My Marine Adventure

[Xraymark]

Going to sump. If you can great stuff.

You still have compartments which can still be used, which allows even more room in the sump. I wonder if you could drill into one of the compartments underneath instead of an overflow. If I'm right your tank has a hinged lid which might rule that option out.

 

[Chris7]

i was looking through youtube Greg and found this tank same as mine.

Seems they have a lot in there and a pair of clowns.

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=A841YP41-jQ&feature=related

 

[Chris7]

Definitely

There are some very good DIY methods for whisper quiet overflow pipes which will mean you don't have to drill the main tank. I have one on my Trigon 190 and it cost about £15

My HOB fuge is a regular cyano farm, they are also hard to light 24/7 without illuminating the whole tank.

I was going to light mine only when the main tank lights are off, this was advice given from many people on a marine forum, which apparently helps.

OK i will take a look. I am not sure at this time how to connect the sump to the tank so will look into that too.

Going to sump. If you can great stuff.

You still have compartments which can still be used, which allows even more room in the sump. I wonder if you could drill into one of the compartments underneath instead of an overflow. If I'm right your tank has a hinged lid which might rule that option out.

I have the compartments too yes, I did see in a youtube video that they used them for different things i suppose it depends on what i want to do, Some put the skimmer in one, pump in the other and so on.

I might be able to drill into the compartments from the back if that would be ok: Actually forget that, I thought it was a plastic back as the compartments are sealed off from the front side. Its glass all the way round from top to bottom.

And yes my tank has a hinged lid.

I am not great at DIY either lol. I am not sure if i would trust myself to drill the tank. I have a friend who might be able to help thought.

 

[gregswimm]

You can always drill the bottom for a drain pipe. Just make sure it's not tempered, many tanks have a tempered bottom.

 

[Xraymark]

Thinking about this.  



If you keen to sump and can make it happen, great.  But don't feel you have to.  The tank you bought is ready to go for marine.  Those compartments almost act like a sump.  Hides equipment and can be used for mechanical and chemical filtration.  You have read journals and seen vids of equivalent tanks and you can get a great set up with what you have.  Ultimately your stocking will be still limited to the size of the main tank not the volume of water to include a sump.



Basically sump or not to sump is fine.  Just my thoughts.




Edit. iPad issues.

 

[Chris7]

Thanks for the advice xray, I did think the compartments do the same sort of job.

I understand a sump will not effect the stock i can have.

I am in two minds now. I either sell my old tank and just go with the resun as it is. Or i try turn my old tank into a sump and do it that way. I suppose if i do the sump if i ever gett a bigger or different tank the sump is there for me. But on the other hand it's a fair amount of work i need to do now and it seems there is not much of a reason for it.

Hmm.....

 

[Aquascaper]

If it was mine I'd install a DIY overflow pipe into the back chambers and run your old tank as a sump, that way you need to do next to nothing on the main tank with regards to drilling/mod'ing, and sumps are like an external in that they can be switched between tanks once built.

I found another very useful feature of my sump was when doing top-ups after evaporation. By pouring the RO into the sump it got mixed prior to going in the main tank so didn't affect anything with wash of pure water. Same can be said for dosing additives and some liquid foods.

 

[gregswimm]

Thanks for the advice xray, I did think the compartments do the same sort of job.

I understand a sump will not effect the stock i can have.

I am in two minds now. I either sell my old tank and just go with the resun as it is. Or i try turn my old tank into a sump and do it that way. I suppose if i do the sump if i ever gett a bigger or different tank the sump is there for me. But on the other hand it's a fair amount of work i need to do now and it seems there is not much of a reason for it.

Hmm.....

A sump can effect the stock you can have. Larger water volume means more waste dilution and a sump will allow you to fit heavier filtration. The limiting factor then would be the amount of space the fish would have to swim around. An example would be having a larger school without having such a large impact on water quality or allowing you to keep a more sensitive species.

