Just got my tank!

[mmoore0803]

Originally posted by Fmellish
How do I get it out? Do I just take a hacksaw to the pipes and cut them all out?

And how do I install the new bulkhead? Do I need to screw from both sides? If so, I'm screwed because I can't fit my hand down to the bottom of the overflow box.

ask bryan.....he's used them before...I haven't

[Fmellish]

Next question SKIMMERS / REturn Pumps
-----------------------------------------------
I want to get a Euro reef skimmer as I've heard they are the best, but the one that I would need for my 120gallon is the
"EuroReef CS6-2+ Protein Skimmer" and it's $420.00. Anywhere I can get it cheaper than that?

And then a return pump. I need a good return pump, quiet, reliable, enough flow for corals in a 120 G, (although I don't want my sump waters to be storm-like).


And help would be appreciated

Thanks

[Fmellish]

Updated

http://members.cox.net/jgunder/aquarium/

[Fmellish]

I still need help deciding what to get because I'm not sure how it all works together. Apparently skimmers need a pump, can this pump also be used as your return pump to send the water back up to the tank? Or do you still need a seperate return pump?

1) Which skimmer should I get?
2) Should I get an in-sump skimmer? is the "EuroReef CS6-2+" an in-sump or external skimmer?
3) Which return pump should I get?

Thanks

[WarDaddy]

Skimmer, check this one out... http://www.exoticfish.com/results.cfm?cat=0|1978|1961|1893|0&

It is just like the EuroSkimmer, but $100 less.

My question would be this, can you forgo the pump and just plumb from the overflow into the oinput of the skimmer? Avoid that pump all togeather. The skimmer pump and the sump pump have to be seperate. you will need a pump to return to the tank.

I would think for a 120, around 1000 GPH woulb be MAX. you will have 1" pipe and a bout 4 feet of vertical head, plus some fittings.
Toss an OM Super Squirt version 3 on the outpout from your simmer and a apir of GOOD powerheads in the tank and you will be set wor anything.

Link to the Super Squirt:
http://www.oceansmotions.com/

Here is the powerhead I would think is about right.
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewIt...product=TZ1313
Get two of those and you are set...

[WarDaddy]

Ack I was not done...

Here is the controller I was talking about:

Aquacontroller JR

This is the best buy in town. BESURE to get the PH Probe and the DC8 options... I can help you get it all going... That will control the powerheads, which will create all kinds of great turbulance.

So in short:
Skimmer, of your choice, ask around for ideas on how to plumb it... If there is one you can plum from the overflow directly, that would be best case.

Power heads, strong effecient, best bang for your buck. look at the power consumption, I am going this route.

Controller, a must have in my book... all in one control of the tank.

SuperSquirt. Give you great flexibility and water turbulance, a lttle pricey, but a great tool.

--- Oh your return pump...your sump is set for external so look at these:
This is the Cadilac of the group:
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewIt...product=IK1143

Here is the knock off:
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewIt...product=LG2145

[WarDaddy]

HEATER.... Check this out:
http://jehmco.com/PRODUCTS_/HARDWARE...s/heaters.html

look at part TSH-500. POWER and it is run by your controller, the heater is either on or off. Nice setup. Just drop it on the bottom of the sump.

[sharkdude]

looks good. interesting with the center overflow. should make for some nice complete 360 viewing.

some recent pics of my 120 here
http://myreeftank.com/pages/Tank%20Tour.htm
http://community.webshots.com/album/496737747RPJSuM

I also attached my spec sheet to give you some inspiration and ideas.

patience is key. and good mentors helping you out. come check out www.scmas.org next year

[Fmellish]

Originally posted by sharkdude
looks good. interesting with the center overflow. should make for some nice complete 360 viewing.

some recent pics of my 120 here
http://myreeftank.com/pages/Tank%20Tour.htm
http://community.webshots.com/album/496737747RPJSuM

I also attached my spec sheet to give you some inspiration and ideas.

patience is key. and good mentors helping you out. come check out www.scmas.org next year

Thanks sharkdude! I was at the tour. You had a great setup. I loved your clowns.

My main issues are going to be regarding how to get electrical to everything
above my sand line without having cords visible. It means I have to run all
electrical through a dry separate pipe in the center overflow. See pics at
my WWW site.

