help me plumb my tank, and with some other ideas please

[trillyen]

ok im about to journey into another tank venture since my last 1 came to an end so abruptly.

one thing i always wanted to do was plumb my tank so that my in and out take tubes would not grow any algae because of light hitting it

i was just wondering what is the best way in every ones opinion to plumb a 125 gallon tank and what kind of return to put on each end so that i wont have to go with that over crowed look with the power heads

i want to have 2 29 gallon tanks underneath my tank for 1 refuge and the other a filter sock and ill have a great skimmer on each tank

im just not a plumber and i wanna know what kind o pvc to use thats reef safe

and also what is the best and most modern cost effective way to set up my refuge and my filter sock filter tanks that will require tthe most maintenace

this project i plan to do it big and keep an omnline diary of it on this here site, i really look forward to helping and working with the people here on this site again, and hope that this new tank starter ship will be and everlasting one!!!

thanks in advance

your long lost friend :

Trillyen

 

[trillyen]

ohh and 1 more thing what can i do with all my power heads that i will no longer have use for

is there anything

and another thing i want a return systems that swivels back and forth for random water move ment in my 75 gallon tank im gonna set up how can i go about doing this and what equipment would i need

i dont thing i need that much water movement in my 125 gallon but in my 75 gallon reef i would like a lil bit more

what would be a good turn over rate for a 75 gallon reef, and what would be an exceptable turn over rate for a 125 gallon fowlr

 

[lizardarm]

Standard schedule 80 PVC is reef safe; that's what most of us use and due to the fact that it's not clear you shouldn't have the problems with algae growing inside of it. I am assuming that the aquarium in your avatar is the 125 in question. It appears to be non reef-ready (no built in overflows) so my guess would be to either try to get the tank drilled or to invest in a couple of overflow boxes.
For the filter socks you can get a piece of plexiglass or whatever acrylic the home center carries and have it cut to fit in the rim of the 29gallon sump. Then cut a hole in it big enough to set your filter sock into (just a bit smaller than the plastic ring of the sock so it won't fall through). That's a cost effective way to get that done, and it works well too.
As far as random water movement goes, look into Oceansmotions, or Seaswirl, or Wavysea units. The Seaswirl and Wavysea units are similar in the way that they work. The Oceansmotions unit works on an entirely different principle and requires more plumbing but is a good choice.
The "perfect" flow rate is difficult; it depends a lot on what livestock you are planning to keep in your aquarium.
Powerheads are handy for mixing up new batches of saltwater, feeding calcium reactors,...

 

[krisfal]

Trillyen,
Hey its good to see you getting back in the hobby! I cannot offer alot of advice on plumbing as I still have not resolved my microbubble problem on my closed loop set-up even though I have replaced all of the plumbing. I suspect my pump now, and hope to buy a new pump to test this theory but will have to wait until after Christmas.

I believe most people use the white pvc (this is what I used) available at the hardware store. You can also use the flexible pvc, aka spaflex; although, it is not all that flexible. The spafles is nice in that it reduces the need for elbows and can help reduce the noise from vibration of the pump. I have found you can get it to flex a little more by warming it up. Either of these products will block the light as they are not transparent.

I would suggest a closed loop system on the 125 to avoid the over crowded powerhead issue, I really like how the closed loop has cleaned up the look of my 130, if I could just get rid of the microbubbles I would be 100% satisfied with switching away from the powerheads, it is sure nice not to have to worry about PHs falling off the wall all of the time.

Best of luck and I look forward to following along on your project thread.

 

[trillyen]

hey great info liz and kris but kris i have no idea what a closed loop even is i just knew some one was gtonna reccommend that system so i guess here is some ones chance to pass on the knowledge

hey liz in my 125 fowlr i just plan to have an emporer angel a clown trigger and i havent decided wat other kind of bigger fish yet, but probably a pair of maroon clowns and a butterly and some kind of damsels or something like that

i was also thinking about a bamboo shark catfish what do you think?????

as far as my reef thats where the flow is gonna be needed

id like to get a niger trigger and and a coulpe of piccaso percs but im scard tyhe tank would be to small to keep the trigger in unless i added him last or had an anemone for the percs to go in and if i kept them well all well fed it may work also

also maybe a few tangs or some other kind of something

really not sure on the stock for the reef yet but it will be a all the way timid tank

 

[Scooterman]

Whew we have a ways to go It sounds like
First off I'll move this tread into the Member showcase forum, this is usually where we show out tank builds & log the progress as it gets done etc, I've been building on mine a few years now, easy spot to find your thread.

