Want to Start a Marine Aquarium?: A Step by Step Guide

[floydss]

so how big of pumps do I need?? I need pumps for my 10 gallon starter and pumps for my 90 gallon? I can't find any formula i heard something like you need the water to turn over 35- 50 times but i dont know how many gph ineed

[ZachStep]

I believe as long as you turn the water over 10 times an hour you should be ok. Which would mean a 100 gph pump for the 10 gallon and 900 for the 90. But I have heard more is better.

[NeveSSL]

Originally posted by ZachStep
I believe as long as you turn the water over 10 times an hour you should be ok. Which would mean a 100 gph pump for the 10 gallon and 900 for the 90. But I have heard more is better.

From what I understand, this is generally true. However, that doesn't mean that a 100 gph pump will be ideal for your tank... because you also have to factor in head loss, or the loss of power from the pump having to push the water up back into the tank.

If you'd like to know the head loss (IE, how much extra GPH to buy to make sure your tank is being turned over enough), theres a head loss calculator on the homepage of reefcentral.

Brandon

[Travis L. Stevens]

so how big of pumps do I need?? I need pumps for my 10 gallon starter and pumps for my 90 gallon? I can't find any formula i heard something like you need the water to turn over 35- 50 times but i dont know how many gph ineed

It mainly depends on what you want to keep. Also, there is no real formula to help you out. The largest factors are the strength of flow, the type of flow, and the direction of flow. You could have a really low flow tank, but you may have to look into chaotic water movement more than laminar.

Another factor is Head Loss, which Brandon explained. And still another factor is how you are going to plumb it. Are you going to do a manifold, a spray bar, multiple outlers, or a simple single outlet? Are you willing to supplement the flow with powerheads? Some people would rather have a single large, powerful pump to push multiple outlets and not have any powerheads visible. They strive for that clean look. You will also need to look at what you are keeping. Things like Acropora will need a drastically higher amount of flow than something like a Plrogyra (Bubble Coral) which could get damaged in that high of flow.

[WaterKeeper]

And once you get your tank plumbed then you can figure out which pump is best using the Head Loss Calculator

and

Hi Brandon

To Reef Central

[floydss]

as this will be my first sw tank I don't know what i plan to keep besides fish right now maybe some coral but dont know much about them yet. I will probably plum it with two outputs in the tank (one off each corner) dont know much about powerheads (benfits/downfalls) but want a clean tank. prolly have a decent amount of live rock but then again i am trying to do everything as cheap as possible. I want to build a skimmer with a venturi but dont really know how big of pipe or how tall i should make it. Is more better or not because i can make one 6 feet tall as I will have a tank room in the basement. and how much live rock does one need to get good filtration???? Thanks for not ignoring me anymore and this is an aswome thread

[WaterKeeper]

You bet your booty. With skimmers taller is better. Modern skimmers use all sorts of tricks to make the bubbles contact the water as long as possible. However, for a simple to make skimmer the tall configuration allow sufficient contact time without using a lot of high tech. Search around on our DIY forum to see some designs. A simple tall tube with a pump and air pump can make a pretty decent system. See Skimmer Basics for more.

[Paul B]

My PVC skimmer was probably about $15.00 to build. That 4" PVC from Home Depot was about $5.00 for 10'. It is drainage tube and it is much thinner than regular PVC pipe. There is a piece of acrylic tube near the top so you can see the bubbles.
The rest of it are regular PVC fittings. It has been working beautifully for many years although not as nice looking as most of the homemade skimmers here. I went for functionality more than beauty. The venturi was made out of a 3/4" vinyl barb fitting for about 60 cents. There are two pumps running this skimmer and it empties into a five gallon bucket with an overflow switch that shuts off the system in case of overflow which only happened once when 24 urchins spawned at the same time.
Have fun.
Paul

[floydss]

so when you say you have 2 pumps running it you have two inlets or one in one out??? do you have to regulate how much air goes into the venturi I have the basic idea of how to build it but trying to figure out how to tune it! from what i can come up with is the amount of flow from pump and the amount of air are the ways to tune it! do you need a air pump with a venturi or not it seems that they are just a valve with a hole in it i have read tons of diy plans and can't find anywhere it says you need an airpump but thought i would ask!

