OP
OP
Thanks, @Hydrored. Hat goes off to you, because I'm basing a lot of my build off of all your hard work ;-)
rsumner's 450gal Home Office Reef
- Monster Build
- Thread starter rsumner
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Thanks, @Hydrored. Hat goes off to you, because I'm basing a lot of my build off of all your hard work ;-)
OP
OP
My specs on display have changed a little from my original posts regarding this build. I'm going to go with 96L x 36W x 30T which is about 450 gallons. The 11ft tank introduced some challenges on placement in my room with regards to the windows on the perpendicular walls, so I decided to reduce it to 8ft, but go wider and deeper. I originally had concerns about going 30" deep, but I think I'm just going to live with the challenges of reaching the bottom of the tank when I need to.
So, the major challenge I have right now is deciding which builder to use for the display. I've narrowed it down to two options:
References
Glass Cages has hundreds of people that I can talk to about their tanks and Joe is a really great guy to work with thus far. I can easily find dozens of build threads on this forum and read reviews of those reefers giving positive reviews on Glass Cages. On the other hand, I'm limited to two people on this forum that I could find who have purchased an MRC aquarium and was only able to get one verbal positive review from one of them.
Warranty
MRC will only give me a 30 day warranty unless I use one of their steel stands. Glass Cages will warranty their tank for 1 year regardless if I use Framing Tech for the stand. I've read awesome reviews online of Glass Cages replacing tanks with no questions asked anytime there was a problem and even doing so after the 1 year warranty. I've got no references for MRC aquariums other than what the sales guy says.
Technology
The Glass Cages tank is tried-and-true 30+ year strategy in building stable tanks. MRC uses thinner glass because they use a solid PVC bottom and solid Acrylic top that are routed so the glass sits almost tongue-and-groove in the top of bottom of the tank. The MRC tank will definitely be lighter and some will say the solid bottom and solid eurobrace are "better". I've kinda drank the MRC cool-aid on this selling point, but I'm just not sure if it's just a way for them to cut costs or if its really materials that will last longer. <shrug>
Uggg...decisions, decisions.
So, the major challenge I have right now is deciding which builder to use for the display. I've narrowed it down to two options:
- Glass Cages - 3/4" Starfire glass on 3 panels and Starfire Eurobrace
- My Reef Creations (MRC) - 1/2" Low-Iron on 3 panels, a PVC bottom and Acrylic Eurobrace
References
Glass Cages has hundreds of people that I can talk to about their tanks and Joe is a really great guy to work with thus far. I can easily find dozens of build threads on this forum and read reviews of those reefers giving positive reviews on Glass Cages. On the other hand, I'm limited to two people on this forum that I could find who have purchased an MRC aquarium and was only able to get one verbal positive review from one of them.
Warranty
MRC will only give me a 30 day warranty unless I use one of their steel stands. Glass Cages will warranty their tank for 1 year regardless if I use Framing Tech for the stand. I've read awesome reviews online of Glass Cages replacing tanks with no questions asked anytime there was a problem and even doing so after the 1 year warranty. I've got no references for MRC aquariums other than what the sales guy says.
Technology
The Glass Cages tank is tried-and-true 30+ year strategy in building stable tanks. MRC uses thinner glass because they use a solid PVC bottom and solid Acrylic top that are routed so the glass sits almost tongue-and-groove in the top of bottom of the tank. The MRC tank will definitely be lighter and some will say the solid bottom and solid eurobrace are "better". I've kinda drank the MRC cool-aid on this selling point, but I'm just not sure if it's just a way for them to cut costs or if its really materials that will last longer. <shrug>
Uggg...decisions, decisions.
Last edited:
OP
OP
Well, after some long thought, I've decided to move forward with Glass Cages to build the tank. I had several conversations with well-respected people in the industry regarding the hybrid PVC/glass/acrylic tank building method that MRC uses and was warned to "avoid it" and trust the glass-on-glass methods that have been around for decades. Another significant contributing factor was that I really do prefer the flexibility and resistance to corrosion of t-slot aluminum stands over steel stands and MRC won't warranty the tank (beyond 30 days) unless I use their steel stand. Working with Joe over at Glass Cages to finalize a few of the remaining details and will hopefully get the tank ordered today.
