29Gallon Project

[Gilbert]

Ok well to keep it short, someone was giving my mom a 29gallon bowfront with stand. I asked her for it about a month ago but she said no. My girlfriend ask her for it she say yes...
So now my girlfriend is getting back into saltwater, we started working on the tank tonight. (no cam, but i promise pics soon)
The tank is a 29gallon bowfront, the trim was pine color the stand was black. We painted it black and light green.

Her plans for the tank are to have
1" sand bed
10lbs. of liverock
Lionfish
HoB filter
HoB skimmer
Dual T-5s 28watts

Questions:
I never used T-5s before, would the 28watt T-5s be strong enough for coral or anenome?

I want to make her a sump out of a 10gallon but dont know how to make the overflow to get water to the sump. Any ideas?

[justahobby]

NPS might be your best bet w/ 28w of lighting. If you do decide to go w/ stronger lighting and get an anemone you may want to strongly consider omitting the HOB filter and using the skimmer in your sump. For a lionfish tank I would recommend a condy (cover those powerheads!).

Are you thinking of building an HOB overflow or drilling?

[Gilbert]

Are you thinking of building an HOB overflow or drilling?

Well i didnt want to drill cause i dont know if the glass is tampered or not.
I was wondering if there is any other way to get an overflow. Like can you just make the suction with a pvc pipe leading down to the sump.

[justahobby]

Why not buy an overflow box?

http://www.google.com/search?q=overflow+box&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

[Gilbert]

Guess i am going to have to buy one.
I was just hoping for a cheaper route

[corruption]

Gilbert: are you completely against drilling the tank? If not, check out gla s s-holes.com (http://glass-holes.com/), they have all-in-one kits that include your bulkhead, overflow, glass drill bit, and respirated street elbow for silent operation :)

-Justin

[Gilbert]

How would i know if the glass is tampered or not?

[corruption]

If theres an identifier on the tank, you could contact the manufacturer -- I wouldn't expect a 29 gallon (even bowfront) to be tempered though.

-Justin

[Big_Pun]

first look for a sticker that states its temper(usually somewhere on the bottom of tank, also look for a build date sticker and contact the company that made the tank maybe the can shed some light

[Gilbert]

Oh.
I dont think it had a label or brand name.
And if it did we painted over it, lol.
Oh well, i was just hoping there was another way.

[corruption]

Unfortunately, the only other way I know is to try drilling it :D Chances of it being tempered on such a small tank are pretty low, I'd presume -- if anythings tempered, it would be the bottom.

-Justin

[Gilbert]

Unfortunately, the only other way I know is to try drilling it :D Chances of it being tempered on such a small tank are pretty low, I'd presume -- if anythings tempered, it would be the bottom.

-Justin

My girlfriend wont go for the idea.
I'll just have to buy a small overflow box.

[Gilbert]

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk89/Gilbert1606/Picture8.jpg

[justahobby]

I'll sell you an overflow box for that sized tank for $15 (pretty sure that's what I payed for it) if you can wait until next weekend. Only catch, You may have to change out the drain hose or extend it..... It's fairly short.

Nice tank! I like the paint job. It's different than the usual one tone.

[Gilbert]

Next week should be fine, ill ask her what she wants to do.
The colors are black with a pastel green(greens her favorite color).

The tank is filled with freshwater for now but by friday we hope to mix in the salt, add sand and a background.