Newcomer to site & to aquariums

[Kensn]

If you get a RR tank, get a pump that will max out your overflow, you can always throttle it down a little with a valve. This is what I did, and results are ok. Like Krish said, it doesn't matter if ya have all kinds of water moving, if it isn't creating some sort of random movement.

As far as glass or acrylic... Acrylic: Light, easy to plumb and drill. SCRATCH easy.
Glass: heavy, harder to drill, but can pretty much say no to scratches...

My $.02

 

[Krish]

Well, one thing for sure is if you don't have space for the plumbing of a closed loop system then you might not have space for a prefilter that hangs on the tank like CPR's overflow or a few others. They get quite bulky. I've had 2 different types so far and love my CPR which I have now. If you haven't seen one check it out on one of the sponsors sites like Marinedepot or you can look at my update page and see just how much it sticks out in the back.

 

[Krish]

Oh, just click on the link below and scroll down to the second set of pics. This overflow handles up to 800 gph, but you can get them that handle twice as much.

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9759

 

[Kensn]

Another point I want to bring up, is that the flow of water in your tank is to keep detris from collecting anywhere, and to keep it suspended in the water, to be eventualy trapped by mechcanical means or by the skimmer or both. Also you will find many of the corals and such have different demands for water movement around them. The first step i would think is to really think about all the things you want to keep now and in the future, and investagate what there demands are. Man I wish I would of done all this religously :lol: .

 

[tropicguy]

thanks guys - it's not that i don't have room at the back, I do, it is going against a wall, I just don't want it 2 feet away for apearance sake. My currrent thinking as mentioned is to have a reef ready tank with a sump to keep most of the equipment in. As for return pump, pardon my ignorance, I am guessing whatever size exit hole is predrilled in a standard size tank, has a certain flow? i.e. 1" - xx gph? and Ken you are suggesting that the return pump be more than that - correct?

thanks, john

 

[tropicguy]

Krish - I love your stone looks really good. What kind is it? Just out of curiosity why that and not live rock?

John

 

[tropicguy]

another question. Do people typically put something between the bottom of the tank and their stand?

thanks

 

[Krish]

It simply takes up less space giving my fish more swimming area.

 

[Kensn]

Not more, just get as much through it as you can. This will bring more to your mechanical filtration and skimmer, although the skimmer will not process all that goes through the sump anyways, but you will be bringing it dirty water all the time. There are calculators you can search for that will calculate the flow for a given pipe size. There is also head loss depending on height and the amount of elbows in the run. This one can be tricky on getting an exact number. That is why I suggesting you get a least enough and you can always throttle down.

I have a throw rug, The tank went on Laminet florring, and water drops aren't good for it. Don't know if anyone i've seen has asked that before....ummmm...

 

[sryder]

tropic, these im sure these arent exact but in a 70 gallon with say a 1inch overflow, your probably good with a 700 to 1000 gph pump. as ken stated it depends also on the head, elbows, how many returns etc. here is a pic of my tank with a tunze in the upper left corner. thats 1600 gph with wide angle flow. you can also build tour closed loop to go over the back of your tank and under your cabinet for pump maintenance . that would only take up as much room as an overflow. steve

 

[Krish]

Cool tank Steve. I like the tunze design. I'm using the Seio which imitates the tunze...It's not quite a tunze, but does the job with the wide flow.

 

[sryder]

krish, i actually have a seio behind the rocks in the back 625gph. it works well at keeping detritus out of the back areas of the tank. steve

 

[Krish]

Cool. I have 2 of the M820's, but I'm only using one. The other one is still in the box. I'm sure I'll have to add it once my tank gets populated.

 

[Carloskoi]

my 2 cents worth. you can save a LOT of $$$ by buying a used tank. if you can be patient you could find a great deal from someon e moving or getting out of the hobby. 1/3 to 1/2 what it would all be new.

look in your local recycler paper.

Carl