Speaking of the stand, I ran into a few snags on the dimensions that required some modifications and another round of review with the engineering department at Framing Tech. The first was the dimensions of my side cabinets. I'm not sure if it was a lack of coffee or too much beer that day, but my measurements were off by 3" on the wall that I plan on putting the tank on. I also needed a little wiggle room on the right and left sides to leave room for the 80mm leveling feet that Framing Tech uses. The net is that each of my side cabinets were reduced by 3" in length to play it safe. Next, Framing Tech's engineering department spec'ed 45x90mm vertical supports for the main tank stand which chews up over 7" of space on the bottom shelf where the sump will sit. Since the main tank stand is 36" wide that left me with just shy of 29" of width for the sump to sit on the bottom shelf. Once I figured this out, I sent an urgent text John at Advanced Acrylics yesterday and let him know some changes to the dimensions of my sump, fuge, and ATO were coming. I hope to get final drawings from Framing Tech today so I can stop having heart burn about the sump. Lastly, I had Framing Tech add white HDPE panels on the bottom shelves and on top of the main tank stand. I could have probably sourced the HDPE sheets myself cheaper than having them add the panels, but having them cut it and offset all the mounting holes is well worth it to me. Here's a high level drawing they produced.
More to come as this wonderful journey unfolds.
Speaking of the stand, I ran into a few snags on the dimensions that required some modifications and another round of review with the engineering department at Framing Tech. The first was the dimensions of my side cabinets. I'm not sure if it was a lack of coffee or too much beer that day, but my measurements were off by 3" on the wall that I plan on putting the tank on. I also needed a little wiggle room on the right and left sides to leave room for the 80mm leveling feet that Framing Tech uses. The net is that each of my side cabinets were reduced by 3" in length to play it safe. Next, Framing Tech's engineering department spec'ed 45x90mm vertical supports for the main tank stand which chews up over 7" of space on the bottom shelf where the sump will sit. Since the main tank stand is 36" wide that left me with just shy of 29" of width for the sump to sit on the bottom shelf. Once I figured this out, I sent an urgent text John at Advanced Acrylics yesterday and let him know some changes to the dimensions of my sump, fuge, and ATO were coming. I hope to get final drawings from Framing Tech today so I can stop having heart burn about the sump. Lastly, I had Framing Tech add white HDPE panels on the bottom shelves and on top of the main tank stand. I could have probably sourced the HDPE sheets myself cheaper than having them add the panels, but having them cut it and offset all the mounting holes is well worth it to me. Here's a high level drawing they produced.
More to come as this wonderful journey unfolds.
OP
OP
Today is an exciting day! I finally placed the order with @Joe Glass Cages at Glass Cages for the tank. Specs:
- Dimensions: 96"L x 36"W x 30"T
- Glass: 3/4" thick Starfire Low-Iron on the front and side panels
- Perimeter and Cross Eurobrace: 3" W x 3/4" thick Starfire Low-Iron
- Silicon: Black w/Concealed Waterline and Vertical Seam Guards
- Overflows: 2 x 16" Synergy Reef Shadow V3's (tucked under the perimeter glass)
- Returns: 4 x 1"
Today is an exciting day! I finally placed the order with @Joe Glass Cages at Glass Cages for the tank. Specs:
Here's my lame rendition of what it will look like.
- Dimensions: 96"L x 36"W x 30"T
- Glass: 3/4" thick Starfire Low-Iron on the front and side panels
- Perimeter and Cross Eurobrace: 3" W x 3/4" thick Starfire Low-Iron
- Silicon: Black w/Concealed Waterline and Vertical Seam Guards
- Overflows: 2 x 16" Synergy Reef Shadow V3's (tucked under the perimeter glass)
- Returns: 4 x 1"
@Joe Glass Cages will take good care of you. I couldn't be happier with my tank. Congrats!
so exciting! thanks so much for sharing @rsumnerToday is an exciting day! I finally placed the order with @Joe Glass Cages at Glass Cages for the tank. Specs:
Here's my lame rendition of what it will look like.
- Dimensions: 96"L x 36"W x 30"T
- Glass: 3/4" thick Starfire Low-Iron on the front and side panels
- Perimeter and Cross Eurobrace: 3" W x 3/4" thick Starfire Low-Iron
- Silicon: Black w/Concealed Waterline and Vertical Seam Guards
- Overflows: 2 x 16" Synergy Reef Shadow V3's (tucked under the perimeter glass)
- Returns: 4 x 1"
very honored for us to build this for you!
OP
OP
Let's talk lighting. I really love the look and spread the Orphek Atlantik panels provide. I've also been really successful on my 100 gallon tank mixing AI32's and T5's, so I'm hoping to go full LED on this new build and I feel the Orphek will get into all the nooks and crannies.
