Another new guy to the hobby. Need suggesstions.

[deejeff442]

hey man ,i have been out of internet since last week monday.lightning hit my house.too bad you are so far .i have a brand new 9.5 mag pump i could give you.i bought it to replace my old one but .i looked after i got it and the old one is a 12 and i dont want to go smaller.planning a system is the best part.

 

[mmyuki]

Alright so I have been doing a little more research on this 75 once I get it. I am planning on building my own internal acrylic overflow box for the tank, now to do this do I need to drill the bottom of the glass (I heard most glass tank bottoms are tempered and cannot be drilled through) So would I be able to drill (one) 1.5" bulkhead in the middle of the back glass for the overflow to go and also (one) 1.5" hole for the return then drill two holes into the sides of the overflow for return water? Then just throw some loc line fittings onto it to make it look nice on the inside and to push the water around? I will make an ms painting here soon. This way both holes in the back glass will be covered from view with the overflow box and there would be no flooding of the sump is power gets cut because the return hole(s) will be at the same height as the overflow...

 

[mmyuki]

Or even drill the overflow hole lower inside the overflow box so if water did come back into the box from the return lines, it would drop into the overflow anyway.

 

[2quills]

Sounds like a good idea. I drilled my 120g for two 1.5" drains which I made my own overflows for. And then I did a 3/4" return. You would probably only need a 3/4" or a 1" max bulkhead for your return.

 

[mmyuki]

The plumbing inside of the overflow box for the drainline to the sump will just be a "T" on the outside of the tank a small piece going upwards with a hole drilled in the top for a syphon and the return line will be plumbed inside of the overflow box with a "T" , two small valves to slow flow if needed and some loc line fittings.

 

[mmyuki]

Hey I see you have some loc line fittings there, did you need to buy anything extra to put those together? or do they just snap right in? And which piece did you buy to stick it through the hole in the tank?

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by MMyuki http:///forum/thread/382927/another-new-guy-to-the-hobby-need-suggesstions/260#post_3387439
Hey I see you have some loc line fittings there, did you need to buy anything extra to put those together? or do they just snap right in? And which piece did you buy to stick it through the hole in the tank?
I spend the extra money and got the assembly pliers they sell for them. It was worth it IMO. I got all my stuff direct from loc-line's store. http://www.modularhose.com/Loc-Line-34-System
There is a 3/4" threaded bulkhead installed on the tank. Then I used a 3/4" loc line "Y" fitting that screwed into the bulkhead. And then I added the rest of the pieces to that.

 

[mmyuki]

Do you really need to buy the pliers for the fittings? I seen they were like an extra $30 bucks or so.

 

[2quills]

$30 bucks??? I payed $12 for mine. That's why I went direct to them instead of off some aquarium supply site. It's cheaper.

 

[mmyuki]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/382927/another-new-guy-to-the-hobby-need-suggesstions/260#post_3387441
I spend the extra money and got the assembly pliers they sell for them. It was worth it IMO. I got all my stuff direct from loc-line's store. http://www.modularhose.com/Loc-Line-34-System
There is a 3/4" threaded bulkhead installed on the tank. Then I used a 3/4" loc line "Y" fitting that screwed into the bulkhead. And then I added the rest of the pieces to that.
I checked out that website and could not find a threaded 3/4" bulkhead or can I just buy one of those at home depot? I am making a list of the loc line pieces I am going to use and will send you a pm with the list to make sure I have everything needed for this build. I appreciate the help 2Quills

 

[2quills]

Bulkheads are best found at either a local fish store (not the chain stores), a pool supply place or online at any of the big aquarium supply sites. Online is your best bet. Check the depot.

 

[acrylic51]

Savko dot com usually has good prices and Custom Aquatics is my other choice. I prefer to pay a little extra for piece of mind and use sched 80 bulkheads as well.

 

[travelerjp98]

Even saltwaterfish.com might have them

 

[mmyuki]

Alright so if I am going to use a 1.5" Overflow and a 3/4" Return I need a 1 3/4" Bulkhead and a 1" bulkhead? They need to be a little bigger right? Also if I am drilling the overflow into the back panel of the glass what should I do for plumbing for that? Just leave it as a hole in the back or maybe throw a 90 on it and point it upwards with a small piece of pipe with holes drilled in it and a cap for a small hole in that for a syphon?

 

[2quills]

No you need the actual sizes that you're going for. So you need a 1.5" bulkhead and a 3/4" bulkhead. The size referes to the inside diameter of the fitting. The actual hole size that you need to drill is bigger. I do like the heavy duty Sch80 bulkheads like Shawn mentioned but they are harder and more expensive to find drill bits for than the standard Sch40 bulkheads. Sch80 actually requires a slightly larger hole than Sch40.
Sch 80
3/4" bulkhead needs a 1-5/8" hole
1-1/2" bulkhead needs a 2-5/8" hole
Sch 40
3/4" bulkhead needs a 1-1/2" hole
1-1/2" bulkhead needs a 2-3/8" hole
You could do the plumbing however you like. You could just leave it as an open hole or you could make the hole lower in the tank and add a stand pipe like you said.

 

[marinebiofreak]

Ok I know that you're totally set on the whole live rock thing - but before you go out and spend hundreds of dollars of rock read this:
Live rock is one of the major contributers to chemical imballances (high nitrates etc). If you're a beginner with a small tank (30 gal and under) I would stick to regular rock - not live. I have both a live and not live tank and I've had alot of problems with the live.

 

[deejeff442]

well this should be good.

 

[mmyuki]

I'll grab some popcorn and a beer and relax to listen to this one. =-)

 

[gemmy]

I'm perplexed by this comment explanation please (as long as the OP does not mind).
Quote:
Originally Posted by marinebiofreak http:///forum/thread/382927/another-new-guy-to-the-hobby-need-suggesstions/260#post_3387569
Ok I know that you're totally set on the whole live rock thing - but before you go out and spend hundreds of dollars of rock read this:
Live rock is one of the major contributers to chemical imballances (high nitrates etc). If you're a beginner with a small tank (30 gal and under) I would stick to regular rock - not live. I have both a live and not live tank and I've had alot of problems with the live.

 

[flower]

Butter that popcorn here we go!
I THINK/hope what our new friend means is that newly purchased live rock comes with unwanted critters. I purchased dead rock and sand because I wanted a seahorse tank clear of any possible pests...I regretted it. It took forever to seed. I enjoy live rock and sand and so far the bad hitchhikers have not been too bad. I never got the good hitchhikers but others have.
HOWEVER....his nitrate comment makes this really hard for me to make logic sense from. Because be it alive or be it dead, if it harbors nitrates (which it doesn't) it wouldn't make any difference.
Rock and sand is what your good bacteria builds on that stablizes the tank, The very opposite of what Marinebiofreak said. The food and poop from your fish and critters is ammonia..good bacteria feeds on the ammonia, but they turn that yummy ammonia into..nitrites...some other kind of good bactria that lives on nitrites start building a home in and on the rocks and sand...they reduce the yummy nitrites to nitrates, In a perfect inviroment the nitrates get reduced to a harmless gas stage. However most of the time there is more nitrate than you can shake a fist at..so we change out the nitrate infested water for clean saltwater called...drum roll....a water change. This is a natural cycle...so all we do with a critter in any fish tank large or small reduces it into nitrates eventually.
Marinebiofreak, if your tank is unstable it isn't the rock. Start another thread with the issues you have been dealing with, and I'm sure you can get some help to get things rolling along easier. Believe me it isn't the live rock and sand. Most likely the live rock is what has kept your tank alive at all. If I didn't get a chance to say it...Welcome to the site.