Newbie looking for feedback

[Myka]

- UV makes the biopellets much less effective. Not recommended to run them together.
- Daily small WC is a waste of salt. Larger weekly or bi-weekly WC are much more effective.
- Don't skimp on a skimmer - if you want to save a few bucks find a used one rather than buying a cheaper one. If you're willing to put out the bucks for a Vertex Alpha, then just buy a Bubble King.
- Return flow should be 3-6x the total system volume. I like to be right around the 5-6x mark. If you're teeing off for reactors and such you'll need a bigger return obviously.
- An Achilles Tang will not be comfortable in a 180-gallon forever. Ask Marie. A 40-gallon tank is too small for a QT for it.
- Instead of spray bars I'd just use nozzles. Spray bars cut the flow down too much and take up too much space. Put the CL holes in the bottom pane, not the back, and point the nozzles towards the surface.

[WarDog]

Closed loop? Well good for you, going retro and all!

[Myka]

Closed loops are the bomb. I'm not sure why they have left fashion. I'd have one on my tank if I had room under it for the pump and all the plumbing.

[IanWR]

Originally Posted by Myka

- Daily small WC is a waste of salt. Larger weekly or bi-weekly WC are much more effective.

I'd like to respectfully disagree with this point. I remember reading a RHF article where he crunched the numbers on the effects of many smaller changes vs 1 large one. This article (thank you google): http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/

I think the take away was that 1 30% change a month removes 30% of nitrates (for example), and an infinite number of infinitely small changes that equal the same 30% over a month would reduce it by just under 26%. So you do lose 4% efficiency by continual water changes, but gain consistency and possible ease of maintenance.

You also lose the siphoning of the sand to remove gunk, but you can always do an extra change just for that.