What do I do with some of this equipment?

SouthBayPhoto · 09/27/2011, 02:15 PM

Howdy all!

I ended up getting a great deal on a 110 gallon tank a couple of days ago! Wooohooo!!! So, I'm finally on my way back to setting up and owning a salt reef tank. It came with a couple of extras that I'm going to have to ask you all about because I've never used them and I don't know how/why to use it. LOL A lot of it seems pretty old, but I'm hoping that maybe it will still work and will work for my tank setup I'm planning. I'll probably have mostly a FOWLR type tank, but I would like to add some soft and/or hard corals to it eventually once I know everything is stable. So, I guess I could say I want a "light" reef tank.

So, I got the 110 gallon tank, stand and canopy. It also came with one 5 foot sheet of glass (like for the back half of the tank) and only one 2.5 foot sheet of glass (where you would normally pull the handle to open it and feed the fish). The other side of the top glass is missing. However, if I remember correctly from advice here when I was building my 90, most people suggested NOT to put any glass panels on top because it helps with the oxygen exchange with the water. Correct? If that's the case, then I won't replace the one side of glass and just remove the glass panels and store them.

All of this stuff was under the tank, in the stand, and it was a MESS. It looks like he mainly drained the tank and that was it. This stuff had like a 1/2 an inch of dust and dirt on it. He probably never cleaned it while it was running either. So, it took me HOURS to actually clean each and every part I took out from under that tank. I still have to clean the tank (which is pretty clean to begin with, as you'll see by the picture) and the canopy. What is the best way to clean the excess salt off of the wooden canopy? Water and a rag? Light sand paper and no rag? I'm not sure if using water on wood is a good thing or not.

Anyway, so I also got an Amiracle acrylic biofilter. I don't know what gallon size it is or what size tank it is for. It has the blue bioballs on one side and then he had the pumps put in the other side. It also came with an HOB overflow box that feeds into the top of the biofilter. It seems pretty small for me to use as a sump, so I don't know if I'll just keep it all put together and sell it or not. This way I'll just buy a "real sump" (and bigger, of course) and go from there. Any suggestions on a sump size (gallons wise) for my 110?

I got two Rio pumps. A Rio 2100 and a Rio 2500HP. I don't know if Rio's are any good or not, but that's what came with it and what he was using. The 2100 went to the skimmer and the 2500HP went in to the UV, out of the UV and ultimately returned to the tank.

The lighting system stinks. It's just two T-12 NO bulbs, one 4' Coralife 50/50 6,000K/Actinic 03 and one 3' Marine-Glo 30W (I'm guessing it's a daylight bulb, but I have no clue, doesn't say what it is), but was hooked up to a Coraline 2-Lamp electronic ballast system, so they are instant on. He was all excited about this setup. LOL These will be sold or scrapped if no one buys them. I'll be asking later on in the forum what's the best setup I should do in regards to lighting. With my 90, I did four T-5 HO lights via an IceCap 660 ballast. It was a "build your own" type kit. I just mounted it to the top of my canopy and each bulb had an individual reflector. I don't know if I should do the same with this tank or not. Suggestions?

I got an Optima air pump. I can't tell, but maybe the model number is A-807, but says it's 5,000 cc/min and 4.0 PSI on the bottom. I thought you shouldn't use air pumps in a reef/salt tank? However, this might have something to do with my next item I got...

I got an Ozone 2000-50 ozonizer - Model 310 - Made in 10/1994. What the heck is this and what do I do with it???

I got an Askoll - Thermal Compact Preset 300W heater. Should that be enough to heat a 110 gallon (even if I stick it in the sump)?

I also got a Berlin skimmer (it's made by Red Sea according to the label). Per the label it's a 25 to 250 gallon triple pass skimmer. I have no clue if this is better than my 200 gallon Coralife Super Skimmer that I still have from my last tank. So, suggestions on which I should use would be appreciated. Plus, it looks like there is some sort of additional cup with a mesh wire insert in it. I have NO clue where it goes. The normal cup and lid are on it. So, I don't know what that is for or where it goes. Hopefully I can find an instruction manual on Red Sea's website, but when I checked the other night, they only had a "temporary" site up.

Finally, I got a Vectron UV25 - 25W/150 gallon UV machine. Its from some company in Hertfordshire, England called Tropical Marine Centre. I don't know ANYTHING about UV. Again, one of those questions, what's it for and what do I do with it?? I've heard about them being used, but I don't know for what or why. LOL So, would it be good to keep it and plumb it back into my system when I rebuild it? If so, is there a certain "place" throughout the system that it should be placed?

