Advice oh wise ones

Skunkbudfour20

Skunkbudfour20

New member
First off, sorry about the rant but some background always helps.

Hey all, this is my first post here at RC, been a member of P-fury for some time. About a year ago got into the saltwater scene after a friend slowly nuked his tank, and wanted to help him out so i started reading. a year later after all disregard for what i told him, it went under and i acquired the tank and some rock, which needed a fresh water soak and a reboot.

A little about my current setup my first salt tank:

DSC01476.jpg


55gal tank with 10gal fuge and 10 gal sump
4 bulb 2xODNO fixture
1200gph return pump with SCWD
2 yellow tangs
domino damsel
coral beauty
Tomato clown
Condylactis anemone
rock anemone

Pretty basic stuff, had this tank for over a year now.... time to upgrade right!?

DSC01482.jpg


In the new house my dad an i built (still finishing) we made room for an in wall tank, ran 2 dedicated breakers, water and a drain behind.... and now theres a 6' 155 gal bowfront tank from AGA with corner overflows and 2" drains
and a 125 gal sump in the room...

Quick video of where i am at currently:


this tank was setup before i aquired it, so i have easily 350lbs of live rock and rubble in the sump with a mag9 keeping turnover, had to add the sand and some water into the tank to keep it living so i think i have a good start. also got a 3x 175 MH system with a single digital ballast

Yesterday i ordered:
Precision Marine Bullet 3 skimmer
Pan World 200 pump for skimmer
7 stage RO/DI unit
New Ushio 14K bulbs
8000gph return pump
bulkheads (tank wasnt drilled for returns, only drains)
and some other small things

heres where i need some advice
PLUMBING (AS FROM VIEWING SIDE)
Plumbing2.jpg

i will be combining the 2" drains (green) into one pipe, and then splitting them into 2 again after they pass through the stand, i could just make 2 holes and have one overflow go one place, and another to the skimmer compartment, but i decided to save space and cut down on holes drilled in my stand... also keeping to one side will give me more room for the returns
I know 8000gph pump (black) as my main source of feeding the system (5 separate returns (red)+ a chiller, calcium reactor, and one spare), Its obviously far to much turnover for the skimmer and sump to deal with and cuts down on contact time with the media... so the plan is to bypass over 1/2 of the sump, and the skimmer and just dump most of the water back into a bubble box, near the return pump allowing some contact with small rubble, and carbon media, will also place a valve on this line for adjustment if necessary...

I havent plumbed anything after the T and Ball valves under the stand for drains. and only built the manifold from the stand up, so my in sump planning is gunna have to change because of the skimmer, now the skimmer will be placed on a stand to the right of the sump...

How would you place the submersible return pump, the external skimmer pump and the drains (2 from tank, 1 from skimmer) to keep things most effective?
and i planned on using bubble boxes for the drains so...

for what i plan on otherwise: (feel free to make recommendations!)
in the future mostly Sps dominated/ some lps, maybe softies and some zoas .. will be stocking all the sand and rock (some fish) and letting a good cycle happen... also ordering a calcium reactor, and checking out the new Digital Aquatics RE when its released, otherwise sticking with the Aquacontroller Jr

THANKS SO MUCH
 
so what do you need help with again?? sounds like everything is going good. my only suggestion (I suggest this because I wished some one suggested this to me in the beginning) is to think about everything twice, because once the plumbing is done, it's a PITA to redo.
 
I need help with how much drain flow i should allow to go past the skimmer pump, and if i should place the skimmer pump intake in the same compartment as the return pump beings its a 8000gph pump powering my main manifold? ( at total of 7 ball valves, 5 returns to tank, one chiller and one ca reactor) even if its pumping 6000gph after head loss and whatnot isnt that too much turnover going past my skimmer?
 
Depends on the skimmer.....for instance Tunze need relatively calm water.....Some skimmers need alot of flow running past it.
 
I have an Aqua C with its intake right next to an Iwaki main pump intake. It skims nicely enough.
 
