Start to setup my 90 gal FOWLR

lbear · Jan 10, 2006

Hi!

I've returned my 72 gal oceanic magaflow bow front to LFS and get a 90 gal version. The base dimension is the same as 72 gal but 6 inches taller. I don't know if it's a good decision or not since the lighting could be a problem for a 29" tall tank. My goal is to setup a 90 gal FOWLR aquarium. The followings are equipments I have ordered/recieved. Please give me your suggestions.

Equipment:

1. Oceanic 90 gal bow front with magaflow (600 gph max), cabinet and canopy: The inside space of the cabinet is smaller than a rectangle shape cabinet. It has one door only which decreases accessibility. But I like the look of the bow front appearance. The smaller cabinet space actually affects my sump/refugium setup (please see below for my sump/refugium setup).

2. Coralife needle wheel super skimmer 125: I ordered the skimmer when I had 72 gal tank. Now it's 90 gal plus 18 gal sump/refugium and excess water in the plumbing system. Hopefully it can support the whole aquarium.

3. Sump/refugium: I ordered some acrylic plates and glue them together. Due to the space constraint, it ends up with the size of 24"x12"x14". The refugium area is 12"x14"x8", 5.8 gal only!! The sump/refugium is similar to CPR Aquafuge Pro. The super skimmer 125 is hanged on the wall of the sump. There is no mutliple baffles between sump, refugium and return area. I wonder there will be bubble and noise problem. All drain pipes are 1" and all return pipes are 0.75". I keep the return area small and move the mag 7 outside of the sump. Do I need an auto top-off to compensate the smaller return area without worrying about it every few days?

front view of my cabinet setup including sump/refugium:

4. Return pump: Mag 7.

5. Powerheads: Two Maxi-Jet 900.

6. Lighting: I plan to get either Coralife Lunar Aqualight fixture 48" 4x65w power compact with four led lunar light or Current usa 4x65w. Does a FOWLR tank need lunar light? If it does, which color is better? For a 90 gal 29" tall tank, is 4x65w pc enough? Is 2x65w ok?

7. Misc equipments: I have Kent marine RO/DI, test kits, refractometer. GFCI. I haven't got heater yet.

Substrate: Currently I have 40lb Caribsea Aragonite. Obviously that's not enough. Since I live in the SF bay area, the local home depot doesn't carry that magic play sand. There are threads mentioned that silica could be used. Now i am confused . Besides, what's the grain size shoud I choose? Should i mix several kinds of sand with different grain sizes?

Live rock: I will have plenty of time to decide before my tank get setup and cycled. I plan to have 45 lbs of base rock and 45 lbs of Fiji rock.

Livestock: I want to have 5 green chromis, 2 Ocellaris clown, 1 Royal Gramma and 1 tang (blue or purple) plus cleaning crew (TBD). I need to find out the order and timming to stock them.

Now the tank and sump sit in my garage. I want to spend some time to finish plumbing and fresh water test before moving them to my living room (dis-assemble them 1st).

Thanks!

Albert

macphoto · Jan 11, 2006

lbear said:
There is no mutliple baffles between sump, refugium and return area. I wonder there will be bubble and noise problem.

As I'm finding out, those peskly little microbubbles can be very problematic! You should probably try to work in a set of baffles for a bubble trap, at least after the skimmer section. I HAVE a bubble trap in my sump and still have had to battle bubbles! It will be easier to do it now than to have to pull everything apart after it's all set up.

All drain pipes are 1" and all return pipes are 0.75".

Regarding your sump illustration... first, check the bottom of your overflow to see what side the bigger hole is. On my All-Glass tank, the bigger hole (for the drain) is on the left, the opposite of what your illustration shows (I don't know if this is a standardized thing, or if it varies on different tanks).

Also, as I learned, you can run into problems on the drain with air being carried down the drain pipes and causing "resistance" against the water as it tries to flow down (with the bubbles trying to rise up against the flow). The solution, provided to me by Mogurnda, was to remove that last elbow in the drain that turns down towards the sump and replace it with a tee (turned on its side so it essentially functions as an elbow with an opening facing upwards). This gives the air a place to get out without having to claw its way all the way back up to the standpipe in the overflow. He also suggests going with a larger final pipe into the sump, so you'd use a 1 x 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 tee.

