vs. SICCE pumps, or maybe there is another I am missing? I understand the Reef Octopus is ready for APEX control (see below).

Second up: lighting - LED's obviously (low heat!), Radion G4 seems the next great thing? How about Kessil's for the shimmer - a combo of both? with 59" can I get away with 2 Radion?

Third: can you tell me about APEX control systems - years back it was all power strips and general house timers!

Fourth: Dosing systems - this is also rather new to me, I was mixing Kalkwasser and other additives, is it really time to automate it all?

Thanks to you all, looking forward to welcoming your thoughts - and, great to be back!

melypr1985 · Jan 13, 2017

Welcome to R2R! That's a lot of questions and i won't be able to elaborate on most of them but some of my buddies in the #reefsquad will be able to.
1. Getting an adjustable pump will allow you to turn the flow up or down according to your needs.
2. Led's are great but there are still amazing tanks out there using only t5s or even MH lighting... or a combo of both. For what it's worth, we use Kessil's at the LFS I work at and can't make them last longer than 2 years. They just die. (That's only our experience)
3. APEX and most other controllers rock. I love my apex and the ability to monitor almost everything about my tank from anywhere. The possibilities are endless with these.
4. I'm not a fan of dosing so I won't comment on that. I don't dose in my tank and hopefully will never need to.

KJ · Jan 14, 2017

Welcome to R2R!

Tahoe61 · Jan 14, 2017

Welcome.

glb · Jan 14, 2017

Welcome. There's so many new things out there that will make your life so much easier. Ask away here! I used LEDs on my nano without much luck, so I'll be buying t5's for my new 40g breeder build.

dbl · Jan 14, 2017

Welcome to R2R and back to the hobby.

Brew12 · Jan 14, 2017

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I'll comment on a few things.

Basssa said:
First up: submersible return pumps - I need 1060GPH flow, and would like super quiet. DC, or AC? Reading about Reef Octopus and SICCE pumps. The Octopus Varios-4 is a bit low on gph, the Varios -6 a bit high. I assume that with the control available I can tune down the 6? Thoughts on that vs. SICCE pumps, or maybe there is another I am missing? I understand the Reef Octopus is ready for APEX control (see below).

My personal preference would be to go with a Sicce pump. It's one of the few motors that isn't made in China and is specially designed to raise power factor which makes it more energy efficient than most other AC pumps.
If you are unsure of how much flow you want in your sump, or if you think you may want to use your return pump to also direct flow through reactors, a DC pump is a better idea. This way you can adjust your flow using motor speed instead of valves which saves on electricity costs. If you do go this route, make sure you get much bigger than you think you need to give you room to grow.

Basssa said:
Third: can you tell me about APEX control systems - years back it was all power strips and general house timers!

Not sure what you want to know, but I love mine and couldn't imagine not having one.

Basssa said:
Fourth: Dosing systems - this is also rather new to me, I was mixing Kalkwasser and other additives, is it really time to automate it all?

Your system will tell you when you need a dosing system. The way I look at it is that new tanks are typically find using nothing but water changes. As the tank ages, a product like Kalk will help maintain calc and alk between water changes. Once Kalk can no longer keep up with demand is when you need to switch to dosing. Nothing wrong with doing dosing and skipping kalk if you want to.

Hope that helps!

Garrett W. · Jan 14, 2017

welcome back to the hobby!

Mike_J · Jan 14, 2017

Welcome back to the saltwater world and welcome to R2R! The improvements in technology within the hobby are astounding in the past 8 years and will make life easier and better, for both you and your tank inhabitants! Sicce pumps are fantastic, APEX monitoring and automated control is awesome and dosing systems will make for much more consistent parameters when they work as intended. However, as with everything automated, including ATO, devastation onto your reef with malfunction can occur. Yikes! Can't wait to see it come together for you. Best of luck and happy reefing!

SBlisters · Jan 14, 2017

Welcome! The advice here is great!

mckinleyw · Jan 14, 2017

Welcome back and best of luck. I would say just read as many reviews as you can on whatever your interested in using.

ReeferMadness80G · Jan 14, 2017

Basssa said:
Hi everyone - I am thrilled to be returning to the hobby and the magnificent world of reef-keeping after about 8 years. Wow, how things have changed! I am about to begin the set up - and am pulling the trigger on a Red Sea Reefer 450, just love what I've read and the rimless tank looks fantastic. I hope to ask questions and get your feedback (for example: everything has gone LED! - I was using VHO's).

First up: submersible return pumps - I need 1060GPH flow, and would like super quiet. DC, or AC? Reading about Reef Octopus and SICCE pumps. The Octopus Varios-4 is a bit low on gph, the Varios -6 a bit high. I assume that with the control available I can tune down the 6? Thoughts on that vs. SICCE pumps, or maybe there is another I am missing? I understand the Reef Octopus is ready for APEX control (see below).

Second up: lighting - LED's obviously (low heat!), Radion G4 seems the next great thing? How about Kessil's for the shimmer - a combo of both? with 59" can I get away with 2 Radion?

Radions are definitely top of the line when it comes to LEDs, however with LEDs you may get a bit of shadowing and people tend to run a mixture of LED and T5 to get a full cast of light for SPS corals.

Basssa said:
Third: can you tell me about APEX control systems - years back it was all power strips and general house timers!

If you can afford it, Apex systems are a must! You can control everything from lighting to return pumps to dosers. It's great for when you're away from your tank and you want to make sure everything is running optimally. Sync a camera to this and you can run your tank from across the world!
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Basssa said:
Fourth: Dosing systems - this is also rather new to me, I was mixing Kalkwasser and other additives, is it really time to automate it all?

Everyone's tank is different and some people have luck dosing everything under the sun, Cal, Alk, Mag, and every other trace element, it allows you to really fine tune exactly what your corals receive. And it's pretty simple once you establish exactly what you need, set it and forget it! Not quite lol but if you're monitoring your tank with the Apex, you can adjust as necessary.