Sweatervest's 125g reef build!!

[sweatervest13]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Limpid http:///forum/thread/385156/sweatervest-s-125g-reef-build/20#post_3390520
Tank stand looks great, are you building a canopy to match? Whish I would sealed the inside of my stand had to many water spills grain is all raised glad its on the inside. Looks like you have plenty of room on the right for QT tank or storage . Your light seams to be a little short. LOL.
Thanks Mr. Limpid!!!! Right now the plan is to go with out a canopy. I am not sure how I want to light the tank yet. I have a MH T-5 combo unit that might get me by for a bit. I also have a friend who has a 430 watt MH pendant that might work as well. Because like you said, the light seams to be a little short. LOL
Yup, super glad I sealed the inside of the stand. I can tell already that spills will happen a lot.

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by sweatervest13 http:///forum/thread/385156/sweatervest-s-125g-reef-build/20#post_3390523
Thanks!!
For the skimmer I think it will be close but should work. I am looking at some of the SWC models and the 160 xtream has a footprint of:
Foot Print:
LxWxH in inches
9*7*20.58
So, the skimmer section which is on the left side of the sump is like 12"x12" and the inside of the stand is a bit deceiving. BUT I will have to have it all put together out side of the stand then put the sump under the tank.
2Quills, would your recommend hard plumbing this sump?? Or should the soft hoses work? I think that I would like to add a ball valve to both the drain and return line in case I need to do maintenance on the equiptment.
I think with the extra space I have I want to add an ATO system later on.
Yeah that was kind of my concern about the skimmer is once you get it in there will you be able to get it back out without having to remove the sump. You will need to access the skimmer from time to time for maintenance, cleaning the pump and the inside of the skimmer.
If you're set on adding a valve to the drain line then yeah I would say hard plumbing would be the way to go. I'd use two unions and a valve. Id probably use flexible pvc on the return line and do the same thing...two unions and a valve. Although they do make valves for the vinyl tubing as well. I would say go with flexible pvc on the drain but it's not possible to make very sharp turns with the short amount of head room under there with the thicker stuff.
What size bulkheads are on the tank?

 

[sweatervest13]

Well, I am not sure what to do now. You are right, the skimmer will need to come out from time to time to service the pump and stuff. It is much easier to access from the back of the stand (much bigger opening).
So, I have a couple of choices:
1.) Leave everything the same and just deal.
2.) Leave everything on the setup the same and try to leave some space behind the stand to allow access. The original plan was to leave about a foot from the tank to the wall so I could clean the glass. Now It might need to be 1 1/2 to 2 feet behind the stand to the back wall.
3.) Look at doing the small fish room again to house the sump and other stuff.
4.) build a new stand.
I would say right now I am leaning towards # 2. But the fish room is a possibility as well. I am going to do the room anyways but was not planning on having it plumbed, just kinda a fish work room with a QT and storage.
For the bulkheads so you mean the actual fittings or just the holes in the glass? The holes are like 1 3/4" for the drain line and the return is like 1 1/2". I have an email to the manufacturer to check for sure.
I am sure glad that I have a tank up and running now. Because if I was waiting to get this new one set up before I could have a SW tank, it would drive me nuts. This is going to take a while.

 

[sweatervest13]

Ryan,
The drain pipe size underneath the aquarium is 1" thinwall pvc. Do not use standard 1" pvc. You can fine thin wall pvc from Lowes. The return is 3/4" with a threaded barbed fitting that can be removed and converted to 3/4 slip. Thanks
This is what I received from the manufacturer. I am not sure what this means. The good thing is by the time I am done I will know what all this stuff means. LOL
I know now that I do what to hard plumb the tank and sump. So I need to figure out where to start. Any input is, as always, appreciated!!!!!