I keep the return area small and move the mag 7 outside of the sump. Do I need an auto top-off to compensate the smaller return area without worrying about it every few days?

Yes, almost definitely... with that small of a return area, you'd probably have to fill it up every day, maybe even more than once!

--Mike

lbear · Jan 13, 2006

Thanks! Mike

I gusee I may have to re-design my sump. But I'd like to set it up and give it a try. Do you use acrylic or glass to make baffles of your sump? What kind of cement you are using?

There are two drilled holes in my tanks with same size. I have seen two kinds of magaflow kit. My kit comes with three bulkheads.

Albert

mogurnda · Jan 13, 2006

Do I need an auto top-off to compensate the smaller return area without worrying about it every few days?

The return area looks like the only place where the level will be allowed to vary. As you guessed, that means that its height will change dramatically with evaporation. I lose 1-2 gallons/day from my 90, and the pump would be constantly sucking air if I didn't have an autotopoff. I have halides and no glass top, so your problem may not be as bad. Anyway, the larger the return chamber, the less of a problem it will be.

Also, I learned the hard way, don't skimp on the baffles!

scherebh · Jan 13, 2006

Morgunda (or anyone else for that matter),

I've been meaning to ask that. Is a gallon or two evaporation per day what one would expect. Mines a 125 with cover and lights on ~ 8 hours per day. I only started it about 5 days ago. Thx.

mogurnda · Jan 13, 2006

scherebh said:
Morgunda (or anyone else for that matter),

I've been meaning to ask that. Is a gallon or two evaporation per day what one would expect.

That seems to be the range people get. It varies, depending on whether you have a glass lid, a sump, the ouside temperature, the lights, fans, and so on.

macphoto · Jan 13, 2006

lbear said:
I gusee I may have to re-design my sump. But I'd like to set it up and give it a try. Do you use acrylic or glass to make baffles of your sump? What kind of cement you are using?

I used acrylic from Home Depot. To glue it in place, I used 100% silicone aquarium sealant, but I've read that you can use any 100% silicone caulking product, as long as you are absolutely positive that it doesn't contain anti-mildew substances (like "Bath & Kitchen" caulk likely does). But if you want to be on the safe side, use aquarium sealant.

Note, this stuff doesn't stick very well to plastics. However, in this particular application, it holds well enough. Actually, I had to pull two of my baffles out to cut them a little shorter, and I had a VERY hard time getting them out. Even though the silicone does not stick well to plastic, it does stick to the glass... a fairly thick bead of silicone will wedge the acrylic panel in place, even though it's not sticking to it well. Just be sure you use thick enough acrylic (I used 1/4 inch), because if it's too flexible, it will simply pull out of the silicone bead.

I'm not sure if everyone does it this way, but I also added strips of acrylic, 1 inch wide (the space I wanted between my baffles) siliconed in between the baffles (I roughed up the surface of the acrylic to hopefully create a better bond). This not only makes construction easier (maintains the 1 inch spacing, and provides a surface on which to easily add a bead of silicone to the "back" side of the first and last baffles), but it also provides added strength to the whole thing.

Oh, one more thing... don't cut your baffles to have a snug fit against the sides of the aquarium, make them a little smaller. I read an account of someone who had cut baffles to have a nice tight fit, but apparently acrylic expands slightly in water (and maybe temperature has something to do with it as well), resulting in a cracked sump. Making the baffles a little smaller (I think mine ended up having around a 1/16 - 1/8 gap on each side) provides some expansion room.

There are two drilled holes in my tanks with same size. I have seen two kinds of magaflow kit. My kit comes with three bulkheads.

My All-Glass megaflow kit came with 3 bulkheads as well. I couldn't figure out why the extra one was included, but now I understand... it's for tanks where both holes are drilled the same (the extra bulkhead was a 3/4 inch, but was sized to fit in the bigger hole).

--Mike


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