live rock in seperate tank

[camaroboy8691]

im putting together a 600 gal tank and dont want a ton of rock in the tank , im plaining on doing like other and putting a good majority under the tank in another holding tank .

my question is , should i have my tank drain into this tank 1st , and then into my sump to be skimmed and then returned ? or something else ? im plaining on taking a 55 gallon drum cutting it in half and filling it with rock i think i have seen some creative setups where guys had there over flow drain into a pipe that pushed the water from the bottom of the tank to the top to flow into the sump this way helping to remove sedament at the bottom .


looking for some advice on how i should do this .

[mikeatjac]

I have a separate live rock tank. The first time I had the DT water drain into it the the live rock tank which drained in to a typical sump set up. It became a sewer in no time. Now I have it receive water from the return side of the sump and return to the return side of the sump. Also you need to put a lot of flow in it.

Works like a champ now. I want corals in my DT and not a lot of Live Rock.

[mikeatjac]

You might even try something like this. Would be easy to clean out the waste from the bottom. I am looking into one myself.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m260/Mikeatjax/2050Settling_tank_zpsfc7bc7e5.jpg

[reeferlover]

yeah dont drain straight into a live rock holding tank. that will be a diaster. you want to skim and sock the water first. i put the cleanest water into that holding tank.

[camaroboy8691]

Ok , sump 1st then live rock tank , I think I'm going to plumb the drum to push water from the bottom up , I'm hoping this way it helps keep it clean I guess I could even put a light over it and also add some cheto to create a nice area for pods ?

Mike , do you have a link for that container ? I'm still not completly set on what I'm going to do so ill look into that drum also

[mikeatjac]

google settling tanks. I saw several companies that make above but forgot the link.

[reeferlover]

yes thats what i have going right now. my sump have a nice 20 gal section or so for a fuge and its on the end of my sump i have a very small amount of flow going through it like 60-100 gph i have a ton of live rock with chaeto. i had a ton of pods but they seemed to disappear after i added a six line

[camaroboy8691]

mike , found a company that sells them

http://www.plastic-mart.com/product/3574/35-gallon-full-drain-inductor-tanks-with-poly-legs-ibfd35-set

there are also different styles .

i gotta think this one out , i only have a 4x8 area to work with under the tank for a sump , skimmer pumps , 2 55gal drums from water top off and mixing station .... , i like the idea , i just need to figure it out , i certainly like the idea of never needing to remove the rock to get the sediment out , hmmmmmmm

[reeferlover]

im lucky i built a man room in my basement and i have the tank in the room and sump on the other side of the wall. so i have the whole outside of the room for whatever!!

im gonna add a stock tank for my live rock area. im going to start buying rock when its a good deal and add it to my system for my monster tank someday!

[camaroboy8691]

well this is going into my shop/living area , its roughly 6500sq ft all together , the living area is 900ish , the rest is my shop which i run a business out of so i cant take up to much room 4x8 foot print is all i can give up , i do have a good bit of room under the tank , the stand is about 60" tall under it so i can really get stuff under there

heres a pic of the stand

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91708975@N06/8327993712/" title="IMG_1755 by 225digger, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8361/8327993712_f118e786f9.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_1755"></a>

if you notice there is a door on the left and right , these go into our living area and is at a different elevation than the shop floor , on the right is where im building a new office and you will be able to see the 4ft side of the tank from there , and then in our living area you will be able to see the 8ft side .

so yea , i have a good bit of room , but its all under the tank .

im going to start a build thread in the large tank section soon ...

[mikeatjac]

"i certainly like the idea of never needing to remove the rock to get the sediment out , hmmmmmmm", OMG yes!

Good link, here are some more that NFMAS club members suggested.
http://www.tank-depot.com/
or from this place.
http://www.plastic-mart.com/category...e-bottom-tanks
or us plastics

I am going to fill mine with Marco Rock.