55 Gallon, skimmerless tank

[TheSunnyCAReef]

Hey everyone,
So I had a 55 gallon beautiful reef tank set up for over a year, mostly LPS and softies, but being a sophomore in High school I felt that the tank and everything it encompassed took too much time and dedication. So sadly the tank was broken down and has been sitting in my garage ever since :headwally:. Long story short I got the itch. BAD. :spin2: I also have developed my interest in Marine Biology so I figured having a reef tank again would be a good idea, and might look good on a college app .

So for more on the tank and less about me:
Its a 55 gallon glass aquarium, with a sump system I will describe later, basically two 18 gallon tanks (one sump one refuge) connected under the display. The sumps will be DIY so ill be sure to highlight the process and post PICTURES for sure. The most important thing about this tank though, will be its lack of a skimmer. I run the tank in my room so quiet it mucho importanto . With no skimmer I hope to utilize growth of macroalgaes in my fuge, along with plants/kelps in the display tank to control the nutrient levels. Its not super drastic, but I feel it will prove to be an interesting tank.

I currently have the display, plumbing, lighting for display and refuge, return pump, overflow, and one of the sump tanks, am still waiting on a vortech mp40, the other sump tank, and plumbing to link the two.

I am entertaining ideas on baffle placement in the sumps so if you have any PLEASE POST YOUR PICS, i am new to plumbing as my old skimmer and refuge were HOB. Also for more info here is a link to my youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSunnyCAReef?feature=mhee for a video journal of the tank. Thanks! :fish2:

 

[palmer373]

Watching your vids, on the most recent one your curious about the baffles and hole placement. Both my sumps on my 55 and 75 i DIY'd so i have a little bit of experience in sumps.

I would recommend having the baffles go half way up to height of your 18g sumps. For example, on my 75, the sump is a 30g (36x12x16) so my baffles are only 8" tall. The two reasons i have the baffles half the height of the sump is because my skimmer needs 7-9" of water but also i have plenty of room for when the return pump is shut off and the DT drains to the sump.

To make sure i had enough room for the water to drain into the sump i did some math. For my 75 i calculated the footprint of the tank in feet squared (L x W) and then multiplied by how much water would drain into the sump when the power was turned off. It was about 1" for me. 1" converted to feet is .083 feet.

4 x 1.5 x .083 = .498 feet cubed

I then repeat for the sump:

3 x 1 x .66 = 1.98

As you can see only roughly half a cubic foot will drain from the DT into the sump while the sump can hold roughly 2 cubic feet of water so I'll be more than ok when the return pump is turned off. If you want to convert the cubic feet to gallons just multiply by 7.5. I didn't to keep the equation short.

So, using that equation, as long as the empty volume in the sump (for me, 2 cubic feet) is more than how many cubic feet will drain from the DT, you will be OK. Since your two sumps will be fuges, I would calculate approximately how many cubic feet will drain from the DT, multiply by 1.5 in case you calculated wrong, and make that your empty volume for the sumps. To determine how many inches below the top of the tank your baffles will need to be to make sure the sumps don't overflow you can use this equation:

(empty volume (X) divided by the surface area of your sump) times 12 equals inches between the top of the baffles and the top of sump
12(X/SA)=...inches

I found follow this equation and put the baffle height at its max since i prefer fuges that are deeper.

If you don't feel like doing math (don't blame you ) just post the dems of one of your sumps (im assuming they are the same dems) and how much water height in inches will be sucked into the sump when the return is off and i can figure out everything for you.

As for the bulkhead placement, i'm not familiar with connecting two sumps via bulkheads but i would place them so the center of the bulkhead is at the height of the baffles if i was doing this. Any idea on the size of bulkheads your using? I would use the biggest bulkheads you can get a hold of because the flow through the sump is restricted to how many GPH can flow through the bulkheads. I would look at 1" at the smallest. I would use 2" bulkheads if they fit.

HTH

 

[palmer373]

double post

 

[TheSunnyCAReef]

Wow, that helps a lot, thanks. If I was to continue on with this plan, I would be using 2 2" bulkheads between the sumps. Howeverrrrrr I am currently trying to convince my parents into letting me get a 75 gallon tank, then I would use my 55 as a simple refugium underneath :fun4: I am currently on hold until i can figure out how much the tank would be, and the cost of building the stand etc. Also how much I would be able to sell my HOB aquafuge, old light setup, HOB CPR skimmer in order to balance out the cost of the new tank. Thanks again though ill keep this thread posted .

 

[palmer373]

I recommend checking Craigslist twice a day or so to find good or great deals on fish tanks. Even though i live in AK i can find at least one great deal a week on a tank besides a 55g lol, it should be easier for you. I would find the deal first, then show your parents and explain why it is a great deal, then to seal-the-deal, find out how much everything would cost new on that ad and show them the difference. It should work, I would know

 

[TheSunnyCAReef]

I do keep on the lookout for a good deal, but for some reason or another I can never quite find a 75 tank, that doesnt have "minor scratches" that you can see across the whole tank, or some sort of lingering problem. More than likely I will buy a tank from a LFS new so that I can be sure it will fine. Got the okay today on the tank, so this plan IS A GO :rollface::rollface::rollface:

 

[CarlitosReef]

I am going to sub ur channel, I also have a 55g that I would turning as a frag tank. My sump is going to be custom 40"L x 10"W x 18"H I am waiting on my silicone to put it together. I will be doing a video and a thread as well. Finding a sump that would satisfied was a PITA due to the limit of space my stand has.

 

[TheSunnyCAReef]

I am going to sub ur channel, I also have a 55g that I would turning as a frag tank. My sump is going to be custom 40"L x 10"W x 18"H I am waiting on my silicone to put it together. I will be doing a video and a thread as well. Finding a sump that would satisfied was a PITA due to the limit of space my stand has.

I hate the 55 gallon stands :angryfire: the area underneath the tank is almost useless, its very hard to find anything that will fit. Good luck with the frag tank though, ive always thought of having one, sounds like fun. Send me the link to your youtube channel, ill subscribe and tag along with your videos.

 

[CarlitosReef]

I hate the 55 gallon stands :angryfire: the area underneath the tank is almost useless, its very hard to find anything that will fit. Good luck with the frag tank though, ive always thought of having one, sounds like fun. Send me the link to your youtube channel, ill subscribe and tag along with your videos.

Tell me about it bro, but I love taking a challenge. This will also help other 55g members with the stand. It is fun I've seen a lot of videos on it and I love it. Look me up in your subscribers you will find me. I'm on my cell if you don't find me il send the link tomorrow.

 

[TheSunnyCAReef]

Sorry for the lack of updates, just busy with the High school Junior grind. I guess thats what I get for taking 5 AP classes....but anyways that just has everything in limbo at the moment. I will look for some time soon to get the tank, once I have it I will be building a DIY stand to fit the 55 gallon sump, I will also log how I build the sump, which now that I think about it I could be doing now.......... and the plumbing that goes along with everything. Dont give up hope, once I can get the ball rolling on this project things will get a lot more interesting.:wildone: