Wich Tank To Buy ?

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psycho-killer

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hi there,

i want to upgrade my tank to a 4 feet tank just over 200 litres,

just want to know should i go for 4 feet long or 4 feet high ? the one is just a few centimetres higher giving like 30-40 litres more water ?

my lights that i have will prolly be best for the normal one ?
 
more water is always the way to go.
unless the depth is more than 2 feet, I would go for the bigger one.
 
already have 1 tank past hes cycling period.


gona run this one just a bit diffrent and when the tank is cycled move all over to the next tank,

building a sump and not using an external filter,,
 
NOw its sounds like a plan, but you gotta give it a lot of thought! you got a small 2 ft tank already, right?!!

Its a reasonable good start for a sump! I would say get a 3ft!

look here for sump info!

Sump info

Ok so his sumps are very specialist, but all you need is the right layout and equipment and you can do it!

heres a basic sump diagram that will work well! You gonna need a cabinet to hide sump in too! and to hang lighting!

Ignore the end section with auto top up thats for a bigger sump, but it gives you a good layout for a start!

5footsumpdesignfor6foottank.jpg



Basically I would put skimmer into first section with feed from tank then through first baffles into your refugium where you can have a deep sand bed and caulpera (spelling !) then through next baffles into final chamber where return pump is!

easy as that!!

I'll even list equipment needed to help you get on your way!

Main tank (obviuosly)
sump tank
4 pieces of glass cut to size relevant to sump
aquarium sealer/sealent
1 heater
1 skimmer
1 return pump
4 metres of piping
1 T8 compact lighting unit
2 extension sockets for all equipment
socket timers for lighting

Thats pretty much it apart from the obvious Ive not inc like sand salt and LR

If you gonna do it PLAN IT it will take a while, dont rush it! and it will be perfect!
 
just what i needed thanks pengy,

so im gona have a pump in the main tank that goes to the sump that connects directly to the skimmer, the water the skimmer expels go into a chunk of live rock and sand into another chamber where there is a pump to return water to the main tank ?

run the heater in the main tank and a power head for flow ?

now just to get some aquascaped ideas, whas thinking about stacking live rock through the middle of the tank so theres 2 sides front live rock stacke din middel and clean on the other side ?
 
the pump from the tank to the sump and the return pump

must it be exactly the same strenght? what strengt ?
 
No the skimmer will have its own pump and the heater goes into your sump, you wanna keep asa much equipment in sump!! more room for fish!

Yeah you will need a powerhead or two in main tank!

I only having one just to break surface and its hidden behind LR

for flow I have a SCWD (pronounced squid)

Here it is!

scwd.jpg


These will alternate the current to make a similar movement to waves, THis is brilliant and is what I have in my tank!!

The fish love it!!

take a look at my sump

Tank52a.JPG


Left hand side is my first section, my water enters here from main tank , I have my skimmer and heater in here

goes through first baffle, into

second section , My DSB (will be adding more here LR and chaeto etc) this section is absolutly heaving at night with life) through second baffle into

Third section my return pump is here I have an aqua medic ocean runner 3500

this has a "T" section into and it feeds upto main tank via my SCWD and the other section T's back to first section of sump, this is simply as the pump is faster than the flow back from tank thats all, it avoids it drying up and burning out!

with a 24w T8 light!
 
dunno if you understand litres ? ill use a simple idea in gallons our stuff in south africa is litres anyway

the water gets pump say from a 350 gph pump to the first baffle then another 350 ghp that pumps the water into the skimmer the skimmers outlet goes into another baffle with live rock and sand then a refugiam into another small baffle with maybe activated carbon then the last baffle has a 350gph return pump into the main tank ?

do i need to use white plumping pipe say the size of whateever the pumps head size is ?
 
I dont think you understand???You dont pump water from main tank?? you could but its not a good idea!! if that pump fails then other pump will keep pumping and you gotta flood!!and you skim water before going through refugium??? and heat it too then from ref into return section???dont worry about how many gallons per hour?? and I do understand litres!I'm trying to help here???you can use plumbing pipe but its a lot of work and DIY and if you dont do it properly you will have leaks???you have to have a weir or overflow box from main tank!!sorry you replyed twice while I was replying
 
ok, ill prolly make it the same as urs ...

ill try and get a oveflow thingie for the main tank,then from the first baffle like urs pump water into the skimmer the skimmer oulet falls into the live rock and sand and heater then runs through the last baffle where u have ceramic ring thingies and pump back into tank ? can i maybe instead of using a pump to go back into the main tank use my filter to suck water out of the last chanber through to the tank and maybe put other pieces of live rock and carbon in it ? like a double filtering system then
 
No you do not need a filter the sump is the filter,

The sump works left to right, the activated carbon is not in there now that picture is nearly two months old , that is a picture before I started tank just to start cycling and maturing sump

here is a new picture from yesterday, and I have highlighted flow notice there is only one pump in picture the flow is natarully from overflowing main tank!!

the flow from tank is in red the flow(return) from pump is in blue!!

Tank74sump.jpg



HERE IS THE OVERFLOW BOX YOU WANT IF YOU DONT WANNA DRILL HOLE IN TANK

01e4_1.JPG



here is the link from ebay

Overflow box


and here is how it works

overflow.jpg
 
just a suggestion, i wouldnt add a DSB to a small refugium, not much space for it to actually work so its more like wasted space. You would probably lower nitrates better with more chaeto than more sand in smaller refugiums.
 

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