I'm thinking of starting with 5 panels mounted sideways (long side of the panel is going front to back on the tank). This should provide the 36" front-to-back coverage on my tank without issue and mounting them 18" on center should provide coverage across the length of the tank also. I'll build a custom 15-series t-slot mounting frame to suspend them from similar to what @Hydrored did on his build. I do worry about the Orphek being able to reach to the bottom of a 30" deep tank, but I guess I can always add one or two more panels if find PAR is substandard at the sand. 6 panels would use a 15" mounting spread and 7 panels would use a 12" mounting spread. Considering the lights are 9.3" wide, going with 7 panels would only leave about 2.7" between them -- tight squeeze.
Orphek has a sale on their website right now and no sales tax if I order from them vs BRS. Hrmmm, I wonder if the wife would notice another $4600 charge on the Amex.
I'm thinking of starting with 5 panels mounted sideways (long side of the panel is going front to back on the tank). This should provide the 36" front-to-back coverage on my tank without issue and mounting them 18" on center should provide coverage across the length of the tank also. I'll build a custom 15-series t-slot mounting frame to suspend them from similar to what @Hydrored did on his build. I do worry about the Orphek being able to reach to the bottom of a 30" deep tank, but I guess I can always add one or two more panels if find PAR is substandard at the sand. 6 panels would use a 15" mounting spread and 7 panels would use a 12" mounting spread. Considering the lights are 9.3" wide, going with 7 panels would only leave about 2.7" between them -- tight squeeze.
Orphek has a sale on their website right now and no sales tax if I order from them vs BRS. Hrmmm, I wonder if the wife would notice another $4600 charge on the Amex.
Last edited:
Let's talk lighting. I really love the look and spread the Orphek Atlantik panels provide. I've also been really successful on my 100 gallon tank mixing AI32's and T5's, so I'm hoping to go full LED on this new build and I feel the Orphek will get into all the nooks and crannies.
I'm thinking of starting with 5 panels mounted sideways (long side of the panel is going front to back on the tank). This should provide the 36" front-to-back coverage on my tank without issue and mounting them 18" on center should provide coverage across the length of the tank also. I'll build a custom 15-series t-slot mounting frame to suspend them from similar to what @Hydrored did on his build. I do worry about the Orphek being able to reach to the bottom of a 30" deep tank, but I guess I can always add one or two more panels if find PAR is substandard at the sand. 6 panels would use a 15" mounting spread and 7 panels would use a 12" mounting spread. Considering the lights are 9.3" wide, going with 7 panels would only leave about 2.7" between them -- tight squeeze.
Orphek has a sale on their website right now and no sales tax if I order from them vs BRS. Hrmmm, I wonder if the wife would notice another $4600 charge on the Amex.
I wouldn’t worry about the Orpheks hitting the bottom of a 30” deep tank. Mine are suspended 18” from the top of my tank peaking at 45%
McPuff
Valuable Member
Definitely a good plan in my opinion. 5 fixtures will be a great amount of light. I've got 3 over my 72" x 36" and they do a wonderful job. I did supplement with OR bars but more because of the frames than anything else. They are great lights!Let's talk lighting. I really love the look and spread the Orphek Atlantik panels provide. I've also been really successful on my 100 gallon tank mixing AI32's and T5's, so I'm hoping to go full LED on this new build and I feel the Orphek will get into all the nooks and crannies.
I'm thinking of starting with 5 panels mounted sideways (long side of the panel is going front to back on the tank). This should provide the 36" front-to-back coverage on my tank without issue and mounting them 18" on center should provide coverage across the length of the tank also. I'll build a custom 15-series t-slot mounting frame to suspend them from similar to what @Hydrored did on his build. I do worry about the Orphek being able to reach to the bottom of a 30" deep tank, but I guess I can always add one or two more panels if find PAR is substandard at the sand. 6 panels would use a 15" mounting spread and 7 panels would use a 12" mounting spread. Considering the lights are 9.3" wide, going with 7 panels would only leave about 2.7" between them -- tight squeeze.
Orphek has a sale on their website right now and no sales tax if I order from them vs BRS. Hrmmm, I wonder if the wife would notice another $4600 charge on the Amex.
