i need a little help please with tank upgrade

[bigford84]

hi im satrting a 50 gallon fowlr with a 30 gal sump. i am upgrading from my running 30 gallon fowlr. the 50 gal will have a 3in sand bed

1 someone told me to put foam under my tank.. what will this do??
2 i got mixed answers on putting rock in first,or putting sand in first..
3 i have a reef octopuss skimmer with the needle wheel,what depth should it be sitting lfs said from 6-9 in
4 why do some people put egg crate under there rocks??should i??
5 if i add a 2nd u tube to my overflow box will it give me more gallons per hour?? cause the 750 gph pump is beating it a little.or should i just add a ball vaulve to the return line?
6 im using dry sand,and about 30-50 lbs live rock to start, after the cycle will the sand be live??
7 my sump as of now is setup like this... 3 sections, 1 is intake with skimmer,2 is fuge,3 is return. is it better to have the skimmer in first,or at the last part??
8 after the tank is well cycled,how do i go about transfering my fish?? lfs said all at once and fast. what do you think?
thank you for looking. and eny info on setting up this tank you can give me would be great.

 

[Jimbo7]

congrats on the upgrade!

1. Foam is usually suggested for acrylic tanks if there is any warping in it. If it is glass it is probably not needed.

2. rock first, then sand. the sand will hold the rock from falling.

3. You can experiment, but that range is the usual.

4. same as 2, you can do that to help hold the rock in place, its a personal choice. You might want to if you are stacking rocks really high.

5. Not sure on overflow boxes, but I would imagine.

6. Yes, after awhile the bacteria will culture in the sand as well.

Let us know if you need anything else!

 

[bigford84]

thank you for the info.. and i just added more to my pile of questions. jump in everybody. thanks guys i am going to make a video about my setup and questions,i think it will be easier to explane, i just need to find out how to put it in the post

 

[Jimbo7]

7. Just how you have it is fine. You dont want your skimmer sucking up pods and stuff from your fuge.
8. Just make sure your tank is cycled to the same bio load as your current. When you can feed heavily and it is still processing, you are ready to go. I would do them all at once.

 

[abdhalim2]

5. what type of overflow you are using..??IMO, if u are using flexible tube like mine, yes i would suggesting add another u tube as this will increase the flow....mine using 4 u tube to balance the return pump with the overflow but still need valve to control the return pump....

 

[mr_X]

the overflow box won't drain more than what can go through the bulkhead at the bottom. IMO, i wouldn't try and increase the gph too much, since they are designed for a certain gph and it's a bit of a horror to come home to an empty tank and a soaked floor.
it makes more sense to me to just buy the larger one for a few dollars extra and sleep at night.
it's not like in a power outage you are going to have redundancy since you have more J tubes.

 

[bigford84]

ok i think this will help
YouTube - tank upgrade...please help
YouTube - how do i transfer my fish into new tank????

 

[mr_X]

make the overflow quieter by putting a piece of airline tubing down the drain hole...you'll have to move it up and down until you find the sweet spot, then tape/glue/fasten it in place so it doesn't fall down the drain.

good deal with the partitions in the sump. i think that will help with the micro bubbles. you can also correct the micro bubble issue by installing an ATO (auto top off) to keep the water level towards the top of those partitions.

10" for the skimmer is fine, but i definitely wouldn't waste the rest of that tank. take a couple more inches off if it makes you feel better, but i think that tank is 17" tall, right? you are going to waste almost half of it for a buffer zone, when all you have to do is plan the plumbing correctly to minimize the back siphon.


you could leave the 1" pvc, and just put a ball valve at the exhaust port of the pump. this would allow you to dial it to whatever you need, exactly.

there is bacteria on all surface area in that tank. even on the granules of sand. a 3" sand bed is a bad idea, because it's not considered a "deep sand bed" because they need to be 4"+, so you are just wasting your money on extra sand. 1"-2" is plenty. it won't hurt the rock.

i have no idea about the moisture on the back pane...wipe it off and see if it comes back. this must be addressed asap!


the bio load on that rock and sand in the bowfront sustains those creatures in there now. if you transfer them over all at once it should be fine. you can also cycle the 50 then put them in. whichever you choose.
btw, are you going to add any more rock to the 50/ if so, that rock will need to be cycled.

btw, if i can explain anything here better on the phone, it would be no problem.

