Plumbing setup

[trido]

Hi all,
I must say, after reading through some of the forums i am very excited and alittle fearful of taking on saltwater. As far as I can tell so far. There are three major aspects to getting started. Invest wisely.. Research intensively.. and take your time.Fortunately for me, I have six months to research and invest.. The investing shouldnt be a hardship for me. I can definately tell though that as much reading as i can do still wont explain everything. That is why i am thankful to have you. I am very impressed with Wazzels 60 g cube and Loueys 300g built in. I am a Contractor so I too am going to do a 90 built in. My wife is all for getting the tank out of the living room.The electrical and plumbing should be no problem,but i have no idea how to run piping for the wet/dry with sump or the skimmer..or closed loup for that matter...Is there somewhere i can find a generic diagram for the plumbing?

If you have time to continue.

I have done some home work and plan to start with the folowing basic items. Feel free to steer me in another direction if i am all wrong with these items (i have no brand names).

90 gallon tank..48X18?X27? something like that

Wet/dry with sump....150 gal.
Skimmer 200 gal rated
two 5000K metal halide pendants
two actinic florescents......What kind plz..powr compacts?
6 phase RO/DI 125gpd purifier
how many pumps and how many GPH?
what else haven't i heard of that I'll desperately need

Again, thanks for your time and i look forward to wroking with you all.

Hopefully someday, I too will be able to reply and teach a noob like myself something...LOL

 

[Anonymous]

I can give you a couple little descriptions of things.

A closed loop is simply a hole in the tank with a pipe going to a pump and then back to the tank. It doesn't do anything for your tank except provide circulation. The only reason people do closed loops is so that they can have the needed circulation without having any powerheads in their tank.

For my closed loop I had a hole drilled in the back of the tank so I could install a bulkhead fitting to which I attached some pvc pipe. That goes to the pump and then the pump return just hung over the back of the tank.

The wet dry I know nothing about.

A sump though, the concept is easy to understand. Its a tank below your Main tank to which water drains. Here is how it works. The sump will be full of water with the power off, the main tank will be drained down to the bottom of whatever you use to get water to the sump. Turning the return pump on pumps water from the sump up to the main tank. That water then fills the main tank to the top and overflows into your drain. There are many different ways to make your overflow function correctly, you can do a google search for Durso, or stockman standpipes for starters.

Well, I hope that helps, I wasn't as clear as I would like, but my brain is a bit muzzy at the moment...

 

[trido]

Thanks,
That leads to another question..Is it necessary to have the holes in the tank itself?

 

[Anonymous]

It is not necessary to have holes, but it is will be much easier for to plumb instead of using the alternative, such as a siphon overflow. (Check out CPR's overflow in some of our sponsors).

my very first saltwater tank is also 90. It is a good starter startup.

>...two 5000K metal halide pendants
Wich type of bulb? 5000K sounds a bit low.

>...two actinic florescents......What kind plz..powr compacts?
You can use one of the 4ft VHO, or 3ft 96W PC bulbs commonly available.

Do a search on this and elsewhere online. There are tons of diagram for close-loop and tank-sump setups. Welcome to the hobby, BTW!

 

[ChrisRD]

With the lighting you have listed I assume this will be a reef. If so, I recommend getting some quality live rock and skipping the wet/dry.

 

[ChrisRD]

BTW, here are a few sketches that might be helpful:
http://www.inlandreef.com/Images/DIY/Plumbing/plumbing.gif
http://www.inlandreef.com/Images/DIY/Plumbing/plumbing_dual.gif
http://www.inlandreef.com/Images/DIY/Plumbing/refugium_plumb.gif
HTH

 

[trido]

Thanks for the info guys,
Chris, its your opinion then that with live rock the wet/dry would be an over kill?
Does the skimmer set right in the sump?
Also do you recommend a skimmer with a seperatewpump or one included?

BTW you guys are awseome. Id be sepending days at the LFS trying to get all of this info. Gotta love the internet!!

 

[Anonymous]

I can answer those

You really don't need the wet/dry with live rock in the tank

Skimmers can hang on the tank, hang on the sump, be plumbed into the sump, set inside the sump.... There are many options.

I would say buy the best skimmer you can afford.


Ask here about specific brand names before buying, sometimes LFS's try to pimp whatever they have laying around, even if it sucks....

 

[ChrisRD]

Just to add to what Bryan said...

Chris, its your opinion then that with live rock the wet/dry would be an over kill?

Yes, and it could actually do more harm than good. They are extremely efficient aerobic filters but offer no denitrification (live rock/sand do both) so using one can sometimes lead to trouble with elevated nitrate levels. They have their uses, but IMO a reef tank isn't the place for one.

Does the skimmer set right in the sump?

It can. As Bryan mentioned there are several ways to set up the various models but some of the best ones are in-sump types.

Also do you recommend a skimmer with a seperatewpump or one included?

IMO the better needlewheel skimmers are the most user friendly, are very energy efficient and work really well. Examples would be ASM, Euro-Reef, Deltec, etc. The more basic models generally include the pump - they're pretty much plug-n-play. The recirculating designs usually come with the needlewheel pump(s) but you still need to supply a small feed pump.

HTH

 

[trido]

>...two 5000K metal halide pendants
Wich type of bulb? 5000K sounds a bit low.

[/quote]
I was thinking two 5000k for a total of 10000k..that is what all of the prefab setups have.....is this correct?

 

[trido]

oh! by the way where does one get holes drilled into a fish tank? Also would you recommend building overflow boxes in the tank afterward?

 

[LA-Lawman]

I was thinking two 5000k for a total of 10000k..that is what all of the prefab setups have.....is this correct?

Not correct... the 5k bulbs are real yellow... I would stick with 10k's two 5k's do not make a 10k.. a 10k is a 10k. using 10k's and actinics would be perfect. now you need to decide on wattage.... i reccomend 250w's and higher... maybe 400w's.

depends on how much coral you plan to keep.

let us know on your livestock plans...

 

[Anonymous]

oh! by the way where does one get holes drilled into a fish tank? Also would you recommend building overflow boxes in the tank afterward?

Some glass shops will drill them, or you can ask around at local fish stores, some of them will drill them also.

Or you can DIY it, there are threads in the Do it Yourself forum here on how to do that if you are interested.