Help with New Tank

D

dfwrgjeff

I am upgrading from a 75 gallon fish only tank with 100 lbs of liverock using skimmer and fluval 304 canister filter. Here is what I have bought so far.

125 gallon long tank - (6 ft long)
Eshopps 125/225 sump/refugium
Euro-reef rc135 protein skimmer
3 qty of 250 watt MH with 2x 32 watt PC in each fixture
Stand (which needs to be reskined and a new canopy built)
Eheim 1260 pump - (600 gal per hour flow rate)
Mag 7 pump
Planning on using the home depot 5600k light for my refugium.

Here are some of my questions.

1. If I drill the tanks - what size holes and should i have 2 overflow boxes on each side or just one?

2. Should I run the Eheim pump externally or submerged?

3. Does this sound like a good mixture of parts? Should I change anything?

4. Any idea where to buy overflow boxes that will fit in the tank?

Thanks in advance
 
I would drill it so that you have two 1" drains and two 3/4" returns. You can have corner overflows made with black acrylic to hide that plumbing.

I would submerge the Eheim because they aren't known to add heat and it is one less thing to worry about leaking.
 
Sounds good and I would go with Marcs advice on the overflows. Just drill everything in one corner or in the center of the tank. As far as the box goes... I'm not sure where you could buy one, but put a note up in the buy forum because some guys do remove them occasionally for loop systems etc and may have one laying around that you could use.

One thing you are missing are powerheads..... have you given much thought to the flow?
 
so just buy black acrylic and make them custom to fit? Does your website list how to make those? Ive read some about the sumps. Also what does closed loop and open loop mean? Ive seen that in some places.

Also Marc it was really funny - I was on reefcentral reading about sumps and someone referred me over to your site- then i read the whole post about you setting up your big tank, which I found extremely interesting. I was wondering where you lived till I noticed on on DFWMAS you were the guy from the site they sent me to. I am new to the club, but I am real excited and I just want to thank you for all your help. Let me know when the next time you have people over to view the tank- I would love to see it after reading for hours about it!
 
I am planning on buying new powerheads- havent gotten that far yet- I was told the Hydor Koralias are really good. would 2 on each side work and how many gallons per hour should each be?
 
First of all:

org.png
alt="">

And yep, I'm the same guy. I try to hide behind my real name here. :lol:

For flow, you've got options:
Korallia pumps (cheap solution)
MaxiJets (cheaper solution)
Tunze or VorTech pumps (high dollar pumps, but great flow with little power consumption)

I'd probably put overflows at each end so that the surface is skimmed well with no oily slick.

You are welcome to visit anytime. Just let me know when you'll be in the area.
 
how many and how much flow? I saw a video online of the some of the higher end models and it almost looked like a wavemaker. Can you have too much flow? I am going to put my large Naso tang in the tank and add a couple other tangs
 
Flow is determined by what you plan to keep, coral-wise. Most tangs seem to do fine in a variety of flows, but some are specific and need a ton of flow (Achillles comes to mind).
 
send me a pm if you need some help i live in flower mound i can stop by and look at your setup.
 
this forum is great! thanks for all your help. Is it possible to have too much flow? I was thinking the 850 gallon per hour Koralia's on each side or should I go with higher? The tank is 6 feet long
 
depends what you keep...on my 150 i have koralia 4 on opposite ends of the tank shooting at each other...

sps need alot of flow....
 
Ok I ended up selling the 125 gallon and here is a list of what I have now:

I am buying a 150 gallon RR with dual overflows in middle on Friday
Have a stand being built
sump/refugium rated to 225 gallons
eheim return pump
My reef creations skimmer MR-1 (rated to 175 gallons)
Buying a mag12 to run this
3 pendants with 250 watt MH and PC's in each
several powerheads (but I want to buy new high water movement ones)
heater

I currently have 75 gallon with 100 lbs of live rock and combining it with 150 lbs of live rock from an established system and use the water from both systems would I need to cycle the tank? I am going to have to set everything up this weekend when I move my old tank out of the way.
 
Sorry to butt in here, however you will more than likely have a cycle. As exciting as setting up may be its better to be patient... As a lot of people will say, only bad things happen fast. What you'll probably end up having to do is empty out most of the water from the old tank, scoot it allllll over, set up the new tank with the old water and put new water in both tanks to even it out. The first day is a good day to put the new live rock and seed the new sand with a few cups of sand from your old tank. Then just take it one day at a time and be prepared for lots of water changes and water tests... Good luck!

BTW do you have an RO/DI unit?They can make a heck of a difference in water quality, although it does take longer to make then just turning the tap into a bucket.
 
I ordered an RO unit from Marc's site yesterday. I have been using Ro water from the water store but came to find out that wasnt a wise choice. I have had my tank 5 years and have battled with algea some so I read alot lately about the RO/DI and got one. Will have it soon!

Also with the rock from the other tank comes a regal tang and a yellow tang- so what do u suggest I do with them in the meantime? Put them in my old tank while I wait for this to cycle? that is my biggest dilemma. i dont have any corals, just fish - I have a Naso tang and 2 clown fish and a couple small fish in my current tank.
 
I disagree. If you use established and cycled rock from 2 different systems it's highly likely you will NOT see a cycle at all so long as you don't let the rock die off during transfer by leaving it out of the water for too long.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't watch for a cycle just in case. Especially if you move livestock in at the same time. Always good to have Amquel on hand for an emergency anyway. If you start to see a cycle it will lock up the ammonia so it doesn't harm the fish.

This is really no different than moving a tank which usually doesn't result in a cycle and is done all the time. The one caveat to that is you should probably either use new sand or clean the old sand as it doesn't move from tank to tank well usually.
 
I planned on rinsing the old sand before I re-use it and just putting a cup or 2 in the new refugium (I dont have a sump on my current tank). I do have to move the current tank over 6 feet to put the new one in the same place. Should I go ahead and move it now even though i wont have the new stuff till Sunday, or should I wait and do it all at once?
 
ok i moved it over tonight and did a 50% water change and saved the old water (which I am skimming). I am planning on setting up the new tank on Friday and getting the new stuff Sunday- I will leave my old tank running for a while in case there is a problem but i hate to throw the new fish in there- so I guess i am going to put them in the new with water and rocks from both systems and see how it goes. At least i dont have any corals
 
sounds like an OK plan.
one thing i would mention is that if the mixing of the 2 waters differs greatly then it might be necessary to acclimate the fish to the new water mixed from both tanks.
 
I am now ready to hook up all the plumbing. I have been measuring and cutting the pvc pipe - is there a thread that talks about how to hook up the pipes? I was wondering what kind of glue to use, etc. Also I saw a picture of one that had shut off valves on the returns - is that to restrict the flow?
 
if you want to drop by this weekend I'll walk you through the plumbing on my 280

location of unions, valving, sump, refuge, future conections etc
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top