Mr. Tangs 150 Display Tank with total water volume 300gallons

M

Mr..Tang

New member
After my 120 was up and running successfully and the fish were growing and the corals were encrusting, my oldest son decided to help his Daddy clean the glass.....He's only seven, so,,,I could only get so mad,,,,,He picked up sand with the magnetic scrapper and scratched up the whole front and sides of the tank Now, I didn't get mad at him because he was showing an interest in the same thing that has brought some much happiness to me. So after explaining to him how to properly clean the glass, I started to think,,,how nice it would be to have scratch free glass!!! Than the idea arose of expanding the tank by 110 gallons. The tank would have been a 5' by 3' by 2'. Really nice size!!! Well,,,the wife said,,,,,and,,,,,,and##$$%^,,,,@##@%$.
So, now the new tank size is going to be 150 gallons and it's 5' by 2' by 2'. I know, you guys are thinking this guy just gave into his wife. No way!! This was a war that wasn't worth fighting. She has let me get away with so much already that it wasn't worth the fight

So here's the plan as of right now

Ok so here are my thoughts so far..... The tank is 5'long by 2' tall by 2' deep. I have used powerheads in the past but I think I may use a CL on this one. My problem is that I want to have a feeding type mode and a sleeping mode. That is when the current dies down enough to give the livestock(mainly fish) a just to rest. Corlas don't need rest. So how would one do this with a CL???? And I really don't want a ton of pipes under the tank. I also am scared of using a 4 way. Too much piping!!! I haven't seen one done yet that looks planned out. Pipes going everywhere!!!! Not clean looking. So what do you guys think???? I wonder if I could put the pump on a timer and have it timed to come on when the actinic's come on. Kinda like daybreak or like when the tide comes in(out)??? I might be overthinking this Here's a good question,,,,,Would the flow just from the returns be enough during lights out to keep the corals happy??? My return pump is moving 750 gph. And would that be enough flow to feed the corals with food in the water column????

Pics to come!!
 
Thought I would share some pics of my current tank

FTS
PicsoftankatJan08041.jpg

PicsoftankatJan08039.jpg

PicsoftankatJan08020.jpg

PicsoftankatJan08019-1.jpg
 
Yea, the sump room was built when I did the 120 build around 7 months ago. That is a good distance away but wasn't to hard to figure out. I think getting the 1.5"pipe thru the crawl space was the hardest part of it all!!! And building the sump room was a breeze to build! It only cost me 67 bucks to put together!! Most of the materials used came from jobsites that had extra wood. Nice to have friends in the construction business!!

Mr. Tang
 
YOU buy the tank and I'll put it in my room!!!!

So after looking at all my options and talking to my good buddy, I have decided to go with two reeflow Dart pumps connect to a heavy duty timer and have them come on oppisite of each other. Kinda like a wave timer. But much bigger and much more flow. The Dart flows 2820 gph at 4' head. I figure it will have about 1' or 2' at the most head. So it should flow more like 3000 gph. I figure that 3 or 4 returns for each pump. The timer would be programmed to go on and off randomly until the lights go off and than the pumps would shut down until the lights come back on
 
Bump to let the Sunday morning readers get a chance to weigh in!!

To clarify one thing,,,,the return pump from the sump room would always be on. So when the lights go off,,there would still be flow,just not as much.
 
You could always run the dart pumps on a dedicated switch as well. That way you don't have to always rely on the timers for feeding.


I was also wondering how you like your MJ mods. Are they quiet. I modded mine the old way and it made a funny clicking noise so i couldn't use mine so i'm just wondering if this mod is any better?


Thanks and LOL:D
 
The mods work great as long as they are running 24/7. I had them on a wave timer for a while and they started to wear. I think they're best used without a timer

What exactly is a dedicated switch??
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12104683#post12104683 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mr..Tang


What exactly is a dedicated switch??
Click to expand...

Just like having your lights in any room on a light switch. If you want to feed hit the switch and it turns the pump(CL) off.

I like the idea of having the pumps on a timer for electricity cost/savings but other than that if you wanted to feed when the pumps are off you would have to be there at the same time always.
IMO fish don't really need to rest and if they do they can hide in the rockwork.
 
Well having the pumps on a timer can help create rendom flow. It is important to have lots of flow for a mixed tank but what is really important(IMO) is random flow. With 6 returns pointing in diferent directions, and flowing randomly, the result should be good. But understand we are trying to use the two pumps going on/off to create a random flow. Kinda like a wave timer. It would be nice ot have a switch to try everything off. I do plan on having a master switch somewhere that can turn both pumps off. It would be wired before the timer.
 
Ok so here's what me and tdukes has worked out. I'm going to have two Reeflo sequence Darts. There will be 8 returns on the bottom of the tank(4 per pump) and no OM's or timer. Just straight out full blast. We will put ball valves at each return to adjust flow.
 
Now I need to decide where to locate the returns. I DO NOT want to see the returns sticking out of the sand. I am thinking about building two or three BIG islands and hiding the front returns in the rock. Than I guess the back roll of returns could be hidden with the rocks from the back. I do not want any rocks touching the glass so the stack of rocks(mountain chain) will need to be done carefully. I'm thinking about actually using dry rock. So with that I could secure each rock and insure they are not going to fall
 
Ok change of plans!!!

OK so this is what I have come up with now. What about a barrcuda pump with a 4 way from OM. This tank build from RC uses this setup in a similar sized tank as mine and he states that he has had to turn down the pump because of too much flow!! Sounds good to me

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1148228

But I think I would do the placement of the returns a little different. I want to hide them better than that. He does have a wavebox in his tank but I think thats more for the show of the wave than for flow. Could be wrong though.
 
King and Gary

Thanks for the kind words!!! Yea I want this setup to be my best. This size is my limit for my home(wife) and I think it should be fine for my livestock that is currently in my 120. I would like to add a small school of chromis but I think thats not much to worry. I told tdukes that I was going to move real slow on this but its soo hard not to get started!!! I'll post pics of the 150 in soon
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

9
Help with Biota Yellow Tangs' eroding fins
Replies
15
Views
403
92reefer
9
Dogs442
Cleaning my xxl900 Is it safe?
Replies
3
Views
324
Dogs442
Dogs442
Itchy Trigger
Heaters for Sump and for Storage Tanks
Replies
2
Views
126
aquaman67
aquaman67
S
Nutrient Export
Replies
0
Views
106
SantaMonica
S
T
Sump mod for roller mat filter ? How to ?
Replies
7
Views
340
griss
griss
Back
Top