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prcoverage

Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2005
Messages
20
Location
Hollywood,Florida
Been trolling here for awhile and just wanted to say ty to mojo & all so far for all the topics they have really helped me to get this far. I have finally put the cash a side for either a 96x36x30 or 96x36x36 from glasscages.com
The help I need is deciding on how to set up the overflows and returns. This will be a reef/fish tanks with hard as well as softies. It will be all glass ( can you say hernia) and viewable from 3 sides( front back and left side) I have a 14 ft wall in living room that I will remove and make into this room divider. This way I have 8 ft of tank and 6 ft for a closet. I recently moved to this new house here in Hollywood Florida and my mermaid just said do what ever you want. ( 8 P can you say MUAHHHA). I would like your thoughts and ideas, I truly have faith in you guys.
I need your thoughts as well on the equipment you would buy personally ( within reason no christmas sales here)for the lights/refuge/pumps ect.
Thanks again will send Pictures of the wall later to get thread started.
 
Ohhhh boy pr... here we go.

What are your long term goals for the tank? What would you like to keep? How much time do you have for maint daily, weekly, monthly?

IMO I would shorten the tank. 30-36" tanks are a BEAR to manage. Trust me! I am young and agile and I still work up a sweat trying to work anywhere near the bottom of my 30" deep tank, not to mention having developed surgeon like precision with 30" Tongs :)

So walk us through your tank "101" and we'll go from their. Boy did you come to the right place ;)
 
Sounds like you are building yourself a monster! Glad you've joined RF and you are right about getting all the help you need from here. We've got some amazing and gifted members here as well as great craftsmen.

You said you needed help with setting up overflows as well as returns. I assume that since you are using glass, drilling is not an option...Right? or Wrong? I'm not really familiar with the tanks at Glasscage.com if they can be drilled. With a tank that size you are going to need a lot of turnover and if you can't drill for some closed loop setups, then you may have to use a few powerheads and I would probably only recommend a Tunze package for that size tank. I've done a closed loop before on my 90 gal glass however I took it down as the pump I used was a little noisey. I got the idea from Marc at Melev's reef where he did a closed loop using a squid. I did the exact same plumbing, however I had an overflow built to hide everything. My intake pipe for the pump went down in the the overflow. I then drilled the overflow and added 3 bulkheads which I joined together and connected it to my output of my pump. So looking in my tank all you saw was an overflow skimming the surface or my water and 3 nozzles pushing out water. All the plumbing was hidden inside of the overflow and the pump sat in my stand (Just wanted to give you a little idea of what you can do if drilling isn't an option).

I guess a little more info will be needed as to whether you will be using a sump and how much flow it will be able to handle, if drilling is an option etc. That way we can get a better idea of what you will need to do or which way would be best to suit your set up. Good luck..
 
Thanks for posting so fast guys. Yes the tank can and will be drilled before I get it. That was the reason mostly for the post. I was looking for ideas of how many and where to put them. I figure to make the whole right side of the tank an overflow box and maybe put a manifold across top pushing that way or maybe drill and pump through bottom as well. I am thinking of prob some where near 150 gallon sump/refuge under tank. As for flow I would think in range of 3500-5000gph is where I would need to be.
 
Hopefully, when mojo gets his internet back online, he'll be able to add his 2¢. I have a question with regards to your space. Are you going to be limited in putting equipment under the stand? (you mentioned the 6 ft closet, but is that for tank stuff?). Is there going to be any height restriction for the skimmer? Substrate? Have you thought about having a center overflow box or two?

Have you checked out this thread? Plumbing ideas for a room divider

A 750 gallon SPS system is born

Also a new one: 600 Gallon Mixed Reef: Looking for input
 
To answer you NaH2O
>>>Are you going to be limited in putting equipment under the stand?
No I have under tank, closet that will be 6'x3' as well as another closet 5x3 in next room near the wash/dryer slop sink( was my tool closet)
>>> Is there going to be any height restriction for the skimmer
Nope unless you think 9 ft is restricted.
>>>Substrate?
Yes 1 inch bed
>>>Have you thought about having a center overflow box or two?
Yes I have read already those posts before I started my own. I would prefere to not have a center overflow. It kinda would break up the flow i was looking for.
 
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Seems like Nikki gave you some good reading material. They are good examples to go by. Beware of the "750 gallon SPS system is born"...you may go broke trying to keep up with all that equipment (LOL JK)

I was wondering if the 3500-5000gph would be enough for such a big tank (atleast the 3500 gph). I know proper placement of flow is key, but a lot could be lost in such a long tank. I currently have 2690 gph of flow in my 90 gal FO setup that is 4ft long (700 gph return from sump, 350 gph from cannister, and 820 gph x2 coming from my Seio powerheads). If I drop a flake or 2 in my tank just to test the efficiency of my flow, the food will never rest anywhere in the tank unless it makes its way to the prefilter which is good. However, to me the flow isn't all that strong IMO. I'm just afraid @ 3500 gph in a tank your size may not be strong enough to push ditritus off of your rocks and into the water column. I could be wrong (as I am still learning myself) and you may want to get more feedback from more experienced members. Like I said, proper placement of flow is key and you might not have a problem in your setup with that much flow. Just wanted to point that out as it ran across my mind reading your post. Good luck again in getting it all sorted out.
 
ok after talking to a few of you decided to go with 96x36x30 height is last right? jlehigh I can see where your coming from. I agree on the flow krish75 will look into that .Now its time for the holes. I'm looking for efficency, I don't need to the Nth degree. I would like to keep the over flow only on the rightside so will probable go for two 2" drains. As for the return I think a manafold of 2 banks 4 on each side for a total of 8 jets will do the job. I'm gonna face them to the right to aim the flow at the overflow. What do you guys think? Do I need a closed loop from underside as well?
 
