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Brandie's 210 Upgrade

I'm not sure you'd want to feed a reactor from overflow. No way to increase flow if needed. Better to create manifold off return for GFO and carbon. Have those dump back into sump. You don't want to try to go directly back to return line because of back pressure issues.

If you want to see the cleanest sump setup check out 'drummereef's 180g in-wall build' on Reef Central. There's an index of the thread on page 100! It should be subtitled 'When OCD meets Reef' :)
 
goldielocke76 said:
Ok, (I'm not going to quote since it's getting long, haha) so what if, instead of having a sump/fuge combo, I use the 120 gallon tank as a fuge only. That means I'd have to tee off the drain, maybe get a manifold ( I think I am using that in the right sense) and have the manifold feed the skimmer and the reactors, etc. This would leave all the equipment out in the stand. If that is possible, I'm going to assume it's also possible for me to plumb the returns of the reactors, to the main return to the tank.

I'm not even sure if that's possible, lol, and you're right, things are hard to understand through threads :D thank you for being patient with me
Click to expand...

I would really suggest against connecting anything directly to either the drain or the return.

The drain has low pressure, but not zero, and can be rather unpredictable.
Connecting to a skimmer would work, but only if the Tee is below water level,
and large pipe compared with drain. Connecting to reactors would not really work due to lack of pressure.
Also Key : Back pressure on that reduces flow from the main tank.
If you reduce flow too much, display tank overflows.

The return has much higher pressure.
That can be used for reactors. It can be used for certain type of skimmers as well, but not
the normal ones we use.
Unfortunately, it is not a simple thing to get all the valves/pressures/flows right.

Micro-Bubble management gets a bit tricky with a single fuge as well.

Again - it is possible, yes, but tricky.
Try to keep it simple.
 
I'm with Mark- I have separate pump that feeds my GFO & carbon reactors. it makes it easy to control flow to each one and turn off/ on when i'm changing it out.
 
Hrm, well damn. Just when I think I am getting somewhere....

Not sure how to accomplish what I want with the space that I am working with :'(

Maybe do somethine like Jim suggested earlier and make the return pump external? Thereby giving the fuge more room? Still have a partition, just dividing skimmer and fuge' and not skimmer/fuge from return... either that or go with something bigger altogether. I can use the entire bottom of my stand, but I have to then make sure I have enough room to make shelves for reactors and what not...
 
You will get there. Keep planning.
You have months. It can be built while main tank cycles.

So how much room under there do you have?
It is quite possible to connect multiple tanks together with bulkheads.

Yes, the combo can be skimmer // fuge+return. Not a bad idea, especially
with an external pump.
You need to be a bit careful with that substrate you mentioned getting sucked
into the main pump though.
Downside of external is that the plumbing, valves, and unions for an external pump
end up taking up a lot of space. Must be built for maintenance!

If you do not use socks, the baffles for the drains can go behind the skimmer,
not to the left of it. Save a little bit.

Reactors are usually wall mounted, and can even be in the sump or with skimmer. Just plastic.
Dosers and chemicals are usually the only thing that really has to be on shelves.
 
rygh said:
You will get there. Keep planning.
You have months. It can be built while main tank cycles.

So how much room under there do you have?
It is quite possible to connect multiple tanks together with bulkheads.

Yes, the combo can be skimmer // fuge+return. Not a bad idea, especially
with an external pump.
You need to be a bit careful with that substrate you mentioned getting sucked
into the main pump though.
Downside of external is that the plumbing, valves, and unions for an external pump
end up taking up a lot of space. Must be built for maintenance!

If you do not use socks, the baffles for the drains can go behind the skimmer,
not to the left of it. Save a little bit.

Reactors are usually wall mounted, and can even be in the sump or with skimmer. Just plastic.
Dosers and chemicals are usually the only thing that really has to be on shelves.
Click to expand...

Stand can be any thing that I want it to be. :) It's going to be a custom, steel frame stand wrapped in ply wood. If I do a fuge/skimmer combo, can't I just drill a hole for external pump in the skimmer comparttment rather than the fuge compartment? I mean, that's like the same as having it in the same place pulling from the same water, it's just one is outside and one is inside... Plumbing parts aren't any issue either... dad is a plumber and has tons of stuff he can order LoL, so the only issue again would be space. I didn't plan on using socks but LR pieces, and never thought of putting it behind the skimmer... hrmmmmm....

Definitely thinking of maybe having two cabinets on either side of the tank for equipment purposes. Good thing I am only in the planning stages..

I'd really like to do all the fish on my list, but on the flip side I don't want to do huge water changes every week. Not that I won't do them at all, I just don't want to do monstrous ones. If I have to have ATS, and DSB, ok, I can live with that. But I'm hoping to avoid biopellets... they are like my last resort. Since I have all this time, I want to make sure I get everything right the first time around :)
 
Oh and I misread your post.... multiple tanks, but now we are talking about smaller ones. Again, using two 40 gallon breeders crossed my mind, but now it's only a 40 gallon fuge, and that wouldn't be any different than what I was originally planning was it?? 0.o

Tank itself is 6tf. I don't mind adding a few inches to make it longer or wider, but it's preferable if I don't go all wild and crazy with the stand haha.

