180 gallon pipe dream? cost a dampener....

[dax29]

I've beem talking up the 180 gallon for days now, but my dream has been slightly dampened by the costs of a new 180 set up with a wet dry, drilled holes, and built-in overflows.

My wife's cousin runs an aquarium set-up and maintenance business and he said he can get me a used 125 gallon tank complete with stand, top and lights for $350.00. He also said he would do all the plumbing and all for me and build me a wet/dry. I'm leaning more towards that now. So my first question is, is there a really big difference between stocking a 125 vs. a 180 gallon tank when it comes to malawi cichlids? They are both 6-ft tanks.

Next question. Do I really need built-in overflows and drilled holes to run a wet/dry? My wife's cousin wrote "Think about what happens if your power shuts down. The siphon fills up your sump and then the flow is stopped when the water reaches the siphon level. If the siphon is positioned high enough the tank won't drain onto the floor but when the pump starts back up it will fill the tank with more water than you need and then will run dry and eventually sieze. Might as well do it right with as little maintainance as possible. We drill holes for about $10. Buy a tank with an overflow, spend a little more but you will thank me."

 

[greenmaji]

when the power shuts down.. you have a small hole in the pipes to break the syphon..
when he is talking about a siphon is he talking about a pipe that just goes down to the sump or a syphon overflow box? the syphon overflow box is designed to not louse siphon by keeping water in the in tank portion and the out of tank portion and only siphoning from the inside box to the outside box.. when the pump kicks back on the plumbing goes back to normal.. what does happen is the water thats in the tube coming back to the tank will drain back into the sump (only that water because you put a small hole in the pipe just below the water level to keep the tank from draining into the sump) Im unsure as to why your wife's cousin didnt mention this.... some people dont have confidence in this plumbing system.. thought its been used for quite a few years in the SW side of the hobby.. It is the way I would go.. but thats just me..
plumbing is complicated lets do algebra.. JK
SW fokes have this plumbing thing down to a science by the way..

 

[greenmaji]

there is a modification to the overflow box that allows a venturi powerhead to restart the syphon if it ever is lost..
a 1/8"hole is taped into the top of the J-tube or U-tube and a airline adapter is installed.. then.. a airline is taken from there to the venturi intake of a powerhead in the tank.. if there is any air in the tube it is sucked out by the venturi powerhead, restarting the syphon.. once its full of water the venturi just fills with water.. and no airbubbles are blown out by the powerhead anymore.. I am uncertian of exactly how many GPH a venturi will take from the J or U tube but if the powerhead is smaller Im sure that it would be negligible.. HTH