Are you going to aim all 8 at the overflow? If so, are you planning on aiming them directly at it or just slightly in that direction? You don't really want all of you flow to be directional. As with the ocean, currents change. It will go one way for so many hours and then shift to the next. For most people, that isn't an option for them so they tend to lean more towards random flow. You don't want to point everything in the same direction and create dead spots. You can accomplish this in your setup by maybe using 2 return pumps...1 on each of your 4 nozzles and put them on timers where they'll shift periodically. You can set them as closely or as far apart as you want. Atleast with that, you can get some random flow. I think Mojo had a diagram somewhere on the forum on how you should set up your nozzles for best tank coverage. I'll see if I can find it if you haven't already seen it. The server is a little slow tonight so it might take some time, but I'll try and find it.
 
I think 30" tall would be the best route.....I can't imagine trying to get something at the bottom of the tank. Unless I was an orangutan.

Were you going to use just one pump for the closed loop? It might be better to go with 2 pumps, and 2 closed loops? I think dgasmd's tank is on 2 closed loops. I also think that bringing a closed loop up from the bottom might be good to get flow in your aquascaping. You could aquascape around the plumbing so you don't see it....just make the outputs high enough that it won't disturb your substrate. On the skimmer, mojo's airstone seems to be extremely efficient, and you might look into it. dgasmd had GEO custom make an airstone skimmer like mojos....another option. Another question - have you thought about an oceans motions or motorized ball valve to create random flow?
 
ok some more imput.
krish75 I had read that thread before but rereading it again I saw new idea's amd helped alot ..tnks

NaH2O>>>Were you going to use just one pump for the closed loop? It might be better to go with 2 pumps, and 2 closed loops?
I havent decided I thought about a different way last night.one feeder for the manifold going down center of the tanks and having the 8 of the jets aimed at the glass to bounce off and hit the coral.

>>> I also think that bringing a closed loop up from the bottom might be good to get flow in your aquascaping.
Still waiting on making that decision. Mojo said in one of the posts that he didnt like plumbing from the bottom because of possible failure i think. I like the idea of that though. How do you set them up so they dont bother the fish wanting to live there. Remember there will be no coral against the walls only in the center of the tanks so not worrying to much about flow around them.

>>>Another question - have you thought about an oceans motions or motorized ball valve to create random flow?

I'm trying to use the KISS method and would like to stay away from as many add ons as possible.Now I may be wrong I hope you guys smack me around if it is needed.

I want to throw a question out about fish and random flow. Do the fish really care or feel the differnce? Don't they get hit by different flows and directions as they swim from one side of the tank to the other?
 
I want to throw a question out about fish and random flow. Do the fish really care or feel the differnce? Don't they get hit by different flows and directions as they swim from one side of the tank to the other?
Click to expand...
I think that might depend on the type of fish. I know some fish I've had use to love to swim against the powerhead. I don't know what they got out of it, but they liked it. Also, some fish experience a lot worse water movement in the ocean (especially in shallow waters) when compared to our tanks and they do just fine. I know when it's really rough, I can hardly hold my ground when snorkeling, but the fish seem to get by quite well...Just my thoughts which could be wrong. (LOL)
 
prcoverage - my flow switches from side to side via motorized ball valve. The fish seem to know the path of the flow, so they don't get blown all over the place. My male anthias hangs out in the center of the tank....when the ball valve switches, he changes the direction he's facing.
 
My male anthias hangs out in the center of the tank....when the ball valve switches, he changes the direction he's facing.
Click to expand...

You've got some intelligent fish there Nikki! Mine use to just go with the flow (LOL)
 
ok found my tank builder localy. He gonna build me a starfire 3 sides at 1/2" bottom of 3/4" and right side of regular glass. Your ready for the price.......
$1750 . I went ok I'll take it. He has a nice small shop and some real nice tanks. He liked my idea of the manifold and how you guys have come up with flow. He also is trying to get me to do a center overflow but I havent decided yet. I hope to pay him on monday and will have the tank in two weeks.
 
Dude, I called you and replied to your email.
Click to expand...

Prcoverage...Now you really don't have anything to worry about. You've got another pro besides Nikki helping you out! Sounds like the tank is going to be great. Can't wait for you to get it so we can see some pictures on the step by step progress of it. Good luck once again!
 
Hey PR welcome aboard!! I just got back online, how we doing here?? have you got a plan in place??


Mike
 
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