New 72 gallon bow front!!!

[kandibrandy]

Hi all, We got a bigger tank!!!
I'm so excited! We are building the sump from scratch. Got ideas from the net...what gallon capacity should it be for a 72 gallon tank? The dimensions we have guessed so far are: to use up most of the room in the stand.
18"H x 11 3/4"W x 36"L , can't remember what hubby measured for baffles. I believe each was about an inch drop to the return tank.
We bought a bigger then necessary pump(for upgrading to bigger in the future)2800gph? "Quiet One 900" brand.
A highly recomended p skimmer(can't remember brand name) "V" somthing?
4' long T-5 lighting 3 10K and 3 actinic 65 W(hubby welding light mount from aluminum)
2 holes are getting drilled on the back of the tank(bottom glass was tempered so couldn't use the bottom)in the center for overflow box(build our own)and return.

Sorry so long, does any one have any DIY suggestions?

[Reefscape]

all sounds exciting to me...

1) on the sump side of things, fit the biggest you can fit in the stand.
2) Cant comment on baffles for the sump untill you have the exact dimentions
3) T5 lighting sounds good..
4) I would not be drilling the tank back in the centre. If your using an overflow box, then you would not need a hole drilling for the water outlet as the overflow box will take care of that..For the return, i would just come over the tank back wall in an inverted "U" type tube and have this going just below the water line and ensure that a couple of 1/8 holes are drilled below water line in the return pipe so that the syphon breaks in the event of a power failure..
5) On the pump, it will only return water at the rate at which the overflow box removes it from the display tank....

By all means, view http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90499 ....this is when i was planning the layout of my sump..it was not the finished article, i might add, but it may give you a little insight into what is involved..

Obviously, that is just a quick few thoughts on what you have spoken about so far above...To get this planned out correctly, you need to start getting pencil and paper together and start doing some drawings for the pipe work, sump layout and dimentions....

Niko

[kandibrandy]

all sounds exciting to me...

1) on the sump side of things, fit the biggest you can fit in the stand.
2) Cant comment on baffles for the sump untill you have the exact dimentions
3) T5 lighting sounds good..
4) I would not be drilling the tank back in the centre. If your using an overflow box, then you would not need a hole drilling for the water outlet as the overflow box will take care of that..For the return, i would just come over the tank back wall in an inverted "U" type tube and have this going just below the water line and ensure that a couple of 1/8 holes are drilled below water line in the return pipe so that the syphon breaks in the event of a power failure..
5) On the pump, it will only return water at the rate at which the overflow box removes it from the display tank....

By all means, view http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90499 ....this is when i was planning the layout of my sump..it was not the finished article, i might add, but it may give you a little insight into what is involved..

Obviously, that is just a quick few thoughts on what you have spoken about so far above...To get this planned out correctly, you need to start getting pencil and paper together and start doing some drawings for the pipe work, sump layout and dimentions....

Niko

Hey Niko,
Thought you'd chyme in on this one...hehhe(hoped you would). We didn't want any pipes hanging over the top of the tank so the over flow is going to be built in the middle of the tank from the middle and up(hope it makes scence)We have some stuff down on paper, mainly the sump design. Overflow still deciding, but we need the tank at home to do measurements.

I guess we will have to take pic's of our "chicken scratch"

The return will be one intake and then T'd into different area's of the tank...still have to scetch those.

I'm sure we'll ask lots of question, but thanks for your advise Niko...

[Reefscape]

Ok, i guess when you say "overflow", i think your more refering to a "weir" if i understand you right...

All good stuff, keep us informed of how your getting on, and ask lots of questions...believe me, its easy to get wrong.....

Niko

[kandibrandy]

In the display tank a section off to the side and rear of the tank is sectioned off and the top water flows into it, then is sucked down into the sump. "Weir" or "overflow" which ever the correct terminology, may have bio balls in it...We won't use bio balls due to there maintenance and negative attributes.

Thanks for your input...we have lots to do...Still very excited!

Cheerio for now...
Brandy

[drobes]

Hello, congrats on the new 72G. I'd also recommend thinking about how everything that needs to go in your sump will fit comfortably and then making sure that all of this equipment will be easily accessible.

I recently completed a DIY sump/fuge setup in a cabinet style stand with an open self center section. I ended up building two seperate acrylic tanks to fit into each side cabinet and plumbing them together with dual pvc bulkheads. It was very challenging for me to get everything to fit comfortably and remain accessible.

