Juwel Rio 300 Tropical To Marine Conversion

[Steve1972]

Hi All
I am a beginner in this arena although have been keeping tropical fish now for a couple of years in a Rio 240. I have been itching to move into keeping a marine aquarium for some time now and with my big 40 coming up, my good lady has agreed to it. We both love our current setup and dont really want to lose it so the marine would be an addition rather than replacement, that in mind I would really like to keep to the same sort of tank so it fits in the same room.
I have chance of a Rio 300 that I would like to convert similar to what 'Dannywrc' has done with his Rio 125 (His journal is amazing).
At this stage I have a few questions after reading Danny's journal:

If the tank is 360 litre what size sump should I look at constructing, I have a really sturdy oak cabinet thats 1600 long, currently has 6 drawers that i was going to rip the guts out of and make the 2 sets of three drawer fronts into 2 cupboard doors, cutting out enough of the centre support to fit the sump in and placing support back into the front edge once the sump in place ?

Im thinking i may need to leave room in there for a possible extra external filter if needed ?

Im a bit unsure on sump design and what would need to go in it at this stage apart from I know i need an inlet area, possibly where skimmer will go ?, then an under an over weir into the middle section to which i really havent got my head round yet, then into a third section where the pump back upto the tank would go.

Again looking at Danny's design he has drilled the base of the tank with 1 1/4 " pipe thru as the inlet to the sump, In terms of feeding the outlet I believe there needs to be a weir in the main tank to both maintain level and prevent thetank syphoning empty, is this arrangement (weir system) something that can be bought or is it to be made ?

In terms of lighting I belive i'm right in saying the Rio 300 has 4 tubes, If I got the right marine ones in would this lighting setup be ok ?

I would take out the current Juwel internal filter system.

In terms of pumping back from a sump into the tank, is this best done by drilling somewhere else on the tank or having a pipe up and over the top ?

In terms of Live rock, roughly how much should I be looking at putting in the main tank, I thin I have seen somewhere that egg boxing can be glued to generate a sort of stepped staging if you know what I mean, is this a good idea or am i likely to end up with living things hiding in the void behind and not see them, in which case it would all need building up in rock ?

Sorry for all the questions, Im keen to learn and would really appreciate any help.
Here is a pic of my current setup
Thanks
Steve

 

[salty dave]

Hi Steve I have just started my conversion with a rio300 as well.I used my old rio125 for my sump,and I drilled the back of the tank and used bulkheads so that I wouldnt need a weir box in my tank.you can see pictures on my blog.Good luck and make sure you put up pics of your progress.

Dave

 

[Steve1972]

Cheers Dave I will have a look at that, not sure if I have posted this in the right area really with all my questions, what do you think ?
I have now hopefully managed to rescale my photo to upload, so hopefully this will show my current tropical setup.
Its going to be a long road ahead me thinks, but really excited
Cheers
Steve

 

[Steve1972]

Hi Steve I have just started my conversion with a rio300 as well.I used my old rio125 for my sump,and I drilled the back of the tank and used bulkheads so that I wouldnt need a weir box in my tank.you can see pictures on my blog.Good luck and make sure you put up pics of your progress.

Dave

Looks great Dave, thanks for pointing your blog out to me, I like the idea of no weir box but just a couple of questions if you will,
What do you mean by bulkhead, something to stop things getting into the pipe i presume but how would it look ?
Do you need 2 outlets from the tank, or is one really a backup ?
Do you have a special connector to get the pump onto your 1" rigid pipe
Did you copy your sump design from something or calculate the placings of the compartment glass pieces for your sump
Sorry for sounding thick

 

[salty dave]

Hi Steve I have just started my conversion with a rio300 as well.I used my old rio125 for my sump,and I drilled the back of the tank and used bulkheads so that I wouldnt need a weir box in my tank.you can see pictures on my blog.Good luck and make sure you put up pics of your progress.

Dave

Looks great Dave, thanks for pointing your blog out to me, I like the idea of no weir box but just a couple of questions if you will,
What do you mean by bulkhead, something to stop things getting into the pipe i presume but how would it look ?
Bulkheads are the tank connectors.the ones I used have a strainer on the inside so only water comes out of the tank.On the out side there was a barbed hose connector which I removed and used abs/pvc pipe.I have 2x1" overflows and a 3/4" return (which changes to flexible hose at the pump)
Do you need 2 outlets from the tank, or is one really a backup ?
you could use one but it would have to be bigger than your return
Do you have a special connector to get the pump onto your 1" rigid pipe
A hosetail and hose
Did you copy your sump design from something or calculate the placings of the compartment glass pieces for your sump
It's very basic,3 sections baffled (live rock,equipment and return pump)
Sorry for sounding thick
Ha sure I'm only starting myself just read lots and ask questions there is some excellent blogs on here!!

Dave

 

[Steve1972]

Cheers Dave
Where did you get the bulkhead fitting from, if it was online i may be able to see a pic. Im guessing with this type of fitting if the return pump failed you would syphon very little from the main tank through the bulk head (Will it run fully submerged ?). I have just been looking on 'Coral culture' and they have many fittings including a coned filter type thing and some pipe end cap gauze. I guess it will be critical to clean the entry to the bulkhead very regularly to stop it blinding up.
Also, do you think it best for the inlet to the sump to be under the sump water level and the return up to the main tank to be under the main tank level ? Im just thinking about noise reduction really
Ta Steve

 

[itobin]

Cheers Dave
Where did you get the bulkhead fitting from, if it was online i may be able to see a pic. Im guessing with this type of fitting if the return pump failed you would syphon very little from the main tank through the bulk head (Will it run fully submerged ?). I have just been looking on 'Coral culture' and they have many fittings including a coned filter type thing and some pipe end cap gauze. I guess it will be critical to clean the entry to the bulkhead very regularly to stop it blinding up.
Also, do you think it best for the inlet to the sump to be under the sump water level and the return up to the main tank to be under the main tank level ? Im just thinking about noise reduction really
Ta Steve

How are you getting on with your build?

 

[lljdma06]

How are you getting on with your build?

My question exactly.

L