Tcatman
New Member
I put away the hardware for my 75 gallon reef tank about 20 years ago. So, with a recent move, I rediscovered all of the equipment and I started looking at my current space for the next generation 75 gallon reef for soft and stony corals with a few fish. I have Lots of factors to consider before I move forward again. So I need some advice.
An afternoon browsing current practice starting with the intro pages on the forum was eye opening. I am looking for some advice for what to do with my dated equipment.
I have an ETSS 800 down draft protein skimmer with charcoal filtration for the air intakes and charcoal filtration on the waste container. The skimmer was run with an Iwaki pump. The skimmer was a beast, trouble free when running and is in very good condition. . I assume the pump is as well. It would seem that 2024 protein skimmer models get the same job done with a smaller pump. And a much smaller foot print. A key factor is the noise of the pump and the cost of electricity to run and cool. If I were to start up a new tank would you keep the skimmer or junk it? … I can’t imagine it has any value on the market
Second question… Back back back in the day, you mitigated phosporus and nitrogen loads with fewer fish and as big as you could afford /fit protein skimmer and monthly water changes of 10 percent. And you maintained essential rare elements with lots of kakwasser AND /or for the last year of the reef a calcium reacotor . How would you sum up todays best practice on filtration and rare mineral replacement. Do people use smaller skimmers these days? Looking for a big picture state of the art so that I can judge what to do going forward.
The previous reef tank had a plenum and then live sand was added over top of the plenum arrogonite. Plenum’s were out of favor at the end of this run and I assume they have not returned… How much live sand is the practice today or has that changed as well for effective waste management?
I have a Plexi commercially available sump of that era with a single chamber and a holder for a white cotton filtration bag. Today’s market looks like sumps are chambered and contain a space for a refugium as the prefered way to really drop nitrogen and phosphorous levels. It seems to me that I could modify the old sump with additional plexiglass by gluing some bulkhead baffles to manage the water fllow? What is the value of the old sump that has been plumbed for two external pumps with bulkheads.
Again… back back back in the day…. Refugiums were problematic because half the time your lighting choice simply grew algae in your sump and you had a real mess so you built stand alone refugiums and essentially ran an algae tank... I did not go there. . What changed? What should I do now?
I also have a calcium reactor, regulator etc and a good supply of koralith. I would imagine this is still the long term cost effective solution to maintaining minerals in a balanced manner. Are reactors still the way to go. what advantage does new hardware give you.... the chemistry and physics has not changed.
The problems /headaches that would hope to improve on were the noise of the overflow. I think I closed down the valve to the sump and raised the water level in the overflow… A power failure was a bit heart stopping when the sump would fill to capacity. What is the best way to manage water noise and pump noise? This tank would be in the family room so a much bigger issue.
Tank turnover was a big deal back then so you used a larged pump and split off several pipes to give you water movement and volume through the tank. What do people do now?
Lastly… the calcium reactor really promoted the growth of coraline algae and I wound up coating the sides and the back wall of the tank. The front was a real effort to keep clean. The Ca supplement stopped the hair algae iblooms. That I would fight a periodically. I also discovered that the live sand and plenum were really dirty… and not so much alive with critters as I might have imagined or wanted.
What is AWC..... (haven't gotten that deep into the brave new world yet!)
I know it is a long post... but any advice on any issue would be great.
Finally how much should I plan on spending to supplement my old stuff or am I basically starting from scratch
TIA
Mark.
An afternoon browsing current practice starting with the intro pages on the forum was eye opening. I am looking for some advice for what to do with my dated equipment.
I have an ETSS 800 down draft protein skimmer with charcoal filtration for the air intakes and charcoal filtration on the waste container. The skimmer was run with an Iwaki pump. The skimmer was a beast, trouble free when running and is in very good condition. . I assume the pump is as well. It would seem that 2024 protein skimmer models get the same job done with a smaller pump. And a much smaller foot print. A key factor is the noise of the pump and the cost of electricity to run and cool. If I were to start up a new tank would you keep the skimmer or junk it? … I can’t imagine it has any value on the market
Second question… Back back back in the day, you mitigated phosporus and nitrogen loads with fewer fish and as big as you could afford /fit protein skimmer and monthly water changes of 10 percent. And you maintained essential rare elements with lots of kakwasser AND /or for the last year of the reef a calcium reacotor . How would you sum up todays best practice on filtration and rare mineral replacement. Do people use smaller skimmers these days? Looking for a big picture state of the art so that I can judge what to do going forward.
The previous reef tank had a plenum and then live sand was added over top of the plenum arrogonite. Plenum’s were out of favor at the end of this run and I assume they have not returned… How much live sand is the practice today or has that changed as well for effective waste management?
I have a Plexi commercially available sump of that era with a single chamber and a holder for a white cotton filtration bag. Today’s market looks like sumps are chambered and contain a space for a refugium as the prefered way to really drop nitrogen and phosphorous levels. It seems to me that I could modify the old sump with additional plexiglass by gluing some bulkhead baffles to manage the water fllow? What is the value of the old sump that has been plumbed for two external pumps with bulkheads.
Again… back back back in the day…. Refugiums were problematic because half the time your lighting choice simply grew algae in your sump and you had a real mess so you built stand alone refugiums and essentially ran an algae tank... I did not go there. . What changed? What should I do now?
I also have a calcium reactor, regulator etc and a good supply of koralith. I would imagine this is still the long term cost effective solution to maintaining minerals in a balanced manner. Are reactors still the way to go. what advantage does new hardware give you.... the chemistry and physics has not changed.
The problems /headaches that would hope to improve on were the noise of the overflow. I think I closed down the valve to the sump and raised the water level in the overflow… A power failure was a bit heart stopping when the sump would fill to capacity. What is the best way to manage water noise and pump noise? This tank would be in the family room so a much bigger issue.
Tank turnover was a big deal back then so you used a larged pump and split off several pipes to give you water movement and volume through the tank. What do people do now?
Lastly… the calcium reactor really promoted the growth of coraline algae and I wound up coating the sides and the back wall of the tank. The front was a real effort to keep clean. The Ca supplement stopped the hair algae iblooms. That I would fight a periodically. I also discovered that the live sand and plenum were really dirty… and not so much alive with critters as I might have imagined or wanted.
What is AWC..... (haven't gotten that deep into the brave new world yet!)
I know it is a long post... but any advice on any issue would be great.
Finally how much should I plan on spending to supplement my old stuff or am I basically starting from scratch
TIA
Mark.