Check out things like how tall your skimmer is, will it sit in sump or external, how high is the return gate from skimmer, what the water level will be in sump, will you raise the skimmer up, etc.

I'd also recommend a bubble trap with one raised baffle between two normal baffles right before your return section. I ended up adding one after I was running...

I may not have followed you on your overflow design, but it sounds like rather than an overflow box you are essentially planning a drilled tank "reef ready" style except that rather than drilling the bottom you are drilling the back? If this is the case, I imagine you would have difficulty fitting a durso standpipe over the bulkhead and you may have to deal with draining noises. Personally I swear by the durso's, I added a home-made one to my overflow box and it runs completely silent. Noise is important to me because my tank is in my living room. Also make sure that you go with large enough bulkheads to support the flow you intend to push through the sump.

[kandibrandy]

Drobes,

Thanks for the input. We will be cutting out the middle brase on the top part of the stand and then dropping in the complete sump. And then of course re bracing the area we took off. Hope that makes sense. As for the standpipe idea we are using it. We have some measuring and sketching to do but that is the plan. The skimmer will be hung on the outside of the sump on the intake side and we will probably put an extra baffle at the other end to eliminate the excess bubbles. Also the last area of baffles will have a hung rack of some sort to put filter media for extra filtration.

Thanks again to all who input suggestions. Can't wait to get this thing going..!

[drobes]

Brandy, sounds like it's going to be one nice setup! Can't wait to hear how it goes.

[Mr.Firemouth]

I may not have followed you on your overflow design, but it sounds like rather than an overflow box you are essentially planning a drilled tank "reef ready" style except that rather than drilling the bottom you are drilling the back? If this is the case, I imagine you would have difficulty fitting a durso standpipe over the bulkhead and you may have to deal with draining noises. Personally I swear by the durso's, I added a home-made one to my overflow box and it runs completely silent. Noise is important to me because my tank is in my living room. Also make sure that you go with large enough bulkheads to support the flow you intend to push through the sump.

If you drill the back of the tank use 2" pipe and bulkheads. Use 3" to 2" reducers for overflow cups. See pics of my tank below...You will also need to vent the drain pipes with a tee and riser, also run the drains seperately to reduce back pressure and to increase flow!

Here are some pics...
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k44/mrfiremouth/SUPER180/rightdrain.jpg
vent piping

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k44/mrfiremouth/SUPER180/flush.jpg
overflow, the other pipe is the spray bar piping.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k44/mrfiremouth/SUPER180/mh1.jpg
you can see here the overflows and that by using threaded bulk heads the overflows rotate off center to adjust the water hieght.

HTH, Rich

[Germanman]

the vent piping works very well ive used it before on some systems i made for the accounts i used to work on. im glad to see ur getting a new tank! cant wait to see the pics.

[kandibrandy]

Hey all...

I'm at work so I can't provide the pics but Hubby drafted the sump and overflow box and we are getting the glass cut this week. I'll post the pics of the drawings later tonight...

I feel like a little kid waiting for Xmas to come...

Stocking? I want a Cowfish, but we also have corals so this may be a hit and miss. Do realize it will need a bigger tank but Our lfs said give it a try and would take it back if it's a problem and also once it gets too big he would take it back if we don't go bigger, which we of course will!!! And will wait about 3-4mths of it being established before we add the cowfish...As for stocking once it's cycled we will be adding:
Current livestock:
2 Percula Clowns(still skiddish except at feeding time and adopted the Brain coral as home)
1 Lawnmower Blennie(awsome fish)
2 Cleaner Shrimp(hilarious how they sway and are persistent cleaners)
1 Emerald Crab(not eating the Bubble algae...)
5 Nassarius Snails,
3 Bumble Bee snails(waste of $$$)Useless critters
1 Brown/yellow feather duster
1 Red seastar(6 arms)
Bristle worms, pods, spagetti worms, fan worms, small slugs, etc...
Corals:
1 Open/closed? Green brain
1 whiteish pink leather branch?
1 Colony Green star polyps
1 colony(approx 20 large medium and small) Blue Mushroom
What I want to add:
2 sleeper gobies(not sure which ones and want them pair'd)
1 Cowfish ???researching
Frogspawn
Anemone??? researching...one that percula's actually home...(yet another hit and miss situation)

Sorry so long, just being thorough...Any criticism is welcome(not to harsh please)and ideas...

