Plans for moving my 40g reef to a 65g

[Aquascaper]

Hi,

I have really caught the marine bug and now i'm planning to dismantle my tropical community tank and move my reef over to it as its bigger

The problem I have is that i can't see a way to fit a sump underneath my 65g tank and it's not drilled either. I have come up with a idea that would mean I could partition the tank and have a (sort of) sump inside, I would really appreciate any feedback on this.

The plan is to partition the tank with an angled sheet of glass to enclose one corner of the tank and creating a fake wall. This partition would be at water level and therefore act as a weir allowing water to flow over into the chamber behind which would house my skimmer, main pump and 3 powerheads. The outflow of the skimmer would then be returned to the opposite end of the tank via rigid pipe. The powerheads would be mounted inside the chamber at different heights and would output into the main tank by either drilling through the partition or via pipes/tubes. A major benefit of this set-up would be that the electrical equipment would not increase the temperature of the water in the tank as it's all contained inside the sump chamber.

This would create a self-contained tank & sump which would be ideal for me but what do you think?

 

[Navarre]

Ok lets explore 1 other avenue before continueing with this design (not that anything is wrong with it).

Would you prefer to use a sump? If so then is there any other reason why you wont use one other than you dont have the tank drilled? If its possible to fit a sump under the tank then you can always use an ovreflow box. Doesnt need the tank drilled and you create a greater volume of water.

Just a thought, if not then we can discuss the design you made.

 

[Aquascaper]

I do have a 20g tank that could be freed up to use as a sump and there could be space made under the main tank for it but my concerns are the plumbing of this type of setup and the risk of flooding.
As I live in a council flat I can't make anything too permenant and, as always, running costs are an issue and the addition of a separate sump brings with it addition lighting, pumps, etc.
The design i've come up with means that I wouldn't have to buy any more equipment than what I have already with regards to pumps, lights, etc. and would leave plenty of space underneath the tank for storage (another big issue which gets me no end of grief off the gf )
As I understand it, my design would mean that if the tank level falls the chamber would run dry but the main area would stay filled and there's no rish of flooding as everything is self-contained.

All-in-all I think that the in-tank sump would benefit my situation better than fitting an external sump. After all, the main reason for a sump was for somewhere to put my skimmer, etc. as i'm already increasing the volume of water by 25g by moving to the bigger tank.

 

[Great Lakes]

Why not run it the same way you have run the 40 gallon?

Your corner overflow is sound in principal. You will just have to realy stay on top of your water level.

In the end though, I am sure most of the heat from pumps and sush will still affect the tank. Your partition will have just about zero insulating ability.

GL

 

[Navarre]

Hey wow I just realised your from Plymouth!


Thats only about an hours drive from me.!

When you finally get the tank setup and running, I will see ifi have any pulsing xenia spare! It gorws like mad in my tank and forever giving some to my LFS.


OK back to the subject....
GL is right, the sump will offer little or no heat insulation at all im afraid. But the design works in principle.and may well be a great refugium for pod growth etc. As GL has mentioned, you wil need tomonitor your water levels closely as the evaporation in a small area like this might lower the level quite quickly. (my sump loses nearly 8 ltres per day in the summer!)

I think you have thought this out pretty well so far and if you want to make teh change over to marines then you are definately heading in the right direction. Do you know of any decent Marine shops in your area? if not then i might be able to assist you there

 

[Aquascaper]

I didn't realise you were down this way either Navarre.........and i will gladly come and take any spare xenia you have

As far as the water loss is concerned I will be making a DIY auto-top off when it's all up and running (not that I ever get out of the house for more than a weekend anymore )

As for marine shops I go to:

Saltash Garden centre, Saltash, Cornwall
5th Day Aquatics, Plymouth, Devon
Endsleigh Garden centre, Ivybridge, Devon
Aquamarina(?),Taunton, Somerset

 

[Navarre]

Wow it seems to know more than i do in that area! Last year i spent a whole day in playmouth looking for marine shops.. I found plenty of freshwater shops and none of them could give me advice where to find marine outlets. Eventually the only one i found was PTM (Plymouth Tropical Marine) Very small setup but had some very nice invert stock.

 

[Aquascaper]

Never heard of them

Where are they?