Looking for ideas!!

[Sobo's Reef]

Hey everyone, almost done breaking down my 150 to take a break for a little bit. Over the next couple months I wanna plan out the new look of my tank. Its so cluttered and my sump area is horrific. The plumbing is an issue as well. Its a Marineland 150 dual corner overflow for a visual.

I'm looking to get ideas on if this was YOUR tank, how would you go about your sump area? And how would you run your plumbing?

As of right now I have both corners draining into one side of the sump(which in fact reduces flow going to one side since the pump is closer to one side). I do have 2 filter sock holders but only 1 is in use do to space issues. My sump is a 40B with baffles glued in. Should I consider a custom sump? What would you do?

I plan on getting an Apex down the road as well so maybe tell me your idea of how you would mount everything? I want this to look as neat as possible!

Please any and all ideas are appreciated! Thanks in advance guys!

 

[TanksNStuff]

Dan, my weekends are pretty busy for like the next 3-4 weeks due to the Swap, wedding, and plans to redo my deck out back. But when that's all done (maybe 1st weekend in November?) I can try to stop by to take a look at what you got and try to help you make some plans.

Let me know.

 

[Sobo's Reef]

Dan, my weekends are pretty busy for like the next 3-4 weeks due to the Swap, wedding, and plans to redo my deck out back. But when that's all done (maybe 1st weekend in November?) I can try to stop by to take a look at what you got and try to help you make some plans.

Let me know.

Sounds good George. I'll be brainstorming for awhile anyways so who knows where I'll be at that point!

 

[kschweer]

My best advice is to look through as many build threads as you can on here and other sites. Look for things you like as well as things you don't like and make a plan from there. Also take your time, this extra time you're going to have will make things much easier to plan things out. Try to make it so that maintenance is as easy for you to do as possible. The easier things are to do the more likely they are to get done. Best of luck man.

 

[Sobo's Reef]

Thanks Kevin! Appreciate it. I've already been googling different sump ideas. Looks like I'll be browsing thru the forums for sure to see how everyone has theirs.

 

[horseplay]

First decision is on the sump. What is the height and depth of the stand? I would get as much room as possible between the top of the sump and the top of the stand. Mine has 13 inches of room. I can stick my head and arms in there to work on it. Makes everything easy. If your stand is low I would try to get a 12" high sump (Assuming this is tall enough for your skimmer). If you stand is 18" front to back, 33 long tank is a good candidate. Of course if you can find a affordable custom sump that's even bigger but low it's even better.

 

[Sobo's Reef]

First decision is on the sump. What is the height and depth of the stand? I would get as much room as possible between the top of the sump and the top of the stand. Mine has 13 inches of room. I can stick my head and arms in there to work on it. Makes everything easy. If your stand is low I would try to get a 12" high sump (Assuming this is tall enough for your skimmer). If you stand is 18" front to back, 33 long tank is a good candidate. Of course if you can find a affordable custom sump that's even bigger but low it's even better.

Don't know the measurements off the top of my head. I have a 40 breeder in there now with no problems. I was looking into going custom since I could obviously customize it the way I want, but they can easily be bookoo bucks lol

 

[Mark...]

I would get the Apex during this build. Otherwise you wont be happy when the add on make your project messy looking. Since that is the reason for the re-build in the first place.

 

[Sobo's Reef]

I would get the Apex during this build. Otherwise you wont be happy when the add on make your project messy looking. Since that is the reason for the re-build in the first place.

Yeah I plan on getting all the equipment I want before I put everything back together this way I can layout where I want it all to go rather then just toss it in there

 

[mrehfeld]

To maintain equilibrium of flow both ways the drains should meet in the middle before reaching the sump and the returns should do the same. This is so you have balance.

I use a different controller but what I did was photocopy the footprints of the components and laid the templates out in a number of configurations until I found what worked best for. The other benefit of this was I was able to pre-drill the holes for mounting.

Another thing to consider will be your wire management, not only bundling but also being able pull and replace the wires easily.

Just my $0.02 on the subject

 

[hans24hrs]

My best advice is to look through as many build threads as you can on here and other sites. Look for things you like as well as things you don't like and make a plan from there. Also take your time, this extra time you're going to have will make things much easier to plan things out. Try to make it so that maintenance is as easy for you to do as possible. The easier things are to do the more likely they are to get done. Best of luck man.

First decision is on the sump. What is the height and depth of the stand? I would get as much room as possible between the top of the sump and the top of the stand. Mine has 13 inches of room. I can stick my head and arms in there to work on it. Makes everything easy. If your stand is low I would try to get a 12" high sump (Assuming this is tall enough for your skimmer). If you stand is 18" front to back, 33 long tank is a good candidate. Of course if you can find a affordable custom sump that's even bigger but low it's even better.

Sobo I would look into custom sump. This will allow you to get the maximum size and layout you want. Also take you time with rebuild. I alway like to draw out my plans with as much detail as possible (including plumbing and wiring layouts). This will help with build and aesthetics. I would definitely recommend getting apex and any other equipment you are looking for before build (and hope nothing better comes out right after lol, that never fails to happen). This will also allow you to plan on placement of equipment, especially the apex and the eb8, and how you will run your electrical stuff, with out worrying about maneuvering around water, or having to temporarily turn of any equipment.

Hope everyone's suggestions help
Hans

 

[Hawkeye]

I got a custom sump but purchased it from a fellow njrc member who was breaking down long ago. So it doesn't always have to be beaucoup bucks!

 

[Sobo's Reef]

To maintain equilibrium of flow both ways the drains should meet in the middle before reaching the sump and the returns should do the same. This is so you have balance.

I use a different controller but what I did was photocopy the footprints of the components and laid the templates out in a number of configurations until I found what worked best for. The other benefit of this was I was able to pre-drill the holes for mounting.

Another thing to consider will be your wire management, not only bundling but also being able pull and replace the wires easily.

Just my $0.02 on the subject

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 socks?

I'm definitely going to lay everything out first and see where certain things can be mounted. And wires, yes, I definitely wanna bundle them up into tubes or something. Less clutter and birdsnest.

 

[Sobo's Reef]

Sobo I would look into custom sump. This will allow you to get the maximum size and layout you want. Also take you time with rebuild. I alway like to draw out my plans with as much detail as possible (including plumbing and wiring layouts). This will help with build and aesthetics. I would definitely recommend getting apex and any other equipment you are looking for before build (and hope nothing better comes out right after lol, that never fails to happen). This will also allow you to plan on placement of equipment, especially the apex and the eb8, and how you will run your electrical stuff, with out worrying about maneuvering around water, or having to temporarily turn of any equipment.

Hope everyone's suggestions help
Hans

Definitely looking custom sump as of right now.. Just depends on $$. I've seen some of them that can get very expensive

 

[Sobo's Reef]

I got a custom sump but purchased it from a fellow njrc member who was breaking down long ago. So it doesn't always have to be beaucoup bucks!

This is true! But I doubt I could find one to my liking ya know? Especially if I have an idea of what I want it to look like already.

 

[jgraz]

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.

 

[Sobo's Reef]

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.

Awesome. Thanks John, I'll check em out!

 

[Hawkeye]

Melev - marc levenson has spoken at our club events in the past and is usually always at the Macna's. Really nice guy. He has his own website here: http://www.melevsreef.com/

 

[Hawkeye]

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

 

[Sobo's Reef]

Awesome, thanks for that link, I'll check him out for sure