Getting another 125 gallon reef tank....wooo hooo

[Speakerman]

Okay well, I know I'm only like a month into the whole saltwater game....but well...I'm getting another tank lol...

I got a brand new 125 gallon tank and a really nice stand for it. I don't have it at the house yet, but I paid for it and all that.

I just build the sump for it tonight. It's a 55 gallon standard tempered tank. Nothing special, but I modified it to make a really spiffy sump/fuge...

I'm going to get the 125 drilled for an overflow in the center and a return on each side near the top of the tank.

I'm looking for a pretty big pump to act as my return pump from my sump. I want around 1500-2000 gph.

I'll probobly get a couple large PH for the tank as well. Probobly two of the bigger RIO PH.

I'm going to run 3 MH 300W for about a 7 wpg ratio.

I'm actually going to get the right kind of sand this time as opposed to the pool filter sand I used in my 37 gallon. (which is working just fine...)

This is going to be a long project for me and I'll probobly end up getting about 150 lbs of the best LR I can buy. Lalo

You'll be seeing me on a lot again throughout this project.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

imo, i'd go with less flow thru the sump/fuge. You want the flow to be in the main tank, not so much the sump, tho you do have a good sized sump, so you might be ok..but usually the less flow in the fuge, the more the pods will grow. What will the overflows be rated to? And are you just getting the one overflow? You can only have as much flow as those will pull out in the sump. But i dont know any good pumps as i've never done anything on that large of a scale, srry.

 

[hc8719]

maybe i read this wrong, but a 50 gal sump?

 

[Speakerman]

Yeah thats right man. 55 gallon sump. Gonna be bad...

The overflow is going to be custom made...IE I'm going to make it. Shouldn't be a problem. It's going to have a 2"+ drain so it should be able to handle a lot of flow.

I understand you shouldn't have all that much flow through the fuge, but I'm trying to use more as flow in the tank than anything. Also, the fuge is huge so it shouldn't be a problem with a lot of flow.

Here is a pic of what I have done so far. I've still got a ways to go. that is a pair of the stock lights that came with that wal-mart tank. They should do just fine for the fuge. There is going to be tons of LR rubble in the first part on the left (the overflow, or input). Water will run over the top of that down to the fuge, witch will have lots of sand and LR, critters, ect ect. I'm going to put some egg crate over the next baffel and maybe run foam there. The return pump will be on the right side. Both the overflow side and the return side have plexi siliconed on top. I'm going to drill through that and mount the hoses on it.

 

[Sparkie]

Actually I think he said a 55 gal sump, which will be HUGE. Sounds nice though, good luck.

 

[austinsdad]

I used the Miracle Mud in my sump/fuge for a 155g and have a Mag 12 down there. The flow seems about perfect. I thought it would bee too much, but it worked out fine. Got rocks, tubeworms, sexy shrimp, macros, sponges, and other stuff growing down there and it's working out well. You should do well with that 55g. Can't wait to see it set up. I only did a 30" sump/fuge since I'm working with my skimmer and a 37g fresh water reservoir in the space below/cabinet. It really beats daily or every other day topoffs. I fill it up once every week and a half or so with FW. I'm using 3x150MH and 4x96PC and loose maybe 2 03 3 gallons daily.

What are your plans for top-offs? What's going in the sump/fuge?

Got room in the sump for UV pump? Skimmer pump? And of course your main return pump.

In mine below, the leftmost chamber has 2 Mag 7's in it for the UV & skimmer. That's also where the water returns from above. Got rock rubble in there too. The rightmost chamber (can't see either of'm here) has the Mag 12 for the main return. You going internal or external pump? I got a brand new Coralife 1270 if interested. 8)

 

[sir_dudeguy]

i've seen a lot of people locally use 55's as a sump, so i guess i'm just used to it and dont think its that big lol. But then again some of them use 75's and bigger lol. Oh, and it wont be a full 55 gallons of water either...you dont fill it up all the way. But either way, that wil be an awsome sump

 

[melosu58]

Sounds good. I`m happy for you. I still would think about the double overflow though.