OP
OP
@Orphek is absolutely awesome. I ordered the 5 Atlantik iCon panels this morning directly on their website. A sales rep from Orphek contacted me personally thanking me for my order, introducing himself, and offering any assistance I may need now or in the future. I noticed that Orphek has refugium lighting also, so I contacted them for more details and recommendations on the spectrum and spread I was hoping to achieve. I got a prompt response and ordered 2 of their OR3 60 Red Grow Plus and 1 of their OR3 60 Blue Grow Plus LED bars for my refugium. Everything should ship tomorrow.
Last edited:
McPuff
Valuable Member
I have had nothing but positive experiences with Orphek customer service. Thankfully, they have a distributor here in Michigan so it takes very little time to get my orders. :0)
OP
OP
Next on my list of equipment to OCD about is the skimmer. I haven't skimped elsewhere, so why would I start with the skimmer? I'm going to go with a Royal Exclusiv Bubble King, so I have to identify which model and size. I like the ability to control the skimmer pump speed via my Apex during feedings and sock changes, but that's not an absolute requirement. To control the pump's speed via the Apex, you have to go with a model that uses their Red Dragon 3 Speedy pump. Looking at the various models that can support a 450 gallon aquarium, I have the following options:
* Double Cone: 300 (uses Red Dragon X DC 24V pump which is not controllable by the Apex)
* Deluxe: 250 or 300
* Super Marin: 200, 250 or 300
So, let's break down each:
Double Cone
I do prefer more gentle/dry/thick skimming and usually run my skimmer on my 100 gallon this way, but would love the ability to "go wet" at times when I need to which I'm not sure I'll be able to easily do with the Double Cone. The Double Cone 300 is the only model that would support my tank and since it doesn't use the RD3 Speedy pump, I wouldn't be able to control the speed with my Apex. I could, however, easily turn it off and on with an EB832 port during automated feed mode. The Red Dragon X DC 24V pump is limited to 8 power levels. The water level on the Double Cone will support the water levels that I will run in my sump and it will have no problems fitting under the stand. The $1600 price tag is nice though.
Deluxe
I love the flexibility the Deluxe provides in being able to chose wet or dry skimming. I usually opt for fairly dry skimming anyways, but I do adjust it a little wetter after my snails spawn or I turn over my sand. I emailed Royal Exclusiv asking which Deluxe model I should consider. I provided them details that I would be running a large refugium and filter socks and they suggested the Deluxe 250, but I'm not sure if I got a response from someone that truly assessed my overall needs or just took the "middle of the road" approach to giving me the quickest answer . I know I've read in the past that you should always assume "low" or "medium" bioload for BK's when you've incorporated additional filtration methods, but I would hate to undersize especially considering the Deluxe 300 is only about $100 more than the 250. What makes the 300 even sweeter is that it's actually in-stock on both BRS and directly with Royal Exclussiv where the 250 is backordered everywhere. The price tag is steep at $2200, but willing to spend it for the flexibility.
Super Marin
I've never been a fan of running my skimmer wet because I've always had a lot of other filtration methods deployed and I usually like to run carbon at least once a month. Refugiums don't really help with organics and in some cases they actually produce more organics, so I don't want to exclude the Super Marin even though the term "sledgehammer" does scare me a bit. ;-) Following the same suggestion that Royal Exclusiv provided me to undersize the Deluxe, I guess I would go with the 200 which does have a RD3 pump option albeit backordered. Again, a nice $1600 price tag compared to the Deluxe.
Some things to noodle on but would appreciate any feedback from those who have struggled with this dilemma.
* Double Cone: 300 (uses Red Dragon X DC 24V pump which is not controllable by the Apex)
* Deluxe: 250 or 300
* Super Marin: 200, 250 or 300
So, let's break down each:
Double Cone
I do prefer more gentle/dry/thick skimming and usually run my skimmer on my 100 gallon this way, but would love the ability to "go wet" at times when I need to which I'm not sure I'll be able to easily do with the Double Cone. The Double Cone 300 is the only model that would support my tank and since it doesn't use the RD3 Speedy pump, I wouldn't be able to control the speed with my Apex. I could, however, easily turn it off and on with an EB832 port during automated feed mode. The Red Dragon X DC 24V pump is limited to 8 power levels. The water level on the Double Cone will support the water levels that I will run in my sump and it will have no problems fitting under the stand. The $1600 price tag is nice though.
