Thinking of buying this setup?

[farfromsea]

Hello all

I have a 60 cube HOB and I'm not a big fan of HOB. It has overflowed a few times recently (luckily while I'm home).

Looking at getting this setup it is a Planet Aquarium 60 gal with ghost overflow.

Can anyone identify the sump?

Good buy?

Pros in my mind:
Potentially quieter than my current setup
low risk of overflowing
better sump setup (I have a 20 gal long underneath a cube...bought it used when more stupid than I am now)

All thoughts appreciated!

PS hope this is in the right sub-forum

[first29gallon]

It’s an Eshopps Cube Sump


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[Bpb]

Planet makes awesome stuff


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[first29gallon]

Originally Posted by first29gallon

It’s an Eshopps Cube Sump


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It’s a nice setup for the right price. Does it come with lights? If not I would get LEDs But that’s my opinion. The only thing to consider is space for other equipment like dry goods and tools as well as the electric strip. The stand might not accommodate all of that


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[jeffp1]

You will be happy with the Planet Aquarium setup. I have an 85 gallon and really love it.

[nereefpat]

Have you thought about drilling the tank you currently have? Then it wouldn't be a HOB.

[on the spot]

Originally Posted by farfromsea

I have a 60 cube HOB and I'm not a big fan of HOB. It has overflowed a few times recently...

What type of HOB overflow are you using? spilling water is either a faulty installation or execution - things that can be fixed.

of course how you run your tank is your concern alone so I won't try to convince you to another path. there is clearly a flaw though. baby and bathwater thing to me.

[Conchman]

As everybody says, Eshopps. No area for fuge like a Trigger. Also, the only HOB overflow I would use if I had to is from Lifereef. Never had an issue with the one I had. Does not require a lifter pump, and auto starts after power failure.

[farfromsea]

Hello all,

Thanks for all of the responses! Sorry I didn't reply earlier I must have accidentally unsubscribed from RC or tapatalk and didn't get notification of any emails about receiving replies until today. Now to address the questions...

first29gallon: does it come with lights?

No but I currently have a gen 1 Radion on my tank so I should be good...unless I get a wider tank then I need more lights. The big dream would go from cube to a long tank but the cost of more lights is a restricting factor.

bpb: Planet makes awesome stuff.

What is better about a planet aquarium versus other glass aquariums in your opinion? My current one has a rim and a glass lid (jawfish) and certainly isn't anything fancy.

nereefpat: have you considered drilling your current setup?

Yes! I've literally dreamed about drilling my tank and/or replacing it with a different setup. My hesitation on drilling is (1) I can't do it myself, so cost to drill (2) I'd have to drain the entire tank and empty it. So (2a) the costs of giant 55 gallon containers for rocks/sand and lastly, (3) the cost of replumbing the entire thing because currently it uses a combo of PVC and flexible PVC that I'm guessing wouldn't work if I drilled it. It just seems like it would be cheaper to snag a good deal.

Also my current sump is a ~20 gallon long (haven't measured so can't be accurate) that obviously doesn't fit under the cube...so ugh. Access the sump from the back is the work of a contortionist with small hands.

on the spot: what is your current HOB system?

Disclaimer: I'm garbage at explaining this plumbing stuff with my reef. I'm not the best at plumbing the house or plumbing the reef. I bought this setup used and it has been running 2 years so far. What I have is a hang on the back overflow where the overflow box in the rear has 3 chambers. The u-pipe goes in the middle chamber and each chamber on the side has a short piece of PVC. The previous owner put a cap on these with a short piece of air tube sticking out of it (honestly never sure why but then I think maybe it was supposed to reduce noise?). The side chambers' each have PVC with a valve that halfway becomes flexible PVC and feeds into the sump. Obviously there is a pump that pumps water back into the tank with again a pipe that bends over the top of the tank and feeds back into the tank via a powerhead.

Hope that helps explain the system. I can include pics but they would be terrible right now at night (bad lighting) I can try in the AM if necessary but may not be the best pics in the world due to difficulty accessing the back.

Oh yes and the spilled water was from GHA clogging one of the side chambers' PVC's holes. There are those holes drilled around the circumference of the PVC. I have a ridiculous amount of GHA because I need to do more water changes. It is embarrassing. But the pods like it. So the overflow was definitely a user error problem. The guy I know selling this tank was saying that I can certainly try different things to reduce the amount of noise coming from the tank (sometimes the u-pipe siphon makes this irritating sucking noise but that hasn't happened in a while.) I personally hate restarting the siphon when I do a massive water change (which needs to happen more often than I do it) because it is a hassle to shove a tube up there and get the air out.

I guess I've just been trying to figure out the most cost-effective way to improve my setup.

(1) Drilling current setup
(2) getting a new setup --either this one if it is economical or another
(3) sucking it up and using this one as is
(4) making some minor changes to the plumbing on the back of my tank that I am capable of doing on my own without losing my mind or the flooring

PS got a bit long sorry I tried to be to the point

[on the spot]

Restarting the siphon - there is no need to break the siphon during a water change.

• Turn off the return pump.
• change the water.
• turn on the return pump.

fixing the algae problem will be more involved than just water changes. You have a nutrient problem - to much food. manually removing the algae and addressing the excess nutrients, in addition to water changes, will help.

[on the spot]

Originally Posted by farfromsea

I guess I've just been trying to figure out the most cost-effective way to improve my setup.

(4) making some minor changes to the plumbing on the back of my tank that I am capable of doing on my own without losing my mind or the flooring

#4 is clearly the best bang for the buck -

Are the parts in each side chamber glued together, or just pushed together but you can take them apart?

do you have anything in the tank for circulation other than the return pump?

[farfromsea]

Originally Posted by on the spot

#4 is clearly the best bang for the buck -

Are the parts in each side chamber glued together, or just pushed together but you can take them apart?

do you have anything in the tank for circulation other than the return pump?

Keep in mind that I bought this used and I have only the most basic understanding of the plumbing that allowed me to keep this thing running for 2Y....but here goes

The left chamber is glued (pictured below without cap+airline tubing)

The right chamber has a longer PVC pipe that has holes drilled around the circumference and a cap on it with airline tubing. This longer pipe can be pulled out completely which lowers the height of the water in the right chamber significantly.

Below I'm including pictures of:
the right chamber

and

the ugliest sump in the world (mine)

As for circulation, in addition to the return pump I have 2 wavemakers: 1 in the DT & 1 in the sump. Both of which are 3000 L/hour which equates to approx 800 gallons per hour (I'm in the US). So I'm getting efficient overturn I think. The sump got pretty nasty and I was tired of the layer of sediment at the bottom (no fuge...attempted chaeto once and it died)


Lastly, I can prob snag the aforementioned setup for less than $300 so somewhat tempted still.

What do you think could/should be done to improve my setup?

[farfromsea]

Pics continued

right side chamber and its PVC that is removable
and

the valves running down the back of the tank

and
the connections from the PVC to the flexi-PVC which has been slowly seeping on the left side into a salt-encrusted embarrassment

Apologies in advance for the poor quality of the pics, there is a massive window behind the tank without blinds on it because there is no one who can see in so I like it that way lol