 

[2quills]

Thats odd. I've never heard of people using the sch 30 stuff before. I always thought that the thinwall stuff was more for larger size pipe. I'd probably ditch it and pick yourself up a sch 40 bulkhead. You could probably get one for like $6 at a LFS. Sch 40 fittings and pipe are alot easier to come by. I'm using the heavy duty sch 80 bulkheads on my tank but the plumbing is all sch 40.
Your return bulkhead has a barb fitting screwed into it for the flexible tubing. That means you can remove it and use a threaded adapter on it which you can glue pipe into instead if you wish.
An idea that I might do if I were in your shoes would be to slide the sump more towards the middle of the stand and simply go with an external skimmer plumbed into the skimmer side of the sump. That way you'd have no trouble accessing it or removing the whole thing if you need to. Just a thought.
Edit: I'm thinking they used the sch 30 bulkhead because the flexible drain hose they use might fit around the outside of the fitting better since I think that's how those hoses attach. In which case I'd definately ditch it and get a sch 40 bulkhead. They are less likely to crack under stress when you're messing around with the plumbing.

 

[sweatervest13]

I am open to all ideas. What are some external skimmer brands?

 

[2quills]

The super reef octopuss skimmers are the same thing as the SWC skimmers. They have different pumps that I believe have a little more air pulling power, they are a little more expensive but equally as good if not a little better with their pumps. But as with any brand of skimmer, typically the externals are always going to be a little more than the internals. I'll dig around tonight and shoot some more ideas your way.
Can you get us a shot of how your drain connects to the bulkhead underneather your tank later? I'm just currious about that thinwall bulkhead. Pluss I'd like to see how much room you're actually working with down there if ya don't mind.

 

[sweatervest13]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/385156/sweatervest-s-125g-reef-build/40#post_3390736
The super reef octopuss skimmers are the same thing as the SWC skimmers. They have different pumps that I believe have a little more air pulling power, they are a little more expensive but equally as good if not a little better with their pumps. But as with any brand of skimmer, typically the externals are always going to be a little more than the internals. I'll dig around tonight and shoot some more ideas your way.
Can you get us a shot of how your drain connects to the bulkhead underneather your tank later? I'm just currious about that thinwall bulkhead. Pluss I'd like to see how much room you're actually working with down there if ya don't mind.
Ya, I was doing some looking online and I am seeing that they are a bit more expensive. When I get home tonight I will get a ton of pics of the setup and get pics of the bulkheads and connections. I don't mind it taking a while to set up this as long as it is set up right. I can tell already that I could get it running now, but it is not very pratical when something needs maintenance. I would like it to get good for the long haul. If it takes me a few extra weeks to plan and get it all set up the way I want it, then thats good by me.
Thanks for your help on this one 2Quills!!!

 

[sweatervest13]

Question: Are Recirculating Skimmer the same as external???? I have seen some Reef Octopus recirculation skimmers that are not crazy priced. The EXternal ones are at least 500-600 for the cheap ones and they do up to like 300g. I don't want to over kill on this.

 

[2quills]

The recirculating ones are good from what I hear. They do require two pumps though and when I looked at them in the past the pumps weren't always included. So keep an eye out for that. There are some decent externals out there that aren't too bad on price. Just have to find the right one for ya. Keep an eye out on craigslist as well for good used equipment. Shoot me a link to the one you're looking and and ill check it out.

 

[acrylic51]

Recirculating skimmers can be debatable as to whether they are more efficient or not.....If your looking at a needle wheel recirc skimmer you could get away without buying a feed pump if you have a way to "T" off your drain line from the overflow and feed the skimmer, but then you have to be able to gauge the amount of water your feeding the skimmer.....The other alternative is what Corey suggested using a pump to feed the skimmer. I ran my MRC recirc skimmer gravity fed off of the overflow, and then used an external pump to drive the becketts.....

 

[sweatervest13]

Here are some pics of the set up as it is right now (soft plumbed).

Over flow

sump and media box.. Not much clearance under there.

Left side that has a bunch of room. Of course the sump could be move down to this end because the skimmer chamber is on the far right of the sump looking this way.

overview from the back.

view of the sump showing the clearance under the stand.

 

[sweatervest13]

More

overflow

 

[2quills]

Yeah that's looking pretty tight under there. Also thinking you're going to want to get an ATO eventually.
Shawn, if he went with a pinwheel do you think he could just drill the sump to feed the skimmer if he had a short piece of pipe or hose to connect the skimmer pump to the sump?

