DanS Future 90 gallon reef

[CorallineAlgae]

I actually broke down my 30L reef tank a few months ago and gave it to my brother to use the tank as his sump/refugium and the live rock in his reef. A 30L is great because it's not as tall as a 29 so reaching into the sump to service or install pumps, reactors & skimmers is easier. It's also not to long so he still has room to keep stuff on the sides of the stand.

You may find you have more room in the stand for something larger but if you go any smaller you could be disappointed with how easily a sump can run out of room. The BEST time to buy a sump is when Petsmart has a dollar per gallon tank sale.

Oh, a refugium is also good for mild pH stabilization. When the lights are on at night the plants use up co2 from the display tank and produce oxygen. That keeps the co2 from dropping at night. It also is a "refuge" for small animals like copepods and mysid shrimp to breed freely without getting eaten by your fish. The larvae get pumped into the main tank as food for the fish. That "refuge" is the basis for the term refugium.

 

[DanS180]

What about a 40 breeder tank for the sump? I'm just throwing it out there, I have no idea the dimensions.

Thought of a 40B.. width is 2 inches too big unfortunately :/

 

[DanS180]

I actually broke down my 30L reef tank a few months ago and gave it to my brother to use the tank as his sump/refugium and the live rock in his reef. A 30L is great because it's not as tall as a 29 so reaching into the sump to service or install pumps, reactors & skimmers is easier. It's also not to long so he still has room to keep stuff on the sides of the stand.

You may find you have more room in the stand for something larger but if you go any smaller you could be disappointed with how easily a sump can run out of room. The BEST time to buy a sump is when Petsmart has a dollar per gallon tank sale.

Oh, a refugium is also good for mild pH stabilization. When the lights are on at night the plants use up co2 from the display tank and produce oxygen. That keeps the co2 from dropping at night. It also is a "refuge" for small animals like copepods and mysid shrimp to breed freely without getting eaten by your fish. The larvae get pumped into the main tank as food for the fish. That "refuge" is the basis for the term refugium.

Ahh great information on refugiums.. makes me understand a lot better and yeah I think I wanna go with the 30G, only problem is actually finding a 30G tank for sale... does PETCO have these at the $/gal sale?

 

[Beengirl]

Ahh great information on refugiums.. makes me understand a lot better and yeah I think I wanna go with the 30G, only problem is actually finding a 30G tank for sale... does PETCO have these at the $/gal sale?

When they have the $1/g sale, it's for up to 40 or 50g. Don't think they're having the sale right now though.

 

[DanS180]

When they have the $1/g sale, it's for up to 40 or 50g. Don't think they're having the sale right now though.

Yeah I think the next one is near Xmas time lol.. um okay next question.. anyone know a good website for plumbing parts? Bulkheads? Those bendable tube things for flow? I just broke mine while cleaning.. seemed very brittle to me :/

 

[DanS180]

Here's the piece that snapped out of one of the bulkheads

 

[CorallineAlgae]

I always got my plumbing parts from either CustomAquatic or BulkReefSupply. I outfitted a whole coral reef shop with parts from Custom Aquatic years back.

 

[DanS180]

I always got my plumbing parts from either CustomAquatic or BulkReefSupply. I outfitted a whole coral reef shop with parts from Custom Aquatic years back.

Oh really? You think they'll have that part I'm looking for?

 

[Mrc8858]

Oh really? You think they'll have that part I'm looking for?

More then likely.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Oh really? You think they'll have that part I'm looking for?

I've ordered that exact part from both places. Just make sure to get the right size on both ends. You can call either place to find out how to measure it if you need to. It's a very common part.

 

[DanS180]

I've ordered that exact part from both places. Just make sure to get the right size on both ends. You can call either place to find out how to measure it if you need to. It's a very common part.

Okay awesome, thank you guys so much

 

[DanS180]

just bought my 30G sump, new bulkhead and the other piece i needed for the flexible nozzles

 

[CorallineAlgae]

just bought my 30G sump, new bulkhead and the other piece i needed for the flexible nozzles

Man, you don't waste any time. Where'd you find all that?

 

[DanS180]

Man, you don't waste any time. Where'd you find all that?

well now that i know i wanna actually set up this tank, i wanna get it up and running lol, im almost done cleaning it believe it or not. i got all 3 from my LFS... they wanted $74 for the tank alone, but i had a $30 off coupon, so i spent like $60 overall.

 

[DanS180]

Would u guys just completely replace all of the bulkheads? Previous owner just cut the hoses so there's still gunk all over the threads and whatnot.. the middle one im already replacing bc I snapped the threads on the inside

 

[DanS180]

nevermind, im gonna replace em all, just looked at em and 1 of ems cracked, so im already replacing 2, mind as well do the 3rd one

 

[DanS180]

Ok I took out the pipe on the left to drain the water that was left over inside the overflow... yuck, it smells like horse poo lol.. what do u suppose is the best way to go with cleaning out the overflow and do u guys think I should replace all of this too??

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Ok I took out the pipe on the left to drain the water that was left over inside the overflow... yuck, it smells like horse poo lol.. what do u suppose is the best way to go with cleaning out the overflow and do u guys think I should replace all of this too??

A mix of plain bleach and water 1:1 should clean it right up. Just rinse it out with fresh water after and it should be fine. There's certainly nothing wrong with replacing anything that looks suspicious.

 

[DanS180]

A mix of plain bleach and water 1:1 should clean it right up. Just rinse it out with fresh water after and it should be fine. There's certainly nothing wrong with replacing anything that looks suspicious.

Well I can't actually "rinse" out the tank... I'm in an apartment remember? Not like I can take it out back and rinse it out and dump it lol so I don't think using chemicals that r harmful r goin to be a good idea

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Well I can't actually "rinse" out the tank... I'm in an apartment remember? Not like I can take it out back and rinse it out and dump it lol so I don't think using chemicals that r harmful r goin to be a good idea

I thought it was the overflow that was dirty? What I've done in the past is put a bucket under the overflow pipe, spray off the grime with a mix of bleach and water, wipe it all down, then give it a rinse. The water falls into the bucket and all is good. Bleach is not harmful to use when cleaning out a tank as long as you rinse it and let it dry out for a couple of days. The chlorine will be all gone. I understand you can't do the whole tank outside but you could wipe it down with paper towels after spraying it with bleach.

People have been doing exactly this for decades. Nothing harmful about it. Ask around.