Have Pity on a Newbie To Plumbing....

[my way]

Mimzy you are in Jersey right? If you are not to far from me I would be willing to come help you out. I'm very good at plumbing tanks and building things for them. I have a 30 with a fuge made from a 10 and a wet dry built out of a 5. I built my own overflow box along the same design as posted and I built my own Protien skimmer. All of the equipment I have built is pretty nice looking, I hate to tell someone "I built that" and it looks like some piece of junk. So if you don't live too far away and want some help let me know.

 

[dea_mt]

look on E B A Y

 

[dea_mt]

also do like i did, buy one thing at a time. after all you don't have to buy it all at once. like i don't even have a sump/fuge just yet. that will be my next project.
start w/ a skimmer, if you don't have a ro/di unit i would recommend one since last time i bought water from the LFS they gave me algae blooms and when say algae blooms i mean a rediculous amount. next i would look to purchase a small tank such as a 15 gallon to use as a sump. i'm not saying that you need a 15. it's best to measure your undertank cabinet and see what will fit. then i would purchase the OFB and return pump, etc.

 

[my way]

I agrre with DEA only I think a 20 high would be the best bang for the buck as far as a sump/fuge. it should fit under your 48.

 

[dea_mt]

yeah that sounds about right MY WAY but i would definantely measure to make sure. i'm a new house plumber and any time we're trying to set a shower or bathtub we definantely measure before we cary it up to the 3rd story you know what i mean.

 

[my way]

Originally Posted by DEA_MT
yeah that sounds about right MY WAY but i would definantely measure to make sure. i'm a new house plumber and any time we're trying to set a shower or bathtub we definantely measure before we cary it up to the 3rd story you know what i mean.
You mean after the third cut it is still to small?

 

[squidd]

A 20 long or "breeder" would be the appropriate tank...
More useable floor space and less wasted height than the 20 high...
At 30" should fit in limited stand space...

 

[mimzy]

hey My Way, thanx for the offer!!!!! :joy: Yup, I'm in NJ - moving to Clifton. Do u know XxHappyxX? He's got a thread in the aquarium about some boxer puppies- he also likes building stuff and plumbing...I say we get a whole group together and have like a little NJ/SWF group. That would be the SHIZZLE!! :jumping:
As for the sump/fuge... I'm concerned about weight, as our new apartment will be on the second floor. The Landlord said to try and keep the tank under 70 gallons - his father built the house, and he's a contractor himself. He's got some Freshwater tanks too - so he's got a good idea how heavy these things can get.
I was thinking of using my 12gallon acrylic tank and putting a baffle in to create a compartment for the fuge and a compartment for the sump.
...good idea? bad idea? any reasons why? :thinking:

 

[my way]

I think it is a bad idea because you can get a 10, 15 or 20 dirt cheap and keep the nano for someting else. you can get a glass 10 gal. at walmart for $10. I bet you paid alot more than that for your 12. If you want we could meet somewhere make up plans and I could start building for you if you want. Is'nt Clifton of of rt.80 by new york?

 

[jcrim]

I agree with the above... Why waste a good nano just for a sump? You could get a 20 gallon long for just a few dollars. The nano has the lights, filtration, etc. already. Keep it as is, you may want to set it up at some point.

 

[yimmy]

I don't know how much this will help but I'll explain to you my plumbing ( I have a canister, overflow box, and a UV) My tank has to nozzles coming out from the top and to from bottom. My tank is drilled. THe overflow has a pressure screen on the front. The water goes into the overflow down a drain into my stand and goes into my little giant pump, I have a valve for the drain so I can stop the tank from draining, it then goes to an L on my canister which has valves(where the water goes in) out another L which has a valve, and splits, half the water goes to my UV (pressure regulator attached) and the other goes to the two bottom nozzles in my tank. Each nozzle has 25% of the water which comes from the canister. The other hose goes to the UV which goes to the return out of my overflow box(another valve) and into the top hose in the tank. The other nozzle has a power head hooked up to just move water, in the overflow I hide my heater as well.
sorry for dragin it on but thats the general, it would help if you went to a LFS to get specifics.
Heres a pic of my tank so you can see the valves

 

[mimzy]

hhhm... you are all bringing up good points. I'm glad I started thinking about this early...
MYWAY - LoL, thank you for your enthusiasm!! We're in the middle of a move right now, and I've got plenty of time to plan mull it over before I'm actually able to set it up.
Once we get settled in to the new place and I decide what I'm going to do (still havent completely ruled out the HOB skimmer&fuge idea), I will definitely give you a heads up. I would really appreciate the help!

