ideas on only filling a tank half way

[jamie]

so im having a hard time selling my 60 gallon. its just too big for my fish only tank. so im thinking of only filling the tank 3/4 of the way. so im only using 40 gallons of water. i want to have a mangrove growing the rest of the way. any ideas on how to get the water into the sump without drilling into the tank. just incase i want to use the whole 60 in the future. i was thinking i could augment the overflow box. that would be easy enough to patch up later.

 

[richiev]

so im having a hard time selling my 60 gallon. its just too big for my fish only tank. so im thinking of only filling the tank 3/4 of the way. so im only using 40 gallons of water. i want to have a mangrove growing the rest of the way. any ideas on how to get the water into the sump without drilling into the tank. just incase i want to use the whole 60 in the future. i was thinking i could augment the overflow box. that would be easy enough to patch up later.

Why is it too big for a fish only? If it's water volume you're trying to reduce, the easiest solution is just stick a bunch of rock in there (doesn't even need to be porous).

I'd think if it more as raising the water level up without adding water, versus lowering the water level down

 

[jamie]

The 60 plus a 30 gallon sump
Is too much weekly water changes. Plus I’ve always loved mangroves. The 30 I have now is perfect. I’m thinking of something like this

 

[Meshmez]

Pic of your current tank might help. But ya, modifying/replacing the overflow would probably be the way to go.

 

[RandyC]

The 60 plus a 30 gallon sump
Is too much weekly water changes. Plus I’ve always loved mangroves. The 30 I have now is perfect. I’m thinking of something like this

Just curious, if it’s fish only, why the need to change water weekly? Are nitrates and phosphates increasing that much every week? Fish only tanks can tolerate a pretty high nitrate and phosphate level.

 

[jamie]

Just curious, if it’s fish only, why the need to change water weekly? Are nitrates and phosphates increasing that much every week? Fish only tanks can tolerate a pretty high nitrate and phosphate level.

ive never had a fish only tank. i just assumed that water changes would be the same

 

[Srt4eric]

ive never had a fish only tank. i just assumed that water changes would be the same

Nope

 

[RandyC]

ive never had a fish only tank. i just assumed that water changes would be the same

Fish don’t have as high of demands of macro or trace elements and they can tolerate much higher nitrates and phosphates. If I was running fish only, I wouldn’t change the water more than once of month, if that, unless I had a predator tank with extremely messy eaters.

 

[rdriggett]

FOWLR is much easier than reefing! You could get away with one WC a month if N&P don't rise to concerning levels.

 

[Qwiv]

FOWLR is much easier than reefing! You could get away with one WC a month if N&P don't rise to concerning levels.

Kinda depends as there is more nuance to the situation. When folks go FOWLR there is now a tendency to get big predator fish because you can. That in turns means more food, less coral nutrient uptake and less cleanup crew due to predation. you need almost no light now and you can use cheap IO salt saving some coin, but you can stock a fish only tank that requires constant water changes and run a reef tank with no water changes.