I would not combine the drains. Take a proactive approach to potential drain problems and keep them separate.

I would use a closed Loop for your circulation in the tank and use much less flow thru the sump. You only need a return pump to push about 1000 gph thru the sump with a good skimmer. Then use a different pump on a closed loop to push however much turnover that you need for your designated livestock list. Then you could use the 8000 gph pump for a closed loop. Obviously you would need to rethink your plumbing to make this work. This will be much less likely to give you horrible drain noise and micro-bubbles. You need to also take a hard look at the 2" drain pipe capacity and the amount of volume that your planning to put thru them, especially if your going to tie them into one drain line.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Last edited:
Look into skimmers that are recirculators.
That way you can just run 1/2 your overflow to the skimmer and 1/2 to the refugium,return in the middle.
 
Well beings i just spent 800$ or so on a new Precision Marine skimmer and pump, i dont think i will be looking at skimmers for quite some time... i think i have it figured out tho
 
well my theory is a smart *** is always better than a dumb *** so...

i think i have most of the kinks worked out, and i will be test firing the system mid next week pending the arrival of my Precision Marine Bullet3 skimmer, Pan world 200 pump, return pump, and RO/DI unit... most of it should be here tomorrow, but some things are Monday so... hopefully my water filter comes first, so i can start storing some salt water a few days in advance...

Out of curiosity... does anybody here know the lifespan of oscillating pop-up sprinklers in a salt tank? i found a DIY and tore 3 apart for some water current change, one in the back sweeping 200 degrees (some deflects off the glass to get behind the rock) and one each corner in front of the overflows set at 90 degrees

I also setup a closed loop to feed my main manifold, and filled the tank with fresh water to remove all the glue and whatnot before live rock and the sump comes in contact with fresh plumbing... Come to find the seal in my spare pump is screwed up, and started leaking the second i fired it up... tomorrow the silicone will be dry

makin an update vid for my topic at P-fury... so i will post it here as well

Thanks again
 
Looks good.
One minute you're helping a friend, the next you're cutting holes in walls and pouring your paychecks into a glass box. Funny what this hobby does to people.
 
Really i have always loved salt, but thought it was completely out of reach for somebody to just "get into"... but after about 2 full years of reading, a couple hours per day... (lots on this forum, never was a member sadly) i kinda have a grasp on the whole picture... although i have never setup a full blown reef tank, i have about 5 FOWLR tanks under my belt, one of my own and mostly custom installs for friends or family friends... just had to take the plunge for myself :rollface: and as for dumping paychecks... this hobby should be illegal cause its far more expensive and addicting than crack
i will snap a few pics next time i am around their houses!

is there anybody from Montana "round these parts"?
 
you really only want 500-800 gph running through the sump on a 155 gal. tank. the rest of your flow should be from a closed loop or powerheads. running to much flow through your sump mean more micro bubbles, and the equipmint you have in the sump won't work as good.
 
500 to 800 gph? that means it would turn over the entire water column 2 times per hour, and that sounds a little weak for me... and right now i have 0 bubbles making it past my baffles and that pump is rated for 8000gph (minus head loss from powering 5 returns) so i am estimating atleast 4000 total, and only 1/2 of that flows through my rock and skimmer intake, the rest dumps right before the pump..

i will be transferring my fish sometime in the next few days, tonight i will take about 50% of my rock, and about 30% of the water from my current tank, as well as a sponge i have been letting soak in my sump... as soon as the water params are perfect, and as close to my other tank as i can get it... as of now things are running smooth (knocks on wood) and perfectly as planned
 
3-5x turnover of the main tank is the main rule. but really it is what your skimmer can handle. if your flow is more than your skimmer can handle then it won't work as good as it should.
 
well my skimmer is rated to 400gals, and the skimmer pump itself is 1750 gph,
and 5 times turnover of my main tank would be 800 gph ish... ??

this whole thing does not compute... clearly

therefore "main rules" regarding turnover should prob be thrown out the window
 
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