Bad news/good news/bad again

[New_Tank_Guy]

Hello fellow reefers.

Its been a while since I have been on the site. ( I need to do better this time. ) Anyways here is bad news story.

I was on vacation a week ago, and had a friend looking over my tank. Well her kids loved looking at my tank a lot. Well the 2 girls loved how my skimmer made bubbles, and figured the fish wanted to see more bubbles. To make a long story short the two girls dumped dishwashing liquid in my tank. My friend did not know her kids did this until the next nigth when she came to feed the fish. Everything in my tank was dead, and there were still soap bubbles on the floor .

I lost my two breeding clowns I have had fir a little over 3 years, and my small angel that I have had for about the same time. ( These are my first ever fish deaths. )

Ok fast-foward a week later. My wife who felt very bad about what happeded purchesed a new tank for me to cheer me up. ( This is the good news. ) The tank is a 120g All-glass with 2 built in overflows. The tank was dropped off today .

Now for the bad news again. The overflows. My old tank was a FOWLR, and never had a need for a sump. Well I guess I need one now. My wife had purchased a Aquatic Life System Burlin sump ( model # BSM-150 ) Also purchased 2 RIO Aqua pump/power heads 2100 ( rated @ 375/gph ).

I figured out how to set up the overflow stuff in the tank( came with instructions ). I for the life of me have no clue how to set up thr sump.. No instructions were given with the sump. I tried the aquatic life system site, but it is not working. ( sigh )

Can anyone please give me some direction I am clueless...

Thanks.....

 

[bertoni]

Can you post a picture of the product, or any pointers to images, etc.?

 

[Sk8r]

What a tale! Your wife is a jewel...
And you will love having a sump: it means never having to dump anything straight into your display tank.

 

[New_Tank_Guy]

Ok I am not very good at posting pictures, but here they are.. I have no clue how to shrink the pictures, so I am sorry if they are huge..

 

[xia]

The two little holes on top and the filter sock is where the overflows dump the water from tank above. So direct your overflow tubes/pipes there. Put your rios on the right side to pump the water up back into the display. The two bulkheads probably go into the two little holes for the overflows, but if your just using tubing you may not need to install them. The center of the sump is usually reserved for the skimmer, since that's usually the biggest thing you'll be putting in there. I think the bioballs go between the center and right dividers to catch bubbles. Unless the eggcrate fits perfectly where it is, I think it goes on top of the bioballs along with the sponge filter.

If your wife is still in a generous mood, tell her you'll need a refugium and a bigger skimmer too.

 

[Reef_|<eeper]

Sorry to hear about the bad news. I must say though that tank is a beaut!!

 

[Reefugee]

Did you get the megaover flow kit? Did those tube come as part of the megaover flow kit?

Xia got it right. But here is a non-artist rendition of what your sump setup will be like.

Also - I don't think the RIO 2100 is going to have enough turnover for your tank. You may consider having either a closed loop system or extra powerhead inside your tank.

BTW - can you wife have a talk to my fiancee? ;-)

 

[New_Tank_Guy]

Thanks for the replys all.

mn95616: I have 2 of the RIO's I just did not put the other one in the picture. Also those tubes did not come in my megaover flow kit I had to buy them. The 3/4 clear tube I think is to small to fit on the return flow. Think the LFS told me to get the wrong size. The 1" black tube is ok. I could have my wife talk to your fiancee, but I don't know if it will do any good. haha Thanks for the drawing.

Xia: I had already planned to get a bigger skimmer. I would like any ideas you might have. Now about the refugium I was not planning to have one. Would I make or buy one? How big should it be? I do not plan on having anything other than fish for a while, so do I need it right away?

Again thanks for all the help so far.

 

[Reefugee]

I have the exact same tank that you have (but different skimmer), and I have a ASM G3 with a gate valve mod. I am going to put in a recirculating mod in a few weeks. I am happy with the performance. Before purchasing, just make sure it fits in the skimmer area of your sump.

John of www.yourreef.com has it for $309. He's opening up a store soon, so he might have them instore.

 

[jim293]

Nice tank. Good luck on your new purchase. Once you get it up and running it will be fine.

 

[xia]

My fuge is just a tank that's taller than the sump. It has two holes near the top. Water is pumped from the sump into the fuge through one hole, than spills over and out through the other hole down into the sump again. It would be easy enough to make, you'd just have to drill a tank and install bulkheads.

Depending on the fish you stock, a fuge could provide a safe place for pods to grow. This helps when you have fish that require a lot of pods to eat--wrasses and dragonettes. You can also put your macro in the fuge to help with nutrient export. And if you have tangs, the macro will have a chance to grow out, providing additional nutrition for them.

 

[Jamie2337]

Very nice tank and sump. I am sorry to hear about your other tank though. What a bummer.

As for skimmer, the ASM G3 would work great on your tank. They are a very good skimmer at a great price. asmskimmer.com has them for $242 right now. They also come up on the sale boards a lot.

Good luck. Keep us posted!

 

[Pico1]

that has to be so overwhelming to come home to that! I am soo sorry for you. Atleast your wife was kind enough to do that for you...she's a keeper

 

[smy168]

all men should have a wife like yours! Have fun with the system, have you decided on lighting? What are you eventually going to run..full reef?

 

[TJcop]

Good show on your wifes part! :thumbsup:

But I'm wondering...did your "friend" offer to ante up on the destruction that her 2 little "angels" gave you?

 

[New_Tank_Guy]

Jamie2337: Thanks for the advice about the skimmer. I ordered one, and it should be here in a week.

I have no plan on lighting yet. I will worry about that in a month or so when the tank has cycled. I don't think I will be doing a reef right away. ( FOWLR will be good for now, but I do plan on watching what fish I get, and make sure they are reef safe )

I would not ask for any money from my friend. Kids are kids, and she was helping me out taking care of the tank, dogs, and cats. She did feel very bad, and did offer to buy me a new fish once my tank is ready.

I will updated this thread, or start a new one on the progress of my new tank. Thanks for all the replys.