Mike2112
Well-known member
Hello everyone,
I posted earlier in the week in the introduction section. Brief synopsis...I have been Tropical fish keeping for too many years with three tanks in the house. My wife and I have decided to take the plunge into the world of Salt Water Aquariums. We purchased a used 120 gallon glass tank that we are going to make into a FOWLR setup. The tank is not drilled and I do not possess the tools, nor the skill and nerves to drill 1/2 in glass. I believe it is also tempered on both the bottom and the sides; therefore it will be not be drilled. I located a purchased a 40g breeder tank from PetCo during their $1 per gallon tank sale; just required a short drive across the state line to Spokane Valley, WA after the recommendation of leena2674. The 40g breeder is going to serve as a sump. I have been doing a lot of reading today and stumbled across this site Melevsreef.com | Acrylic Sumps & Refugiums I read most of the articles posted and decided that I will follow the design of my sump on the Model F Sump Melevsreef.com | Acrylic Sumps & Refugiums I am going to try the bottom design with the Bubble Tower.
I have not selected on the skimmer as of yet, but that will be the goal with in the next few days. I have tentatively divided the tank into 9" X 17.5" X 10" for both the Refugium and Skimmer compartments and 16.5" X 17.5" X 9" for the return compartment. I am planning on placing the heaters in the return compartment. Depending upon the total circulation that is recommended (10 to 15 times the volume of the tank per hour) I need a min drain diameter of 1.43" and a min linear overflow of 18" up to min drain diam = 1.75" and overflow of 27". I have read the arguments for a dual drain overflow and I can see the reason behind it to help eliminate possible flooding. The overflow(s) will need to be on the back (wall side) of the tank. Time for the first question: Should I do this with two separate overflows or one larger central overflow? The LR formation in the tank will probably be two columns with some minor formations in between them. I am planning on about 2" of live sand across the bottom. The center overflow is easier to generate overflow area and not as much of an eye soar, as compared to the separate overflows; however I could use the columns to hide them.
Plumbing the sump should not be much of a problem, however I could not get the calculator or the mag drive links to work so I don't know what size of mag drive to get. The head height from bottom of sump to lip of display tank is 54" or 4.5 feet. By the size of the drain line in the recommended circulation I am moving approximately 500 gph max flow rate out of the overflow, so I cannot determine the size of mag drive to pump the water out of the sump. I can plumb the feedback line back into the return compartment if I get too big of a pump. Any help here would be great to get the right size of return pump.
Powerheads: I will be using two Rio 1400's on the bottom of the tank aimed at the LR formations to push water through the rock for good movement through them. I will be using 3 Koralia 700 gph heads near the top of the tank. One almost Top Dead Center of the tank flowing out and the other two on the sides near the top pointing slightly up and out toward the front to generate currents across the top and assist with total currents in the tank.
Heaters: I will be running 2 200W heaters to get me close to the 420W recommendation (3W per gallon --120 in tank + 20ish in sump). The submerged return pump will generate some heat, about 3-4W worth. Should I make one of the heaters a 250W?
Filter/Skimmer: This is where I need the most assistance in. I will have approximately 100 lbs of LR in the tank and another 40 lbs of LS (live sand) across the bottom. I will have approximately 10 lbs of LS in the refugium? (that sound right) and about 10 lbs of LR chunks in the Bubble Tower of the sump. I know this is on the low side of the recommended 2 lbs per gallon, but LR is one of the most expensive parts of my setup, and I do not have my mother's bank account. I do have a lead on a fair amount of dead rock that I can work on when I start the cycling of the tank. I have not seen it so I do not know the exact amount I can get. The protein skimmer is the part that I need the most input on. I was going to skip the sump and do a dual Bak Pak skimmer, but that has changed. I want to run the skimmer section of the sump around 9 to 10 inches of water. The top of the tank gives me about 11 inches of clearance between it and the bottom of the display tank so maintenance room is not an issue. I have learned that in this hobby bigger is better...99% of the time; so any help with skimmers would be great...lets not break the bank. Looking at a budget of 200 to 300 dollars.
Lighting: I am looking at a 48 inch fixture that cannot be wider than 14 1/2 inches. I would like to run T5 HO bulbs, two white and two actinics. I am thinking of getting a pulsing xenia but not much other reef critters such as coral and worms, etc. Suggestions in this department would be great too. Again about the same budget as the skimmer.
That is about it.
Thank you in advance for your input and suggestions.