[ionredline0260]

Originally posted by Travis L. Stevens

To Reef Central

Welcome Fellow Oklahoman! Have you looked at the COMAS and OMAS forums? Send me a PM and I can give you a hand.

Long time ago that was posted but I havn't read all 37 pages. I'm in Sooner Country

[NeveSSL]

Originally posted by floydss
as this will be my first sw tank I don't know what i plan to keep besides fish right now maybe some coral but dont know much about them yet. ...

This reminds me... is there a good article that is an intro to corals? I need to learn some more so I can plan my tank. My wife gave me the go ahead today to do it, so I'm planning on probably doing it in the spring and summer, but I want to know exactly what I need and want by then.

Thanks!

Brandon

[Paul B]

Floydss, I have to have an air pump running this skimmer because it is five feet tall and it is too hard for the venturi to suck air that far below the water level. Also my circulation pump
(you can see hoses going to it on the bottom) is kind of weak. If you have a strong enough pump you may not need an air pump. To adjust the water level in this skimmer I first adjusted the powerhead outlet which is in the tank. Most powewrheads have a rough controller on them. The finer adjustments are made from a homemade valve on the outlet of the skimmer where the water re-enters the tank. I never have to touch the pump in the tank and rarely touch the fine controller either.
You can see a 3/8" sight glass on the upper portion of the skimmer so I can see the exact level of the water. If the entire thing was built out of acrylic I would not need that but that would make the skimmer many times more expensive.
The skimmer should be entirely filled with tiny bubbles to run correctly. You need enough air to acomplish that. More would be better.
Paul

[robinnight]

ok, I have read for hours. I get everything except how to set up the sump. I am lost after I drill a hole in the tank and attach the pvc pipe on the inside and outside. I just don't understand about "return". The best way I know how to say it is I've built the stand and the aquarium has been drilled and the other stuff is installed I just don't understand how to connect the tank to the sump on the bottom. If you could possibly be as descriptive as possible it would be enormously appreciated.

CAn

[first-chevalier]

I've started my tank project and a new thread found here:

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1023218

If I foul up the posting etiquett I apologize. Thanks for all your help so far. I'm sure I'm going to be asking for more soon.

[NeveSSL]

Originally posted by robinnight
ok, I have read for hours. I get everything except how to set up the sump. I am lost after I drill a hole in the tank and attach the pvc pipe on the inside and outside. I just don't understand about "return". The best way I know how to say it is I've built the stand and the aquarium has been drilled and the other stuff is installed I just don't understand how to connect the tank to the sump on the bottom. If you could possibly be as descriptive as possible it would be enormously appreciated.

CAn

Check here: http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html

Great info and some illustrations as well.

Brandon

[robinnight]

Thanks NeveSSL for the info.

[heatherm]

I too have been avidly following Travis's Saga and have made some first steps on the journey.

I have cut a hole in the glass with a dremel/rotary tool and the glass didn't break!

I am just about to silicone the overflow on and thought I would share my problems in finding 6" pvc pipe. I couldn't find any at all. (Don't send me to Lowes cause we don't have it here in New Zealand ).

I did find some 4" which I cut down one side and slowly using a hairdryer spread it into a semicircle. It wasn't fast enough so I put it in the oven at 150C and watched really carefully. It flatened out into a sheet that turned out to be easy to handle and mold. I molded it against the side of the bath because it had a nice curve.

So now I have what looks like a section of 2' pipe. It worked well giving me lots of surface contact but it only comes out from the back by about 2".

[Violet]

I am new to reefing, but after a week of reading this thread, I am learning alot very quickly. The only prob is I wish I would have found this before I set my tank up. Travis I must say you are a real asset to RC. My question is similar to floydss. I am trying to determine if I have enough flow in my tank. I was told I only needed to turn over my water volume 4 times per hour, after reading this thread, i think I was definately told wrong. Since I am new to this, I don't know exactly which corals I want to keep, I know i am limited with the lighting I have. I would like to keep soft corals, anemones, and some of the LPS. What is the suggested flow rate for those? Right now I am using powerheads with FLO rotating deflectors and a natural wave timer. (3 powerheads 160 gph each) The return line from the sump has two outlets that are laminar flow. The return pump from the sump is only 400 gph (after figuring in the angles and head loss). Is this enough flow or Should the return pump be bigger?