Thanks, Brandy
P.S. will definately do pics once we get things rolling...:dance2:

[Germanman]

all sounds great as long as u have good lighting on there....but the cowfish is a really bad idea....iv tried with them and all they ended up doing bad no matter what i did is they got ich somehow and then died and released their poison and killed almost everything else in the tank. they also get to be over 20 inches long and therefor need a minimum of 175 gallons but a 300 would be much better. they also will pick on snails, crustaceans, and rarely corals. they just have a super high fatality rate.
sorry i know they are so cute though! when i worked in the aquarium store they always sold to women lol...id see a couple come in and id hear a "oh hunny its so cute" and then we had a cowfish sold...lol:)

[kandibrandy]

LMAO...thanks for the advice. They are so cute with there puckered up lips. I watched the small one at the lfs keep sucking on something on the rock, it was hilarious. We'll see what happens, but here's to hoping...:)

[kandibrandy]

I have added a couple pics of our designs for the Sump and overflow. We want to have as little piping visable as possible, so we are going to put a glass overflow in the tank. Close to the top approx 16" long 6 1/2" high and either 2" or 3" deep, depending on the full height of a 1 1/2" elbow, allowing us to hopefully create a standpipe if the noise is too much. I am hoping where the water only has approx 6 inches to drop that the gurgling noise will be minimal.
We still haven't decided on the exact location of the baffles in the sump, Likely we will do that once we have the glass cut, and the outside box put together, We want to keep as much room as possible for our refugem!!

[kandibrandy]

and a side view of the overflow

[Germanman]

looking pretty good...now u just need a room..or extra house to go with it all....lol

[jojo22]

I have a 72 bowfront as a pred tank. The front glass is a PITA to clean. Be forewarned.

[kandibrandy]

Thanks for the warning JOJO, assumed it would be so we'll take the extra measures (with the right srub pads) to tend to it. The bow front just looks so good, we couldn't pass it up...Hopefully everything will be built this wknd.

I so hate waiting!!!

[jojo22]

Did you find a curved pad??? If so where did you get it??

[kandibrandy]

JOJO, Our LFS sells all kinds of srub pads on extended plastic arms...I am partial to the magnet ones(no hands in the water). Might not be able to totally avoid putting hands in but it will be minimal...

When we purchase it I could take a pic and show you. We are in Canada so not sure if you could get the same thing if that is what you are inquiring.

If so then we could just bye a couple extra and send'em off to ya...if not available where you are...

Let me know...
B ~:o)

[jojo22]

Let me see a pic first, maybe I just never noticed them! Thanks for the offer I may have to take you up on that.

[kandibrandy]

I thought I would add a couple pics of our Sump design!!We are still having a slight problem with micro-bubbles...but workin on that one!!

[drobes]

Looks sweet! Nice setup.

[Reefscape]

Starting to look the business now Brandy, glad to FINALLY start to see some pictures filter through to us...he he he he...Keep up the good effort..

Niko

[kandibrandy]

Any suggestions about decreasing the micro bubbles...?

[Reefscape]

sorry, cant really make it out from the pic...what section are you have micro bubble problems in Brandy?

Niko

[kandibrandy]

The bubbles from the return as well as the skimmer get sent into the fuge and travel accross and through the filter media(carbon right now) and some make it through the return pump...into the display tank...Should we add another baffle or something else. We have accomplished a very high turnover rate so maybe we should just turn the pump down?

I dunno???

[Germanman]

looks great, wonderful job!

[kandibrandy]

OK here is the tank and some of our new inhabitants...

[Germanman]

wow very nice! i miss my coco worm now....they are just so expensive....id have to say ur tanks are amazing!

[kandibrandy]

thanks G_MAN we like it so far, can't wait for things to really grow...

[micynyorkies]

WOW! Your tank looks AWESOME!!

[Uncarved Block]

FTS please! :)

[Reefscape]

Stunning Brandy...Am really impressed with it...

Niko

[Rbishop]

Very nice!

[kandibrandy]

Thanks everyone, we still want bigger but that'll be in the later future. I'll get hubby to take better pic's, I have issues with the stupid macro mode...

Again thanks and look forward to updating pics as it comes along...

Brandy ;o)

On another note, our Brain coral didn't make it. I'm pretty sure we ended up introducing "brown jelly dis" from LFS(didn't quarantine)and it just didn't recover...