Jump to content

NEW TANK PLANNING


Ron Popeil

Recommended Posts

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.

 

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.

 

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!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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:

DSCF0682.jpg

 

here is the haddoni tank:

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?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...