Thoughts / Suggestions on new setup

[erikakasinnes]

Heya.

Im starting up a 60 gallon + sump and would like some feedback on parts of the setup so far.

I will use dead rock and a large grain shallow sandbed in a minimalistic scape. In order to counter the small area for beneficial bacteria to live, i'm planning to leave a place in the sump to fill with either live rock, dsb, miracle mud or biorocks.

Which one should i use? The area won't be lit. What's your experience with these options?

In order to keep water chemistry in check i'm going to use the following things.

- Carbon dosing(vodka) using a dosing pump.

- ATO with calciumhydroxide

- A food timer containing Red sea abc+, dosing each day.

The food timer i'm planning to use looks like this:

Anyone tried this kind of setup before? If the values should go out of balance i will correct them with balling if i have to, but it should not be needed. What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts/suggestions.

 

[ReefAddict34g]

Depending on what you plan to keep I would personally stay away from dosing pumps, your asking for trouble if it sticks or malfunctions. ATO would be fine though, if you plan on using Calciumhydroxide make sure you put a powerhead in your container to keep everything stirred in suspension. Throw some live rock in your sump, chaeto and put a crappy clip on desk light to illuminate it (install an led bulb from lowes). Run that sump light opposite to your daytime tank lights. This is what I do and it has worked great for me, I keep a 34g solana with sump, mainly SPS, not one tank crash EVER.

 

[erikakasinnes]

Depending on what you plan to keep I would personally stay away from dosing pumps, your asking for trouble if it sticks or malfunctions. ATO would be fine though, if you plan on using Calciumhydroxide make sure you put a powerhead in your container to keep everything stirred in suspension. Throw some live rock in your sump, chaeto and put a crappy clip on desk light to illuminate it (install an led bulb from lowes). Run that sump light opposite to your daytime tank lights. This is what I do and it has worked great for me, I keep a 34g solana with sump, mainly SPS, not one tank crash EVER.

Really? I thought dosing pumps was considered safe. I'm thinking a single dosing pump into a container of vodka. I can limit the size of the container which makes it pretty safe. Heard of people putting a bottle of vodka in the tank at once without any serious harm. So it should be fine.

I had caulerpa in my previous setup and lighted it with led and had some good results, however this time i'm not going to use lights or makroalgae in the sump since i consider it too much of a hazzle. That's why i'm wondering what would be best out of live rock, bioballs, miracle mud or dsb, without lights..

What do you use to keep your calcium etc in check? Abc+ and calciumhydroxide should take care of pretty much everything right?

 

[ReefAddict34g]

99% of the time dosing pumps are safe, I just don't wanna be the 1% that it fails on. Can't ever overdose with your hands, unless you drop the bottle of doser in the tank haha.

To me adding a light and some micro is as simple as it gets, Bioballs are a nutrient factory imo. Not sold on the MM either.

I use BRS Cal, Alk and Mag. Thats pretty much it. Oh and 5 stage spectra pure ***Never underestimate the power of a good RO/DI unit*** this can make or break any successful reef tank.