75 gal reef/ 30 gal sump/ compact lighting 384 watts 4 lunar lights

Thanks for your help!

[kau_cinta_ku]

with that lighting stay away from anemones. but you would want around 20x turn over.

[danch]

FWIW (see my "Hobby Experience" and judge that value for yourself ), I'm planning on a pair of Seieo 1100s and my return pushing mabye 400-500 gph for my 75G LPS tank.

That might be more than is really needed for a lot of LPS, but I want to make sure I'm pushing surface scum toward my overflow and I want to be moving water through the rockwork to keep stuff in suspension.

[Travis L. Stevens]

ok, I have read for hours. I get everything except how to set up the sump. I am lost after I drill a hole in the tank and attach the pvc pipe on the inside and outside. I just don't understand about "return". The best way I know how to say it is I've built the stand and the aquarium has been drilled and the other stuff is installed I just don't understand how to connect the tank to the sump on the bottom. If you could possibly be as descriptive as possible it would be enormously appreciated.

It's easy to overcomplicate things, and I understand where the confusion is coming in from. The help of others should have covered your questions, but in case it didn't I'll explain it a little better.

First, let's start with the Display Tank. Water will flow over and through the teeth in the overflow, fill up behind the overflow, and then spill through the hole you drilled. Now, you have a bulkhead attached so you can plumb something to direct the water to the sump. Using my tank as an example, there is a hose that is attached to the bulkhead in the back of the tank. The water will travel down this hose, out the hose, and into the sump (or anything else you have down there). This is half of the battle. Now, the other half is a matter of getting the water back up into the display tank. You can do this with a water pump. It can either be submerisble where you drop it in the sump under water, or it can be external where you have another hole in the sump and you plumb the hole to the pump. From the pump, you'll have plumbing attached from the outlet to go up to the tank. From there, there are a lot of options on how the water can come out. To make it as simple as possible, just have it come up and over the rim of the tank, and have the water from the return pump shoot in. As the water returns in the Display Tank, it will fill the tank up and the water will spill over the overflow, down the back, into the drain, and then the process will continuosly repeat itself. Tah Dah!

I've started my tank project and a new thread found here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showt...hreadid=1023218

If I foul up the posting etiquett I apologize. Thanks for all your help so far. I'm sure I'm going to be asking for more soon.

Looks great so far. I'll follow the best that I can.

I too have been avidly following Travis's Saga and have made some first steps on the journey.

I have cut a hole in the glass with a dremel/rotary tool and the glass didn't break!

That's a great start!

I am just about to silicone the overflow on and thought I would share my problems in finding 6" pvc pipe. I couldn't find any at all. (Don't send me to Lowes cause we don't have it here in New Zealand ).

I did find some 4" which I cut down one side and slowly using a hairdryer spread it into a semicircle. It wasn't fast enough so I put it in the oven at 150C and watched really carefully. It flatened out into a sheet that turned out to be easy to handle and mold. I molded it against the side of the bath because it had a nice curve.

So now I have what looks like a section of 2' pipe. It worked well giving me lots of surface contact but it only comes out from the back by about 2".

Sounds good. I will eventually include a new section on overflows when I revamp the first step. It will include working with acrylic so you can make any size overflow that you want.

I am new to reefing, but after a week of reading this thread, I am learning alot very quickly. The only prob is I wish I would have found this before I set my tank up. Travis I must say you are a real asset to RC. My question is similar to floydss. I am trying to determine if I have enough flow in my tank. I was told I only needed to turn over my water volume 4 times per hour, after reading this thread, i think I was definately told wrong. Since I am new to this, I don't know exactly which corals I want to keep, I know i am limited with the lighting I have. I would like to keep soft corals, anemones, and some of the LPS. What is the suggested flow rate for those? Right now I am using powerheads with FLO rotating deflectors and a natural wave timer. (3 powerheads 160 gph each) The return line from the sump has two outlets that are laminar flow. The return pump from the sump is only 400 gph (after figuring in the angles and head loss). Is this enough flow or Should the return pump be bigger?

