Starting my reef journey over again

[bampi]

I tore my last tank apart nearly 6 years ago when I was in the process of buying my own home. I’ve now been here for 5 years and am looking to start in the hobby again. I’m picking up a 60 gallon rimless cube tank, sump, and stand on Saturday. I’m looking to start cycling this as soon as I shore up my floor joists to support the weight. Wanted some input on equipment though. Tank is 24x24x24. And I’m looking at:

ReefLED 160s LED Light Fixture - RedSea
ReefWave 25 Pump with Controller (1980 GPH) - RedSea
Vectra M2 - Mobius Ready DC Return Pump (2000 GPH) - Ecotech

For the basic necessities. Light is a bit overkill but I do love SPS and the 90 really limits to keeping SPS high in the tank.
I’m aiming for 40x display volume of water movement, which I’m over on but can run each not 100%

any insight or recommendations would be welcomed.

 

[bakbay]

Glad to hear that you’re restarting your hobby once again. My old tank was also a 60g cube and it served me well for 6+hrs.

it’s been a long day but what is the ask here?

 

[bampi]

Glad to hear that you’re restarting your hobby once again. My old tank was also a 60g cube and it served me well for 6+hrs.

it’s been a long day but what is the ask here?

The equipment I’m buying make sense?

 

[bampi]

Hopefully it does. I just spent 2.2k on

reef led 160s
Reef wave 25
Ecotech return pump
7 stage rodi unit
And bulk salt

I’m so excited to get back into this. Just put WAY TOO MUCH Solar on the house so the running should cost next to nothing. I’m really liking the app connected devices over the last couple of years.

 

[Phil Steel]

Welcome back!

If you're going with an ecotech return pump, maybe get some second hand MP40s and G4 or 5 lights so you can it run together via reeflink?

 

[bakbay]

Looks like a very solid build - congrats!

Light: I went with a XR30 on my tank and feel that it’s perfect for a 2ft spread, a little overkill for me as well but I prefer to have more lights than not enough.

Return: looks good to me. I’ve used cheap return pumps in the past, almost disposable since I don’t personally care about tank “turnover” — I favor more flow in the tank.

Flow: it’s very tricky with cube tanks actually. I used to run 2xMP40s on my old 2x2x2 cube like yours and it’s more than adequate. I suspect you might have to add another pump later on. I don’t have personal exp with the ReefWave but heard that all gyre-type pumps need more maintenance?

Happy Reefing and do share some pics!

 

[bakbay]

My old tank from 3+ yrs ago before upgrading to a 3x3x2 tank.

if you’re after SPS later on, I suspect you’ll need more flow.

 

[bakbay]

I would recommend the following if you’re after automation. It’s not required by my favs:
1. Apex (I like to monitor & control my tank remotely)
2. Trident (cause I hate manual testing nowadays)
3. CaRx (you can get away with 2-part but later on, it’s too much pain mixing solutions & cost effective long term)

 

[bakbay]

Skimmer: what are you doing here? Unless you’re going with a fuge, a skimmer helps.

 

[bakbay]

Also, recommend you start a Build Thread to capture progress and have others provide more feedback.


Thread 'So you want a BUILD THREAD CONTRIBUTOR badge???'
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/so-you-want-a-build-thread-contributor-badge.590311/

 

[bampi]

I’m waiting to measure the sump footprint for skimmer but I’m thinking:

RSK 300 Reefer Internal Protein Skimmer​

I like the wiper design and reviews are good. If later I want more app control I can already upgrade the air pump. In my experience skimmers are usually set em and forget em though.

all depends on size of sump. I’d love to do a fuge; but seriously doubt that I’ll be able to in this foot print.

 

[bampi]

I’m waiting to measure the sump footprint for skimmer but I’m thinking:

RSK 300 Reefer Internal Protein Skimmer​

I like the wiper design and reviews are good. If later I want more app control I can already upgrade the air pump. In my experience skimmers are usually set em and forget em though.

all depends on size of sump. I’d love to do a fuge; but seriously doubt that I’ll be able to in this foot print.

 

[bampi]

Here’s the post to the tank I’m buying:

https://offerup.co/tQLROBeMZxb

and I’m honestly thinking this for an office/qt tank:

https://offerup.co/LPD1mvlMZxb

DT accepted offer of 400, and possible QT accepted 300. So I may just bit the bullet on both.

 

[bampi]

I previously did a build thread in my apartment.

New tank build

So I got permission from the lady to buy a QT. I interpreted that to mean I can buy a much larger tank and convert my old tank into a QT. So at the moment I have an acrylic 90 and a glass 55 waiting for something to do. My plan was to use the 55 as my sump. I've drawn up some initial plans...

www.reef2reef.com

It wasn’t anything expensive/extravagant/or special; but I was extremely exited about it. I think I’ve gotten more feed back here than that entire thread.

I’ll probably get so giddy when I have the ranks in the house that I won’t be able to help myself though.

thank you all for your thoughts and ideas.