upgrading (hopefully)

Cosine · 11-11-2004, 11:49 AM

Hey everyone.

Well my plan is to set up a 50 or 75 gallon soon. Well I'm gonna start it up once christmas vacation begins. Well I figure I'll see if I can get it drilled and go with a sump this time as I want to try to build an in-line skimmer.
Hopefully I'm not bitting off more than I can chew in this project.
Well as far as the sump is concerned is this best way to go to use another tank or can I use a big rubbermaid container?
If this plan does come into action theres gonna be alot of questions since I've never plumbed a tank before.

I'm not sure what tank to go with. The 75 will be somewhat more expensive for just the tank. But I'll need longer bulbs and more rock.

Well anyone think I am capable of building a skimmer adequate for either size of these tanks. The skimmer will be venturi style I believe, would this be a good plan?
I want to transfer my current inhabitants over. Just three small fish. I guess I'll have to decide what other fish I want to add.
For this project I want to build as much as I can. (I might have 4 months off after christmas so I can put in lots of time).

Opinions or thoughts on any of this?
Okay thanks for reading!

-Bill

drw94 · 11-11-2004, 07:01 PM

well are you going with glass or acrylic. I prefer acrylic because of the ease of all the plumbing and I live in ca with all the earthquakes. As a sump goes I would use another tank. It just makes everything nicer under the main tank. I have never built a skimmer before, but nowadays they are pretty cheap, I use a eurostyle with good success. Back to the sump, they are a little noisy and if you get a new tank you can have a overflow put for a few bucks more. But if not I have put bulkheads on the back of the tank and adjusted the water level with valves, and just dumb luck with placement. A built in overflow is just much easier and is highly recommended. I hard plumbed all my stuff just cause I don't trust hose clamps. Another thing to take into consideration with sump size is the amount of water that will draw down when the power goes out.
Hope I gave you enough to ponder for a while!! Always preplan and dont rush........Goodluck with your new tank, can't wait for picks.

rwdandald · 11-11-2004, 09:40 PM

I'm not sure what tank to go with. The 75 will be somewhat more expensive for just the tank. But I'll need longer bulbs and more rock

Marginally more expensive ($25-35 more maybe) for the tank and you will eventually want more rock but most 75 and 55 tanks are 48" so the lights are fairly compatible - you may want 1-2 extra tubes for the 75...I would definately go with the larger size - everything is easier in the long run , IMO.
I would also recommend the tank for a sump - the rubbermaid containers tend to be more flexible on the sides than I like for use as a sump.

Cosine · 11-11-2004, 09:55 PM

Glass is my plan
mostly because it is what is available.
My LFS carries aga tanks so it will be one of theirs.
No earthquakes here!

Well yeah I've got lots of time to plan this out.
I am not confident in the plumbing yet so that is where I'm gonna direct my attention first.
The only huge cost difference between the two tanks seems to be lbs of rock.

So all advice will again be appreciated.
thanks

Cosine · 11-11-2004, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwdandald

I'm not sure what tank to go with. The 75 will be somewhat more expensive for just the tank. But I'll need longer bulbs and more rock

Marginally more expensive ($25-35 more maybe) for the tank and you will eventually want more rock but most 75 and 55 tanks are 48" so the lights are fairly compatible - you may want 1-2 extra tubes for the 75...I would definately go with the larger size - everything is easier in the long run , IMO.
I would also recommend the tank for a sump - the rubbermaid containers tend to be more flexible on the sides than I like for use as a sump.

Well I was looking at a 50 gallon from AGA its 36''*18''*18''.
But I have room for a 4 foot tank and the bulbs are actually about the same price. I'll be getting VHO not planning on anything that needs MH yet.
So I think I might go with the 75.
Anybody out there with a std aga 75g -48*18*20? Wanna give some tips on how you plumbed it?
I wanna make sure that I have the details worked out before I get going.
Wanna keep costs to a minimum.

wanareef · 11-12-2004, 05:15 AM

Here is a link that I send to everyone that is upgrading to a little bigger tank. It has plumbing and a CL pix's, and IMO is a well thought out design. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=371622 Some of the design is from Mojoreef in Seattle , PSAS club. I'm just guessing that you will be go with some SPS.

hth

Cosine · 11-12-2004, 09:31 AM

Thanks wannareef
that is a great link.
nice setup he has there.
I skimmed through it but I'll read through it more carefully tomorrow.

Should gravity be used for any of this or should water be pumped to the sump and pumped back up to the tank?
well obviously back up...
but I just figure it might be difficult to get everything going with the right flow in each direction if using gravity?
make sense?

wanareef · 11-12-2004, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cosine

Thanks wannareef
that is a great link.
nice setup he has there.
I skimmed through it but I'll read through it more carefully tomorrow.

Should gravity be used for any of this or should water be pumped to the sump and pumped back up to the tank? Yes, it's gravity feed to the sump
well obviously back up...
but I just figure it might be difficult to get everything going with the right flow in each direction if using gravity? Have all your "out's" go into one big pipe ie; 1.5" or 2" then to the sump. On the end of this you can hang a filter sock as a prefilter for the bigger stuff
make sense?

You'll have to look at the pix's again and follow the in's and out's

Cosine · 11-12-2004, 09:46 AM

Just read through the first page of that site then.
Is it a good idea to drill the bottom of a tank or would this hurt the structural integrity?
I like the idea of a CLS and that seems fairly straight forward. take water out and shoot it back in. And I won't even need a power head!

Well my plan for this tank is for sofites and LPS. However when I graduate and move out I plan on taking it with me and then maybe throwing on some MH and get some SPS.