Taking on a bigger project.... Please give ideas.

islandcreation

islandcreation

New Member
I just got this 66 gallon tank for a steal atleast I think it was?

It's going to take a long long time before I'm done but I wanted dome opinions. If I did drill into the tank where should I creat the holes? Lets re-phrase that, what kind of filtration system should I set up and why?
The tank is going to set there just like an old classic and get fixed piece by piece. I just need ideas to think about. Thanks
 
skipm

skipm

Moderator
Staff member
IMO you need to decide what you want to house in the tank and what its requirements are. After deciding what will go in the tank and what its needs are then you can start planning what needs to be done to meet those goals.
 
islandcreation

islandcreation

New Member
Skip,

Its going to be a reef. I'm not familiar with water flow in a tank this size and drilling holes for the sump. Is there a site or a diagram to look at? I have seen on this forum smaller tanks with holes drilled into but not one this big. Then again I haven't went to the bigger size forum here... I'll check it out.
 
skipm

skipm

Moderator
Staff member
What corals do you plan on keeping? If you want to keep SPS corals that need more current you may want to install a closed loop, if you are going to be keeping corals that don't need as much current then this would be an extra expense that would be no benefit to you. The simplest set up would be to choose a place for an overflow and drill a drain in that location and then I would have a return drilled on either side of the tank. The design can be simple of very elaborate. I guess I should also point out that a closed loop could eliminate the need for any additional powerheads in the aquarium.
 
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mikeguerrero

Active Member
Water flow can be seen as turn over rate. Add up all the GPH you have and then divide by total volume of your aquarium.

I'll give you an example....

I have a 72 gallon reef with about 2475 gph. So if I divide the two, I get about 32x which for LPS corals is good....

When you go into SPS you should go higher at about 40x... Every reefer has his opinion on this...

MG

P.S
Thanks Jesse, I made the edit... I meant LPS...
 
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reefman23

New Member
mikeguerrero said:
I have a 72 gallon reef with about 2475 gph. So if I divide the two, I get about 32x which for SPS corals is good....
Click to expand...
Mike, did you mean LPS?

Like Mike said, SPS will need around 40x-100x turnover... basically, the more the better as long as it isnt aimed directly at any one coral. Aything else would be about 20x-40x turnoever, IMO. This allows for good current to carry waste from the corals away and keep detritus in suspense for proper removal. Manifolds and closed-loops are the way to go IMO because they eliminate the need to have powerheads stickin out like a sore thumb in your display.

I would also HIGHLY recommending a sump of some sort... even just a 10-15 gallon to give you room for your skimmer, media, heater et..... again, allowing you to keep as many units out of your main display. If you have it in your budget, I would also HIGHLY recommend getting the largest tank possible to fit under your canopy as a sump with a built-in refugium... check out this site... www.melevsreef.com . these can be easily DIY with say a 40 gallon breeder tank or larger.

I look forward to seeing which direction this project goes...

Jesse
 
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Anonymous

Guest
when i start a new project the first thing a decide on is the theme, what animals are you going to keep in here and then build the system around that. your three primary concerns are going to be lighting, flow, and filtration

lighting - that looks like a very deep tank to me so VHO or MH or better still a combination of both is probably your best option. even if you decide to keep lower light corals 2 150W MH supplimented with 2 ice cap driven 110W actinic VHO to push the light down - with higher light corals bump that up to 175 SE or 250 DE or SE and actinic VHO (i prefer SE bulbs cause they don't need additional sheilding but thats up to you). If you want just VHO do 4 110W 2 50/50's and 2 actinic on a 660 ballast - is a very nice lighting scheme for both PAR and asthetics.

Flow no matter what you decide yes you need a sump so yes drilling is the best option but overflows do work too - it can be as simple as a empty tank just to house pumps, skimmer, and periferals (the sump on my 125 is a bare 30g tank with nothing in it but pumps skimmer and heaters) or complicated with baffels for carbon, mech, chem, chambers as well as cheato. either way the more flow through this the less need for PH in the tank although on bigger tanks PH are almost always needed to get good random flow to all areas

filtration - again depends on the animals you keep. but always buy the best skimmer you can afford - this is one thing it never pays to skimp on research your choice cause there are a lot of junk out there and price doesn't always equate to quality. I run carbon 24/7 others disagree with this. and mechanical filtration should occur somewhere but other then that i like to keep my systems as simple as possible and more "natural" in terms of filtering. if your going to drill - i would put in 2 overflows as opposed to one put 2 holes in each back corner and build overflows around them - be sure to use a standpipe design

your taking the right steps here - i thought about the design on my figi tank for at least 6 months before i actually built it...
 