I also got a bunch of corals/shells that I don't really want, so I'm going to try and sell them locally. Plus, there was 100 pounds of crushed coral in the tank as well. I'm not keeping that either. I don't know if I should just throw it in the garbage or should I try and sell it locally. I just look at it as this...I don't know how this person ran the tank or what they put in it, so I don't want to put this stuff in my tank and have it end up being an issue later on. It's happened to me before, so better safe than sorry.

Sorry for the drawn out post, but I was hoping that people could help me with the equipment situation. If I should try and sell the equipment and upgrade, then so be it. But if it will work with/for my tank, then I'll keep it and use it.

I did put pics up of the tank in the "introduction" thread.

By the way...I got it all for $250. Seemed like a pretty good deal to me, even if the stuff is old and I don't use most/all of it. LOL

Thanks for the help!
Mat

Chris27 · 09/27/2011, 02:30 PM

It'll all work for the tank, even if it is old. You just need to figure out how to use it. Look up the generic name for each piece of gear, and you'll start to get a handle on it. Perhaps you should get yourself a book or two, now that you have the tank, having reference material on the shelf goes a long way in a successful tank.

Welcome and good luck.

SouthBayPhoto · 09/27/2011, 03:19 PM

Chris, thanks for the info and the welcome. I'll definitely look up each item and find out how it's used and where I should put it in my "system" in the grand scheme of things. I just wasn't sure if any of it was pointless to keep/use or not. Only thing I do know I want to do is replace the biofilter with a bigger "real" sump. Even if I took everything out of the biofilter, it's pretty darn small to use as a sump. I'd much rather have something that is bigger.

I'm still going back and forth on how I want to create my overflow box(es) and where to put the bulkhead holes in my tank. That's the biggest part I'm struggling with right now.

harthag12 · 09/27/2011, 05:44 PM

cleaning the canopy w/ water / vinegar won't harm the wood, don't let it sit in a tub of water but wiping it down is no biggy.

I might consider another heater just incase that one fails, I like redundancy in heaters.

bnumair · 09/27/2011, 05:52 PM

sometimes ur area local fish stores or free lancers reef sellers do part time installation for few hundred dollars. u can always ask them to assist you in installation or just few dollars do a home visit and guide u what things are and how they go in place. you can always check ur local reef club if there is any and sometimes one of the members can help u out too. if not u can always post some pics here an some of us can help u.
welcome and good luck

SouthBayPhoto · 09/29/2011, 11:18 AM

I appreciate the info.

I'm already on my local reef club board, but I thought I would check here as well since it seems to go out to a bigger crowd.

But I'll definitely do some research and see what goes.

Dazmguk · 09/29/2011, 01:31 PM

Another heater for sure, as I think a 300w would serve a tank a good deal smaller.

doctorgori · 09/29/2011, 02:31 PM

on 2nd thought

SouthBayPhoto · 09/29/2011, 10:59 PM

I'll look into another heater then when its time for me to start the tank up. Its going to be a while though.

I figure first I need to decide on my overflow box (most likely going to be a coast to coast Beananimal setup), get the holes drilled for the drain/return lines. Then build the overflow box, then get a proper sized sump and possibly a different return pump. Then decide a lighting setup. More than likely a T-5 setup (either with 4 or 6 bulbs depending what can fit into my canopy), but I'm open to suggestions on that.

After I finally get all that straight and plumb most everything in, then I can look at the other stuff like the skimmer, heater, etc...

Sent from my SBP BB.

