New 29 gal Build

[Pony of the Sea]

hey all,

I currently have a 20 gal mixed reef tank filled with only soft corals and a couple fish. Tank was started last august and I'm proud to say I have only lost one coral and two fish on this learning curve!
This tank has no sump, filtration comes from a Prizm HOB skimmer, 15-20 lbs live rock (i guess my sand is now live after a year), and a Fluval 206 canister filter. One GLO T5 fixture with a seperate blue LED strip (most amazing colors w blue LED) and a DIY ATO system keeps the water level steady.

But this thread is about my new set up i have been thinking about for almost a year (right after i started this 20gal). After learning all i have about the hobby i decided the next tank i built would be set up properly.

1. Get a tank 2. Get a stand (my first stand in over 10 yrs of fishkeeping) 3. plumb and set up sump etc..

[Pony of the Sea]

So the first problem i have is that my regular 29 gal tank is not drilled. This leaves me with two options: 1. Drill myself and plumb internal overflow or 2. get an external overflow box.

Obviously simply buying an overflow box would be the easiest route to go but i have heard of potential problems with overflowing and saw that some need another pump to run properly. i am frequently away from my apartment and would have some very annoyed neighbors below me if my tank overflowed.

Has anyone had any experience with any overflow boxes? Ive read good things about CPR and Eshopps.

Anyone drilled their own tank and added bulkheads and the whole plumbing thing?

Last Question. How do you know how many GPH i need for the overflow/ return pump? Thinking about a 10-15 g sump so roughly 40 gal total water vol.


Any advice or knowldegs would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Alot,

John

[Pony of the Sea]

Tank is so dirty, just got back from college, about to clean now.

Reason for the new tank is to break this one down and start up the new one in my apartment

[Reefpete]

i have the eshopps 300 on my 29 gallon reef with a 10 gallon sump....works like a charm and is almost compeletly silent.....and i used a rio 1700 pump for return and works perfectly with 4 ft of head the pump pumps exactly 300 gph so it worked out

[Rutrag]

Drilled is definitely the way to go if you can. Just make sure the glass isn't tempered.

On the other hand, I run overflows on a 75 and on a 37, and I only ever had one close call on the 75. It din't go over until I broke the siphon, but it was really close!

[Rutrag]

Oh, I forgot - Make sure the flow rate on the overflow is equal to or greater than the flow on your return.

[Pony of the Sea]

Reefpete how did you section your 10 gal sump? how big of a skimmer were you able to put in?
Im leaning towards drilling the tank, it seems within my abilities. haha. and i like the extra security.

Rutrag, do you know of any way to tell if the glass is tempered?

Thanks for fast responses!

[Reefpete]

Originally Posted by Pony of the Sea

Reefpete how did you section your 10 gal sump? how big of a skimmer were you able to put in?
Im leaning towards drilling the tank, it seems within my abilities. haha. and i like the extra security.

Rutrag, do you know of any way to tell if the glass is tempered?

Thanks for fast responses!

From left to right 1 st section for inlet with three baffle the middle one 1nch off bottom and the middle for refuge and the last for return pump with one baffle here's a pic

[Pony of the Sea]

picture is great. might steal that same sump set up


what size hole/ bulkhead do i need for about 300 gph? is 300 gph good enough flow for a 29gal + 10 gal sump?

[Reefpete]

Originally Posted by Pony of the Sea

picture is great. might steal that same sump set up

what size hole/ bulkhead do i need for about 300 gph? is 300 gph good enough flow for a 29gal + 10 gal sump?

Thanks and yeah that's my set up ....

Eshopps 300 gph overflow box with a rio 1700 pump with four feat of head equally exactly 300 gph return

My tanks 29g with a 10 g sump also

[Reefpete]

The eshopps overflow comes with 1inch bulk head so I used 1inch PVC to sump which slides right into that bulk head and used some flex tube at end of PVC to curve into sump and on retune I used 3/4 inch PVC to connect pump used 1 inch tube and secured it to 3/4 inch PVC goes right around it

[Reefpete]

Here's some pics

[Pony of the Sea]

Like the flex tube at the end of pipe. If it the eshopps filter has 1inch bulkheads I guess I'll go with that also.

You just have a single overflow pipe? Not herbie?

[Reefpete]

Originally Posted by Pony of the Sea

Like the flex tube at the end of pipe. If it the eshopps filter has 1inch bulkheads I guess I'll go with that also.

You just have a single overflow pipe? Not herbie?

Yup Just one next tank I will do the herbie and drill the tank

[Pony of the Sea]

since im probably going to drill my tank im planning on doing the herbie.

How do you like your pump? is it an internal or external pump?

does it transfer alot of heat into your system?

[Patrick93]

Originally Posted by Pony of the Sea

since im probably going to drill my tank im planning on doing the herbie.

How do you like your pump? is it an internal or external pump?

does it transfer alot of heat into your system?

What's Herbie stand for?

[Pony of the Sea]

Also thinking of upgrading my protein skimmer.

right now i have a HOB Prizm skimmer. Its alright, kinda mad i didnt spend extra $ and get a better one, but i didnt have a sump so needed HOB.

I assumed i would use the HOB skimmer in the sump until i got a sump style skimmer. Does anyone know of a good size/model skimmer for a 29 display w/ 10 gal sump?

Dont want to set up my sump only to realize down the road the sections arnt big enough for the correct skimmer

[Pony of the Sea]

Originally Posted by Patrick93

What's Herbie stand for?

herbie overflow. its a technique invented by a reefer that uses two overflow pipes with ball valves. this allows to you fine tune the overflow so that it creates a full syphon (sucking no air), this makes an almost silent overflow.

if noise is a concern for you herbie is definitely the way to go

[Reefpete]

Originally Posted by Pony of the Sea

since im probably going to drill my tank im planning on doing the herbie.

How do you like your pump? is it an internal or external pump?

does it transfer alot of heat into your system?

its an internal pump and its pretty quiet and not too much heat transfer if at all

[Pony of the Sea]

ive been looking at mag 5 pump, just looked at the rio pumps though.

Any pros/cons about either. Ive been reading a lot of ppl seem to say mag drive are really reliable.

hopfully runs cool too, i'm shooting for the most silent tank i can set up