Salt Water Start Up, Darbex style!

[myjohnson]

So the holding tank is Fresh RO water no salt right? Since the evaporation will be water and the salt will stay in the tank increasing the sp. Also why the skimmer if I use Purigen and Carbon?

Yup. You got why people top off their tanks. It's just adding RO water.

The skimmer is a more effective way to remove "bad" stuff. For your size thank you don't really need a skimmer. I think just doing weekly water changes it fine.

If you get a skimmer you will have to dose nutrients back into the tank. B/c it removes the "bad" with the "good."

[Darbex]

So here is a pic of the back the water overflows into the center chamber and then flows into the two sides where it is pumped back. Where would the refug be at if not separate

[Darbex]

So the holding tank is Fresh RO water no salt right? Since the evaporation will be water and the salt will stay in the tank increasing the sp. Also why the skimmer if I use Purigen and Carbon?

[myjohnson]

Yeah, they are not considered low light stuff like zoas, GSP, mushrooms, and a few others commonly kept ones.

I would consider them med to high light. With a few LED mods and the CF stock lights it should ok to keep anemones.

Going with a complete LED mod or the MH mod then you can grow anything you want.

[tnguyen]

Yeah and if he does the chamber fug then evap will be even lower cause the hood is over it too.

I agree with you on this. If you are really going with a fug then retro and keep it simple. add a small skimmer and you are good. What kind of light would anenome need? Do they need that strong of a light?

[myjohnson]

Yeah and if he does the chamber fug then evap will be even lower cause the hood is over it too.

[tnguyen]

I debate on this myself. I guess it all depend on how religious you are going to be on this tank. If you tend to it regularly then you can top it manually but require more of your time. With hooded system I think you won't get much evaporation but keep an eye it. Also if you using light setup that will heat more then you will get faster evaporation. If you use a fug which is open top then that will evaporate even more so an ATO is good for this.

[myjohnson]

I like everything automatic on my tanks. I have auto timers and auto feeders on all my tropheus tanks cause I'm gone days at a time.

Do you need them? No.

But I highly recommend them. Basically the water evap. over the day will increase the salt content in the tank. You have to add RO water to keep the salinity stable. You will have to most likely top off by hand with RO water daily if you don't get the auto-top off. If you think you can do that and want to do that then you don't need it. If you want it more hands off (like me) then get one.

The system itself can be small. There is basically a float value that sense the water getting low in the main tank. The "Brain" tells the pump to kick on and RO water it pump into the main tank (from the holding tank) until the float value tells the "Brain" that the water level is back to normal. The main size to the system is the holding tank. if you get a tall and not so wide holding tank you can save a lot of room.

[Darbex]

Yeah I was thinking about putting a 5G tank in the stand and cycle water through it. How big is an ATO and is it that necessary?

[myjohnson]

Ok so couldnt I ghetto rig one and put a few gallon tank in the stand and return the water back up separately from the current filtration system?

I don't understand what you are trying to do?

Do you mean make a fug from a small 5-10 gallon tank and pump the water back up? If this is what you mean then it can be done. There was a guy on nano-reef that did it and it looks really clean too.

Personally, I would just turn one of the cambers in the back into a fug. Less modification to get this done and it's been proven to be very effect on this tank. Guys are keeping all kinds of stuff in their 28jbj.

I would save the space under the tank for an auto-top off system. That way you will have a complete automatic reef system and it will look all around clean.

[myjohnson]

Is it even necessary to have a refugium for this nano tank with such a foot print. If you do weekly water changes I would assume you could get away with it.

You really don't but this depends on the fish stock you have. More fish then more nirates so it would help a lot to have a fug.

I also think the corals health is really determined by water conditions. Some can be very picky and I would mod one of those chambers to a fug.

[tnguyen]

I have plan for a nano myself with just using a canister as a mechanical filtration and water changes weekly. Doing a nano with salt I think you have to be on top of your game otherwise it will crash.

[tnguyen]

Is it even necessary to have a refugium for this nano tank with such a foot print. If you do weekly water changes I would assume you could get away with it.

[Darbex]

Ok so couldnt I ghetto rig one and put a few gallon tank in the stand and return the water back up separately from the current filtration system?

[Darbex]

What I am looking to do is coral, clown, gobies, and maybe one of the other nano fish. I presume the purpose of the refug is added bacteria and algae cultures to help absorb the nitrogens?