09/27/2011, 02:15 PM	#1
SouthBayPhoto Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Colorado Posts: 36	What do I do with some of this equipment? Howdy all! I ended up getting a great deal on a 110 gallon tank a couple of days ago! Wooohooo!!! So, I'm finally on my way back to setting up and owning a salt reef tank. It came with a couple of extras that I'm going to have to ask you all about because I've never used them and I don't know how/why to use it. LOL A lot of it seems pretty old, but I'm hoping that maybe it will still work and will work for my tank setup I'm planning. I'll probably have mostly a FOWLR type tank, but I would like to add some soft and/or hard corals to it eventually once I know everything is stable. So, I guess I could say I want a "light" reef tank. So, I got the 110 gallon tank, stand and canopy. It also came with one 5 foot sheet of glass (like for the back half of the tank) and only one 2.5 foot sheet of glass (where you would normally pull the handle to open it and feed the fish). The other side of the top glass is missing. However, if I remember correctly from advice here when I was building my 90, most people suggested NOT to put any glass panels on top because it helps with the oxygen exchange with the water. Correct? If that's the case, then I won't replace the one side of glass and just remove the glass panels and store them. All of this stuff was under the tank, in the stand, and it was a MESS. It looks like he mainly drained the tank and that was it. This stuff had like a 1/2 an inch of dust and dirt on it. He probably never cleaned it while it was running either. So, it took me HOURS to actually clean each and every part I took out from under that tank. I still have to clean the tank (which is pretty clean to begin with, as you'll see by the picture) and the canopy. What is the best way to clean the excess salt off of the wooden canopy? Water and a rag? Light sand paper and no rag? I'm not sure if using water on wood is a good thing or not. Anyway, so I also got an Amiracle acrylic biofilter. I don't know what gallon size it is or what size tank it is for. It has the blue bioballs on one side and then he had the pumps put in the other side. It also came with an HOB overflow box that feeds into the top of the biofilter. It seems pretty small for me to use as a sump, so I don't know if I'll just keep it all put together and sell it or not. This way I'll just buy a "real sump" (and bigger, of course) and go from there. Any suggestions on a sump size (gallons wise) for my 110? I got two Rio pumps. A Rio 2100 and a Rio 2500HP. I don't know if Rio's are any good or not, but that's what came with it and what he was using. The 2100 went to the skimmer and the 2500HP went in to the UV, out of the UV and ultimately returned to the tank. The lighting system stinks. It's just two T-12 NO bulbs, one 4' Coralife 50/50 6,000K/Actinic 03 and one 3' Marine-Glo 30W (I'm guessing it's a daylight bulb, but I have no clue, doesn't say what it is), but was hooked up to a Coraline 2-Lamp electronic ballast system, so they are instant on. He was all excited about this setup. LOL These will be sold or scrapped if no one buys them. I'll be asking later on in the forum what's the best setup I should do in regards to lighting. With my 90, I did four T-5 HO lights via an IceCap 660 ballast. It was a "build your own" type kit. I just mounted it to the top of my canopy and each bulb had an individual reflector. I don't know if I should do the same with this tank or not. Suggestions? I got an Optima air pump. I can't tell, but maybe the model number is A-807, but says it's 5,000 cc/min and 4.0 PSI on the bottom. I thought you shouldn't use air pumps in a reef/salt tank? However, this might have something to do with my next item I got... I got an Ozone 2000-50 ozonizer - Model 310 - Made in 10/1994. What the heck is this and what do I do with it??? I got an Askoll - Thermal Compact Preset 300W heater. Should that be enough to heat a 110 gallon (even if I stick it in the sump)? I also got a Berlin skimmer (it's made by Red Sea according to the label). Per the label it's a 25 to 250 gallon triple pass skimmer. I have no clue if this is better than my 200 gallon Coralife Super Skimmer that I still have from my last tank. So, suggestions on which I should use would be appreciated. Plus, it looks like there is some sort of additional cup with a mesh wire insert in it. I have NO clue where it goes. The normal cup and lid are on it. So, I don't know what that is for or where it goes. Hopefully I can find an instruction manual on Red Sea's website, but when I checked the other night, they only had a "temporary" site up. Finally, I got a Vectron UV25 - 25W/150 gallon UV machine. Its from some company in Hertfordshire, England called Tropical Marine Centre. I don't know ANYTHING about UV. Again, one of those questions, what's it for and what do I do with it?? I've heard about them being used, but I don't know for what or why. LOL So, would it be good to keep it and plumb it back into my system when I rebuild it? If so, is there a certain "place" throughout the system that it should be placed? I also got a bunch of corals/shells that I don't really want, so I'm going to try and sell them locally. Plus, there was 100 pounds of crushed coral in the tank as well. I'm not keeping that either. I don't know if I should just throw it in the garbage or should I try and sell it locally. I just look at it as this...I don't know how this person ran the tank or what they put in it, so I don't want to put this stuff in my tank and have it end up being an issue later on. It's happened to me before, so better safe than sorry. Sorry for the drawn out post, but I was hoping that people could help me with the equipment situation. If I should try and sell the equipment and upgrade, then so be it. But if it will work with/for my tank, then I'll keep it and use it. I did put pics up of the tank in the "introduction" thread. By the way...I got it all for $250. Seemed like a pretty good deal to me, even if the stuff is old and I don't use most/all of it. LOL Thanks for the help! Mat __________________ Mat I have no snappy quip to put here. LOL! Current Tank Info: 135g fish/reef tank under construction :)

