Two tanks together?

[aquaman]

I have a 120 & a 75 with the same height so I've been thinking of plumbing them together into one system. I catch my own tropical fish and I'm just learning and starting to keep coral. I want to have a FOWLR maybe a few corals, and a reef tank. Until six months ago I didn't know anything more than a wet dry. Now with bare bottoms, Deep sand beds and many opinions in between I need some advice. I don't have a DSB but I have crushed shells. Both tanks have a w/d. one has a refugeum, diy uv. and a skimmer. The only way I have come up with is to gravity feed everything into one large sump and split the return to both tanks. I'll try to post a rough drawing. Thanks in advance.
Chuck
I saw your tank of the month...Awsome....some day!

 

[aquaman]

You will have to max the picture size to see anything.

 

[mojoreef]

WOW aquaman I thought I was on the california turnpike for a moment thier, lol
I thik I got a couple things for ya but why dont you tell me exactly what you plan on keeping in the two tank. ie, fish load in the FO and what kind of corals/fish in the reef.

Mike

WEEK 2 KEYWORD: CANUCKS

 

[aquaman]

Hah, you are right about the California freeways!

In the FO tank (120) I plan to do a Florida/Bahamas tank. Items that I can collect here on my dive trips. It will probably have a pretty large bio load. The reef tank I'm not sure about. Until I learn more about corals I don't want to get too difficult. I like the idea of the sps and with the knowledge that you all share on the web it will be possible, but for now I want to get a stable system and prove to myself that my tanks are ready to progress. The reef tank will have a light load. I have a flat tail snake eel and plan to catch jawfish so I will need to have some substrate in the FO tank. Also both tanks are up and running now seperately. Thanks again for your help. Chuck
P.S. It was seeing your tank of the month that go me thinking about putting the two tanks into an L shape to start with so this is kind of your fault.

 

[Scooterman]

Gotta give you one thing, you sure got some plans there

 

[mojoreef]

Oh no Chuck did I get another one, lol
How far along are you in this project?? are still at the planning stage? It kinda looks like you have every filtration system grouped into one. If you are not to far I would suggest we make some changes.


Mike

 

[aquaman]

Suggest away... I need it. Right now all the equiptment listed is running the two tanks seperately except the deep sand bed, I don't have a deep sand bed right now.
120:
w/d
refug. with a few small mangroves
uv
skimmer

75:
w/d
skimmer

I want to increase my total water volume and make them more stable.

 

[Johnny]

.02 cents worth---- I think it would be cool to have a set-up like the with one of the new 8-way ocean motion wavemakers with 4 of the outputs going to each of the tanks.

 

[mojoreef]

Aquaman you know if you looking for stablity then keeping them seperate is the way to go. If you still want to join them let me know and we can move things around



Mike.

 

[aquaman]

I would still like to put the tanks together. I guess no one uses bio balls anymore. Should I get rid of them?

 

[mojoreef]

The bioballs promote nitrifing bacteria, which is OK but its just happening in the wrong location. It would be fine for a fish system, but with corals its not a good plan.
Ok lets give it a shot.
From the 120 have the water drain into the smaller W/D. in that wet dry have the uv and the skimmer attached. this way you have the skimmer and uv gong after the location where the detritus and crap is the heavist, run the skimmer wet. from thier drain the sm W/d into the refugium. this will allow for a second front on anything the skimmer missed.
On the reef have it drain into the DSb tank, the smaller bioload here will help the dsb survive a bit longer. from thier have both the refugium and the dsb tank drain into the large W/D, also have the uv drain just prior to the output of the W/D, from thier pump back up to the tank.

Make sence??

Mike

 

[aquaman]

Sorry, I was working alot this weekend.

Thanks for the ideas.

Should I remove the bioballs from the small w/d?

Should I use one return pump or two?(one to each tank)

The skimmer that I have runs with the main return pump and runs wet. I think I will leave it running at the end where it is, and purchase a good quality skimmer. I don't think I should skimp here.

With the large w/d at the end if I leave the bio balls in maybe they will help to add O2 and not be a major biological factor when set up like this. What do you think?

I'm still unsure if I even need to add a DSB.

Thanks again

 

[mojoreef]

No problem Aquaman. I would remove the bioballs from both W/D. On the return pump one for both is ok if you dont mind the extra plumbing. Dont use the return for any real water flow n the tank just get it back in from processing. You can do stuff in the tank for flow. Good plan on the skimmer it is vital. the bio balls will create an eviroment that will promote nitrifing bacteria, no matter what you dont want that in that location.

Let me know on the dsb, things could change.

Mike

 

[Scooterman]

I like the two skimmers, in that case I'd guess keeping the tanks apart totally would be beneficial to the corals more so the fish but if you ever have problems in one, you still have the second to back up on. This also leaves room for tweaking out and experimentation, but maybe this doesn't matter, just throwing in some thoughts. With all this plumbing, I'm guessing some could be eliminated by on hold on, I had to take another look, man that is some plumbing LOL. Ok I'm just peering in, I hope your still in the planning stages and I get to see the out come of this, whichever way you do it. Ok, looking some more, why not just make two sumps, no DSB, or Refuge. Keep it simple Brelin LR & good Skimmers, also like the UV, and go from there. More thoughts, you can bash me at any time now lol

 

[aquaman]

Thanks again,

I guess my only reluctance to removing the bioballs is that I have never run a system without them. Can a system without them handle adding several fish at one time? In the summer I often catch 8 or 10 fish in a weekend.

I'll try to draw up a new plan with the changes that we talked about.

Trying to empty two tanks move them and set them up with a new plumbing scheem is a scary thought. I don't want to loose what I have now. Chuck

PS. When I start the move I'll have my wife take pictures through the day so everyone can watch my stress level rise

 

[Scooterman]

So these tanks are up and running, I think I missed that! Second, if you have enough LR, you don't need nothing more than a good skimmer & that UV! WHen I first read yuor post you seemend in the planning stage, so this changes it all, Is this your set-up right now as in the first post?

 

[aquaman]

Scooterman

No, that is not how my tanks are set up currently. I have a 120 in the livingroom with a w/d, refug, skimmer and uv.

I had a 20 gal in the garage as a hospital but it cracked and when I found it it was almost half empty. The 75 was empty so a quick set-up to try to save what was in the 20. I set the 75 up on the patio, ok for the winter as I can heat it fine here in Florida, but summer will be here soon and I have no chiller.

Then I see tank of the month Dec. and since I have to move the 75 anyway I get this idea to put the tanks into an "L" shape and hook them together. Being newly bitten by the reef bug I've been researching nonstop.

So to answer your question... yes I'm in the planing stage but I 'm not sure what I'm planing:idea:

I have another question. Is anyone using sand or other substrate in their main tanks?

I have a mixture of very coarse crushed shells along with a little sand in both my tanks. I have a flattail (snake) eel that I caught along with some jawfish and others that seem to live mostly in the sand/shells. Would they be happy with out any? Thanks

 

[aquaman]

bump

 

[mojoreef]

sure folks use sand in thier main systems. using sand or gravel sets up a new amount of maintence and thing that must be done to keep it viable and clean. biggest thing to do with a ed as you discribed yours would be to syphon it out for junk everu few weeks to make sure it doesnt accumulate. I know jawfish do need some form of sand to eat, but I am not sure on the other


Mike