Setting up 220 gallon tank

[rsvale112]

Hey MR just looking for some opinions or advice on my start up... it's a 220g tank, it's gonna be fish only... I have a 55g sump underneath with rubble rock in it.... its also duel over flows. A mag 18 return pump... and an Aqua uv sterilizer that will be attached at some point. I was going to get ball valves tonight to attach, but I'm not too sure on where they should be attached.. I've read and seen them attached to the return pump to be able to shut off the water. Mainly what I'm asking is how should the over flows be connected?

Plumbing seems to confuse me easily on reef tanks so any advice would be help.

 

[thirty6]

this area confused me too
keep it really simple 2 drain lines running into sump, how many return lines do you have? splitting from pump into two and then running to display tank?
i dont think you need to put ball valves on drain lines as i dont see a need to restrict flow coming into sump.
will you have a fuge? consider how you will get low flow in fuge area, some t-off drain line to accomplish this with a ball valve
lots of inforation on plumbing tanks here, many with pics too

 

[rsvale112]

I assume I am going to have two return lines? I thought you needed two return lines.

One drain is already taken care of, that will have my filter sock on it... I wanted to have a fuge, but the 55g sump doesn't have walls up... a friend told me because I was doing fish only a rubble rock should be perfectly fine and theres some sand at the bottom of all the rock in the tank. He said to be careful though because if I were to ever touch that after the tank was going it could wipe my whole tank out.

 

[Awibrandy]

Since your tank has two overflows there should also be two return lines. The return lines can be hooked up to a single return pump, or as I did two individual return pumps.
The ball valve would come in handy if you have an external pump, and need to take it off for maintenance or God forbid for replacement.
My external return pump has two ball valves. One where the pump connects to the sump, and the other where the pump connects to the return line it self.

The rubble lr in the sump will also have to be cleaned every so often on account that it will also collect detritus. Just watch your tank for nitrates.

I have nothing in my sump but the socks, skimmer, heaters, GFO & GAC running through Duo BRS reactors, and an internal return pump. Much easier to keep the sump clean.

Best wishes with the 220.:HUG:

 

[thirty6]

i agree with Awi

if your going to run pump external use a ball valve or union this way you can swap out with ease for whatever reason that pops up. if would think you have two return lines, and can either split the line off the pump with a "y" shaped barbed fitting or run two pumps.
if you dont have baffles in sump how will keep sand in place?or sectioned off?

 

[rsvale112]

Thanks Awi, as always you make things make sense. Since you run two return pumps, do they have to be the same exact return pump to give you the same GPH?

My pump is external or internal I wasn't sure which would be easier... what type of maintenance goes into the return pumps? If I do it internal that means if a problem should ever arise would it be more difficult to remove the pump from the hose compared to just shutting off the water supply through the ball valves and disconnecting it?

I found this diagram which has helped but doesn't really tell me where the skimmer should be hooked up to, or eventually the uv sterilizer. http://www.reefs.org/library/mechanical/plumbing/plumbing_dual.gif/view

Also what should the GPH be on a 220g tank?? Is there a rule of thumb for something like that?

 

[kres1024]

run that uv off a seperate pump to get the proper flow,especially for parisites

 

[rsvale112]

if you dont have baffles in sump how will keep sand in place?or sectioned off?

It has one baffle to keep it sectioned off.

run that uv off a seperate pump to get the proper flow,especially for parisites

So run it on another pump, but then when getting it back up into the tank I should attach it to a return line???

 

[kres1024]

It has one baffle to keep it sectioned off.



So run it on another pump, but then when getting it back up into the tank I should attach it to a return line???

yea attach to return line just make sure the water going into the uv is proper..
which aqua do you have?

 

[rsvale112]

What do you mean by 'proper'?
it's the Aqua twist 40w - and the only reason it's not being hooked up now is because I have to get new bulbs.

 

[kres1024]

What do you mean by 'proper'?
it's the Aqua twist 40w - and the only reason it's not being hooked up now is because I have to get new bulbs.

depending what you want to use the uv for requires a certain flow threw it...
let say for parisite control like ick a lower flow is used so the water has a longer contact time in the uv to destroy the ick,i believe its around 300 gph flow rate ..

 

[rsvale112]

Hmm that's interesting I'll keep that in mind for sure. But wait now heres the other part to it, water has to be able to get into the uv so one of the return lines have to be connected to it correct??

 

[kres1024]

Hmm that's interesting I'll keep that in mind for sure. But wait now heres the other part to it, water has to be able to get into the uv so one of the return lines have to be connected to it correct??

yes water needs to be able to go threw the uv ,never run a uv dry...
you can always plumb it to your main return pump and put a ball valve on it to restrict the flow to proper level but you then need to figure out around what that flow rate that is going into the uv,for me it was just easier to use a seperate pump for the uv..

 

[Awibrandy]

Thanks Awi, as always you make things make sense. Since you run two return pumps, do they have to be the same exact return pump to give you the same GPH?[

My pump is external or internal I wasn't sure which would be easier... what type of maintenance goes into the return pumps? If I do it internal that means if a problem should ever arise would it be more difficult to remove the pump from the hose compared to just shutting off the water supply through the ball valves and disconnecting it?
I found this diagram which has helped but doesn't really tell me where the skimmer should be hooked up to, or eventually the uv sterilizer. http://www.reefs.org/library/mechanical/plumbing/plumbing_dual.gif/view

Also what should the GPH be on a 220g tank?? Is there a rule of thumb for something like that?

No, they do not have to be the same. I run an Eheim 1262 as internal, and a Iwaki WMD 40RLT as the external. Understand that you do not have to use two pumps, you can just use a "Y" connector to have the single pump feed both returns. I use two because I prefer to have it with the two so in the off chance that one fails the other will keep the tank going until I can replace the failed one. I started this practice after one of my old eels got into the sump, and ended up inside of my pump. Got home to a tank with no return flow. Second time it was a starfish that got stuck. So now I run the two.

No, not at all. All I do is unplug the pump from the outlet, and simply pull the pump off of the return line. The return line will just drain right in to the sump.

My skimmer's pump sits right under the partition by the drain line right after the socks. I cannot help you with hooking up the skimmer to the return lines, and the same with the UV. When I ran the UV I used it as a hang on with it's own pump.

 

[LongIslandAndy]

I assume I am going to have two return lines? I thought you needed two return lines.

One drain is already taken care of, that will have my filter sock on it... I wanted to have a fuge, but the 55g sump doesn't have walls up... a friend told me because I was doing fish only a rubble rock should be perfectly fine and theres some sand at the bottom of all the rock in the tank. He said to be careful though because if I were to ever touch that after the tank was going it could wipe my whole tank out.

Hi

I would use the live rock in the display tank with a bio ball section with filter pads in the sump. Instead of a fuge (isn't really necessary with a FOWLR and a waste of space) put a very good skimmer in that section. Using bio balls will produce lots of nitrate which will be gassed off which will allow you to keep a large fish load. Unlike reef tanks you are not going to use high powered lights which would create an algae problem. I would also keep the sand no higher than 1/2-3/4 inch"

Andy