-Mike
I posted earlier in the week in the introduction section. Brief synopsis...I have been Tropical fish keeping for too many years with three tanks in the house. My wife and I have decided to take the plunge into the world of Salt Water Aquariums. We purchased a used 120 gallon glass tank that we are going to make into a FOWLR setup. The tank is not drilled and I do not possess the tools, nor the skill and nerves to drill 1/2 in glass. I believe it is also tempered on both the bottom and the sides; therefore it will be not be drilled. I located a purchased a 40g breeder tank from PetCo during their $1 per gallon tank sale; just required a short drive across the state line to Spokane Valley, WA after the recommendation of leena2674. The 40g breeder is going to serve as a sump. I have been doing a lot of reading today and stumbled across this site Melevsreef.com | Acrylic Sumps & Refugiums I read most of the articles posted and decided that I will follow the design of my sump on the Model F Sump Melevsreef.com | Acrylic Sumps & Refugiums I am going to try the bottom design with the Bubble Tower.
I have not selected on the skimmer as of yet, but that will be the goal with in the next few days. I have tentatively divided the tank into 9" X 17.5" X 10" for both the Refugium and Skimmer compartments and 16.5" X 17.5" X 9" for the return compartment. I am planning on placing the heaters in the return compartment. Depending upon the total circulation that is recommended (10 to 15 times the volume of the tank per hour) I need a min drain diameter of 1.43" and a min linear overflow of 18" up to min drain diam = 1.75" and overflow of 27". I have read the arguments for a dual drain overflow and I can see the reason behind it to help eliminate possible flooding. The overflow(s) will need to be on the back (wall side) of the tank. Time for the first question: Should I do this with two separate overflows or one larger central overflow? The LR formation in the tank will probably be two columns with some minor formations in between them. I am planning on about 2" of live sand across the bottom. The center overflow is easier to generate overflow area and not as much of an eye soar, as compared to the separate overflows; however I could use the columns to hide them.
Plumbing the sump should not be much of a problem, however I could not get the calculator or the mag drive links to work so I don't know what size of mag drive to get. The head height from bottom of sump to lip of display tank is 54" or 4.5 feet. By the size of the drain line in the recommended circulation I am moving approximately 500 gph max flow rate out of the overflow, so I cannot determine the size of mag drive to pump the water out of the sump. I can plumb the feedback line back into the return compartment if I get too big of a pump. Any help here would be great to get the right size of return pump.
Powerheads: I will be using two Rio 1400's on the bottom of the tank aimed at the LR formations to push water through the rock for good movement through them. I will be using 3 Koralia 700 gph heads near the top of the tank. One almost Top Dead Center of the tank flowing out and the other two on the sides near the top pointing slightly up and out toward the front to generate currents across the top and assist with total currents in the tank.
Heaters: I will be running 2 200W heaters to get me close to the 420W recommendation (3W per gallon --120 in tank + 20ish in sump). The submerged return pump will generate some heat, about 3-4W worth. Should I make one of the heaters a 250W?
Filter/Skimmer: This is where I need the most assistance in. I will have approximately 100 lbs of LR in the tank and another 40 lbs of LS (live sand) across the bottom. I will have approximately 10 lbs of LS in the refugium? (that sound right) and about 10 lbs of LR chunks in the Bubble Tower of the sump. I know this is on the low side of the recommended 2 lbs per gallon, but LR is one of the most expensive parts of my setup, and I do not have my mother's bank account. I do have a lead on a fair amount of dead rock that I can work on when I start the cycling of the tank. I have not seen it so I do not know the exact amount I can get. The protein skimmer is the part that I need the most input on. I was going to skip the sump and do a dual Bak Pak skimmer, but that has changed. I want to run the skimmer section of the sump around 9 to 10 inches of water. The top of the tank gives me about 11 inches of clearance between it and the bottom of the display tank so maintenance room is not an issue. I have learned that in this hobby bigger is better...99% of the time; so any help with skimmers would be great...lets not break the bank. Looking at a budget of 200 to 300 dollars.
Lighting: I am looking at a 48 inch fixture that cannot be wider than 14 1/2 inches. I would like to run T5 HO bulbs, two white and two actinics. I am thinking of getting a pulsing xenia but not much other reef critters such as coral and worms, etc. Suggestions in this department would be great too. Again about the same budget as the skimmer.
That is about it.
Thank you in advance for your input and suggestions.
-Mike
Last edited:
You have a bit of time before a skimmer is an absolute necessity for your tank, so feel free to take your time and shop around.
