sump, plumbing, pumps...overflow box...Need HElps

[sssmasss]

HELLO, I AM NEW TO THIS HOBBY AND WOULD LIKE TO GET AS MUCH HELPS AS I COULD.. PLEASE HELP..

just drilled holes .. please ignore the bottom parts. .. thank you...I drilled 2 holes near bottom for intake... and 2 holes near top corners for return and 1 hole in the middle for overflow box intake??

that is what i saw and drilled holes like that for my tank.. on the back.. cuz my bottom glass is tempered...anyways it is a 100 gallon tank...

my questions are:

1) what is intake pump? do i need it? capacity?
2)what is return pump? do i need it? capacity?
3) overflow box...plan to have pvc tube overflow type... do i need a return pump for this? or can i just connect it to the intake channel of the sump?
4) do i need powerheads if i have pump??

please can anyone show me their plumbing pictures, pumps, sump, and everything... thank you very much.. i would appreciate if anyone can walk me step by step through this process.. thank you.. i came to the local fish store and the guy told me to buy all this stuff that came up over $1000...and i am not sure if i need them all and how does it work..

basically he said i need both intake and return pump for circulation or whatever, canister filter, sump, protein skimmer, overflow box, bio balls filter stuffs, intake and return pump for overflow box, 4-5 powerheads, intake pump for sump and return pump for sump...i kinda have a feeling that the chinese owner just wants me to buy his stuffs.... i am not racist.. my mom is chinese too.. and i know some crooked chinese ppl do that...

anyways... please help..i need to know everything.. thank you..

 

[Anonymous]

Holy crap, he's got some pumps to sell, eh? This'll bump you up. You should also check out http://www.wetwebmedia.com (search their site, they've got a Google bar) for information on how to plumb.

 

[sssmasss]

i read many of them.. but still havent got a clear idea of how it work? please help.. do i need intake pump for withdraw water from the tank to sump?? thank you

 

[Anonymous]

i read many of them.. but still havent got a clear idea of how it work? please help.. do i need intake pump for withdraw water from the tank to sump?? thank you

No, gravity works. Gravity causes water to flow from the top tank to the bottom through the overflows. Here's an excellent basic page on how sump plumbing works. http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I meant to post that I also sent a PM to another member here who is muuuch better than I am at talking about plumbing. Hopefully he will chime in.

 

[Anonymous]

First off, slow down. Do not do anymore work or buy any more parts until you understand what you are doing and what you need. At the rate you are going you are setting yourself up to throw away lots of money.

1. you do not need and intake pump. Gravity will drain to the sump and you pump it back with the
2. return pump which will take water from your sump and return it back to the main tank. For a 100 gallon tank, opinions differ, but you would want something that pumps 500 to 1500 gallons per hour (gph) after losses. If it were me I would go 500-700 gph.
3. I would not go with a pvc overflow box. You sould build one out of galss. What it does for you is two fold. One, it skimes the top of the water where certican things accumulate, two and probably the most important it set the water level for when your retun pump stops. Kepps from draining the entire tank into the sump and floor.
4. you may or may not need power heads. Depending on what you are going to keep will determin how much water flow you will need. A whole other area you need to read on befor you buy your first critter.

I can not see your picture, but use the bottom two for an intake for a pump and return through the top two is called a closed loop, (search and read). You can use one pump for all the holes or use one pump per set of holes.

Return the canister filer, bioballs and all that other stuff until you know what you need.

Later

 

[sssmasss]

cool thank you you guys.. i know i need to read alot... but i have no clue where to find those information... i am a type of person that need to see both diagram and words to understand.. words or picture alone will confuse me... beside i barely speak english and there are good cambodian website for me to read...

now i understand that i do not need intake pump... only return pump... i think i have an idea now... i will draw out a diagram for u guys to look at and tell me what i missed... thanks in advance..

 

[sssmasss]

First off, slow down. Do not do anymore work or buy any more parts until you understand what you are doing and what you need. At the rate you are going you are setting yourself up to throw away lots of money.


3. I would not go with a pvc overflow box. You sould build one out of galss. What it does for you is two fold. One, it skimes the top of the water where certican things accumulate, two and probably the most important it set the water level for when your retun pump stops. Kepps from draining the entire tank into the sump and floor.

Later

hello Wazzel.. i would like to say thank you first off... and second i would like to know how to build the overflow box out of glass like u said...

i think this is what u said right now.. but i am no sure.. please help.. thank you

AND DO I NEED A CALCIUM REACTOR??

 

[Anonymous]

bio balls filter stuffs

AND DO I NEED A CALCIUM REACTOR??

Good advice here already from Wazz and Lawdawg, but to add some other points. First things first, you do need a lot of kit to keep a reef tank, so do not assume that advice is misleading. However, less reputable stores will often try and sell you more than you need. The bio balls and filters (by which I assume you mean canister filters?) I would suggest you don't need. If you want to keep a reef tank (with coral), you're better off without them as, long term, they can become a source of nitrates. If you are focussed on getting really nice fish rather than keeping any coral (what's called a fish only with live rock tank or FOWLR) then they might be useful, but otherwise, as Mark said, I'd return them, or if they've already been used, either sell them or keep them for a quarantine tank (a useful thing to have if you want to ensure that the fish you add to the main tank have no diseases).