Deluxe
I love the flexibility the Deluxe provides in being able to chose wet or dry skimming. I usually opt for fairly dry skimming anyways, but I do adjust it a little wetter after my snails spawn or I turn over my sand. I emailed Royal Exclusiv asking which Deluxe model I should consider. I provided them details that I would be running a large refugium and filter socks and they suggested the Deluxe 250, but I'm not sure if I got a response from someone that truly assessed my overall needs or just took the "middle of the road" approach to giving me the quickest answer . I know I've read in the past that you should always assume "low" or "medium" bioload for BK's when you've incorporated additional filtration methods, but I would hate to undersize especially considering the Deluxe 300 is only about $100 more than the 250. What makes the 300 even sweeter is that it's actually in-stock on both BRS and directly with Royal Exclussiv where the 250 is backordered everywhere. The price tag is steep at $2200, but willing to spend it for the flexibility.
Super Marin
I've never been a fan of running my skimmer wet because I've always had a lot of other filtration methods deployed and I usually like to run carbon at least once a month. Refugiums don't really help with organics and in some cases they actually produce more organics, so I don't want to exclude the Super Marin even though the term "sledgehammer" does scare me a bit. ;-) Following the same suggestion that Royal Exclusiv provided me to undersize the Deluxe, I guess I would go with the 200 which does have a RD3 pump option albeit backordered. Again, a nice $1600 price tag compared to the Deluxe.
Some things to noodle on but would appreciate any feedback from those who have struggled with this dilemma.
OP
OP
The last two weeks have been a bit stressful with finalizing the stand and sump and thinking about equipment 24x7. Some updates:
Stand
I had Framing Tech remove the side cabinets from the stand design. I was still unsure on the exact dimensions that I wanted the side cabinets to be since I hadn't finalized what equipment I was going to need to store in them. Their original design utilized 90x90 profiles on the lower frame which was chewing-up about 7" of space within the cabinet where the sump would be. I really didn't want to reduce the size of my sump, so I had them work on a design that would allow me to use 45x45 profiles on the bottom by adding support gussets. They're still supplying the HDPE panels for the top and bottom. I placed the order for the stand last Thursday and they said it would take about 3 weeks to get done. Final rendition is below.
Sump
After I got the final dimensions from Framing Tech, I was able to focus on the sump and refugium for a few days to make sure I was going to have the space for overflows and equipment. Due to the addition of the gussets and my concern for needing to limit the length and width of the side stands, I decided to move the refugium into the sump and move the skimmer out forcing me to use an external skimmer (which I kinda liked the idea of the entire time). To get the refugium up to the 90 gallons that I wanted, I had to increase the size of the sump to fill the entire cabinet space. Final dimensions are 90"L x 30"W and 20"H. John over at Advanced Acrylics was happy to accommodate the change, but the freight charges nearly doubled due to going from a 6ft crate to a 8ft crate. The final layout is below including side and top views.
Lights
The lights from Orphek finally arrived. Despite them telling me that everything was in-stock here in the US, all the shipments came from Hong Kong. I think there were a total of 7 different deliveries from two different carriers. This was a little stressful, but the 5 Atlantik iCons and 3 refugium lights arrived with no problems. Now I get to stare at them in the box for another month waiting for the tank build to be complete.
Skimmer
Making the decision to use an external skimmer vs internal skimmer wasn't an easy one, but it had to happen because I decided to move the external refugium into the sump. Once you get into the world of high-end external skimmers, your options for quality and customization drastically outweighs those available for internal skimmers. By moving the skimmer outside the stand, I was no longer constrained to having to find something less than 30" tall. After a ton of research and talking to a half dozen vendors, I decided to go with the RK2 RK5AC Foam Fractionator. Working with Aquatic Solutions (out of Iowa) as the distributor and the great guys at RK2, we designed a custom/upgraded RK5AC with the following features:
Pumps
I went with two Abyzz A200 return pumps and a A100 pump to feed water to the skimmer and my calcium reactor (will build a small manifold for this). The A200's will also have the Abyzz Apex 10V adapters with them so I can control the power level of the return pumps completely with the Apex.
UV
I went with Lifegard Aquatics Pro-Max High Output UV Sterilizers. Specifically I got two of their 3" 55W units and one of the 3" 90W units. This will give me a total of 200W of UV and the flexibility of being able to split each unit to different pumps changing the flow automatically as I want during the day or night using schedules on the Apex. My initial strategy is to run the 55W units at about 1400GPH each driven by the each of the Abyzz A200's. This should provide 45,000 uw/cm2 with over a 6X hourly turnover rate. Algae and bacteria will have no chance. I plan on running the 90W on a different pump (probably a basic Sicce) at 450GPH. This should provide me with 180,000 uw/cm2 with 1X hourly turnover. Die Protozoa!
