Help! Opinions needed on new set up - long!

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone,

I am moving to a new house, and that means I get a new system. I want to do it right, so I want everyone's opinion of the upcoming setup. Sorry for the long post, but I want to set this up the best, most informed way I can, and that means picking all the smart brains here.

I am upgrading from a 50 gallon to a 150 gallon that I got a great deal on. The stand and canopy will cost more than the tank! It is 5x2x2, has perimeter bracing and a glass center brace, 2 corner overflows with 2 inch holes and bulkheads. Returns are not drilled. Lighting will start out with 2 150 and 1 250 DE PFO pendants and 2 x 110 actinic VHO.

The overflows are probably going to go to a sump under the house. What are the benefits/downsides of running them to the sump individually or into a manifold?

What are the benefits/downsides to remote sumps in general? If I am going to go with a remote sump, any suggestions on size?

Is there any good reason to tee off the return under the tank to run an additional sump/refugium with its own overflow inside the stand?

Skimmer? Any recommendations? Do you prefer in line to in sump?

The return will go to two one inch Sea Swirls. Any reason to use smaller ones instead?

The sump will be about 8 feet below the tank and about 8 feet away. I really need pump recommendations. I was thinking about the Ampmaster, but am not sure which size to go with for this system.

I like the idea of running 2 Ampmasters, or other pumps, one for each Sea Swirl, but this seems kinda spendy to me. Any advice?

Would there be any benefit, besides price, to only running one Sea Swirl as a return and the other as a closed loop? If so, would different size Sea Swirls be beneficial? What are the downsides to this idea?

If I am running both Sea Swirls with one pump, I understand it is best to leave the return line as large as possible before reducing it to the Sea Swirl diameter. To do this I would run the return line to a manifold then reduce from the manifold as close as possible to the Sea Swirls. Is there any reason I can't have the return line enter the manifold on one side, or should the entry to the manifold be in the center?

Thanks again, and please let me know what you think.

 

[Reef Fever]

Weeee! Sounds like fun!

My sump is only a few feet below my tank, but 8 ft. does not sound that far to me. I would definately put the skimmer in the sump, the overflow from the tank will have the biggest concentration of organics, and you will have the least bubble pollution.

In this kind of setup, I would make the sump HUGE since you should have that option. Like a big Rubbermaid or something. I would use two pumps for redundancy, and I would make them both returns just to get the most water circulation possible. Are you going to light the sump to try to get some macro/ pod production?

Your lighting sounds pretty good, I especially like the fact that you have the VHO actinics. I don't care what anyone says- the color that it brings out just looks good to me. Having the MH for the intensity and the shimmer will be sweet. What are you planning to keep in it?


A couple of black mollies? Or perhaps a fighting fish?
:wink:

Be sure to put the little bubbling treasure chest in there.

 

[SPC]

Posted by Righty:

The return will go to two one inch Sea Swirls. Any reason to use smaller ones instead?

-Just to let you know ahead of time Righty, the 1" swirl (with nozzel) will be so strong that it will cause a wake at the top front of the tank. I added a 1" pvc coupling to mine in order to bring the dishcharge nozzle down. I did not try the other types of nozzles however that are sold with SS.
Steve

 

[IcantTHINKofONE]

Righty, Im still a beginner so don't take this advice until someone confirms it. The tank I am setting up is going to have 2 - 1" sea swirls too and I'm only going to use one ampmaster 3000 and tee it off to both sea swirls.

 

[Anonymous]

Feva,

Yeah! Mollies and 'Action Diving Sea Dog'! And the sump is gonna be lit. And there probobly be some sort of prop tank in the system, either under the stand with its own return and overflow, or near the sump or both.

What is huge to you in regards to sump? 100 gallon? 200 galon? More? Less?

Steve,

Thanks for the heads up. I have seen some people use a 1 inch elbow instead of the nozzel. I guess I will try different things.

Icantthink,

I also think the ampmaster will be good enough for both returns, I just wanna check at that head pressure. I am also still on the fence about using 2 smaller ampmasters as opposed to the single 3000. I guess I can always get a single 3000 and then add another one if it is not enough.

RR :mrgreen:

 

[buff1]

That is going to be a great setup! You can check out dolphins website at www.dolphinpumps.com. They have very good information as far as flow with head pressure. I am also planning a new system and was very interested in the dolphin pumps. I recently asked for advice about the dolphins on the board and a few board members said they can develop leaks, but are otherwise very good. Just something to consider. Why not just use part of your sump as a refugium? Setting that up in the basement would be an ideal situation rather than creating a separate one under the tank. Less plumbing is always better in the long run. Good luck!

 

[ReefLion]

I just set up a 40 gallon display tank that overflows into a basement sump. The 40 gal. is one floor up from the basement. I would definitely recommend plumbing to the basement if possible.

Since I had lots of room to work with, I went big and modular. I started with a 75 gal tank as the sump, but then added two 70 gallon rubbermaid stock tanks in-line. Water from the display goes to the first stock tank, where the skimmer is. It overflows from there into the second stock tank, which is a DSB refugium. That overflows into the 75 gal. with the system pump.

The two stock tanks are propped up on cinder blocks and bricks, respectively, to allow the overflow through the sump system. You can leave one, both, or part of the tanks uncovered. I've basically covered them with plastic because I don't need the evaporation. The basement keeps everything nice and cool. Even with 90+ degree temps here, and with barely any AC in the house, I haven't gotten over 84 in any of the tanks.

I used flexible PVC for all the plumbing. The return pump is a Mag 1500, which gives about 300-500 gph (rough guess) into the display tank. The only problem I had was noise, but that was solved using a modification of a Durso standpipe, wherein instead of a small hole in the top of the standpipe, I just made a big hole, connected hose, and brought the hose down into the basement and into a little "muffler" I made from a cardboard box and a towel. Sounds complicated, but pretty straightforward and works great.

Anyway, go for the basement sump, and think modular.

ReefLion

 

[liquid]

Any pics of the sump/tank ReefLion? It would be cool to see how you have everything plumbed.

Shane

 

[ReefLion]

Liquid I would love to get some picks up. It will take some time though, since I never really figured out how to use my digital camera (it was a gift) or post pics to the web. I have something due in late July that will prevent all that effort, but come August I will dredge this thread up and try to post some pics.

ReefLion