Introduction:
Hallo Reefers,
This is my first reef tank. I've been lurking on RC for years now and more recently asking annoying questions I'm sure experienced reefers have heard hundreds of times. For many years I have dreamed of being able to keep fish and coral and it's only now that I have the financial capacity to do so. I also have a more personal objective in mind. My 5 year old daughter has a rare genetic condition called Trisomy 8 and was born completely deaf. Although she has had cochlear implants and is bright, she has trouble communicating among other things. She loves fish and the ocean. My main goal with the tank is to have something we can use as a cue to help develop her language skills and more importantly, something that we can share.
I also have a few guiding principles, the most important one being to keep the wife happy. That means making sure it is a good looking, neat, enclosed and quiet set-up. The second one is that I don't anticipate upgrading in the near future. The time is now. So I want the equipment to be solid and as far as is possible, high quality and fairly future proof. It helps that I love gadgets, tech and quality design.
So the German thing started out as a bit of a joke but seems to have snowballed as I have progressed in my planning. It started with deciding on powerheads. While the Vortech options are popular and no doubt very good products I was attracted to the Tunze Turbelles because of their durability and years of trusted use by so many reefers. I also like the ability to adjust the direction. This also lead to looking at the Tunze 9430 skimmer and it's ease of use. Once I had decided on them and started looking at a controller the GHL Profilux 4 made sense because it is pretty much plug and play with the Tunze products. So German tech and engineering it is.
It won't so much be a build as an assembly although I will customize some elements.
System Objectives: A beautiful mixed reef I can share with my daughter. Minimal aquascape. I'd like to keep some of the smaller tangs.
System Type: Mixed Reef
Display System: Cade Pro Reef 1500 - Arrived 2 months ago!
Strike up Date: TBC
Display Tank: 500 lt 5x2x2
Display Lighting: Likely 3 x GHL Mitras LX7
Stand: Cade Pro Reef
Hood: n/a
Sump: 4 section 200 lt
Refugium: Will be located in section 3 of the sump. Likely chaeto with a grow-light.
Refugium Lighting: Undecided - at this stage a Chinese made grow light pendant.
Support systems: I will be using marine pure blocks and macro algae for nutrient control/export.
2x 300w Eheim Jaeger heaters
I'll be building a return manifold for reactors and water changes.
I'm still hesitating a bit but I think I will get the GHL Profilux 4 as a controller. This won't be purchased until well after the tank is wet and cycled.
System Water: artificial salt water
Display Water circulation: 2 x Tunze Turbelle Stream 6105 (just arrived yesterday! purchased as new)
Return Pump: undecided
Skimmer: Tunze 9430
Evaporation Top Up: ATO built in to back wall of the Cade. The Cade comes with a gravity fed ATO with a float switch but I think I will upgrade this to a Tunze Osmolator for safety and control purposes. It technically can't dump more water than will fit in the sump but it would give me peace of mind.
Chemical Support: N/A (I think) Probably a reactor with carbon at some point.
Calcium Addition: Dosing via GHL 2.0 Slave
Alkilinity Addition: Dosing via GHL 2.0 Slave
Other Chemical Maintenance: Magnesium but undecided on further dosing or supplements until I have corals and fish.