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Wadec
05/29/2006, 07:37 PM
Hello all, I have always wanted a saltwater tank and i`m building my own house and thought this would be a great time to get a tank and build it in. The trouble is i`m a noob. I built a acrylic tank and a wet/dry filter, and a diy skimmer. I just don`t know how to plumb it all in. I`m not sure where to put the holes in the tank. The diy section covers most other stuff but not the plumbing. My tank is 60X19X22. I want to put the overflow box on the out side of the tank. Do you run the water into the wet/dry then the skimmer? Can you use one pump or do i need two? Also this is a fish only for now. I will add live rock later on. I`m running the water and a drain where the tank is going. Can I have one return on each end and the overflow in the middle? Whats the best course of action here? Thanks, Wadec

bertoni
05/29/2006, 09:26 PM
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

http://www.melevsreef.com/what_sump.html

That animation should help explain how a sump works. There's lots of ways to do the plumbing. In general, you'll want a pump to move water from the wet-dry back to the tank, and another pump to run the skimmers. You'll also need some powerheads or similar pumps in the tank to provide circulation.

An overflow in the middle with two returns should be fine.

Wadec
05/30/2006, 08:26 AM
Thanks for the info bertoni. What will saltwater do to a septic system. So should I have two overflow boxes, one to the skimmer and one to the wet/dry?

bertoni
05/30/2006, 02:13 PM
You should probably just have one overflow, and you can use a T-joint with a valve to do the split, IMO.

I don't know what saltwater will do to a septic system. A search might turn up some answers, or someone with experience might post. If not, you could start a thread with that subject.