NEW TANK PLANNING

[Ron Popeil]

so the more i think of it, the more im getting ready to adjust the direction of my hobby. currently, i have a 120 gallon aquarium, dominated by two large heteractis magnifica anemones, and a bunch of coral frags.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b293/ronaldpopeil/fulltank4.jpg

back when i had a lot more money, and my tank was full of entire coral colonies, i really enjoyed how my tank looked.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b293/ronaldpopeil/fulltank6.jpg

now with just a bunch of small corals, im less enthused and having a stronger desire to specialize. heres what im tossing around:

a 50 gallon cube, 24 x 24 x 24. this will house a single rock column toped with the magnifica anemones. this will be the tank for the amphiprion nigripes clownfish.

a 45 gallon cube, 24 x 24 x 18. this will house almost no rocks, somewhere up to 5 inches of sand, a single haddoni carpet anemone and a pair of amphiprion chrysopterus clowns.

the two systems will be fed by 1" sea swirls. they will both have at least two loc line inlets for a closed loop. they will be each lighted by a 20k 400w halide. the two tanks will be fed from a 50 gallon sump and a 75 gallon refugium.

now the trick to these two tanks is the plumbing. currenly on my 120 i have a 3600 gph reeflo dart for my closed loop and a 1200 gph T4 for my sump return. this much flow will probably be far too much for these two tanks if i were to use the same set up as i do for my 120. so my questions are...

what sump return pump should i use, and can i split it to fit two 1" sea swirls? what pump should i use for a closed loop set up and then, what inch plumbing, and bulkheads will i need?

(one of the main points of this system is its ease of setup and take down, as ill be moving alot in the next few years. so im hoping to use vinyl tubing if possible.)


so are there any suggestions? any thoughts or ideas? help me get this all squared away, so i can have it all planned out so i can work on a budget and parts list....thank you!

[Ron Popeil]

anyone have any experience with 1500 gph in a 50 gallon cube ?

[squidster]

Ron, 24 x 24 x 24 is 60 gallons (just an fyi)

We have one set up here at the shop, but it is not drilled (yet). Hoping by this summer I will have it drilled and a sump added to it. I've got it X'd out on the back for the drain and close loop.

I'm going to watch your thread and see what others think you/us should use. I (like you) am open for suggestions. Hope you don't mind

lise

[drock59]

I think maybe you should use more clownfish for your new return pump. I was thinking something along the lines of the hamster on the wheel in my classroom. (Rim)


Seriously, I recomended just using the dart the other day. I wonder what others have to say about this. IF you split it a bunch of different directions you will loose a lot of flow, but with such small tanks, that wont be that big of a issue.

Ooooorrrr, you could get rid of the dart and thrwo two T4's on there. One for each tank would be good, but a plumbing nightmare either way.(clap)

[impur]

anyone have any experience with 1500 gph in a 50 gallon cube ?

That should be fine. I have 1400gph+ in my 29gal tank.

[Ron Popeil]

next question is related to overflow design.

i had originally planned on having just a hole drilled into the back panel, and use a less obtrusive design similar to travis' cube tank design. but, i think im just going with a standard corner overflow box.

the questions that have been raised are what diameter internal overflow box will i need? how deep should the teeth be? and what size hole will i need/bulkhead size will go at the bottom of the box?

[drock59]

doesnt that all depend on what you choose for your return? :)

[Ron Popeil]

well say i have a 3600 gph reeflo dart, throttled back....


i suspect ill probably go with 2 inch bulkheads. just to be safe. what about the dimensions of the box? probably a 4x4 box right? are the depth of the teeth pretty standard?

any thoughts?

[Ron Popeil]

well then. from a bit more digging around, with 1800 gph of flow ill need at least a coast to coast overflow.

perhaps a smaller return pump is better suited instead of the dart. anyone know of any smaller GPH sequence pumps perhaps that would work?

[Palani]

I think the dart is the smallest one. If you or anyone else need 2" bulkheads I got some for ya.

