Alright so its about time I upgrade my tank
I am in no rush and I am going to do things slowly (I hope
) and very well planned. I have some limitations that I have to abide by:
1. Space: I cant have a biggy biggy tank
2. Budget: I am constrained by this valuable parameter but oh well, things should be able to be done
3. Lighting: Since I have a 4bulb T5HO light from odyssea (hence not individual reflector), I have to use it
SO!
Tank size:
I have been thinking to have a nice foot print so that I can keep some nice fishes this time instead of just concentrating on corals (where are the tang police?! I am planning on keeping a tang!) like anthias and a tini tiny tang (tomini perhaps). Since I dont have large space and I want to use my existing light, I have chosen a decent footprint:
40" x 15" x 14"
The legs of the light can be extended up to like 42" or something so I chose 40". I limited the width and height to 15" and 14" since my light, not being of individual reflectors, has some limitation and I dont like high tanks.
Sump:
Time to get things the right way using sump! This is where I need to do a lot of studying since sumps have always intimidated me! I am going to have a refugium, a skimmer chamber and a return chamber. I really don't want to run any reactor right now so I was thinking of putting a smaller chamber between skimmer and refuge for medias like carbon and phosguard. Refugium light is going to be the same light that I am already using for my refuge mod; a coralife mini.
Now I am a bit confused about skimmer over here. I already have a remora which can hold upto 70 gallon. Since I am going to incorporate sump, I am thinking whether I should use the existing remora in the skimmer area (maybe invest in a skimmer later since I don't want to take a big hit right now). Like I said, I want to use as many things as possible which I already have.
Aquascaping:
This is where I will try to be creative. One rule of thumb: NO DRY ROCK! I am a big believer in live rock. Till now, I have planned to make something like U shaped aquascape with flat rocks at the top.
Content:
I am thinking about leaning towards mixed reef for this tank also since I like to keep things diverse
Very little softies: going to stick to rics and zoas only. LPS that I already have other than the torch since it takes away lots of good places. SPS is going to be mostly montis, birdnests and few "easy to keep" acros which would be compatible with my lighting.
Maintenance:
Now this is where I am going to concentrate most. My current tank is a bit on the heavy maintenance side (dosing and cleaning the glass every other day) so it is not the most "being away" friendly type tank. Hence, for this one, I am going to make sure that I only have to clean skimmer, change water biweekly maybe and feed! And big maintenance (filling up dosing if needed and things like that) maybe once a month.
So this is my whole scenario for now. As always, suggestions, comments and flaming are welcome