Looking for ideas!!

[jgraz]

oh btw he's based out of dallas so figure that into the shipping cost. I was thinking locally there has to be someone...

There is. There is a guy, Jeff(custom king) on Manhattan Reef he does acrylic work but I think he may be out of the game so you would have to check it out.

Also there is a guy on eBay out of PA somewhere that will do custom. Not sure of the name but if you do a search on eBay for sumps it will be easy to find.

And, if I'm not mistaken one of our sponsers does it as well. RT-4 aquarium maybe?

 

[mrehfeld]

So would u recommend having the return pump sit in the middle of the sump and have drains go to each end of the sump into filter

No, your overflows should meet in the middle then to your socks wherever you put that. Your return would exit your sump then branch from the middle to either side of your tank. Kind of like this

 

[Sobo's Reef]

So have both drains flow into 1 before reaching the sump?? Sorry, kind of hard to follow since mines RR and that looks like a closed loop

 

[mrehfeld]

Yeah hard for me to visualize what you have. I thought have 2returns on either side of your tank. Sorry for the confusion

 

[jgraz]

The overflows being seperate have no bearing on the return flow being equal. To ensure that return flow is equal to both side just have the pump flow 1 line to a central point then "t" it off to each return. You will want a ball valve before the T and one more for each line out of the T.

 

[mrehfeld]

The overflows being seperate have no bearing on the return flow being equal. To ensure that return flow is equal to both side just have the pump flow 1 line to a central point then "t" it off to each return. You will want a ball valve before the T and one more for each line out of the T.

Correct, my point about the overflow is that both sides would also drain equally.

 

[hans24hrs]

I have an order with them now. It is supposed to be shipped this week. If you want something from them call them ASAP and they might be able to get it out with my order. That way you can save on shipping.

 

[Sobo's Reef]

I have an order with them now. It is supposed to be shipped this week. If you want something from them call them ASAP and they might be able to get it out with my order. That way you can save on shipping.

No I'm okay but thanks. I'm no where near ready to start buying stuff. I don't even have the tank emptied yet Lol

 

[hans24hrs]

Advanced acrylics. He will do pretty much anything you want.
There is also Melev who can be found on R2R. He too will do what you want.

Almost forgot. I met a guy at Darren's house (dnov) a couple of months ago at the meeting. The guy said he does acrylic work. Unfortunately I don't remember his name. Maybe someone on here might remember.

 

[Brando457]

Soooo you think you can danceeee?

Jk jk

I love the planning stages of tanks, what I did was google <tank size> build and spent countless hours reading other people's threads.

I would recommend making the apex a top purchase since that will lay the ground work for wiring/cable management. You can check my build thread for how I mounted mine.

Sump there are people selling kits on ebay for 40 breeders for like $30 that include baffles. a 40 breeder is a great sized sump. If I could do it over again I'd have my fuge on the left side, return middle, skimmer right. One drain split to fuge & skimmer section, other drain just to the skimmer section. Put a ball valve on teh fuge side to regulate flow through it.

Return pump place in middle, since its a 40 breeder you can center it in the stand. Bam run up to a Y and then connect each hose to the return lines. I wouldn't worry so much about one side getting more flow than another, thats why you have powerheads. Also it is still pushing water and as long as the pump isnt too strong then it should be pretty well balanced. IF you want you can add a valve on each side to ensure uniform flows.

I like starting my tanks with all dry rock, scape the tank empty of water. Figure out how you want it, then wait 3 days since youll keep changing it. Once satisfied add sand, then and only then add water. I don't understand scaping tanks full of water when the rock is dry and it makes scaping a bigger PITA.

Equipment in list of priority
1. Apex
2. Return Pump
3. Reactors, possibly manifold to feed reactors from return <cray cray>
4. heaters <jagers controlled by apex = good for me>
5. lights <led? t5? do you want color or just growth or both>, if I was doing a reef I'd stick to T5, but that is because I love T5

 

[Sobo's Reef]

Soooo you think you can danceeee?

Jk jk

I love the planning stages of tanks, what I did was google <tank size> build and spent countless hours reading other people's threads.

