Trautman Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Okay, so i have had this for a while, i have just been lethargic I picked up this tank around thanksgiving, and i have been making slow progress. The tank is an old school tricon acrylic, internal overflow, basic sump configuration-friendly. The tank is an oak stand. i got this tank in a trade on craigslist, in exchange for some glassblowing lessons, so all in all i got a tank, sump, pump,lights and a bunch of otherstuff including roughly 200 pounds of dried up live rock and substrate (rock2) for about three hours of my time (clap)(naughty) i have thought about how to set up the tank, and this is what i have thought of doing /purchasing 3/4" scwd(purchased) skimmer (thanks joel!) reeflo dart pump 2x250 watt metal halides (should i get 20k or 15k??) Refugium herbie overflow PLAN: so i am planning on putting my tank in my living room, and behind the tank is a closet. so i have cut through the wall, and have made a aquarium room that will hold a semi-desplay fuge, and a ATO as well as all my random junk that good to keep next to your tank I will need to buff some scratches out of the tank (got most of them already) i drilled the 1" hole to 2" so that it can accommodate the higher flow of a dart pump i need to change hinges, polish wood, etc (done most of this) i will also need to drill a hole in the sump (mission accomplished, thank you jeff from the aquarium in oregon city for loaning me your drill bit) i will need to cure live rock to get things going ahead of time ( the live rock is in a cattle trough, now its been about two months) ultimately this will be a mixed reef tank, although i am leaning towards a clown-anemone dominated tank i also have set up a 40 g QT tank that is always up and running at 1.009 salinity in my garage PLEASE GIVE ME SUGGESTIONS so i took these pix when i had just gotten it enjoy THANKS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfisher Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Nick at Rose city has a guy who is great with scratched acrylic. Make sure you rinse that sand well. Looks like a fun project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Not sure what you mean by suggestions-(laugh) It reads like you got a perfect plan in the works.-(clap) I saw you where going with a dart, I have a snapper I bought from Frank that I wont be using, I was going to do a 300 gallon but now I'm doing 500 gallons-DOH!. It looked like you did not have the dart yet-IMO you should always buy new pumps but if you are interested send me a PM. I think the builds are the best part of the whole reefing thing-(nutty) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Lookin good man, that tank should give you some really nice viewing angles, taking pics might be a pain, but viewing it should be pretty kick *** LOL Your last 2 pics didn't show up though, just an FYI LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold B Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Just a reminder, my dart at least has a 2" input and only a 1.5" output. So the 2" hole needs to be in the sump and a 1.5 in the tank, but the bigger the better right. Just a thought it might not be the same on all darts or snappers or whatever but thats how mine is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trautman Posted January 29, 2011 Author Share Posted January 29, 2011 Nick at Rose city has a guy who is great with scratched acrylic. Make sure you rinse that sand well. Looks like a fun project! i took out the sand, and it literally came out in bricks, it was very odd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trautman Posted January 29, 2011 Author Share Posted January 29, 2011 Just a reminder' date=' my dart at least has a 2" input and only a 1.5" output. So the 2" hole needs to be in the sump and a 1.5 in the tank, but the bigger the better right. Just a thought it might not be the same on all darts or snappers or whatever but thats how mine is.[/quote'] yes, thank you, i have a 2" hole in the sump, and my return line is going to come from the top with pvc. but this brings up a question. is a two inch hole in the overflow going to be enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmike Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Does the overflow have enough room for another hole? The 2 inch hole will usually be plenty but I always like to have a backup in case something happens and the primary drain gets clogged.... always good to have redundant systems in place so you dont end up with a mess on your floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hozer21 Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Well it looks like a nice tank and it also looks like you have your work cut out for you if your going to do that all yourself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trautman Posted January 29, 2011 Author Share Posted January 29, 2011 Does the overflow have enough room for another hole? The 2 inch hole will usually be plenty but I always like to have a backup in case something happens and the primary drain gets clogged.... always good to have redundant systems in place so you dont end up with a mess on your floor. Unfortunately the overflow has barely enough room for one bulkhead, so i think that i will make another overflow on the right side of the tank with a flat piece of acrylic and 45 degree angles cut on each side. i got a quote from envision acrylics, an i think that if i bought a new overflow box from him it would cost more than i spent on the tank lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBirkett Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 The guy at Rose City Aquarium now is 1/2 owner of Ocean In A Box. His name is Coz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trautman Posted January 29, 2011 Author Share Posted January 29, 2011 good to know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiley Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 As far as bulb color to go with, since you dont have supplements, would be 20k. Its a crisper bluer light that will bring out the best colors. To get a feel for what you really want, check out some tanks that are running similar colors. I love the 20k but others may think that its too blue. I also like the 14k but it doesnt bring out the colors as well. I guess it all depends on what you like to look at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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