Jon1985's flood induced upgrade

[jon1985]

Ok so I currently have an 80 gallon tank that has been running for almost a year (year at end of Jan). I dont have it drilled or have a sump because when I set it up I was hard for cash (who isnt). Anyways for the last year I have fought with HOB equipment and Im done, one to many floods. I was hoping to wait to upgrade until I bought a house but cant deal with HOB anymore.

SO these are the 3 options I see
1-get out of marine and fish all together (not really an option as I see it)
2-try to setup a sump without drilling my current tank
3-tear apart my tank and get a bigger one and drill and plumb it


I obviously prefer option 3 but being christmas and all I am again a little short on cash. I would rather not tear apart my current tank to drll it as there isnt really room in the stand for a sump and if its torn apart I would rather get a bigger tank.


So here is the list of equipment I figure I need for option 3.
equipment
-tank (6' long no more than 25" deep, 150-180 gallon would be ideal)
-tank for sump (considering current 80 gallon)
-skimmer for sump
-return pump (could I use the mag 3 pump on my current skimmer)
-plumbing
I would like to try to do this as cheaply as possible without it looking cheap or not functioning.


I will be making my own stand and light hood as I am cabinet maker by trade. Unfortunatly I have no clue about plumbing so this will be fun.

Does it look like I am missing anything?

[lordofthereef]

I would take option 3 if you are scared of doing overflows. OR, just go sumpless and bump up the water change schedule.

If you plan on doing the 150g tank your planned equipment looks good, although I feel the mag 3 pump would be a bit weak as your return. It is rated for 350gph without headloss.

[jon1985]

yea looks like the mag 3 wont cut it. Where abouts do most people place the return line in the tank?

[xxjdmcivicek9xx]

there are a few decent HOB over flow systems out there. my current tank has been on an ehopps HOB system for 2 years with no problems. and as long as you have a siphon break on your return line you should have any issues with it flooding...also i run a RIO 8 return pump that has been great so far!!

[jon1985]

I found a tank, it has 2 holes drilled in the bottom center. I plan to have one drain that sits just below the surface of the water, it will have a course screen on it to prevent snails and fish from getting into it and blocking it. Should I just leave the opening of the pipe pointing up or should I put an elbow on it facing sideways or pointing to the bottom? For the return I will bring an elbow out of the bottom and have it pointing out of my rock work. First question, if the return pump dies for some reason will the water drain out the return line or will the pump prevent that? If not should I bring the return line almost to the water surface so that minimal water drains into the sump if the pump fails?

I am going to be putting the new tank where my old tank is and using the old tank as a sump so this is the order I plan to do things, let me know if Im missing anything.

1- make RODI/salt water 4-5 days in advance (3-4 days at 75 gpd)

Bright and early one morning over the holidays:
2-drain water out of current tank and put fish in one bucket, corals and rock in another, nems in another (use however many buckets are needed)

3-move old tank and stand out of way, move new stand and tank into place (new tank will have the plumbing in the tank glued and dry with a shut off so I can start filling with water).

4-put sand and rock into new tank

5-start filling tank with new water

6-clean old tank, and silicone baffles into place (I need some suggestions on baffles, how many? how high? where does extra equipment go in the sump? reactor, return pump, cheato?

7-once new tank is full add fish and corals to tank

8-complete plumbing under tank into sump. (how long does silicone have to dry before the sump can be filled?)


Where can I find a picture and explaination of a well layed out sump so I can figure out how the plumbing works and where it goes?

Thank you for reading the whole post and answering the many, many questions

Jon

[jon1985]

I did some searching and decided on this sump design from Melevs Reef. Simple but incorporats everything I need.

http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/sumps/f/sump_f.html

Still trying to figure out the over flows and returns. I am going to try and run it 4 side visable so I would rather not have the return coming up the back. I may drill some new holes in the bottom because right now they are side by side.

[jon1985]

I picked up the tank today and the 2 holes are side by side (far enough apart to get bulkheads in place)

I think I am going to use 1 1/2" bulk heads for the overflows and 1" bulkheads for the returns. I plan to drill a new hole on each end. One end will get a return directing flow to the middle of the tank (towards the left side) then the closest center hole as an overflow, the hole beside that would be a return pointing to the left side, then the final hole on the end would be the second drain.

I will use durso standpipes as over flows and the returns will be 1" pipe that has an elbow on the end. The elbow will be half submerged but not completly so that if the return pump fails very little water will drain back into the sump.

This will all use a pump rated for over 1500gph.

See any problems?

[jon1985]

Ttt

[Metal Man 1221]

hmm it seems im a little late to throw in my input
oh well lets see some pics!

[jon1985]

Never to late for input, especially considering the tank is still sitting on my living room floor waiting for me to decide where to drill.

Option 1: from end of tank: drain, return, drain, return (returns pointing the same direction)
Option 2: from end of tank: drain, return, return, drain (the returns would be pointing away from each other)
Option 3: from end of tank: return, drain, drain, return (returns would be pointing into the middle of the tank but not directly at the drains)

So what does everyone think?