getting back in the game...

[StevenSeas]

Are those tanks acrylic or glass? And does it matter? Plus I can't find them online. I found DSA tanks, but up to like 200gal, maybe 250. As for the sump--I'm looking for a lot more volume there. Maybe a 75-100gallon fuge and also a sump about the size that you describe--IF I can put it on the wall where I want it so that I can plumb through the wall to the garage and seal in a room in there for all this stuff. If not, I'll just have to do an under-tank sump like you described. Also, would you run UV all the time? I was told (way back when) to only run it if you had an algae bloom or ick, because it kills all the good stuff in the water too. And ozone? I've seen a little about it in the past couple of days, but have never seen it in use or had a recommendation to use it. What's the purpose? Don't know anything about GFO reactors. I assume carbon reactors are just a canister full of carbon? Won't that strip good stuff out of the water too? I like the dosing pump idea. What chemicals would you set up to automatically dose though? And I thought a Kalkwasser WAS a calcium reactor??? Is it for alkalinity? Definitely an outo-top-off system. And why LED's over MH's? And someone agrees with more smaller powerheads, I see. Sounded good to me. Sorry for my ignorance in some of these areas. I had an awesome tank at one point. I just want to make the "perfect" tank if I'm going to get into it again, and I've never had any of the reactors and other nice gadgets, so I'm completely unfamiliar with them!

Both companies will make custom tanks to any deminsions using glass. I would recommend going with a PVC hybrid bottom since the tank is 24+ deep that way if you drop a rock there is a whole lot less chance of the bottom breaking.

If you go with an in stand style sump the above sump system would work very well. It is basically (just larger) what I am running on one of my customers 200g tank and he his having amazing growth, and colors of corals and has a large amount of fish in there as well. If you have the space to do a larger system then thats great and will make life easier but a system like this would work wonders as well.

I recommend running UV all the time. If you have a proper flow through rate the larger animals such as copepods wont really be impacted. Also IMO when you turn it on just to fight a problem you are already in for a battle, I rather prevent losses rather than try to mitigate them. I think the good that it does outweighs the potential bad when you are considering how much you could possibly lose in livestock to ich or corals to an algae outbreak.

Ozone breaks down double carbon bonds in a large carbon chain. The larger the carbon chain is the easier it is for our eyes to pick it up and see it. So ozone breaks these compounds down into much smaller ones which does a couple of things: Makes the water visually clearer as well as leaves a "charged" carbon on the end of the chain which helps it attach better to the polar walls of the bubbles that are formed inside the skimmer. (basically turbo-charges the skimmer) Ozone also acts a little like hydrogen peroxide in that it does help some in fighting pathogens that may make their way into your tank.

GFO is short for Granular Ferric Oxide, which is basically a fancy form of iron rust that absorbs phosphates and to some extent silicates from the water. This helps prevent algal blooms

Carbon as you know absorbs dissolved organic compounds from the water which will result in clearer water with no "fishy" smell

A reactor is the most efficient way to run either of these chemical filtrants as it forces water to pass over each and every granule of filter media which greatly increases the surface area that is in contact with the water and will remove that much more "bad stuff" as well as last longer.

kalkwasser is a way to add calcium (and possibly mag and strontium depending on the kalk used) back into the system. A kalk reactor doesnt have any dosing regulation based on consumption, and is typically tied into the auto top off line. Since this is the case I typically use this to help maintain levels and then dose back up to the ideal level once a week or every 2 weeks depending on the calcium demand of the system.

Initailly I would dose:
Microbacter7
Reef Biofeul
Zooplanktos M or L (food for the LPS)

then once the chemical demands settle out and stay pretty even I would look at adding calcium, strontium, iodine, magnesium, alk, potassium, and trace elements

and dont worry the only way to learn in this hobby is ask and listen to everything with a grain of salt... and very careful planning before taking the plunge... But it is always going to be a fun ride