help with 125!!!

[freetareef]

hi!! i will be picking up my new 125 tank in ten days and i need some help.

i'lls i know after my 75 experince is that over flows suck!!! and so do power heads. i have like 20 cords coming out of my sump and tank!!!!:shock:

so i was thinking of drilling this tank and using bulkheads on the back wall for the drains.

in my 75 i have a plenum with 4" of sand over it and i hate the look of it. i bought 80#'s of sand last night and am adding it to my sump to build a dsb.

i figure that the sand over the plenum is enough to make a shallow sand bed in the 125.

i also want to make towers and caves like in calfos book out of pvc and maybe milk crates if i can keep them hidden.

please give me some ideas and direction as far as these ideas go... thanks in advance josh

 

[aquariumdebacle]

dsb's need to be maintained, replace one quarter per year at least

 

[freetareef]

i have read a lot of calfos threads and am comfortable with the dsb issues. i want my tank to be sps mainly.

 

[Scooterman]

also dsb's are meant to be in the main display not the sump.

 

[freetareef]

ahh...rdsb are know to work very well and a dsb of large volume in the sump
is three times better.

 

[freetareef]

any advice or experiences with bulkheads for flow to the sump???

 

[Scooterman]

If you can keep detritus in the water column long enough to get it all into the sump it will work but the key is getting the detritus into the sump. Most people miss that part is why I said that. I'm sure it won't be three times as effective just because of logistics of the dsb & where the detritus is introduced.

 

[freetareef]

i'm not tring to start a war here, but, the effectiveness of the nnr properties of a dsb are directly proportionate to the sand bed surface area... considering that the correct depth and grain size are used... for example... if i have a pefectly working dsb in a 75 gal tank, then pile 150 lbs of lr rubble on it sufficating the surface the effectiveness of its nnr properties will diminish, due to reduced water to sand contact...

 

[freetareef]

maybe a bulkhead with a piece of pvc and a ball valve for quick water changes.

 

[NaH2O]

OK - I think this thread got a little off track. Are you wanting to make the overflows come out the back of the tank, as opposed to the bottom?

Also, for flow, are you thinking of doing a closed loop?

Let's get the plumbing squared away, before tackling the rockwork.

 

[DonW]

Your plumbing is going to need to be set up with the RDSB in mind along with the other stuff in your sump. Your not going to want the RDSB turning into a detritus collection area or it will be short lived. You also need a fairly slow flow rate over the RDSB so as not to bring in a bunch of 02 defeating the purpose.
Drilling the tank for bulheads is usually the way to go but you really should use some type of weir to keep the fish in the tank. Is this a glass or acrylic tank? Do you have a sump? How is it layed out?

Don

 

[Scooterman]

Your plumbing is going to need to be set up with the RDSB in mind along with the other stuff in your sump. Your not going to want the RDSB turning into a detritus collection area or it will be short lived. You also need a fairly slow flow rate over the RDSB so as not to bring in a bunch of 02 defeating the purpose.
Drilling the tank for bulheads is usually the way to go but you really should use some type of weir to keep the fish in the tank. Is this a glass or acrylic tank? Do you have a sump? How is it layed out?

Don

This is the point I was leading to, Don said it better!
The flow & plumbing would be different depending on what your planning on doing with the tank, RDSB has requirements that need to be considered.

 

[freetareef]

Thanks! I have a wier now and its ok. I'll post more when I get home, I'm at work right now.

 

[freetareef]

yes i want the overflows to come out of the back.

my system right now is set up like this.

i have a 75 aga with a plenum with 4" of sand over it. the water flows through a weir style overflow, to my ats, which flows down into my sump with about 40 gallons of water and a 6" dsb,two baseball size balls of cheato, a smaller ball of sawblade calerpra (sp), a 3x24" diy carbon reactor, and also a 1/4 hp chiller that takes and returns water to my sump. then a 500 gph pump delivers water back to the dt. I also have close to 130lbs of lr.
so i think i want a shallow sand bed in this tank and maybe a closed loop or a wave box. leaning more towards a wave box a christmas aproaches...

i need some ideas for a closed loop that generates a good sps enviroment. if i did a return maifold for say 4 bulk heads with a double locline on each bulk head what kind of pump would i need, as in gph, it would have 4 feet of head too...

and if i wanted to run this as my return will i need a lot of overflow bulkheads? or a coulple 2 inchers? i obviously haven't thought this out very much as this is a new development that just became a reality. just looking for some experienced guidance.

 

[Sascha D]

You have a pretty cat

 

[Scooterman]

I wouldn't try to run all that flow as a return. First off to run the high flow as sps need you probably couldn't drain enough to accomplish that, unless you have several large drains & lots of high flow through your sump. Also If you loose power you need to consider a siphon break, line so deep makes it a bigger issue, not saying it can't be done, just recommend you research this because it would be so much easier & safer IMO to separate the two. Also It would not be a closed loop if you ran it to your sump.

 

[DonW]

You can drain 3000 gph through a single 1.5" drain but that wouldnt work for your rdsb. Try to split the systems in your head. Flow is what is in the tank only. This is for the life and to keep detritus off the bottom. Circulation is what is going through your sump. Optimize circulation to fit your skimmer and rdsb meaning your going to have to split the flow to slow the rdsb down to a minimum.

Don

 

[freetareef]

ok... gotcha. i am a little over whelmed as i was not anticapating this project. i am thinking i will just keep my system for this new tank the same as i have now minus the weir overflow and i will drill for bulkheads for the flow to the sump.
as for flow as of right now i have 2 2000gph moded maxi's,a 1200gph and a 800gph korila. so that is 6000gph in a 125... is that good for sps?

 

[Scooterman]

You can drain 3000 gph through a single 1.5" drain but that wouldnt work for your rdsb.

Actually that would be under perfect conditions, If you include elbows at all or other restricting fittings it cuts it way down to around 1,500gph. Most of the charts I've seen rates drains at 1,500 gph because of that.

 

[Scooterman]

ok... gotcha. i am a little over whelmed as i was not anticapating this project. i am thinking i will just keep my system for this new tank the same as i have now minus the weir overflow and i will drill for bulkheads for the flow to the sump.
as for flow as of right now i have 2 2000gph moded maxi's,a 1200gph and a 800gph korila. so that is 6000gph in a 125... is that good for sps?

I think you will need more, these ph's produce a high flow rate but only a few inches at best, to get real flow you need something big like a Tunze stream or a real closed loop with a good dedicated pump, that option makes a very impressive flow unlike what you will ever see from those small PH's.
Why not feed us some more information & lets help you get your flow better? Is this an acrylic tank? What are the dimensions of the tank? Does it have large overflow boxes or it is it glass with no holes & not reef ready?