Apo

what exactly are you running pies? U got 300W of MH lights on there as well as two pumps a skimmer, kalkweiser reactor and fluro's. at about $25 a week. cheaper than smoking.. :roll:

hey what do you guys gestimate the cost (on your power bill) of running your pumps, skimmer, heater etc?

Thats interesting, it does seem like a lot of info out there is out of date.

hmm thanks, but i think im going with a thin layer of sand on the bottom and a plenum in my sump somewhere.

http://www.daveynz.co.nz/index.htm but they dont have much guff on them. TP is just up the road from metropolitan glass too. they be a good choice for a tank? and do i need 2x 40mm holes cut in it? one on each side of the back of the tank?

I called Davey, the smallest pump they do for seawater with a 3M head is pcr100. Its a 200L /minute pump (12000L/hr) But at that speed, i'd need 40mm piping. RRP is $430+gst whod ya fink?

ok, well plumbing doesnt scare me, and i got lots of contacts in that dept. I'll go over to Davey pumps today and price out a couple of pumps. I measured it up yesterday. its 2.4 M fall from top of tank to floor of the garden shed. and its 8m away as crow flies. so will look for a pump that can handle it. 700L tank, cycled say 10x an hour?? Thats 7000L per hour up to say 3m. Ill see what they say. Im thinking that 8m x2 plus sump/refugium will add up to quiet a bit of extra water vloume in the system. Thats got to be a good thing.

ok so i'll buy/build a garden shed. this also means i can make a huge rain water catchment vessel, like the guy selling on trademe. about 2-3 cubic meters of water, and plumb that in as a resovior? via an RO filter maybe? so question: from my tank. i will have two pvc pipes, one coming and one going. is that right? is that all? I have to mentally plan this all before i get to carried away. hollywoods new shop is just up from where i work in albany. I will get some rock up there when they are set up. (did anyone notice the aptasia in their display tank???) and I will ask steve to cure it for me. where abouts do u live steve? ps i think techtonics is a customer of ours. i work at techpac

Hi Guys thanks for your replies. Rest assured I wont be running out and spending $5000 this week, or even this year. I see this as a long-term project. I don’t want to let impatience limit my budget through avoidable mistakes. My first project will be the tank and stand. As I have already bought a house, I’m limited in where I can put a tank. I believe that you should buy the biggest tank you can afford, and I feel that 700L is a good size for me. This, however, limits me in where I can place it in my house. My garage is detached and I cant plumb it through the wall into the garage. The tank really needs to sit in the foyer of my house. My house is on piles, and has about a meters clearance from the ground. I could possible plumb everything straight down through the floor. I’d need two holes through my slate tiles I guess. An overflow and a return? Maybe a gully trap for leeks? What do you think about putting everything under the house? Failing that if the pumps were really strong, I could plumb it out to a garden shed…but the pipes would run several meters to get that far. Once I decide upon this I can weld up my stand. 2†steel tube, zinc coated and finished with marine enamel. Maybe walled in with veneered remu or something one day… It’s very hard to plan, without knowing everything you need in advance. But w/o experience it’s hard to know what u need. I spend (have spent) a lot of time on reef central and other websites just reading posts and reviews. Trying to get my head around everything. That’s why I’m on here, no point in reinventing the wheel. You guys will already have fantastic contacts and set-ups to help me along ;> Pies what’s your weirs/overflow design? I didn’t see it on homereef… Jetskisteve, yes I’m in Auckland too and may take u up on that offer. I still think it would be good to cycle the rock in an empty tank with ocean salts, RO water and a dead prawn. Less chance of getting any unwanted nasties from the ocean in there.

Hi, Wanted to say hi, I have been lurking on here for a while now reading up on the S/W Reef posts. Im looking to build my own 700L reef. I want to make as much of it myself, as i can. I will probably buy a 2x.6x.6M tank, but DIY the stand and lights etc. I was looking at doing a live rock filtration system until I found out u cant by it here. So denitrified rock from jansens or hollywood and go the 6 wks with a couple of dead cocktail prawns..? I'm looking at an aqua c ev-180 skimmer from the states. Didnt like the red sea prizim pro the lfs recommended. Will talk to a pump wholesaler like grunfos or davey to save on pumps. maybe make my own sump/refugium. Have been sniffing around some lighting wholsalers and can get the MH or VHO almost half the price of LFS. Might make an aluminium frame, a polished stainless reflector and put 3 coralstar fluro's in with room to add 2xMH 10k 150w aqua's...with mech ballists. unless i can get lecky ones way cheaper.. so i have a few questions for the learned reefers on here: given i cant use the live rock, whats the next best thing? an algal bed in a sump? or a trickle filter? Do i need a 110kg's of rock in my tank? if so, do i need it all straight away? or can i start off with say 20% and build up to it slowly, with only say 1 or 2 anenomies and one or two fish over maybe 3mths. Then adding rock as my budget allows. Pies I really like your setup, and hope to model my tank on yours. Thanks for any advice. Apo