 

[mimzy]

Originally Posted by Yimmy
I don't know how much this will help but I'll explain to you my plumbing ( I have a canister, overflow box, and a UV) My tank has to nozzles coming out from the top and to from bottom. My tank is drilled. THe overflow has a pressure screen on the front. The water goes into the overflow down a drain into my stand and goes into my little giant pump, I have a valve for the drain so I can stop the tank from draining, it then goes to an L on my canister which has valves(where the water goes in) out another L which has a valve, and splits, half the water goes to my UV (pressure regulator attached) and the other goes to the two bottom nozzles in my tank. Each nozzle has 25% of the water which comes from the canister. The other hose goes to the UV which goes to the return out of my overflow box(another valve) and into the top hose in the tank. The other nozzle has a power head hooked up to just move water, in the overflow I hide my heater as well.
sorry for dragin it on but thats the general, it would help if you went to a LFS to get specifics.
Heres a pic of my tank so you can see the valves
gorgeous tank, Yimmy. Yah, I've been studying the drilled/reef-ready setups - they look really sweet.... and less scary than the overflow box

How many gallons is that tank?

 

[mimzy]

Originally Posted by DEA_MT
also do like i did, buy one thing at a time. after all you don't have to buy it all at once. like i don't even have a sump/fuge just yet. that will be my next project.
start w/ a skimmer, if you don't have a ro/di unit i would recommend one since last time i bought water from the LFS they gave me algae blooms and when say algae blooms i mean a rediculous amount. next i would look to purchase a small tank such as a 15 gallon to use as a sump. i'm not saying that you need a 15. it's best to measure your undertank cabinet and see what will fit. then i would purchase the OFB and return pump, etc.
Haven't assessed wether an RO/DI unit will fit in the new place, but we've actually been thinking about it. For now, I get RO/DI for less than 50cents a gallon from Wal-mart. It's been working out well for us so far...but then again, so far we've only had a 12 - and my biggest water change ever was 6gallons.

As for starting with a skimmer... I was actually thinking of getting the skimmer AFTER having built the overflow/sump/fuge.... It was my understanding that one shouldn't use a skimmer during a cycle anyhow - am I misinformed?

 

[mimzy]

Originally Posted by My Way
Is'nt Clifton of of rt.80 by new york?
by the way... yes it is

also happens to be the home of the famed Absolutely Fish aquarium store! :joy:

 

[dea_mt]

mimzy if it is a brand new tank you could either A. buy a diamond tipped hole saw and drill it yourself or B. take it to the local glass shop and they will do it for you. however there is a risk to this. the tank could possibly shatter and there would be a little more plumbing to it so i would really recommend just getting an overflow box

 

[dea_mt]

BTW - if you do get an OFB make sure you get the u tube style and not the CPR style. the CPR's have been know to loose syphon and flood the display tank

 

[dea_mt]

Originally Posted by Mimzy
As for starting with a skimmer... I was actually thinking of getting the skimmer AFTER having built the overflow/sump/fuge.... It was my understanding that one shouldn't use a skimmer during a cycle anyhow - am I misinformed?
it is good to have a skimmer in the cycling stage. it will help the tank cycle faster by extracting excess proteins and nitrates.

 

[mimzy]

I'm glad you told me that - I was looking at CPRs and trying to figure out how they work - they all CLAIM to be safer than u-tubes, but I'm going to take your word for it

As for the tank itself, it's not new - I'm buying it used....this evening actually. The guy who has it says he used it for less than a year and just upgraded to a 150. I'm already afraid to plumb, u think I'm gonna go start DRILLING stuff?

Mimzy = big baby

I'm going to keep reading up on the skimmer thing...thankfully, I do have some time.
thanx for all your help! :joy:

 

[yimmy]

It's 95gallons with 60lbs of LR, I plan on more LR I'm aiming for about 80 or 90. The lights I have would look cool for an aggresive tank but I'm aiming for a community tank. Also when you thread be sure to use a lot of tape. (plastic plumbing tape). If you went with a sump set up it would be the same and instead of a canister it would be the sump & protein skimmer. For my tank I also use about 20ft of hosing, I needed extra so I could service my UV and canister.