That's it for now.
Stand
I had Framing Tech remove the side cabinets from the stand design. I was still unsure on the exact dimensions that I wanted the side cabinets to be since I hadn't finalized what equipment I was going to need to store in them. Their original design utilized 90x90 profiles on the lower frame which was chewing-up about 7" of space within the cabinet where the sump would be. I really didn't want to reduce the size of my sump, so I had them work on a design that would allow me to use 45x45 profiles on the bottom by adding support gussets. They're still supplying the HDPE panels for the top and bottom. I placed the order for the stand last Thursday and they said it would take about 3 weeks to get done. Final rendition is below.
Sump
After I got the final dimensions from Framing Tech, I was able to focus on the sump and refugium for a few days to make sure I was going to have the space for overflows and equipment. Due to the addition of the gussets and my concern for needing to limit the length and width of the side stands, I decided to move the refugium into the sump and move the skimmer out forcing me to use an external skimmer (which I kinda liked the idea of the entire time). To get the refugium up to the 90 gallons that I wanted, I had to increase the size of the sump to fill the entire cabinet space. Final dimensions are 90"L x 30"W and 20"H. John over at Advanced Acrylics was happy to accommodate the change, but the freight charges nearly doubled due to going from a 6ft crate to a 8ft crate. The final layout is below including side and top views.
Lights
The lights from Orphek finally arrived. Despite them telling me that everything was in-stock here in the US, all the shipments came from Hong Kong. I think there were a total of 7 different deliveries from two different carriers. This was a little stressful, but the 5 Atlantik iCons and 3 refugium lights arrived with no problems. Now I get to stare at them in the box for another month waiting for the tank build to be complete.
Skimmer
Making the decision to use an external skimmer vs internal skimmer wasn't an easy one, but it had to happen because I decided to move the external refugium into the sump. Once you get into the world of high-end external skimmers, your options for quality and customization drastically outweighs those available for internal skimmers. By moving the skimmer outside the stand, I was no longer constrained to having to find something less than 30" tall. After a ton of research and talking to a half dozen vendors, I decided to go with the RK2 RK5AC Foam Fractionator. Working with Aquatic Solutions (out of Iowa) as the distributor and the great guys at RK2, we designed a custom/upgraded RK5AC with the following features:
- Abyzz A200 venturi pump. This was an upgrade from the standard 1/8HP magdrive pump. I did this mainly because I know, without a doubt, the Abyzz is completely silent and it's about 1/2 the size of the magdrive.
- Hayward tru union ball valves and schedule 80 plumbing
- Custom 24v DC solenoids to allow me to completely automate the skimmer cup and venturi washdown system with my Apex. NO MORE CLEANING A SKIMMER CUP!!!! The inside of the foam collection neck and the venturi is cleaned using pressurized water within the skimmer body and relies on the Abyzz A200 pump to provide that high pressure. The outside of the foam collection neck is cleaned with freshwater and then pushed out a drain line. I'll setup schedules within my Apex to handle all of this without me having to touch a thing.
Pumps
I went with two Abyzz A200 return pumps and a A100 pump to feed water to the skimmer and my calcium reactor (will build a small manifold for this). The A200's will also have the Abyzz Apex 10V adapters with them so I can control the power level of the return pumps completely with the Apex.
UV
I went with Lifegard Aquatics Pro-Max High Output UV Sterilizers. Specifically I got two of their 3" 55W units and one of the 3" 90W units. This will give me a total of 200W of UV and the flexibility of being able to split each unit to different pumps changing the flow automatically as I want during the day or night using schedules on the Apex. My initial strategy is to run the 55W units at about 1400GPH each driven by the each of the Abyzz A200's. This should provide 45,000 uw/cm2 with over a 6X hourly turnover rate. Algae and bacteria will have no chance. I plan on running the 90W on a different pump (probably a basic Sicce) at 450GPH. This should provide me with 180,000 uw/cm2 with 1X hourly turnover. Die Protozoa!
That's it for now.
Did MRC happen to explain how the glass and PVC joint would bond and seal? The dado in the PVC makes structural sense but I don’t know what they use to seal it.
OP
OP
No, everything was very secretive when dealing with them. I actually had to get an explanation about the pVC bottom from one of the two reefers on this forum that I could find who’ve actually purchased a MRC tank.
Last edited:
Similar threads