islandcreation

islandcreation

New Member
Thanks Johnand dawn,

I'm trying to figure out my lighting after you threw alot of info my way! Here are the specs of the tank. Height 20in width 15 and length 48. The height even though 20 inch from glass bottom to top would be decreased by 3-4 inch due to sand. So would that make a diffrence with lighting?
For my corals, everything is going to be considered! My vision is to have a reef tank with 5 small fish just to run around in. I'm more interested in the corals anyways.... don't know why but I am. My second thought was the "chiller" issue? With such a big tank is a chiller needed? :?: I have been reading and most larger tanks with abundance of fish have chillers. Do I need to get one too :?:
I'm going to do more research and look up everyones information that was thrown my direction. Thanks everyone... I got the tank yesterday and sure was heavy! The tanks was setup as a saltwater but probably fish only. The lighting was two 48 inch bulbs one actinic and one regular at 40 watts a piece. Does that sound right :?: Thanks
 
skipm

skipm

Moderator
Staff member
The decreased depth due to the sandbed will make a difference in the lighting needed, the depth that you are concerned with is the depth to the sandbed because it is the amount of water you are concerned with that your light has to penetrate.
Its too early to say whether you will need a chiller or not. After the tank is set up and running with all the equipment including lighting see what the highest temp is during the day, this will determine the need for a chiller.
The lighting you have is normal output fluorescent lighting, you may be able to utilize it for actinic supplementation if you add MH to the tank but it would be easier to put it up someplace and get the appropriate lighting for the corals you decide to keep.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
if you are planning a standard mixed garden reef with softies, leathers, LPS, zoas, and shrooms, i would go with the 4 110W VHO system. it is cheaper, and heating will be less of a issue - and it provides a very asthetic look to the tank with a lot of PAR. You can get a ice cap retro fit for that canopy for around 350 - 400. If SPS or clams are in the plan then there is no substitute for MH but now your talking closer to 600 - 750 if you get electronic ballasts and high quality bulbs for a nice 2 bulb system with VHO actinic suplimentation. a lot of people spend much more then this on lighting, either way don't skimp here.......icecap or PFO ballasts are not cheap but they are quality and good name brand bulbs are worth it! and electronic ballasts save a lot of heat
T-5 is also an option but i have no experience with it so ????? but the cost is somewhere inbetween the other two for a nice system.
and of course you can save some money buying individual components and building the system slowly DIY style :) for example get a 2 bulb VHO system now and then add another to it or your MH some where down the road
and as skipm said you may or may not need a chiller - ambient room temperature is probably the biggest factor in determining that - more so then the equipment/lighting you choose. good fans and an open hood can go a very long way to cooling a tank
 
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reefman23

New Member
That is only a 2-lamp system... if you went with VHO, I would recommend a 4-lamp system...

Here is a 48" VHO system that is DIY (which means you will have to assemble it yourself... pretty easy)... It includes 2 ballasts so that you can run sort of a dawn/dusk effect (the one from ebay only has one ballast, so all the bulbs come on and off together)... Its only $147+bulbs.

http://www.hellolights.com/484laasdiyre.html

Jesse
 
islandcreation

islandcreation

New Member
Jesse,

What kind of bulbs would I have to get or whats the best combo's :?: I'm beginnind to lean to this light now. Unless a 250watt halide is good enough? Thanks again...
 
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reefman23

New Member
A single MH wont cut it on a 48" long tank... you would want at least two, maybe three on that length.

As far a which bulbs, I am not all that familiar with VHO's, but I would guess that two 10,000k and two actinics would be the best combo, although others here probably know more than i do about this topic. I am not sure which brand is better either...