With regard to the second comment I've quoted, whether you need a calcium reactor or not will depend on your long-term plans for the tank. However I'd recommend that, if you want to keep coral, you should start with the relatively easy coral, such as leather coral, zoanthids, mushrooms etc. Once you have a bit of experience under your belt, then you can start thinking about more challenging coral like the LPS (Large polyped scleractinians - the corals with hard skeletons and large polyps, examples include Bubble Coral, Favia, Favites, Acanthstrea etc). Once you've really got a stable tank and a lot more experience, then you might think about the SPS (Small polyped scleractinians) like Acropora and Monitpora spp. Do not be tempted by these in your first year. You might be lucky and keep them alive, but chances are they will die as you gain experience in keeping the tank's water parameters stable. So do not get a calcium reactor yet, as the soft corals I recommend you start with can manage without.

Talking of which, two things I would recommend that you buy are a RO/DI filter to ensure that you're using the purest fresh water you can to make up salt water and an automated top-up system, which, properly set up, which take some of the guess work out of keeping your salinity stable.

Oh, and buy some good books! I recommend Anthony Calfo and Eric Fenners Reef Invertebrates and Eric Borneman's Reef Coral books.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, and if no-one has said it yet...

:welcome:

 

[Anonymous]

Who is Eric Fenner? Does Bob have a son I don't know about?

 

[Anonymous]

Who is Eric Fenner? Does Bob have a son I don't know about?

Umm. Yes?

*runs away*

 

[sssmasss]

bio balls filter stuffs

AND DO I NEED A CALCIUM REACTOR??

Good advice here already from Wazz and Lawdawg, but to add some other points. First things first, you do need a lot of kit to keep a reef tank, so do not assume that advice is misleading. However, less reputable stores will often try and sell you more than you need. The bio balls and filters (by which I assume you mean canister filters?) I would suggest you don't need. If you want to keep a reef tank (with coral), you're better off without them as, long term, they can become a source of nitrates. If you are focussed on getting really nice fish rather than keeping any coral (what's called a fish only with live rock tank or FOWLR) then they might be useful, but otherwise, as Mark said, I'd return them, or if they've already been used, either sell them or keep them for a quarantine tank (a useful thing to have if you want to ensure that the fish you add to the main tank have no diseases).

With regard to the second comment I've quoted, whether you need a calcium reactor or not will depend on your long-term plans for the tank. However I'd recommend that, if you want to keep coral, you should start with the relatively easy coral, such as leather coral, zoanthids, mushrooms etc. Once you have a bit of experience under your belt, then you can start thinking about more challenging coral like the LPS (Large polyped scleractinians - the corals with hard skeletons and large polyps, examples include Bubble Coral, Favia, Favites, Acanthstrea etc). Once you've really got a stable tank and a lot more experience, then you might think about the SPS (Small polyped scleractinians) like Acropora and Monitpora spp. Do not be tempted by these in your first year. You might be lucky and keep them alive, but chances are they will die as you gain experience in keeping the tank's water parameters stable. So do not get a calcium reactor yet, as the soft corals I recommend you start with can manage without.

Talking of which, two things I would recommend that you buy are a RO/DI filter to ensure that you're using the purest fresh water you can to make up salt water and an automated top-up system, which, properly set up, which take some of the guess work out of keeping your salinity stable.

Oh, and buy some good books! I recommend Anthony Calfo and Eric Fenners Reef Invertebrates and Eric Borneman's Reef Coral books.

\
i ment this bioball filter type

 

[sssmasss]

thank for ur advice.. i think i will start with fish only tank for now.. btw...are my diagrams above for plumbing correct and overflow? please let me know.

 

[Anonymous]

First off, slow down. Do not do anymore work or buy any more parts until you understand what you are doing and what you need. At the rate you are going you are setting yourself up to throw away lots of money.


3. I would not go with a pvc overflow box. You sould build one out of galss. What it does for you is two fold. One, it skimes the top of the water where certican things accumulate, two and probably the most important it set the water level for when your retun pump stops. Kepps from draining the entire tank into the sump and floor.

Later

hello Wazzel.. i would like to say thank you first off... and second i would like to know how to build the overflow box out of glass like u said...

i think this is what u said right now.. but i am no sure.. please help.. thank you

AND DO I NEED A CALCIUM REACTOR??

To build an overflow box out of glass is about as easy as things can get. Get three planes of glass cut from your local glass shop, I suggest 3/8" thick. Have them nip the corners on two of them. These will be the back bottoms to miss the silicon seal already in your tank. Next silicone the glass parts together around the hole you alread have drilled in the back of the tank. You will end up with a rectangular box. The height should be roughly 1/2" shorter than the inside height of your tank. I would suppest also making it more long than wide, but wide enough to get you bulkhead through and other plumbing. You will need some jigs to hold the glass in place while the silicone cures. I use cd cases. Also make sure you use 100% pure silicon. Other stuff has anti-mold and mildue chemical in them and will come back to bite you in the butt later.

FYI I am on a work boat right now so my internet access is hit or miss. I'll check on you as I can.

Later

 

[sssmasss]

i am building a sump right now.. i will post the picture as soon as i can so u guys can help me.. thanks

 

[sssmasss]

my sump cracked when i first put water into it.. it think the acrylic piece is too thin..i need to get a deeper one.. thanks i will build another one soon.. thanks