Just Seen A Tank For £300

[hanny93]

Hi again,

I was just wandering round my lfs, when i found a full marine setup with cabinet and halogen lighting, about 100gallons if my dimensions are kind of correct from memory, for just £300.

I don't want a marine setup so i was thinking of selling the sump and ripping the weirs out if possible, (if not its alright I'll deal with them,) and converting it to fresh.

How much do you think I'd be able to get for a sump about 80-100 litres with all the stuff in it. I'm not fussed if i cant sell it, i just thought it would help with buying filters etc.
And are halogens alright for tropical setups or would i need to buy new lighting?

I'm just wondering because its a really nice tank, big enough for what i want and it has all the holes etc drilled in already, and its painted. All that would need doing is to sand the cabinet down and repaint it, and the same for the lighting hood. Then buy all the stuff for inside, but thats no problem, and then filters and heaters, of which i already have two!

It's the cheapest ive ever seen locally!

What are your opinions of converting marine to tropical?

 

[weezawoo]

You could always use the sump as your filter if all the bits like a pump etc are there. Never seen anyone do it personally but I dont know why it wouldt work. You could have the filter flass and bioballs etc all in different compartments.

Does it come with a return pump for the sump do you know?

Thats a really nice size tank and not bad for that money if its brand new!

You should go marine though

 

[hanny93]

Ahh i thought that but im not sure whether there was a pump or not, i dont think there was, i had a quick look inside and there were no pipes or anything, how much would it cost do you think to turn into one huge filter?

Yeah I really like it, it just needs a bit of TLC, its not new! its seconhand! haha if i saw a new tank for £300 that size id jump in it and refuse to budge until i had enough money to buy it!

and ill never go marine, way too much money and too fragile for my liking!

 

[weezawoo]

Well for an external that size you are maybe looking around £75 of you go for the APS ones but more on others (brand new that is) so you can pick up a return pump maybe something like this Not entirely sure how good these are.

Depending on how it is drilled etc you can get some BandQ piping and join the holes to the sump, that should be reasonably cheap, so water goes from the tank by gravity feed and pumped back by pump through any media you need. It does also depend if you want an easier option of a filter or the work of setting it up underneath.

So it could cost less than buying a new external

Im just starting a marine tank atm and it costs a little more than trops but sooo worth it

 

[hanny93]

I think I'd rather have it all underneath, I've been reading reviews and 1 out of every ten reviews is along the lines of:

'IT LEAKED EVERYWHERE IT IS RUBBISH'

Cant be bothered with leakages!

I was gonna go either fluval 05 series or tetratec EX1200.

Ah it all depends on whether my dearest mother will let me bring another tank into the ouse, if i tell her it means there's gonna be more room in the hallway she might just forget there will be less room in the living room

I think I might just convert the sump, it's all already there and holes are drilled etc, I'd much rather pay £75 or so and have the extra volume aswell.

If i did convert it would I be able to heat the water in the sump before it gets pumped back up or would that not work?

I think its the cost of the actual livestock that puts me off, and the whole relying on rock to be your filtration!!

 

[weezawoo]

Yep heater in the sump would work!

It would be good having that much more water volume!

 

[hanny93]

Yes i thought about all the extra volume I'd be getting out of it aswell.

I've been looking it up online but theres no concrete guide to freshwater sumps, would you be able to point me in the right direction? All the ones ive seen talk about a lot of the marine side of things even though they are for FW and i dont understand the half of it!

 

[weezawoo]

I can give my opinion on it as I have never done it myself, but since doing my marine tank it just seems such a simple idea I don't know why it wouldn't work for a freshwater tank. Also if you have it there seems no reason to get rid. Is there any kind of plumbing included or is it just a tank with holes and another tank? lol. And where are the holes on the tank?

Just seen this thread through a search on here: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/274797-freshwater-sump/ maybe give it a read through!

 

[hanny93]

Yeah ive just been reading it, makes a lot more sense than the others i can tell you!

There isnt any plumbing that i could see, just holes in the cabinet not the tank, the lid is sort of a half hanging lid, meaning theres space at the back for pipes etc, and then the pipes come in at the back through holes into the sump.

 

[weezawoo]

I suppose it kind of depends if there are holes drilled in the actual tank, if not it would need to be done with an overflow which I don't know anything about purely because my tank has holes lol! The sump won't need drilling.

 

[hanny93]

Could I not just use a pump in one of the weirs with pipe attached to the outlet so water is pumped out? Sorry for all the questions, just curious. It's looking doubtful that I'll even get it now as my mum is being all
'its my house my rules' sort of thing.

 

[weezawoo]

Oh no!
Well you can use 2 pumps but it all depends on getting the flow right, the 2nd pump has to pump upward so sometimes loses its power a little!

 

[hanny93]

So basically use a lower rated pump for in to the sump, and a higher rated for into the tank?
It kinda all makes ense now, i think the things that threw me were in marine sumps they have like bubble reactors or whatever and i was just like

and yeah my mum sayas that anything over what i have now (14 gallon) is way too big. I'm trying to convince her that if i get a new tank, everything will be hidden in one cupboard and it'l be much more out of the way!
because atm my tank is on a sort of 4 box stand that are all joined together, like:

TANK
1 2
3 4

but there are no doors and you can see everything like buckets/test kit etc.

in the tank everything is in on cupboard and its a nice wood but i want to paint it black

oh well, if she says no, she says no and theres nothing i can do about it, its just so annoying that the one time i find a bargain is when i cant get it

 

[weezawoo]

Its typical as its always the way. I nearly didn't have my current tank, they only wanted £50 for it as they needed to redecorate. I was struggling to get it picked up but got a courier in the end!
It is nicer to have everything hidden but that is quite an upgrade to go to!

Hope you can get it

 

[hanny93]

Hopefully lots of blue nun and chocolate will help thankyou for all the help and advice by the way! invaluable!