New tank build idea...

[secretweapons22]

Im going to be starting a new tank as soon as i sell off one of my other tanks..

Heres what Im thinking...

24 X 24 X 36 High starphire glass

With a 48 X 24 X 20 High sump

Sump will have the inlet in the center back flow into a section with a DSB and then into a nother section that will house some gobies and stuff then into another section with macro and DSB and then into the return.. No skimmer on this tank at all

The tank will be a pred tank with a lion for sure and then a few others not sure what yet.

The bottom 2/3 of the tank will have live rock held together with acrylic rod to create some caves and such and then the top third will have mag rocks with ricordia and zoas and such.

I am thinking about either one or two MH with LED for night not too sure on that yet..

I want to upload my google sketch to give ya a better idea but dont know how...

Any sugestions?

[Goofball310]

just wondering how the sump is going to fit under the stand since it has a larger footprint than the display.

[secretweapons22]

Yea the stand will be much bigger than the tank its hard to explain its easy to understand when u see the sketch.. but i cant get it to load....the stand will also have a "window" so you can see the goby section without opening anything up

[secretweapons22]

http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt190/secretweapons22/Untitled.jpg

http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt190/secretweapons22/Untitled1.jpg

this might help...

[justahobby]

That's a very cool idea.. It will look very nice and I like the goby idea. What kind of lionfish are you thinking of getting? They can require a wide tank for the same reasons tangs can.

[secretweapons22]

im not sure.. prob a black volitin ... I think he should be ok.. only going to be him maybe a eel and a frog or scorpion fish..

[secretweapons22]

Any ideas how to keep in super quite im all for... I am going to have a 2in for the over flow... going to shoot for a pump that handles around 1800+ GPH any sugestions on ones that are super quite and submersible?

[sharkboy]

36" will be awfully difficult to reach in the tank....i hated reaching in my tank which was only 29" tall...

[Mr Cob]

My tank is currently 24" tall and I use a ladder to get in it. I eventually want to go much taller....for me it's no problem...I use large grabbers and like the look of a tall and deep tank, so it's worth it for me.

Looks like a cool plan.

I use a MAG 18 that pushes about 1400gph...it's very silent too.

[hobogato]

that is the same pump i use for a return rob - really like how quiet it is. on a smaller tank, it may add a bit of heat tho.

[secretweapons22]

Yea I really wont need to reach the bottom 2/3 of the tank... the lion will learn to come to the top to eat, my other one did... and the corals will be at the top... I just think it will combine the wifes wants and mine in one tank that looks great an will only require me working on one tank instead of 2 or 3.... I have a mag 5 on my 30 gal now...

Ace do you think that the mag 18 would heat up the 150-200 gal of water that the total tank/sump will have?

[hobogato]

nah, i think you will be fine.

[subsailor]

check out the thread on reefcentral under DIY for the failsafe silent overflow. Marshall.read just started one up and said it is dead silent and works like a champ.

[secretweapons22]

The tank will be drilled with a overflow box built in.. just trying to see if there is a certain plumbing method i should use...

[subsailor]

take a look at this.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1310585&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

[marshall.read]

i can definately vouch for the quietness of beananimals design (the link subsailor gave you), however if the tank is already drilled it may not be workable with the current bulkhead configuration. if the tank has yet to be drilled, and you put a high priority of quiet, i'd recommend looking into BeanAnimal's design. my tank has a drop of about 5 feet and when you stand right beside it you hear the hum of lights and pumps and thats it. good luck with the tank, it looks like a really cool idea.

[secretweapons22]

That looks like its just what I need... I am having the tank made so I will deff get the extra holes drilled.. I might make it a little bigger to make up for the bigger over flow.. Maybe 30X30X36

[secretweapons22]

Any ideas on if that can be motified to fit in my overflow box if the tank is drilled from the bottom? or does it need to be drilled from the back?

[hobogato]

sure, you would have to have three holes and you would just vary the height with vertical pieces of pvc. you will still want the water level inside the overflow as close to the top of the overflow as possible to reduce spillover noise.

[ErikH]

Better watch out with a lion in a small tank. Have you seen how large and how fast they grow? Once they get larger, you will definitely need to remove it. Netting it won't be easy either, nor is it good for the fish. Not trying to beat you up for it, the tang police are closing in on me already; just a warning.

[secretweapons22]

Well that tank if its 30X30X36 will be around a 140gal which is well above the tank size it would need... even a 24X24X36 is 90 gal which is still over the min required tank size.. I think 75 gal is the min recomened.. I think...

[marshall.read]

in my limited experiance with volitans they seem to be rather stationary hunters, so i think you will probably be ok with this tank as far as dimensions and water volume go. but keep in mind that 'recommened' tank sizes for fish is assuming you have a standard rectangular aquarium. some fish require significant tank length for swimming, such as a sohol for example. so if it is 'recommended' that the sohol be in a 200 gallon aquarium, you still wouldn't want to put such a fish in a very tall but not so long aquarium.

[secretweapons22]

Very true.. Yea the lions i had in my 150 gal stayed in one corner of the tank... They never would use the other 2/3 of the tank.. Got old quick ....

[secretweapons22]

OK I think i have adjusted my tank size to be 30X30X36 and will use the over flow method mentioned before, so i will have three 2in bulk heads put in for the overflow and back up for a return pump I am looking at at mag 24 and a mag 36, with a twist though, i want to have the back pane of glass drilled to have 2 one in bulk heads put in.

One slightly below center of the back wall and one towards the top so that I would and should have superb flow with no addition pumps needed. If i calculated all right sump and tank should be well over 200-250 gal total, so my thoughts are a mag 36 would be ideal due to head preasures and that from the pump to top of tank would be close to 4 ft.

Thoughts?

[kona22]

Don't have any info for you just a question. I had a lion with a sump and no skimmer and he died. Everyone said I needed a skimmer with lions and other aggressive fish. Why have you decided to not have a skimmer and what will you do to keep the water quality where it should be? (I'm kind of new at this if you can't tell. All advice appreciated. Thanks.)

[secretweapons22]

I will have a total of three deep sand beds and two 50 + gal refugiums any my total water vol will be over 200 gal as long as you don't over stock the tank don't over feed and moniter the water quality it should be fine