Im tearing a tank down

[Hawks07]

Reccomendations for setting my tank back up after being overrun by aiptasia.

The equipment i have left after selling some things are:

215 Gallon Oceanic RR Tank Stand, Canopy
Bubble King Supermarin 250 Internal Protein Skimmer
72" Aquactinics Constellation HO-T5 fixture 14x39w
1/2 HP Oceanic Chiller
1 Vortech MP40w
1 Reefkeeper2

I am going to completely clean my tank out and start over.
The stuff I'm thinking about adding are

3x400w Metal Halide 20k Radium Coralvue Ballasts in Mini Lumenbright so I can fit the aquactinics fixture in as well.

1 x MP60w I wanna use this pulsing at full blast but Im not sure how i can do this without blowing away my 3/4" of sand around, or rock for that matter.

I wanna use about 40% aragonite rock to save cost, mixed with 30% base rock and %30 premium rock. I plan to let the tank sit for about 2 months without livestock to seed, What rock will be best

I wanted to use less rock and sand this time around to let the bubble king do more work but still enough to fill the tank to some extent. not sure how much I should end up doing here.

Also want to know the best way to go about drilling rock structures together and elevating them above the sand without it looking terrible.

I plan on running sps and a few zoas and lps but the oceanic tank has a glass center brace that blocks alot of light. I figured with both the 400w halide and the aquactinics it should be ok though.

How would i modify the overflow teeth to lower the water level so i could make waves in the tank.

Would love to hear some recomendations.

[ludnix]

I would put down a layer of eggcrate on the bottom of the tank and do your rock work on that. Then add the sand afterwards. I personally just puttied my rock all together, but you if you want to drill you just need a masonry drill bit and some sort of support structure for the rocks to stack onto. Some people use fiberglass rods, PVC pipe or acrylic rods.

[Hawks07]

cover the eggcrate in sand?

[aleonn]

I'd put the eggcrate first, rocks second, then the sand.

[BuckeyeTodd]

have you considered cooking your current rocks than starting over? I've cooked rock a couple of times and been satisfied with the result

[Shaqinwi 65]

If you're going to use new rock and don't mind it having no growth on it for 4 - 6 months look at marco rock.

http://www.marcorocks.com/

That way you have better control on what enters your system, that is, if you're very careful as you add corals.

[aleonn]

IMO you can't go wrong with dry rocks. Marco or BRS have great options. You can always use some of your existing rock to seed the dry ones.

[strike2867]

There are some, like me, who look for rocks with Aiptasia. I had a post trading it for various corals, but nobody was up for it. Just a thought.

[joebo1717]

To lower the water level in the tank you will need to make the teeth longer on your overflow box. The easiest (not neatest) way is to use a dremel and lower each one the amount you want to reduce the waterline. You may also have to lower the drain lines depending on how low you go.

to keep sand from moving add a layer of the course rubble type sand. This can be added after the rock and pumps are running so you can see the areas that are effected and use it in those areas. It will also give a unique look to the tank.

lighting What you're looking at for lighting will work just fine. I will suggest that if you look at what it will cost to purchase the metal halides (new or used) plus bulb replacement every 12 months, plus electric for the lights and chiller that you may reach break even on leds very quickly. There is great information on DIY LED's that are pretty simple to assemble, the kits are even sold with most of what you need. You could custom design where these go in your tank with relation to your rock work and the t5 fixture. If you leaned toward a more blue array in the led's you could add more blue+ and full spectrum bulbs to the t5 fixture and use that for getting the growth you want while supplementing with leds to add simmer and the color you want your tank. you wouldn't need to worry much about spotlighting with the coverage you'll get from that size fixture.

My logic is cost of MH Ballast/Fixture/bulbs(12mo's) + what you can get from selling a 1/2hp chiller + electric cost of running all this will very quickly equal the cost and electric of a diy electric setup. If the RK2 has a 0v-10v light dimmer you can control the output of the leds from there as well.

Just my 2 cents, the mh+t5 will work great also and you can probably find the stuff for a good price with all the led converters out there.

Nice choice on the MP60W, i want to put one in my 150 just to see if I can get my fish to do more exercise.

[joebo1717]

To lower the water level in the tank you will need to make the teeth longer on your overflow box. The easiest (not neatest) way is to use a dremel and lower each one the amount you want to reduce the waterline. You may also have to lower the drain lines depending on how low you go.

to keep sand from moving add a layer of the course rubble type sand. This can be added after the rock and pumps are running so you can see the areas that are effected and use it in those areas. It will also give a unique look to the tank.

lighting What you're looking at for lighting will work just fine. I will suggest that if you look at what it will cost to purchase the metal halides (new or used) plus bulb replacement every 12 months, plus electric for the lights and chiller that you may reach break even on leds very quickly. There is great information on DIY LED's that are pretty simple to assemble, the kits are even sold with most of what you need. You could custom design where these go in your tank with relation to your rock work and the t5 fixture. If you leaned toward a more blue array in the led's you could add more blue+ and full spectrum bulbs to the t5 fixture and use that for getting the growth you want while supplementing with leds to add simmer and the color you want your tank. you wouldn't need to worry much about spotlighting with the coverage you'll get from that size fixture.

My logic is cost of MH Ballast/Fixture/bulbs(12mo's) + what you can get from selling a 1/2hp chiller + electric cost of running all this will very quickly equal the cost and electric of a diy electric setup. If the RK2 has a 0v-10v light dimmer you can control the output of the leds from there as well.

Just my 2 cents, the mh+t5 will work great also and you can probably find the stuff for a good price with all the led converters out there.

Nice choice on the MP60W, i want to put one in my 150 just to see if I can get my fish to do more exercise.

[Hawks07]

vortechs wont blow away sand leaving eggcrate showing?

[Hawks07]

what is marco and brs rock. I was looking at the aragonite based rock from aquarium specialty for cheap, how do these compare, i want something that will look natural not fake.

[aleonn]

Both March and BRS sell dry aragonite rocks for cheap ($2-3/lb). Marco sells Florida Key Largo rock (check out marcorocks.com). BRS sells a few different types, including Fiji, Pukani, Eco-Rox, and Tonga. They all look natural.