 

[acrylic51]

I wouldn't try to pull water from the sump!!!! Being you want to give the skimmer the rawest water possible. The idea is to use gravity to feed the skimmer off an extra bulked from the tank, or tying into your drain line leading to the sump input section. Honestly though depending on cost, I don't know if I'd honestly go the recirc route seeing the numbers the Octopus can pull.
But to the original question a long as you can guarantee the skimmer would be fed consistently the required water amount it would work. Take in mind that through evaporation this could affect sump level and play havoc with skimmer performance. Ultimately I think you'd find it much easier and reliable the the in sump needle wheel.

 

[sweatervest13]

Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///forum/thread/385156/sweatervest-s-125g-reef-build/40#post_3390922
I wouldn't try to pull water from the sump!!!! Being you want to give the skimmer the rawest water possible. The idea is to use gravity to feed the skimmer off an extra bulked from the tank, or tying into your drain line leading to the sump input section. Honestly though depending on cost, I don't know if I'd honestly go the recirc route seeing the numbers the Octopus can pull.
But to the original question a long as you can guarantee the skimmer would be fed consistently the required water amount it would work. Take in mind that through evaporation this could affect sump level and play havoc with skimmer performance. Ultimately I think you'd find it much easier and reliable the the in sump needle wheel.
Looks like the in sump would be best. I don't think that I have enough room under the stand. What about the idea of doing the fish room and having the sump in there? From what I have gathered so far it can be done, but it might not be pretty. The sump in the fish room would need to be low to the ground. And I would have a small hole in the wall where you could see the two pipes (drain and return) on the left side of the tank.
I put the pics of the area where the tank will go and the room that I am going to use for fish room storage. So I will have fish stuff in there, but do I want to have the sump in there is the question. I think that would make it easier to service all the components of the sump (skimmer, pumps, and such). I don't think that the wife would care too much. She just wants the fish stuff put away out of sight and just have the DT to look at.
What do you two think?? I know before when I posted this it was more of a just cause I want it. Now it seems like there is not a better option.

 

[2quills]

Yeah there's no reason why you can't put it in the fish room if you can live with the exposed plumbing. Maybe you can stick a couple of plants on either side of the tank to help disguise it from being seen. That's what I am going to do on the sides of my stand since it will be sitting about eight inches from the wall is stick a couple of nice looking plastic trees on each side so peoples eyes do.t gravitate to the back side of the stand when they walk by.

 

[sweatervest13]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/385156/sweatervest-s-125g-reef-build/40#post_3390946
Yeah there's no reason why you can't put it in the fish room if you can live with the exposed plumbing. Maybe you can stick a couple of plants on either side of the tank to help disguise it from being seen. That's what I am going to do on the sides of my stand since it will be sitting about eight inches from the wall is stick a couple of nice looking plastic trees on each side so peoples eyes do.t gravitate to the back side of the stand when they walk by.
A plant is an easy fix. So looks like i need to start to plan on getting this going.

 

[acrylic51]

Agree!!!! I'd opt to put everything if possible in the fishroom. Makes it super easy as far as maintenance on the system and your not limited as far as space and height per say on equipment!!!!

 

[2quills]

Yep, I think I like that idea better the more I think about it. Not that it matter because it's not my build but I'm just sayin.

An idea for you to make to help make it efficient...
I'd put the sump in the back right corner of the fish room so that when you pass the pipes through the wall they'll run along the back wall behind the stand before they turn and come in under the stand. You should be able to get away with only having to use 3 elbows (90's) for the drain that way. And if you went with flexible pvc for the return you may be able to run it without any 90's at all, or maybe just one. It would be simple and efficient. Plus you'll be able to support the plumbing along the wall with clips or what have ya. You could also paint them to match the well to further help them blend in.
Another thing I'd do is keep the 1" sizing for the drain bulkhead but run your drain plumbing with 1.5" pipe. Reason being is that you'd be able to use "actual" drain plumbing fittings for your elbows instead of pressure fittings. I'll shoot you some pics of mine later. But they make these long sweep 90's is what they call them. And it would be pretty much just as good as using flexible hose. Virtually no restrictions. Since you will only have a single 1" drain in your overflow the best thing you can do is try to maximize it's efficiency IMO.
Just a thought.