HTH,

Jesse
 
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Anonymous

Guest
here is the PFO equivlient to that set jesse showed you - i'm a bit biased i only buy icecap and PFO when it comes to lighting because they have a awesome rep and last forever and there are a lot of cheaper ballasts out there that are not neccessarily designed for aquarium use but rather commercial/residential - my 660 icecap went out after about 10 years of use - so i bought a new one and the other has been just laying around - i emailed them the other day and they will fix it for 65$ plus shipping.
PFO is also high quality and a bit better in price though..... of the 3 options the PFO set is probably your best choice IMO

PFO

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem. ... uct=PF5117

icecap (more expensive but includes the bulbs, and all 4 run on one cord):

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem. ... uct=ICK464

for bulbs i only buy URI they are about 20 some bucks a piece but are good color and many say they have the best actinic on the market today. get 2 actinic whites and 2 actinics

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_lig ... sp?CartId=

this doesn't mean the set jesse recomended won't work ... just that this is what i use and IMO are the best choices in VHO right now???
and no i wouldn't run a strickly MH system. i ran a post earlier where i talked about the shadow zones created by a straight MH system even 2 bulbs would give you that to some degree. flourescent sup is very important to eliminate those shadowed areas
 
islandcreation

islandcreation

New Member
Alright, I just narrowed down my lighting. Now I'm preping the tank to get ready.

1. I want to seal the underlining of the hood since its bare wood. What is a good sealant?

2. The glass as build up (calcium?) is there anything to us to get it off wihtout using harsh chemicals? I scrubbed and it only does so much :?:

3. Last but not least, I want to paint the background either light blue or black. What paint do I use :?:

Thanks
 
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reefman23

New Member
islandcreation said:
1. I want to seal the underlining of the hood since its bare wood. What is a good sealant?
Click to expand...
100% silicone should work.

islandcreation said:
2. The glass as build up (calcium?) is there anything to us to get it off wihtout using harsh chemicals? I scrubbed and it only does so much :?:
Click to expand...
Vinegar and a razor blade.

islandcreation said:
3. Last but not least, I want to paint the background either light blue or black. What paint do I use :?:
Click to expand...
Krylon fusion... they make a nice blue (that is what i used) and also a black. Just lay the tank on it's face so that the back is flat and spray away...

Jesse
 
islandcreation

islandcreation

New Member
Alright... I just talked to someone who I just bought 50 punds of rocks from at $1.00 a pound cured! :razz: And 50 pounds of LS for .50 a pound :mrgreen: He told me that older glass tanks get brittle and can crack easier when drilling holes
! :sad: Is that true :?: Cause the tank I just got is 2-3 years old and is a 66 gallon.


I have seen meleves site and his most of his sump are crazy! I just want feedback on how to have a simple 20 long AGA as a sump. How should I set it up if I bought glass partition from Home depot? And what is the easiest flow to create with what kind of pump should be used? I saw a Magnum 5 would be good if the verticle line went up 5 feet back to the tank. Please help me out or give me any ideas, PLEASE. I just want to have a simple setup but effective. I'm still learning so help me out, Melevs site is awesome but seems to complex after awhile... ha,ha,ha its true. Thanks
 
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reefman23

New Member
First off, I think that a Mag 5 is too small. With just a straight 5 foot head with 1 1/4" PVC (doube the outlet diam. of the pump), you are looking at about 250 GPH... I think that you should shoot for about twice that at least. If you are looking at Mags, go with at least the Mag 7. With 1 1/4" pvc, that will be about 420 GPH. I have a 20L fuge and it easliy handles about 650 GPH, so IMO even the mag 9 would work... about 750 GPH. I personally chose the QuietOne 4000 over a Mag because the QO 4000 uses HALF as much electricity as the comparable Mag 9. As a result, you get a litle more head loss, but much less heat and even less noise. You will also probably want some sort of closed-loop or at least a couple of large powerheads in the tank. With a 66 gallon you want about 1,200-2,500 GPH.

What kind of corals are you lookin at for this tank, because that will be somewhat of a determining factor on how much flow to shoot for.

Here is a pic of my 20 gallon show fuge...



it measures 30"Lx10"Wx16"T, so it isnt a typical 20L. However, if you go to home depot, the standard 10"x12" sheets of glass should fit a standard 20L perfectly. This design is pretty basic and has served me pretty well. The only thing that I would change... and eventually will... would be to add a media tray where the water flows into the fuge from the skimmer chamber. That would allow you a place for carbon or other chemical filtration.

Here is another basic design that you could follow...
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.p ... st&id=1420

Thats all I could find right now, but I hope that helps.

Jesse
 
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