This constraint impacts everything.
- Lights retro into canopy? Then How do I ever lift the canopy off? the cords will be going through the center overflow.
- Lights from ceiling? This would allow for hallides but my ceiling is 10 feet, that's a lot of wire. ANd where do the ballasts go?
- Lights in a self contained plastic hood resting directly on tank? Again, if the cords go through the center overflow, then I can't ever move the lights off the tank, (and I'll need to if I ever want to feed my fish).
- Powerheads? Are their cords going to also run through the overflow?


I have thought of one solution, but I need you all to tell me if its feasible.

Instead of running cords for a dozen devices through the center dry pipe, just run one cord, an extension cord.

Then attach a powerstrip to the inside wall of the canopy, and then plug the powerstrip into the extension cable coming up from the center pipe.

Then all devices, (lights, powerheads), plug into this power strip.

This would allow me to simply unplug the power strip from the extension whenever I needed to remove my canopy, and it would facilitate retro lights in the canopy rather than a light hood resting on my acryllic.

HOWEVER I don't know if it's feasible. Can I have a powerstrip in my canopy? Won't evaporation destroy it? I have an 8 inch tall canopy, so I could have the powerstrip 8 inches away from the top of the acryllic. Is this safe?

Or should I mount the powerstrip on the outside of the canopy on the top and just figure that no one is tall enough to see it?

If I can power MH lights from ceiling electrical then the only power I need through the center pipe would be for any powerheads I have. But I'd have to have an electrician come out and put electricity in my ceiling. And that still leaves the problem of having two big MH lights hanging down 5 feet from the ceiling in the middle of my main room.

It's a deep tank and I'd like sps corals, so MH would be best, but the 15Amp circuit this tank is on is already very busy with my 6 amplifiers for my home stereo and other associated equipment.

So MH lights solve some problems, (1. It's no longer a problem that my canopy has no lid, and 2. a lot less wires to worry about running through the center pipe. But then MH lights introduce new issues.


I dunno.

So many design considerations given the known constraints.

WarDaddy has some great ideas, but I'll need him to help implement them in person since I don't understand all the concepts he's describing yet.


And I've got sump issues too. The sump design is bad. I spent last night on the board with someone trying to figure out the best design for my sump. I will need to mod my sump.

No wonder the guy wanted to sell this thing. It has so many design considerations. I am confident though that if I think everything out and do it well that in the end it should be a spectacular tank.

Thanks guys,

[sharkdude]

my guess is you'll eventually want that 'dry pipe' in the center overflow to be modified to use as an additional drain or as a closed loop intake perhaps?

they do make weather proof oulet palstic covers, but it would take some diy electrical work.

maybe sacrifice viewing on part of one side and fabricate a matching mini side cabinet to run all electrical?

access doors on the canopy are a must. you can modify the one you have easily enough.
quick dissconnects closer to retro lights will help some of your design problems.
ballasts will have to be remote anyways, and that dry pipe can only hold so many cords.

don't chance sharing electric demands on same circuit as all your amps.

for feeding fish, just drop food in sump near pump intake.

good luck! definately a challenge which will make the results all the more satisfying!

[WarDaddy]

I tell you what... When we have time, we will design and Build you an awasome canopy, for about $100. Access doors, top that opens, enough room to work, hold your lights and then some.

A Cable run from the top down to the bottom on the left side would be easy to do, and not realy cost you much viewing. No one will really view it much from that side anyway.

I have a few awasome ideas for a canopy, you can wait to see mine, our we can build all 3 (including Mike's) at the same time.

yours, painted Black, will be done quick. Not as much staining, sanding, staining, sanding...to do.

I am kinging the canopy wil be in the 12" - 14" range, with the lights sitting about 5" off the water.

[Fmellish]

Too many design options. I need to prioritize. i agree with you sharkdude that it would be nice to not lose that pipe to electrical. Then I could have a closed loop system, but I am against having external cords.

You guys know anyone else witha 4-sided (viewable) tank?

Maybe you're right about its placement. Maybe I should push it against a wall so one of the short sides is not accessable. Then run all the junk down that side.

Who knows, too much to think about.

I have timing issues. I hate waiting, and I want to buy lights this week and get them going. I'd like to get MH lights if possible.