[WAVES]

I just checked the website,,, looks like they do have a new pump out, called the snapper. didnt find much info, but its worth looking into.

[WAVES]

Sequence SNAPPER
NEW FOR SPRING 2006

Whisper Quiet

Super Efficient

2400 GPH at 0 feet

11 ' Max. height

2" in and 1 1/2" out

98 Watts

[Palani]

I now stand corrected. I'm glad that they did a smaller unit instead of the Dart. The only SMALL inconvience is that 2" intake. 2" PVC is HUGH, if you have a dart, you know what I mean. I'm estimating at around 4 ft. of head height you are looking at around 1300-1600 gph.

[Ron Popeil]

wonderful. thanks for the help guys. it appears that the best option for overflow design will just have to be a coast to coast to allow as much flow as ill want through these tanks.

if i have as much as 1500 gph into each tank, ill need at least 23" of linear overflow. and im pretty sure ill be using 1500 in one tank, and around 1300 in another. probably less, depending on how much i throttle back the dart, and how much flow ill lose in the T and reducing 1.5 to 1 and then out through two sea swirls. so i think, with that in mind...if i get a coast to coast, on both tanks...i should be good to go as far as using the dart, reducing the flow, and yet still being able to not flood my house.

right? any more thoughts on this?

[WAVES]

Looks like the snapper is only going to be a few bucks less than the dart,,, somewhere like $10-15 less.

[Palani]

Might as well go with the dart

[R-3]

Hey Ron where do plan on buying your 2' cube from? Who makes them in glass? Later Ryan

[Ron Popeil]

the two cube tanks have been purchased and are coming from joel at waves. i cant remember who he said manufactures them, but he might chime in and say so, otherwise, when i go see them tomorrow ill let you know.

[WAVES]

SeaStar aquariums out of canada, 3 year warrantee, built like it it wouldnt break if it tipped over....

Jordan, I drilled a tank yesterday, no problem at all,,, we will be all set.

[falcon]

If anybody is plumbing with 2" pvc, i have a huge box of parts, valves and unions etc....
Let me know.

[Ron Popeil]

here are the two tanks. prior to drilling for a 2" bulkhead placed in the corner of each tank. over the top of each tank will be a lumenarc A3 mini. unless someone suggests otherwise...

here is the magnifica tank:
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b293/ronaldpopeil/DSCF0682.jpg

here is the haddoni tank:
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b293/ronaldpopeil/DSCF0685.jpg

one question that has now come up has been which standpipe to use for the overflow box? ive always used dursos, and know they work. however, to save space a stockman has been suggested and claimed they work just as well. a two inch bulk head using two inch pcv will require some 6 inches of space by about four inches in order to fit. that takes up not a terrible amount of space, but enough. a stockman would probably require something around a 4x 4 size correct? instead of holes, my main tank assistant suggests large slots....

am i correct in hearing a stockman would run just as silently as a durso?

[WAVES]

Jordan, Id go so far as to say not "slots" but rather huge holes might be more suitable.

http://richpoorman.com/aquaria/diy/images/stockman1.jpg
http://richpoorman.com/aquaria/diy/standpipe.htm

all you need to be able to do is have enough material to have enough stregth to be able to push the reducer down, if you do it carefully, you would probably only need like 1/4 of pipe as strips on each side, kind of like what is shown.

[R-3]

Looks great Jordan. I know what tanks you guys are talking about now. Joel said someone was looking at them and it must have been you. LOL. Anyway tell me a little more about the lumenarc relfector. Arent you supposed to get more of a spread of a MH bulb with those? Are there any reflectors that will span 1 MH bulb a 3'x3' area? Or are those just for a 2'x2' area? Later Ryan

[Ron Popeil]

im pretty sure, the lumenarc does just a 2x2 shape. but it does it extremely well balanced.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2003/feature.htm
thats a good report on how this reflector compares to the other leading reflectors out there....

