changin over my 220g fresh to salt

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

sully08

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jan 15, 2011
Messages
20
I have about 30 years exp. with fresh water systems, none with salt. my main concern is filtration. I know that a sump is the best way to go, but drilling holes in the tank would be very hard. Could I be successful with salt water with a strong canister system and lots of water movement.
 
If you dont like hang on the back overflows, you could go with a large canister like a fluval FX5 or a Fluval G6. You would need to add a hang on the back protein skimmer.
 
I did the same thing as you on a smaller scale, and was also nervous about drilling my tank so I purchased a hang on overflow. Honestly it makes a huge difference to the ease of everything with the tank, once you get it set up. There are many different ones out there so read some reviews and see which ones are best, and quietest! The one I got I cheaped out on and it is as noisy as ever. Also I wouldn't suggest trying to DIY something like this, you could and many have done it successfully, however if it doesn't work or fails, stuff gets wet...
 
I did the same thing as you on a smaller scale, and was also nervous about drilling my tank so I purchased a hang on overflow. Honestly it makes a huge difference to the ease of everything with the tank, once you get it set up. There are many different ones out there so read some reviews and see which ones are best, and quietest! The one I got I cheaped out on and it is as noisy as ever. Also I wouldn't suggest trying to DIY something like this, you could and many have done it successfully, however if it doesn't work or fails, stuff gets wet...
How safe are the overflows? If the syphon ever stops you have water every where. The syphon might stop during power outages. I imagine companies that make overflows took all these points into consideration during the design phase. Is there a box out there that is pretty much fail safe?
 
If you dont like hang on the back overflows, you could go with a large canister like a fluval FX5 or a Fluval G6. You would need to add a hang on the back protein skimmer.
any disadvantages to the canisters? I heard lots of live rock and good water movement around the tank and rock would help u b sucessful with a canister setup
 
Any disadvantages to the canister set up ? I heard that lots of live rock and good water movement will help support the cannister setup
 
drilling the tank, which may seem like a major thing, is quite easy. it's so much better than using a HOB overflow. no, there is no HOB box that is 100% safe.
while steps can be taken to narrow the margin of error, there is still a chance.

also, no one makes a HOB skimmer powerful enough to handle a 220. if you don't mind seeing them, you could hang 2 HOB skimmers on the back and just rely on those and your live rock for filtration. you don't even need a cannister filter.
 
My tank is built in a wall and I service it from the back storage room so I dont mind things hanging off the back. I will check out the link for help, thanks for the info Doug
 
How safe are the overflows? If the syphon ever stops you have water every where. The syphon might stop during power outages. I imagine companies that make overflows took all these points into consideration during the design phase. Is there a box out there that is pretty much fail safe?
I used a HOB overflow for over 15 yrs until I bought my pre-drilled ReefReady tank. It never failed once and doesn't lose it's siphon when the power goes out.
Check out the Eshopps overflows. They are pretty much fail proof.
Eshopps PF1200 Overflow Box, 300 gal tank, Dual - AquaCave
 
Back
Top Bottom