I would recommend making the apex a top purchase since that will lay the ground work for wiring/cable management. You can check my build thread for how I mounted mine.

Sump there are people selling kits on ebay for 40 breeders for like $30 that include baffles. a 40 breeder is a great sized sump. If I could do it over again I'd have my fuge on the left side, return middle, skimmer right. One drain split to fuge & skimmer section, other drain just to the skimmer section. Put a ball valve on teh fuge side to regulate flow through it.

Return pump place in middle, since its a 40 breeder you can center it in the stand. Bam run up to a Y and then connect each hose to the return lines. I wouldn't worry so much about one side getting more flow than another, thats why you have powerheads. Also it is still pushing water and as long as the pump isnt too strong then it should be pretty well balanced. IF you want you can add a valve on each side to ensure uniform flows.

I like starting my tanks with all dry rock, scape the tank empty of water. Figure out how you want it, then wait 3 days since youll keep changing it. Once satisfied add sand, then and only then add water. I don't understand scaping tanks full of water when the rock is dry and it makes scaping a bigger PITA.

Equipment in list of priority
1. Apex
2. Return Pump
3. Reactors, possibly manifold to feed reactors from return <cray cray>
4. heaters <jagers controlled by apex = good for me>
5. lights <led? t5? do you want color or just growth or both>, if I was doing a reef I'd stick to T5, but that is because I love T5

Well I have a 40B now as a sump and I wish it was bigger, not so much tall, but longer. I was looking into getting a custom sump with a built in ATO maybe to get rid of the extra 10g tank I have under there. Not sure yet.

As far as rock, mines sitting out back in a bucket o bleach and water to kill everything. Gonna let that sit for a month or so. I was planning on putting down starboard. No sand. And I wanna try and scape my rocks with acrylic rods so they stay in place. Every tank Ive ever owned hand rock that was just stacked. Scary.

I do plan on getting an apex definitely so I'm gonna start setting aside money now for it. That and I wanna get 2 mp40s to go along with my mp10.

Lights, I'll be working with 3 reef radiance fixtures. Gotta buy the add on to make them apex controllable tho.

This is gonna be a huge project and I plan on taking my time with it for sure. No more rushing into things.

 

[Brando457]

I bought 1/2" rods from sears hardware and drilled my rocks. it works well. hitn up custom king on MR for a sump he is in NY and just started building again

 

[Sobo's Reef]

I bought 1/2" rods from sears hardware and drilled my rocks. it works well. hitn up custom king on MR for a sump he is in NY and just started building again

How much were they?

 

[Brando457]

Like $2/$ for 2 ft pieces.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Just use plastic clothes hangers. Work great.

 

[downbeach]

I think Kyle had the right idea:

 

[Sobo's Reef]

Just use plastic clothes hangers. Work great.

Those are sturdy enough?

 

[Sobo's Reef]

I think Kyle had the right idea:

Lol too funny

 

[asonitez]

TLR - Long Post.

Sobo, I saw your previous setup and noticed your propensity for having a Refugium. After all you gave me a nice bunch of chaeto that I still have now With my new system I went with absolute ease of maintenance. Everything I did was centered around maintenance being super easy to complete. It DOUBLED my setup time but made things much easier.

I started wit the Stand. I had a custom stand built that maximized the INSIDE of the stand itself. It had a HIGH ceiling allowing me to get my entire top half into the sump area without bumping my head, breaking my back or dieing a horrible death. It also allowed my skimmer cup to be easily removable plumbing easily accessible and it was SEALED with Kilz and marine epoxy to make sure it was water tight. The KILZ itself made it easy to wipe down inside of the stand as it was oil based.

Next up was the sump. I designed a standard sump that took advantage of the space under the tank and gave me a fuge area almost equal to my Skimmer area. I also made sure that I had space enough to ft a 20 Gallon TALL Tank as a reservoir for my top off water. I also made sure to have space to place my Bio-Pellet,Ozone,Carbon,GFO reactors. Where I could I made sure everything used union's to make removing a component easy as turning off a ball valve and unscrewing a union and lifting the item out.