 

[Scooterman]

Ok we're in the Showcase forum, you can continually add to this thread, pics etc as your progress goes & show case your tank as it grows!
Sounds like there needs to be some serious planning before going out & spending money. Let me ask you a few questions off hand! The 125 will be a fish only with live rock, no plans ever to convert it to a full blow reef or if so your prepared to take it down & start over maybe? The reason why I ask this is mainly because of flow, It can be a big difference between the two, adding the parts for a reef will cost more & If you don't plan on it they you don't need to spend the money, to me it sounds like you already made up you mind on that part. I think that is a first good initial start.

 

[Scooterman]

I think you can make a nice FO tank with a 125, little rocks for cover & you have something. I hope you don't mind my input, i like the mechanical side of building a tank etc, plumbing pumps etc, you can do some crazy stuff & have yet to see someone really do it totally & completely wrong, there are just so many ways to do things in this hobby. Now on the 75g reef tank I think If you started another thread on just it, we can focus on one tank at a time, it might be confusing trying to discuss both on one thread, just a thought.
For starters, we need to know a few things about this 125g tank, is it glass, does it have holes & if so where are they & how big are they? I think you said have a stand & you will run the two smaller tanks underneath?
Lets start with your plumbing ideas or options, I see you mention you didn't want to see all of the PH's in the main display, so using the TUnze streams may be an option you won't want because they are big but to me like anything else you sorta get over them in time, just like if you went with a BB over a sb bottom? What are you thoughts or plans for the bottom? I think you can do this simple get great flow or you could really get fancy & get crazy flow form this tank but it isn't a reef so probably a simple close loop would be plenty. The only thing is what type, can you have many holes driller or should you build a manifold out of PVC & just go over the top? Which brings me to another question, hood, do you have one & how big is it? For a FO tank, you could use some T5's on electronic ballast & save on the electric bill, also even though you have fish only in this tank you can keep some corals that would appeal to the tank as long as the fish you get don't eat them LOL Last thought would be the sump & fuge design, even if you need a fuge for a FO tank?

 

[ecobalance]

fish only

Is there really such a thing?You would have to be a pretty disaplined person to not add maybe just one shrimp,and well maybe just a couple gsp's,o and don't forget the mushrooms.

 

[trillyen]

cool
i see my thread is moving right along...

yes i think just right now focusing on my 125 for this thread is a great i dea scooterman and i thank you for the idea

now on some of the questions as far as my tank being drilled it is not

i will have to use over flows and idlike to stick with the kind ive been using ill have to take a pic of them later so some one can tell me what there called

as far as the fish, yes i know i know you guys are gonna grunt and moan but i still want a clown trigger that i can hope fully add last and the before him i want an emperorer angel and yes this time i will wait at least 1 year before i add anything welll ok 6 months.. any fish or coral any way

i will however add a nice size clean up crew

maybe a goby shrimp or something of the sort

this time im taking a really mature stab at the hobby and hope that i can bring youguys all along on this journey and actually keep this tank going for the rest of the time i can actually afford to

thanks guys and gals!!!!

 

[Scooterman]

Don't sweat it, I've been building my tank for a long time (over a year maybe?) & still have no corals in it yet, it isn't cheap doing it right LOL! I made an over the top closed loop (last tank) which worked really well, no holes needed & easy to make If you can glues PVC LOL! If you have two overflows that is good to work with.