 

[Chris7]

Great advice Mark and Aqua, what Aqua suggests sound a easier job for me. After some thought I was going to say I will run the tank as it is and then build the sump at a later date as a side project. But I can do it either way. Sounds like the benefits of having one are much better than not having one, and as I said selling my old tank is more hassle than having to keep it. I won't get much for it anyway.

I managed to check out the lfs furthest away from me today and they do live rock for £14 a kilo, £3 more expensive than the other place, also they sell ro water £2 for 25 litres and mixed salt water £5 for 25 litre. So I might save a little on the water getting it from here but I will probably go to the other place for the live rock.

Can anyone suggest why one place would be £3 more expensive ?

Thanks for the advice xray, I did think the compartments do the same sort of job.

I understand a sump will not effect the stock i can have.

I am in two minds now. I either sell my old tank and just go with the resun as it is. Or i try turn my old tank into a sump and do it that way. I suppose if i do the sump if i ever gett a bigger or different tank the sump is there for me. But on the other hand it's a fair amount of work i need to do now and it seems there is not much of a reason for it.

Hmm.....

A sump can effect the stock you can have. Larger water volume means more waste dilution and a sump will allow you to fit heavier filtration. The limitineg factor then would be the amount of space the fish would have to swim around. An example would be having a larger school without having such a large impact on water quality or allowing you to keep a more sensitive species.

True, thanks for that.

 

[sausagewinkle]

I got my LR for £10 per kilo at one store, 2 other locals were priced at £13 and £15

 

[Chris7]

Aqua you say about a overflow pipe how exactly would this be fitted, would I need to pump the water out of the main tank and then back in. Or is there a way I can have it run through the pipe itself, would siphon work or would that be too much water going out of the tank in one go.

Thanks.

I got my LR for £10 per kilo at one store, 2 other locals were priced at £13 and £15

Wow such a big difference when buying a lot of it. Lucky for you. My head is telling me go with the £11 lot but I was thinking is the other stuff priced £14 because its better quality. Who knows lol. Probably the same sort of stuff

 

[sausagewinkle]

Aqua you say about a overflow pipe how exactly would this be fitted, would I need to pump the water out of the main tank and then back in. Or is there a way I can have it run through the pipe itself, would siphon work or would that be too much water going out of the tank in one go.

Thanks.

I got my LR for £10 per kilo at one store, 2 other locals were priced at £13 and £15

Wow such a big difference when buying a lot of it. Lucky for you. My head is telling me go with the £11 lot but I was thinking is the other stuff priced £14 because its better quality. Who knows lol. Probably the same sort of stuff

I bought the £10 stuff and to me (who knows very little) it seems decent enough. I spent £220 though so every penny helped

 

[gregswimm]

Aqua you say about a overflow pipe how exactly would this be fitted, would I need to pump the water out of the main tank and then back in. Or is there a way I can have it run through the pipe itself, would siphon work or would that be too much water going out of the tank in one go.

Thanks.

I got my LR for £10 per kilo at one store, 2 other locals were priced at £13 and £15

Wow such a big difference when buying a lot of it. Lucky for you. My head is telling me go with the £11 lot but I was thinking is the other stuff priced £14 because its better quality. Who knows lol. Probably the same sort of stuff

Water is siphoned out of the DT and into the sump. The overflow is generally either a hole in the side of the tank connected to a pipe or a siphon going into the tank X number of inches under the water. The line going out of the tank shouldn't go all the way to the bottom, in case the power goes out your sump won't flood.

You want to match the flow rate leaving the DT tank and the pump going to the DT and accounting for head loss. Reefcentral has some good calculators for pipe diameter flow rates and head loss calculators.

This is a common method:

This is bad, if the power goes out the entire tank will drain:

 

[Aquascaper]

They all require drilling though, I'm currently in hospital at the moment but will try and get hold of a photo of my pipework and post it.

 

[Chris7]

Yeah Greg they all require drilling lol.

The method aqua spoke about didn't.

Thanks aqua, no rush.