I also made sure to place 4 waterproof outlets controlled by 1 plug on my APEX. To this outlet I plugged in a LIGHT that illuminated under my sump, a Utility plug for when I want to plug in my Wet/Dry or a Pump to do water changes, and 2 Spares for when I'm mixing water next to the tank or something.


For your tank:


Since you have 1 overflow on each side of the tank getting ALL of the water into 1 section might be a bit tough. Sure you can combine the overflows into 1 large pipe and then into your skimmer section but then you run the risk of if your main overflow pipe clogs you empty your sump. Its unlikely but it can happen. I suggest you buy a standard tank and build a 3 chamber sump. The Return section would be in the middle. To the Left the first overflow section can house your skimmer. The Right side can have your refugium. Both sections would drain into the center where your return pump would sit. This way you ensure that pods and beneficial stuff makes its way into the display for fish and corals to eat, while on the skimmer has a section that it can focus on skimming. Your center section can be where you add your additives and since it is centered if you take time to make sure the pipe or tubes going to your returns are equal then the RETURN flow should be equal. Some might argue.. but not ALL of my water is getting skimmed this way..... I would say that not all of the water in your skimmer section is getting skimmed EITHER. As long as your skimmer is in the loop your tank is getting amply skimmed.

 

[Sobo's Reef]

TLR - Long Post.

Sobo, I saw your previous setup and noticed your propensity for having a Refugium. After all you gave me a nice bunch of chaeto that I still have now With my new system I went with absolute ease of maintenance. Everything I did was centered around maintenance being super easy to complete. It DOUBLED my setup time but made things much easier.

I started wit the Stand. I had a custom stand built that maximized the INSIDE of the stand itself. It had a HIGH ceiling allowing me to get my entire top half into the sump area without bumping my head, breaking my back or dieing a horrible death. It also allowed my skimmer cup to be easily removable plumbing easily accessible and it was SEALED with Kilz and marine epoxy to make sure it was water tight. The KILZ itself made it easy to wipe down inside of the stand as it was oil based.

Next up was the sump. I designed a standard sump that took advantage of the space under the tank and gave me a fuge area almost equal to my Skimmer area. I also made sure that I had space enough to ft a 20 Gallon TALL Tank as a reservoir for my top off water. I also made sure to have space to place my Bio-Pellet,Ozone,Carbon,GFO reactors. Where I could I made sure everything used union's to make removing a component easy as turning off a ball valve and unscrewing a union and lifting the item out.

I also made sure to place 4 waterproof outlets controlled by 1 plug on my APEX. To this outlet I plugged in a LIGHT that illuminated under my sump, a Utility plug for when I want to plug in my Wet/Dry or a Pump to do water changes, and 2 Spares for when I'm mixing water next to the tank or something.


For your tank:


Since you have 1 overflow on each side of the tank getting ALL of the water into 1 section might be a bit tough. Sure you can combine the overflows into 1 large pipe and then into your skimmer section but then you run the risk of if your main overflow pipe clogs you empty your sump. Its unlikely but it can happen. I suggest you buy a standard tank and build a 3 chamber sump. The Return section would be in the middle. To the Left the first overflow section can house your skimmer. The Right side can have your refugium. Both sections would drain into the center where your return pump would sit. This way you ensure that pods and beneficial stuff makes its way into the display for fish and corals to eat, while on the skimmer has a section that it can focus on skimming. Your center section can be where you add your additives and since it is centered if you take time to make sure the pipe or tubes going to your returns are equal then the RETURN flow should be equal. Some might argue.. but not ALL of my water is getting skimmed this way..... I would say that not all of the water in your skimmer section is getting skimmed EITHER. As long as your skimmer is in the loop your tank is getting amply skimmed.

Thank you for that! Lol gave me a few ideas. I'm definitely going custom sump but I hear ya on having both returns emptying into 1 chamber, I'll probably have the return section in the middle. Seems the easiest and most efficient. I'm in the works now talking to someone about designs and stuff so we'll see how things go. Hopefully it won't cost me my life Lol