 

[bigford84]

ok great.. thank you for the help.. if you can pm me your number ill give you a call... thanks..... mike

 

[bigford84]

ok here is a pic of the 50 gal set up and running.. i have not started the cycle yet. also i want to put a dsb in my fuge,how deep should it be?? i got the 60lbs of sand and sifted out all the chunks of shells,corals,and rocks. heres a pic of all the stuff that came out of it...for some reson i feel i shouldnt just throw it out,do i use all or some in the sump?? if not i plan on buying some live sand to put down there... hows this.. its a 30 gal sump the fuge is 14in long 12 1/2 in wide and water level is 13 in high.. what should i do with it? what would you do with it?? what do you have???

 

[mr_X]

i would put about 2" of sand and a couple pieces of live rock rubble in the refugium, fill the rest with macroalgae, and call it a day. i don't think you have enough room in there for a DSB and macroalgae.
you are putting more rock in the display, right?

 

[bigford84]

yes i have 30 + lbs of live rock in my 30 gal fowlr tank.. i was thinking once the 50 gal tank cycles then i can add that rock,would that work??

and i will just go get some live sand for the fuge, but what about the macro?? b4 the cycle or after?????

 

[mr_X]

oh..sorry about that. i'm subscribed to a few threads and got this one mixed up with another. you are doing fine.
btw, just put dry aragonite based sand in the refugium, it will become live on it's own. you don't need to purchase "live" sand.
i wouldn't add the macroalgae until after the cycle. i have seen it fail due to the ammonia, and it's not going to do any good during the cycle anyway.

 

[bigford84]

i still could not get the white crap of the glass... so when the wife asked me what i want for xmas i said a new tank,,joke,, and she said ok and we went and got one.. nice here it is.. since i wasnt trying to cycle it i just swaped everything over. here it is.

and about cycling with shrimp... can i do it in the fuge?? or should i do it in the tank?? here is what i think i should do. please tell me if im on track or should do somthing differant.

i have 2 filter pads iv been storing in my fluval canister that is running my 30 gallon tank, im gonna put those in my fuge,put 2 cups of sand from the 30 gal into the 50 gal, and put 2 dead shrimp into the tank,or fuge to cycle it.. what do ya think??

also after the cycle is done, i do a 90% water change? pretty much drain the tank and leave the sump alone??

 

[abdhalim2]

nice LR scaping....
90% PWC..??? i wont do that....it would drain out all together the need bacteria for saltwater.....

 

[mr_X]

i don't think you need to do a 90% water change. 30% or so should be fine.
i don't think you need to use the filter pads either. the shrimp will be fine, in either the DT or the refugium, as long as you have the return pump running of course.
i'm surprised you didn't buy a reef ready tank, since you went new. it would have saved you a lot of aggravation, not having to deal with the HOB overflow.

 

[austinsdad]

I too like that rock scape, but I would keep rock far enuf away from the sides. It'll get REAL dirty/funky looking over there after some time and you'll wann be able to get a blade, magnet or other glass cleaner in there.

 

[bigford84]

yeah i seen the reef ready tanks,they were only $40 more.. but since i have already got the overflow and return stuff i just went with the flow.lol

ok ill just put the shrimp in the fuge and start cycling today.

one more thing... since i have a fluval canister running my 30 gal tank,can i take half or more of the live rock out and put it in the 50 gal?? maybe just leave some rubble in it, i was thinking for bacteria the 30 gal has a 3in sand bed,and the canister filter.. is that ok for 2 clowns 1 lm blenny cuc, 3 nems?? i ask cause there is some big rocks in it that i would want under the rock in the 50 gal.

 

[kingman8610]

hi im satrting a 50 gallon fowlr with a 30 gal sump. i am upgrading from my running 30 gallon fowlr. the 50 gal will have a 3in sand bed


2 i got mixed answers on putting rock in first,or putting sand in first..

When you say "rock" are you talking about "Live Rock"??

 

[mr_X]

yeah i seen the reef ready tanks,they were only $40 more.. but since i have already got the overflow and return stuff i just went with the flow.lol

ok ill just put the shrimp in the fuge and start cycling today.

one more thing... since i have a fluval canister running my 30 gal tank,can i take half or more of the live rock out and put it in the 50 gal?? maybe just leave some rubble in it, i was thinking for bacteria the 30 gal has a 3in sand bed,and the canister filter.. is that ok for 2 clowns 1 lm blenny cuc, 3 nems?? i ask cause there is some big rocks in it that i would want under the rock in the 50 gal.

i thought you were putting the entire contents of the 30 into the larger tank?