Help/Recommend 46G Bowfront Setup

jlovell · 12-29-2004, 09:26 AM

I have a 46G bowfront that is not reef ready. I need help in deciding how best to get this puppy "sumped". My goal here is to get a place where I can build out an algae scrubber area to help keep the nutrients down in the main tank. I don't need to put equipment in this sump as everything I have now is H.O.T. There is a LARGE wad of cheato floating in the tank that has to come out and go elsewhere or my new Live Rock will get NO light. I don't want to lose the cheato in the system as it works GREAT to suck up extra nutrients. It took less than 1 month for the tank to go from green scum to clear when I added the cheato.

Right now the tank is sitting on the AGA Geneva Stand (don't EVER buy one of these pieces of cr*p as it is all particle board AND has absolutely NO space underneath. The Stand has a small cabinet area I can use of 30" high by 15" deep by 12" wide. I have a CPR BakPak2 Skimmer on the back of it as well as a penguin 330 HOT bio-wheel filter.

My choices are:

1. Buy a new stand ($150) that is all wood and fully open underneith (28"H by 36"W by 16"D), put a 20G under and use a CPR Acrylic HOT overflow ($60)
2. Keep the current stand ($0) and use the CPR Acrylic HOT overflow ($60) to go into a 5.5G Glass Aquarium ($20?) or some other small, deep, container in the mini cabinet area I have on the existing stand.
3. Keep the current stand ($0) and get a CPR Aqua-Fuge (24" x 12" x 4") to hang on the back ($115) for the cheato and other such stuff I need space for.

I really don't want to put any more money into this particular system as I can buy something bigger and better (tank/stand) for just a couple of hundred bucks. I don't want to do that as this tank fits VERY conveniently in a good open space in my office (junk pit)

If money wasn't an issue, I'd spend to get the new stand (looks better, more room, safer if it gets wet) and do the CPR overflow (or even have the tank drilled, but that's getting into more money than the tank is worth and I'd have to tear it down). The new stand would give me a nice large undertank area for stuff and a nice sump, but would put me at risk for syphoning water all over the floor if something went wrong with the CPR overflow.

So far, my best solution seems to be the CPR Aqua-Fuge as it only runs $115 and can use the light on top of the tank for lighting. I can grow all the 'pods and macro algae I want and don't have to worry about something accidentally syphoning all over the floor. This and the fact that I can move the CPR AF to another tank in the future if need be. The problem is that it is only 4" wide which doesn't give me a lot of space to work with (works out to 6G for the biggest one), but I don't need a lot of space for equipment, just algae, sand, and maybe a few pieces of small rock.

Suggestions, thoughts, comments from others? I need to do something here, but don't really have good thoughts on what the best most effective solution is. There may even be others I haven't thought of that may be better.

Jay

tims · 12-29-2004, 06:26 PM

mmm jay, tough one,
if money is problem and the spacing of the current stand.
why not make your own?you would be able to make one cheaper then buying most of the time and design it to fit what you want under neath.

sump wise you could also go with a storage tote(with out feet).

Geoff · 12-29-2004, 09:31 PM

just some food for thought for you.

how is the Chaeto. exporting nutrients for you if you do not remove any of it?

BTW-you need to start removing some of it or the parts that are not getting as much light will die off and release all of the nutrients that it has absorbed. you will quickly be back where you started.

G~

jlovell · 12-30-2004, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tims

if money is problem and the spacing of the current stand.
why not make your own?you would be able to make one cheaper then buying most of the time and design it to fit what you want under neath.

sump wise you could also go with a storage tote(with out feet).

True, I guess what I'm looking for is the answer to both "can I make the current tank situation work?" as well as "should I make the current situation work?".

The tank is up and running on the existing stand. If I buy or build, I'm going to have to tear it down to move it to the new stand. If I am going to go that far, I probably can take the empty tank to someone and have it drilled, thus making my 46 "reef ready". Drilled and overflowed sitting on top of a nice big (open underneath) stand with a decent size (for a 36" wide tank/stand) sump is the best solution but it will "cost" me tearing down the tank and reworking everything on top of buying the new stand or materials to make a new stand. This is probably more than this tank is worth, especially when I can get something used (72G bowfront) that is reef ready for $250 or so with stand.

If I make the current situation work with the existing stand, I'm going to have to go with a mini-sump that will fit into my "micro stand" and some sort of H.O.T overflow device *or* go with a H.O.T sump equivalent like the aqua-fuge. Neither of these is a great solution, but are they workable? What do other folks do who have a tank that is not drilled and "reef ready"?

Thanks for helping me with this by the way

Jay

jlovell · 12-30-2004, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geoff

just some food for thought for you.

how is the Chaeto. exporting nutrients for you if you do not remove any of it?

BTW-you need to start removing some of it or the parts that are not getting as much light will die off and release all of the nutrients that it has absorbed. you will quickly be back where you started.G~

Very good point. I'm going to give away about half of it this weekend to folks who are "chomping" at the bit to get some.

Jay

saltwater_wannabe · 12-30-2004, 07:16 AM

I have the EXACT same situation, stand and all. I was in the same predicament until my wife gave me the go ahead to purchase a RR 65g AGA with sump,etc. One of the LFS told me that they could build a plexi sump that would use the space in the center, as well as the space behind the shelves on either side. The Approx volume would be 15g or so. I never priced it up, but I'm sure that if you browse around a little more and sketch up some ideas, you could make one yourself.