But if I take the 3 inches allocated for the drain, put them behind the skimmer, and took out the baffles, and the 8 inches allocated for the return pump, that would give me 33 inches of fuge space... which means that if I do a 23 inch divider instead of a 21 inch, I will then have the dimensions 33" x 24" x 23" and that's equivalent to about 79 gallons....
 
You can do moveable baffles w a acrylic or egg crate baffle held in place with pieces of weatherstripping. Pm for details on the right tank safe type if intersted. Works well
 
Thanks Mike!! (this was my edit, weird, I could have sworn that I typed Mike last night, but then again, it was like 1am. I'm really sorry, so thank you both!)

I'll keep that in mind :D definitely gotta work on something, because I was told of a deal that I just couldn't pass up. A 210 tank, dual overflows, plus stand, canopy, and some other accessories for $550. Pick up on Saturday. Everything I have done so far will have to be rethought. That's ok, I am getting a lot of the stuff I need for a fraction of what I planned on paying.

LoL anyone want to help me and Denzil move it on Saturday??? :D
 
Okie dokie. So here's an update!

After all these posts and all these plans, they unfortunately went out the window on Monday, the 25th when Jim sent me a text at 10:30PM, telling me about this awesome deal...

The tank, stand, canopy, 3, 55 gallon mixing drums, 40 gallon sump, 1 refractometer, 2 test kits, 2 hydor koralia, 250 W Jager heater, 300 gallons of Seachem salt mix, and substrate for $550. Had to drive to Oakhurst to get it, but get it we did. Woohoo!! We didn't pick up the substrate, but we did grab all the rock he was also selling. $200 for 300+ lbs, so it will give us lots to choose from when it comes time to aquascaping. :D

First issue with the upgrade: LoL, my poor little living room is no more for the moment. I have 3 bins of rock, a tank, stand and canopy taking up all of the extra room. I was hoping to put the stand in the bedroom, but Mike and Bob pointed out to me that there was no way getting the stand in to the room because of the way the entrance was set up. BUMMER! LoL, it's ok, I'm going to do whatever it is I have to do to get this thing going. :)

First off: Stand is in need of some serious beefing up. Just cleaned it up, and man. I can't believe this guy had the tank on there in the first place. It's ok though. I sent Charlie a PM. Hopefully the beefing up will commence soon. :D

Thank you again so Jim for the text, Mike (coral reefer), Bob (tankguy) and Julio (xulio) for coming on Sunday to help unload this tank. We would have been very much SOL if you guys hadn't have come, LoL.

I'll post pics as soon as I take them! :D
 
For those of you who are wondering, this is the EXACT stand and tank that I got. :) It's not as pretty, and it needs some work done, but it will look good soon. :D

56204_zps490d7187.jpg


Any suggestions for what looks like hard water stains? I tried vinegar and saran wrap, Lime away, baking soda/vinegar paste, etc. It seems to be fine when there is water in the tank, but I'm afraid it might show up when we put the black vinyl on the back of the tank. Only thing I can think of at this point is to buff it out....
 
If you can work in a WELL VENTILATED area, you could use muriatic acid. Available in the mortar section of Lowes and HD. It's dilute hydrochloric acid. Will burn your skin, eyes, lungs so take extreme care. I would not do this indoors!!

I'm surprised lime-a-way didn't do the trick. It's an acid too. Just not as dangerous.

BTW, nice looking tank! ;)

-----------the next morning----------------

I worry about recommending muriatic acid. It's dangerous stuff. There is a product, Hydor's Magi-Klean, that is phosphonic acid. Stronger than vinegar, not as strong as muriatic but much safer. This is a glass tank, right? How about using a single edge razor blade?
 
aqua-nut said:
If you can work in a WELL VENTILATED area, you could use muriatic acid. Available in the mortar section of Lowes and HD. It's dilute hydrochloric acid. Will burn your skin, eyes, lungs so take extreme care. I would not do this indoors!!

I'm surprised lime-a-way didn't do the trick. It's an acid too. Just not as dangerous.

BTW, nice looking tank! ;)

-----------the next morning----------------

I worry about recommending muriatic acid. It's dangerous stuff. There is a product, Hydor's Magi-Klean, that is phosphonic acid. Stronger than vinegar, not as strong as muriatic but much safer. This is a glass tank, right? How about using a single edge razor blade?
Click to expand...

I recommend KimChee vinegar to people when I worry about safety of muratic acid. It tends to be ~30% acid. The fumes are quite nasty though so even with it, take care.
 
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