58 gallon...

[brewercm]

What I meant by the comment about the cost on the skimmer was about electrical pull. The wattage on the 55RLT I believe is around 270 will run 6,480 watts in a 24 hour period. The wattage on the pump for my skimmer the ASM G3 is 50 running 24 hours a day plus my two 250 watt halides running 8 hours comes out to 6200 watts in a 24 hour period.

Sounds like you don't have to worry about that right now so it really doesn't matter then. Just don't let your parents know. ;)

BTW, I ran my system on the calculator and it shows around $53 a month. Dont tell my wife. :skeezy

[Flobex]

well... i think i was about as far off from the size of the bulkheads as i could be... i judged the size, because the tubing on that tank wouldnt fit on my 3/4" bulkhead for my 20 gallon, it was just a bit to small... so i just realized that there is adapters and such, but i took some pvc off, and got right to the bulkhead which measured 1.25" from inside edge to inside edge... ...woops

thanks caferacermike for the info on how to make a larger pipe, it will probably come i handy in the future

[Flobex]

Another Q...

could (should) i use a check valve on the line from my pump-skimmer, and on my return pump, so back siphon in an emergency is minimal?

[caferacermike]

I've heard both good and bad. Good that they work and bad that snails may get caught in the flapper preventing a seal. I think most drill a hole in the return line at the waters edge to suck in air and break the vacum.

[Flobex]

snails wouldnt be able to get into it, because 1 they wont have access to he skimmer, and if they did get ssucked in there, they'd be chopped through the impeller...:P and i think the high flow coming from my return may stop them from being able to enter that tubing...

[Flobex]

well... i had a crazy idea today... (thats what happens when im bored, and have extra tanks/stands lying around...

ok so i have (2) 36" stands (relativly same size, ones a few inches taller...)
anyway, i had the idea to put them next to each other, that way id have a place for my skimmer, and a seperate/bigger fuge... so on one stand would be my 58 gallon (drilled twice) wit the 20 long sump below it. then on the next stand, id have the skimmer, and a 20 high for a refugium... with a 10-20 gallon top-off tank below that.

so one of the drains from the 58 goes to the 20 long sump, and the other would go to the 20 high fuge which would then go through a bulkhead, into the 20 sump. it would be 100% gravity fed, and i dont have to worry about it draining a ton of water into my sump, because i have an overflow on it, so once the water level in the fuge goes below that level, it stops drainig water (ie: power outage).

then with this larger fuge, it will be very easy to isolate this 20 high from the rest of the system, when i need a Q tank, i'd just throw some powerheads in there, and it would be a cycled QT tank for new/sick fish, and it would be a sinch to hook back up to the main system/take away from the main system.

this probably makes absolutley no sense too you, so i made a rough diagram ...

would this be a good idea to put this with my system?

[Richard]

I had a 30 gallon fuge hooked up to my old 140 pretty much like that except I just tee'd off from the return line to the fuge. This way you can use a ball/gate valve to easily regulate the flow to the fuge. Also you won't have to deal with a bunch of bubbles in your fuge like you will if you drop a drain line in there.

[Flobex]

^ ok thanks, but if i do it that way, should i go with a mag 9.5 return instead of a 7?

[Flobex]

well, im throwing around ideas of having my dad make me a custom stand with a tall side, to house the skimmer, and it would be longer, and able to hold a bigger, better sump/fuge... the stand wouldnnt be to much, and would be similar to this http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...p;pagenumber=1 (the second one with 1 tall side)
the sump, however, would cost an arm and leg... but i think it would be well worth it to have this sleek, more efficiant design..

also, for lighting... i picked up a 39 watt t-5 to go along with my 130 watt compact fllouresceennt fixture, and those things are bright!!! if i added another 39 wattts of t-5, making my total
78 watts t-5, and 130 watts compact flourescent, would i have enough light to house some corals in the upper portion of the tank?