ideas needed

[1972ford]

I got an old petsmart plant display tank like this one

I was thinking about trying something radically different with it

My first though was to use it as a sump but my tank is not drilled and dont trust or like the look of overflows. I thin thought maybe i could create a fish bridge concept between the 2 tanks and build a tower in the tall tier of the sump to match the water level in my main tank. Use a mess to keep my fish in te display i could them plant the "sump" whick flows into a hidden sump in the cabinet where i can hide my hardware and then pump the water back to the other side of the main tank. This sump refugium combo has a 300 gallon capacity.

Thats what i thought of doing i would love to get others opinions. My display is a 7' 200 gallon glass tank and the "sump" is acrylic 300 gallons.

Any and all ideas are welcome.

I have the space and a $1,000 budget but still need pump, lighting which is cheap with shop lights, and some plumbing 1/4" glass is free.

 

[Caliban07]

I got an old petsmart plant display tank like this one

I was thinking about trying something radically different with it

My first though was to use it as a sump but my tank is not drilled and dont trust or like the look of overflows. I thin thought maybe i could create a fish bridge concept between the 2 tanks and build a tower in the tall tier of the sump to match the water level in my main tank. Use a mess to keep my fish in te display i could them plant the "sump" whick flows into a hidden sump in the cabinet where i can hide my hardware and then pump the water back to the other side of the main tank. This sump refugium combo has a 300 gallon capacity.

Thats what i thought of doing i would love to get others opinions. My display is a 7' 200 gallon glass tank and the "sump" is acrylic 300 gallons.

Any and all ideas are welcome.

I have the space and a $1,000 budget but still need pump, lighting which is cheap with shop lights, and some plumbing 1/4" glass is free.

That's awesome. Why don't you keep it for what it was intended and grow plants using co2 and dry ferts. You could then sell them on or trade with your local LFS. You could even put small fish in their just for fun? That's what I would do anyway.


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[1972ford]

Theres not much of a market for plants in my area. The LFS doesnt buy anything or offer credit from customers its a drag

 

[Ingy]

Implementing that tiered tank and sump will be tricky. What happens when there is a power outage? Tower level drops due to gravity, tier runs to sump. Will the DT siphon to tier/sump? Possible sump overflow. Very tricky. What about a plugged bridge line? Will the sump pump out enough water to overflow the DT? Oh so tricky!

What about simply having a second tiered DT with a sump. 4 sections means a more diverse selection of tank mates.

Also remember, silicon sealant won't stick well to acrylic and acrylic cement won't stick to glass at all. Better to use acrylic parts in the acrylic tank.


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[1972ford]

The bridge would tap into the tower and the tower overflow into the top teir of tier tank ill have plenty of capacity under teired tank to deal with overflow issues. But trying to seal the bottom of glass tower to the bottom of the top teir would be a challenge. I could put a glass bottom on the tower and let gravity hold it in place though.

The bridge though i was thinking making it 6" square and the tower 7" square

 

[The_Desacrator]

That's awesome. Why don't you keep it for what it was intended and grow plants using co2 and dry ferts. You could then sell them on or trade with your local LFS. You could even put small fish in their just for fun? That's what I would do anyway.


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I'd do this too. I think my local store had one too for awhile but they must have gotten rid of it.

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[1972ford]

Well i picked up another huge tank for $100 think im gonna set this up not sure fresh or first salt tank though just need to clean and reseal aquarium