 

[krisfal]

hey great info liz and kris but kris i have no idea what a closed loop even is i just knew some one was gtonna reccommend that system so i guess here is some ones chance to pass on the knowledge

Basically a closed loop is just some plumbing and a pump that pulls water out of the tank and then puts it back in to create flow. You can go over the top if the tank is not drilled.

Here is a picture of one side of mine that shows the intake and start of the output side of mine a while back, I have replumbed the output to the 4 corners since this picture was taken and like it better as it seems to provide a better flow pattern/distribution. I replumbed it hoping to eliminate the micro bubbles, but it only slightly improved that problem. While mine has been a PITA I do like the cleaner look of not having 3 big PHs in the tank and the associated problems when the suction cups fail. Hopefully I will be buying a drilled tank with my tax return and I will have better luck with the CL.

Here is a thread I used when I was planning my system http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13588

 

[trillyen]

Great info guys i apperciate the help alot

Q 1.does anyone know of a step by step thread of plumbing a tank cause im a real noob at plumbing and i dont want any leaking at all

Yes i plan to have 2 good over flows

i like the clear ones with the big sponge that kinda filters or strains the water kinda almost like a filter sock

Q 2.does anyone know the names of the good over flows that are cost effective?????

well im planning to do 2 29 gallon tanks under my 125 gallon fowlr tank in which i plan to have a clown trigger and a bamboo shark and also an emperor Angel.

the angel will probably go in first and then the mild clown trigger, with some hermits, and some kind of sand goby, snails, etc, and yes im aware of what MAY happen to all the stock because of the trigger and the shark but ive did some research and there attitudes vary from fish to fish

any way sorry it took me so longto respond to my own thread but i had to find it

Q 3. I left my sand in a big rubbermaid bucket in a storage shed for quite some time im sure its still okto use but it still wouldnt be alive would it????

Q 4. what are the best things to clean out aquariums wit????

its been a while....

any more advice would be awesome

thanks... ohh and here are some pics of the up coming projects...

thanks ahead of time

 

[trillyen]

bumpedy bump bump

 

[Scooterman]

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3648

Here is a link to some resources to help out. Plumbing can be so different from tank to tank, there are no set rules but guidelines, look into the link it has some good information to help you design your plumbing. As far as the sand, I'd rinse, rinse & rinse it throughly before using it, in time it will become live again.

 

[trillyen]

hey thanks thanks and thanks againespecially for the link hgope fully it helps

 

[Scooterman]

The links will help & then you can bring up questions as you go, make a plan & If you can sketch it in Paint or something, basic lines will do to get an idea what your wanting to do & hopefully we can help you get it right, like off a sketch I can help with a parts list & materials.

 

[trillyen]

Well I haven't looked at any of the links yet but really I can basically explain what kind of plumbing set up I want.

Basically I want just a straight tube running down from my overflow box into my refuge I wanna try to do this without any 90 degree angles but I guess it really won't matter because its just an out take tube any way and water flow will pretty much always be the same.

The out take how ever I feel is gonna be the most difficult. I would like to put on an intake with no 90 degree angles if possible and use return pumps powerful enough to not have to use ANY powerheads.

My 125 gallon is gonna have 2-29 gl dumps 1 being a refuge and 1 having a filter sock and both will have live rock and a skimmer. Not sure what else I can put in the one with just the filter sock, amy ideas would be appreciated.

Does any 1 know what size return I would need for a 125 gallon on each side???

I want great flow even though it will only be a fowlr tank

I'm setting up and worrying about my 125 gallon tank 1st

Also another thing I wanna do to the intake PVC is drill little holes in the pipe where it is soon after submerged in the water just for cool looks I guess I seem of done on my LDS set up and it really looked to work

So I guess what I could use is some good links to some aggresive fowlr set ups with bamboo sharks and clown triggers.

Thanks slot for your guyses and gals help

 

[trillyen]

Well some plumbed set up a with no powerheads that is I guess and some ideas on some return pumps that would really help or at least tell me how to find them please.

Thanks again

 

[Scooterman]

Trying to use a return pump to flow all of the water in your tank is difficult to do, It is better to use a CL of some sort like the Anthony manifold in your case. See If I can find some pics!