 

[Speakerman]

I'm not absolutely sure what I'm going to run in the sump right now, I'm not that far into it. But in the overflow chamber, I'm going to run a custom made skimmer. I don't think I will need a
UV sterilizer...but I have one on hand if I need to use it for some reason.

Would a UV sterilizer decrease the effects of ick? I'd have to run a closed loop for just the uv I think. Because all the other pumps will have to much flow and the uv will not get the exposure it needs.

I will think about the double overflow. It would probobly be better off in the long run, and that way I could run the returns facing the center of the tank for turbulance. I might do that. The only problem I am worried about is the drilling process. I'm so afraid the tank is going to crack during drilling that I wanted to minimize the number of holes that had to be drilled.

What experience have you all had with drilling tanks for overflows and returns?

 

[melosu58]

The double returns will cause plenty of flow in your tank. I have no PH`s in my tank due to the double returns. UV will help get rid of ick and algea spores. I run mine 24/7. Have not had ick or algea in tank for 7 yrs. Is it the UV or the other things I do in the tank. We will never know. I just know if it ain`t broke I`m not going to fix it. Dont drill yourself heard too many horror stories. Get a professional to do it!!!

 

[Speakerman]

Yeah, I'm not going to do it myself. lol...It's only 10 bucks a hole for the pros here in town to do it.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

The double returns would work fine, but i personally like having more than 2 sources of flow, just to create a more random flow, you know? I go for about 25 times turnover rate per hour with 4 sources of flow and it works pretty good. But i've got 2 small powerheads and one big one thats got a "Y" split on it, so therfore i got 4 sources to create randomness, which is needed for corals and to get rid of dead spots.

 

[Speakerman]

I'm probobly going to have the double overflows and 2-3 returns, plus a pair of PH facing each other from the center to create turbulance.

 

[melosu58]

I`m glad for you. Good Luck.

 

[Speakerman]

Thanks bro, I will keep updating with pics and information as I get stuff.

 

[ellisz]

Just drill some holes for the overflows and have the returns come up over the lip of the tank. You could set up a closed loop running all the tank flow and then set up a modest overflow pump to keep flow in the sump/refuge down.

I would definately drill multiple holes for the drain to handle that kind of pump. Check out the Calfo style overflows. Incorporates a single overflow but multiple holes can be drilled to accomoadate the flow required.

 

[Speakerman]

I don't want the returns to come over the top of the tank. Thats the whole point of me drilling for overflows anyway. The onlying I want going up and out the top of the tank is the cords for some power heads lol.

 

[ellisz]

The point of having an overflow is to get the water to drain out of the tank. Getting it back in is the easy part I am sure what ever you plan will work for you. Might look into a closed loop though.

Good Luck.

 

[Speakerman]

Could I plum a closed loop into the same 'circut' as the overflow and return. Like shown here in my little drawing. The overflows would have to be designed to handle a tremendous amount of flow. If they ever ran dry then the pump would make a lot of noise and possibly burn up over time.

What are some other ways of doing a closed loop without having extra stuff in the aquarium?

 

[20 20]

No, that won't work. You will still only be able to pull as much water from the tank as will flow through the overflows. And, that system is still 'open' to the air. A closed loop is truely closed to the air. You need a circuit that is completely separate from your overflow/sump circuit. Either drill holes in the back of the tank for input into the CL pump, or rig up an 'over the top' input like a canister filter has. I've got a AGA 125 gallon that I'm setting up as a reef, I bought a cheap glass drill bit on eBay (about $9, including shipping), drilled two 1.5" holes, plumbed them together to the input to a Barracuda pump, and have the output going to a Calfo-style output manifold over the tank, works great.

Rather than stick all the pics here, and bog down this thread, I created a thread detailing (a bit of detail, anyway) my closed loop/manifold return:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?p=725062&pc_tzo=-14400&pc_d=20061007&pc_t=32357#725062