[R-3]

Does that article say you can run on a 3x3 span? They tested it. So are you just running a single 400 over the tank? Any Vho's or T5's? Just wondering. Later ryan

[Ron Popeil]

nope just a single 400w over each tank. ive never used supplemental lighting. i like using radiums. i think they satisfy any needs ive ever had.

ryan, a single 400w radium will dominate any cube tank thats 24x24 inches....in a few weeks ill show you.

[R-3]

Im waiting Jordan! If my experiment goes right with my 20G. I will be breking down my 75 and buying a 2' cube. I love the looks of cubes. Maybe even a 3' cube. Well 3'x3'x2' actually. Later Ryan

[impur]

Those are cool tanks. I love the cubes as well.

[Ron Popeil]

ok well, here is the update on my system:

two tanks were drilled and overflows installed and ready to be used. but first i had to find the time to take down the main tank. what a chore. i skipped all my classes for the day and started at 12 pm. this is what my tank looked like just before i tore it down:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b293/ronaldpopeil/DSCF2471.jpg

bout five hours later i was only about here:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b293/ronaldpopeil/DSCF0750.jpg

after the 120 came down the 60 gallon went up without any problems.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b293/ronaldpopeil/DSCF0756.jpg

[Ron Popeil]

then disaster struck.

in setting up 45 gallon, it was set down just barely too hard on the stand, cracking the bottom pane of glass from under the bulkhead with a hairline fracture. needless to say, i was not amused. at all. it really threw a big wrench in the gears of my up-till-then smooth operation. ugh. so i focused on setting up the 60 gallon and by 10:30 pm, i was finally finished. Literally 10 hours of dismantling, catching fish, organizing...

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b293/ronaldpopeil/DSCF0763.jpg

...lifting, cutting, plumbing, glueing, bleeding...

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b293/ronaldpopeil/DSCF0761.jpg

...filling, releasing and lots of crossed fingers. i had horrendously generous friends help with the set up. without them, it would have been a nightmare. i practically threw everything i wanted to keep in the 60, or in the refugium, kept everything else in a big 45 gallon tub until i could take it to portland to trade in and used some old crappy PC lights over the top of the new tank. after waiting for three weeks for my lumenarcs, they finally arrived, and my animals are much more happy with them. everything is still a mess, finals are coming up, my other tank is being repaired, and so i havent done much as far as organize the tank or its surroundings.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b293/ronaldpopeil/DSCF0779.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b293/ronaldpopeil/DSCF0780.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b293/ronaldpopeil/DSCF0782.jpg

[Ron Popeil]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b293/ronaldpopeil/DSCF0777.jpg

eventually the two 1" sea swirls will be on the back side of the tank with some loc line nozzles. the 45 gallon will be seated right next to the 60 and in theory be running two 3/4" sea swirls, again, on the back side. the large spaflex tubing will be cut down a bit below the stand, and basically all the tubing and such will be cleaned up and organized better. the idea behind these two tanks is i wanted a nice clean, easy to tear down, easy to move, easy to set back up system strictly for clownfish and anemones.

the stockman standpipes i was hesitant about using, but now enjoy. their slim design and silence keeps me happy. only problem im really working on is getting the sea swirls to attach nice and even to the top of the tanks, and getting rid of a large portion of microbubbles down in the sump.

and trying to get those nigripes to loosen up and stop being such a terribly reclusive fish.

special thanks to everyone who helped with this system: joel, travis, tim, sarah and the sphinx.

[drock59]

looking good young man

[impur]

Great setup. That sucks the other tank broke. Looking forward to more pics when its repaired!

[Ron Popeil]

thanks guys. im thinking ill just wait till i move to set the other tank up...but im also pretty impatient, and i dont necessarily want to wait another three weeks.

[Palani]

hey you know who to call when you have to move tanks. Especially Curtis.

[R-3]

Any updates? Later Ryan

[drock59]

Both tanks are moved and setup nicely. As soon as Jordan gets over the plague im sure he will post some pics.