jgf86123 Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Ok, so I've made up my mind to completely break the tank system down and fix all of the problems I've got, plus make some modifications to the stand itself. Here's what we're planning on doing, after the pic, I'll break everything down. Ok, so in our living room, we live upstairs an have a bedroom, living room and bathroom up here, there's an alcove, it's 7' wide by 3' deep. We want to redo the entire room layout and figured since we're going to go through all this trouble, including painting, we might as well fix the stand and tanks while we're at it. I want to shorten the length of the stand by 6", making it 5'6" long, and shorten the height by 4", making it 36" tall. It will still be 2' wide. I want to run the plumbing down the backside of the stand and into the sump, making as much of it as possible hard PVC, instead of soft tubing, plus I want to tie in a 15.5g nano, drilled and plumbed, as well as the 30b frag tank. The DT will be drilled for a Bean Animal overflow system, and I'm going to add 2 more 1" bulkheads to the 30b and 2 to the 15.5g nano. I've got 2 return pumps, 1 is a Rio 2600 I believe an the other is a Gen-X 6000, I believe thats enough return pump to handle all 3 tanks, one, probably the nano will be on the Rio an the DT an frag tank will hooked up to the Gen-X. I'm gonna drill the frag tank on the end closest to the big stand for the drain, it's already drilled on the backside with a hole in each corner, those will be the returns. What I'm wondering is, what kind of plumbing supplies, valves and what-not, should I collect before starting all this? I know it's gonna be fun doing all of this over again, but, it will allow me to fix all of the issues by applying everything I've learned over the last 2 years, which will make the system itself healthier and easier to maintain. I've got a 55g practically brand-new TruVu acrylic tank, that currently is just a bare tank with some rock in and a return pump, it's going to be baffled by Eddie at Ed's Reef while all of this is going on. I'm going to run skimmerless for now, I've seen to many success stories to deter me, once we have the money to afford the skimmer I want, I'll get one, but until then, I'll just go skimmerless. So anyway, does anyone have any advice on this for me? Some ideas on what kind of valves, PVC an what not, plus advice on how to split the return twice to both the 30b an the 40b. The dimensions on the new stands are going to be: 66"Lx24"Wx36"T for the main stand, and 40"Lx24"Wx24"T for the frag tank stand. Thanks Mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 I usually put all my ideas as simple as I can on paper. I go through a few reviews of the original design. Then I draw the final one so I can have an idea about what I need to buy. You usually forget something Then I start cutting and assembling the pipes for a dry fit, where you can understand if and where you need unions and what not. Then is time to glue all together and enjoy your efforts. Just avoid 90 and you are gonna be fine. For the return you can put together a bigger pipe section (like a 2inches) and go from there to the 3 tanks. Bigger so you give less back pressure to the pump. Put one valve before and after the pump, if external, and unions for maintenance and 3 after the 3 returns, so you can tune the amount of water going to the 3 tanks. This is essential in a multi tank system. Don't put valves on drains and don't use check valves. But you know all this, why you asking? lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Cause I want to make sure I don't screw this one up, I don't wanna go through it all again LOL This will make the third time I've redone this system, an as the saying goes, hopefully 3rd times the charm LOL. I'm leaving 18" of space between the wall an the back of the tank, so I can do maintenance on the back, an 18" on the side, so I'll have room to get back there LOL. I'm great with initial design, crap for the fine touches LOL So I need help getting the fine touches in place LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 So start drawing some pipes with different colors and let's see where you are at I don't want to see 3 bare tanks anymore ahhahha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 LOL Alex, you got PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 If anybody has any advice on a skimmer, let me know, like I stated, I'm going to run skimmerless until we can afford the skimmer I wanted, the SWC 180 Cone Skimmer, but I'm not sure it will fit in the sump. Won't know the exact dimensions that will be available in the sump, but it's a bit big so not sure. I will need one that can handle a super heavy load, and roughly 130g of water volume. So any advice on skimmers is appreciated, I won't be buying anytime soon, but I will gladly accept advice. The sump, as stated above, is a 55g TruVu tank that's going to have baffles in it once we do all of this. So it'll need to fit in a 55g tank lol. Oh, an it's got to be, no exceptions, an in-sump skimmer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SALTY Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Hay Mick, You could try a bubble max 3500 skimmer from Ruben I thank swf carrys them and buy a sicce psk-2500 pump I took the stock pump that it came with off and put the sicce pump on it. I also had to make the holes in the bubble plate bigger for this pump to really work great but all that can be done when the skimmer is made. My 3500 pulls so much crap out and I have to empty the cup every day. and my sump is only 14" wide so it would fit in your sump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 There is also a bubblemax 2500 for sale right now for $125, it's a great skimmer!!! Isn't one of the tanks going to be a fuge? there shouldn't be any reason for 2 return pumps, the fuge can be ran with the overflow from one of the other tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 You can get the SWC 160 cone from bigalsonline.com for $250 shipped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algae Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 This design has been approved by 8 out of 10 County Commissioners and the Anarchist Central Planning Committee And Coffee Klatch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Another option for the skimmer: Bubble Magus NAC6 I liked it a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 Thanks for the vote of approval Franklin LOL Thanks Salty, but I do not shop at SWF, and will never set foot in that store ever again, thanks though. Alex, if thats the skimmer you had, it's a nice one, wish I had been able to afford it when you threw yours up for sale LOL. Eddie, the fuge/maroon clown home is going to be sitting next to the 40b, an the frag tank is going to be sitting about a foot or so below that lol, I've thought about gravity draining from the fuge to the frag tank, but not sure thats the best idea, it's still part of the thought process lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SALTY Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I here that about SWF alot but if you do need a skimmer made just let me know Ruben is a friend and I could give you his number Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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