I suppose I could wait. Just take a stance that I'm not going to touch this stuff until after XMAS. Then I can use your help with the canopy.

I want to get the tank up so bad!

[Fmellish]

BTW, thanks for all of the links Bryan.

I checked them all out, except the first one didn't work right.

just more stuff to think about. Would I use just one power head and where would it go? If i can put it on the outside of the overflow that would be preferred to putting something on my tank walls.

I'm considering maybe using an in-sump return pump. I've heard that sump-external pumps can be noisy.

Andy thought?

[WarDaddy]

The first pump is prety quiet.

The sump is pretty narrow to try and do a return from inside...BUT you could go with a bulkhead to a 10 gallon tank1/2 as a refuge then pump out...

There are so many ways you can go...

Don't worry about the light...NOW.
Start wiht plumbing. Get the plumbing done, skimmer installed, sump worked out and fill that bad boy up. Get sand inthere, seed it from my tank. then get you a few boxes of live rock and tlet the curing begin. you need no light to cure the rock. Work on the Hood and lighting while the rock cures. That way once the rock is done, you will have your lights and you can start to populate the tank. Curing will take 6-8 weeks.

yes you can attach the powerheads to the overflow, but they would be blowing straingt to the glass, not prfered. I would placcee them on the left side, pointing to the right, blowing hte length of the glass, or on on the front left, on eon the back right, making a nice circle flow.

In the hood design I am woking on, you will have lots of space for a good place to keep a power strip or two.

Before you commit, we can talk, there are lots of options.

I would try and get it plummed and get sand and rock in there asap. Once you get that started you wil have lots of time wile it cures do work on the rest. This is good too, in that you will not be rushed to put stuff in the tank too soon, and end up with dead stuff because you stocked it too soon.

[Fmellish]

Bryan, that sounds like a good approach.

Focusing just on plumbing for now and getting the tank water ready would be nice.

My RO/DI unit should be arriving this week.
I already bought 2 heaters, but they were cheap I can switch them to another type of heater if necessary. The sump needs some work. I need to find a place in south OC that sells acryllic, and I'll need to get the tools to cut it.

Where can I go tonight to find aquarium plumbing parts?
Or should I wait to do plumbing until you can help me? I know you want me to utilize a squirt. I would need help with that. I was just planning on splitting the return line in 4 once it hits the surface and dividing the return water 4 ways to each side of the tank. But should I just simply fix the broken bulkhead and redoing the pipes as they were? And then use the squirt? Or is the squirt instead of the existing return plumbing I have?

Also should I contact an electrician now to find out about adding a dedicated service for this project and wires in the ceiling for MH lights hanging down?

[Fmellish]

Sump updates


http://members.cox.net/jgunder/aquarium/

[WarDaddy]

Interesting... First I suggest Flexable PVC, it will save on all those 90 degree turns, reduce your head pressure and is easier to use.

Second, what skimmer can you plumb directly into? I would love to know?

Look at Marine Depot, for flex PVC, Home deopt for most stuff. Search super pages.com for a Plastic/glass company in the area to get scrap acrylic from, or home depot, but HD is expensive. Normal saw or router will cut the stuff.

[cwegescheide]

Hi Josh,

Hey if I were you I'd put your skimmer in the sump... If you have a malfunction and the skimmer overflows it will not go all over your floor. Been there done that!!! Just my opinion.. Nice looking soo far!!

Chris

[Fmellish]

Thank you for the advice Chris. I am thinking the same.

My sump won't really fit a skimmer as is, so I think I'm going to need a new sump. The existing one is thin and wobbly, so I don't have much faith in it anyway.

Thank you
Josh

[mmoore0803]

The nice thing about a new stand is you can build your sump directly into it and just line it with pond liner...a couple people down here in SD did that and it looks real nice.....plus it's all built in

[Fmellish]

I don't want anything to be permanent though. I'd like to be able to pull my sump in and out. What if I ever want to change it?

[mmoore0803]

true....but if you make it righ the first time you wont ever need to change it again

[Fmellish]

Remember what they say, "First time worst time". This applies to more than just losing your virginity.

Since this is my first tank, there are so many mistakes I may make. I want to do as much backout planning as I can.

[mmoore0803]

clear your inbox and sent box!!!

[Fmellish]

Done