09/27/2011, 02:30 PM	#2
Chris27 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 4,452	It'll all work for the tank, even if it is old. You just need to figure out how to use it. Look up the generic name for each piece of gear, and you'll start to get a handle on it. Perhaps you should get yourself a book or two, now that you have the tank, having reference material on the shelf goes a long way in a successful tank. Welcome and good luck. __________________ Fill your tank with $5 bills, add gasoline and light it on fire.....only then will you know the real cost of reefing. Current Tank Info: 180 Mixed Reef

09/27/2011, 03:19 PM	#3
SouthBayPhoto Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Colorado Posts: 36	Chris, thanks for the info and the welcome. I'll definitely look up each item and find out how it's used and where I should put it in my "system" in the grand scheme of things. I just wasn't sure if any of it was pointless to keep/use or not. Only thing I do know I want to do is replace the biofilter with a bigger "real" sump. Even if I took everything out of the biofilter, it's pretty darn small to use as a sump. I'd much rather have something that is bigger. I'm still going back and forth on how I want to create my overflow box(es) and where to put the bulkhead holes in my tank. That's the biggest part I'm struggling with right now. __________________ Mat I have no snappy quip to put here. LOL! Current Tank Info: 135g fish/reef tank under construction :)

09/27/2011, 05:52 PM	#5
bnumair Dr. Reef at ur service Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tulsa, Ok, USA Posts: 7,751 Blog Entries: 15	sometimes ur area local fish stores or free lancers reef sellers do part time installation for few hundred dollars. u can always ask them to assist you in installation or just few dollars do a home visit and guide u what things are and how they go in place. you can always check ur local reef club if there is any and sometimes one of the members can help u out too. if not u can always post some pics here an some of us can help u. welcome and good luck __________________ Water Quality: NO3 0,Phos 0,Cal 440,Alk 7.5,Mag 1300 "Reef Fast, You Crash, Reef Slow, You Pass" Mike's Reef 3:16 Current Tank Info: 350g DT,95g sump, 50g Frag tank, 4800gph return 4x Sea swirls. 6x AI Vega Color. 200# Pukani rock, dual recirculating skimmer, Biopellet, GFO Carbon rx's, Cal rx. Closed loop. 1.5hp chiller, genesis renew. Apex & RKE

09/29/2011, 11:18 AM	#6
SouthBayPhoto Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Colorado Posts: 36	I appreciate the info. I'm already on my local reef club board, but I thought I would check here as well since it seems to go out to a bigger crowd. But I'll definitely do some research and see what goes. __________________ Mat I have no snappy quip to put here. LOL! Current Tank Info: 135g fish/reef tank under construction :)

09/27/2011, 05:44 PM	#4
harthag12 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hamilton, NJ Posts: 118	cleaning the canopy w/ water / vinegar won't harm the wood, don't let it sit in a tub of water but wiping it down is no biggy. I might consider another heater just incase that one fails, I like redundancy in heaters.

09/29/2011, 01:31 PM	#7
Dazmguk Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 51	Another heater for sure, as I think a 300w would serve a tank a good deal smaller.

09/29/2011, 02:31 PM	#8
doctorgori Moved On Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Simon Bar-Sinistar Posts: 1,097	on 2nd thought Last edited by doctorgori; 09/29/2011 at 02:40 PM.

09/29/2011, 10:59 PM	#9
SouthBayPhoto Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Colorado Posts: 36	I'll look into another heater then when its time for me to start the tank up. Its going to be a while though. I figure first I need to decide on my overflow box (most likely going to be a coast to coast Beananimal setup), get the holes drilled for the drain/return lines. Then build the overflow box, then get a proper sized sump and possibly a different return pump. Then decide a lighting setup. More than likely a T-5 setup (either with 4 or 6 bulbs depending what can fit into my canopy), but I'm open to suggestions on that. After I finally get all that straight and plumb most everything in, then I can look at the other stuff like the skimmer, heater, etc... Sent from my SBP BB. __________________ Mat I have no snappy quip to put here. LOL! Current Tank Info: 135g fish/reef tank under construction :)

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