It REALLY depends on which corals you want to keep. You'll really need to narrow items down to at least Genus level if possible. Just to use you and your question as an example, LPS is a very broad and general category. On top of that, it's used only in the hobby and every person's perception of the category differs. On top of that, each hobby related category contains corals that like very low flow to some that prefer to nearly be blasted with flow. On top of that, each also has other preferences as well, such as lighting, feeding, and soon.

Now, to directly answer a few more questions, we'll need to at least know what size tank we are talking about and a more defined amount of things that you want to keep. FWIW, don't get frustrated at the time it will take to plan out what you want to keep. I hate to say it, but it will take a LONG time to really plan out a good choice.

75 gal reef/ 30 gal sump/ compact lighting 384 watts 4 lunar lights

Thanks for your help!

I'M STUPID!!! The way I reply to all the new posts through the weekend limits what I read. So, you'll have to excuse some comments noted above, because I'm too lazy today to change them

Okay, so you have 4x 4' 96w PC's and 400gph constant with <160gph (after the deflector) alternating flow. This really isn't that bad for a general tank. I wouldn't worry about it for where you stand right now at the moment. On the other hand, a complete and detailed list of corals and invertebrates that you would like to keep will determine if you need to make any drastic changes.

FWIW (see my "Hobby Experience" and judge that value for yourself ), I'm planning on a pair of Seieo 1100s and my return pushing mabye 400-500 gph for my 75G LPS tank.

That might be more than is really needed for a lot of LPS, but I want to make sure I'm pushing surface scum toward my overflow and I want to be moving water through the rockwork to keep stuff in suspension.

Because of the way surface tension works, as long as you have your overflow flowing, then all the surface scum will make it to the overflow. You'll need to be careful not to make any eddies with the water flow that might prevent the surface scum from getting to the overflow at all. It's not a huge problem, but something that will need to be considered. Now, the flow that you have should be fine, but you might need to be careful where you place a few of the corals. For example, Bubble Corals (Plerogyra sinuosa) can very easily be damaged by the flow.

[Violet]

Thanks Travis, do you have a link where I might find more details on each type of coral and the flow rates and lighting they prefer.

[UrbanSage]

I think liveaquaria and marinedepotlive can be good places to get a general idea about good coral conditions. Wetwebmedia is also a great resource. And I have to say it although it really should go without saying ReefCentral is a great place for information!

[first-chevalier]

Travis, I have a question about the lighting setup and the pumphead.

For the lighting you don't have any fuse or anything setup and are you concerned about the salt water and corrosioin of the wires under the wire nuts?

On the powerhead in the refugium, what keeps or is filtering the inlet valve on that pump or is there anything like a screen etc on it? If there is something, what is it and how is it attached (or did it come with the powerhead)? Thanks.

[Travis L. Stevens]

Violet, UrbanSage has good suggestions. I would take the advice from LiveAquaria and MarineDepot with a grain of salt. In order for what they do to work, they need to generalize the requirements, but each coral is different. Thus, sometimes their information is a little inaccurate. It's nothing that can really be helped, but that's why good research is needed when choosing your corals. As mentioned Reef Central and WetWebMedia are also great places for more detailed information. For skeleton forming corals, then the Australian Institute of Marine Science is a great place to learn detailed information about a coral. They are a little more precise where corals are located, but they don't state this in an aquarist's vocabulary, so you'll have to do a little translating. AIMS Coral Search Page Results. Also, there are a few really good books that will help you.

Book of Coral Propagation
Aquarium Corals
Corals: A Quick Reference Guide
Corals of the World (Vol 1, 2, & 3)
The Reef Aquarium (Vol 1)
The Reef Aquarium (Vol 2)
The Reef Aquarium (Vol 3)

First-chevalier: You won't need a fuse for those bulbs. The ballast is inside of the bulb's base. If you feel more comfortable, make sure that the lights are on a GFCI or GFCI circuit breaker. I'm not concerned with corrosion because the lights are located far up enough that very little, if any, saltwater should get up there. As far as the MaxiJet, it comes with a screen. I've placed the powerhead in a breeder net to help deter other debris from getting close to the pump. If at all possible, I do recommend using a pump that is better intend for this usage. The main point of using a powerhead for the return was to show just how powerful these little guys really are.