Preface: I've had a few FW tanks over the years growing up, and its about time for me to delve into the saltwater realm. I'm still early in the planning stage, probably will not purchase anything for at least a few more months, time I will be spending working on a few DIY projects and exercising my electrical engineering skills and researching aquariums and my desired species :) I'm not particularly interested in large or predatory fish, I would like to see some beautiful, colorful, biologically diverse setup with peaceful inhabitants. So, my goal is this:
Primary tank 50-90 gallons with:
My masterpiece illustrating the aprx setup:
As (I tried to) illustrated in the image, the primary tank will overflow into the secondary/refugium tank, which will overflow into the sump, which will pump water back into the main tank And here they are, my Questions; I asked some of these elsewhere but to no avail, so I figured I would ask here:
1) I have a few microcontrollers and a plethora of electronics and electronics experience and want to use those for some DIY stuffs; do many people have luck with setting up automatically monitored temp, pH and salinity probes? (was thinking about other monitors as well, but it looks like reliable, long lasting electronic probes for NH3/NH4, Calcium etc are expensive or unreliable or both)
2) For a quarantine tank, should I stock it with something living so it has a constant bioload? (I guess this depends on filtration method, so does purely mechanical or chemical filtration work for something like a quarantine tank?)
3) Is back-and-forth wave motion any better or even different than turbulent flow from several well positioned pumps or powerheads?
4) For nocturnal monitoring I would like to be able to look at my tanks without disrupting them, is red light less invasive for most ocean or reef dwelling animals?
5) I realize different corals and anemones have different lighting requirements, should I stick to vertical tank positioning of multiple smaller fixtures spaced laterally to do this job?
6) There any problems or concerns with the setup or anything I have left out or oversights on my part? And thanks in advance for any input :)
Primary tank 50-90 gallons with:
- Live rock
- Pair of clowns
- -With compatible anemone
- Small set (3-5?) of chromis or anthias or something small and schoolish
- Soft corals
- Eventually some LPS
- Possibly SPS down the road
- Large solo crustacean Or some shrimp Or starfish
- Live rock
- Mangroves for looks
- Possibly other plant life or macro algae for looks
- Protein skimmer
- Chaeto or other macro algae
- Pump
My masterpiece illustrating the aprx setup:
As (I tried to) illustrated in the image, the primary tank will overflow into the secondary/refugium tank, which will overflow into the sump, which will pump water back into the main tank And here they are, my Questions; I asked some of these elsewhere but to no avail, so I figured I would ask here:
1) I have a few microcontrollers and a plethora of electronics and electronics experience and want to use those for some DIY stuffs; do many people have luck with setting up automatically monitored temp, pH and salinity probes? (was thinking about other monitors as well, but it looks like reliable, long lasting electronic probes for NH3/NH4, Calcium etc are expensive or unreliable or both)
2) For a quarantine tank, should I stock it with something living so it has a constant bioload? (I guess this depends on filtration method, so does purely mechanical or chemical filtration work for something like a quarantine tank?)
3) Is back-and-forth wave motion any better or even different than turbulent flow from several well positioned pumps or powerheads?
4) For nocturnal monitoring I would like to be able to look at my tanks without disrupting them, is red light less invasive for most ocean or reef dwelling animals?
5) I realize different corals and anemones have different lighting requirements, should I stick to vertical tank positioning of multiple smaller fixtures spaced laterally to do this job?
6) There any problems or concerns with the setup or anything I have left out or oversights on my part? And thanks in advance for any input :)