Robinson44
New member
Hi All,
I've been into aquariums for almost 30 years. My first job at age 11 was working in an aquarium store for store credit. I have FOWLR and a some nano reef zooa and softie experience and have even grown some SPS in my 28g nano cube. But I've never had or attempted a large reef tank - mostly because of cost and commitment.
My 28g which I've had setup for 5 years has a slow leak on the bottom - the salt creep has 'cured it' and it's been OK for a month but I think it's on borrowed time. So I'm setting up a new home for my clown, coral beauty, blood shrimp and a few corals with space for lots more!
I found on Craigslist a few tanks - an 'JBJ 28 Gallon Nano Cube LED Aquarium - 89 Watt Advanced' which will be my quarantine tank along with the old one if I can patch it (possibly on the level and linked together).
The big project is the Visio 6'x2'x'2 180g and the 4'x2'x2' 120g sump I've bought. They're used from craigslist and have almost no scratches. They're plumbed with 1" bulkheads (more on that later).
My father in law was visiting and he helped my build my stand. It's a customized 'Rocket Engineer' design. His design suggests a 2x8 rails for 180g but I went with 4x6 to give me a little more clearance in the cabinet without growing the overall height too much. I used quite a few 6" bolts and poly glue and stainless deck screws. To prevent 'racking' we braced the back and ends with plywood. The cabinet hardware is stainless at the bifold and black surface mount cabinet hinges on the left and right sides. I used the upside down tank as the surface to set and attach my rails together at the start. There's a corner trim and a base trim and feet to do still. The top trim goes on after the tank to cover the black plastic base of the tank. I plan to stain the outside with a gel mahagony I've used before and cover with spray polyurethane. The inside I'll paint white. The top of the tank is about 5' 8" which is above my eye level. I wanted height to make my 2' tall sump accessible which grew the design height. But being so high, I won't see the glass crossbraces or inside of the plastic rim on the display tank (it's above my eye-level). Tank maintenance will mostly require a stool. I may remove carpet and tile under where the tank goes and add an outside drain (we do live in earthquake territory).
So now onto plumbing. The tank came with 3 x 1" bulkheads at left right and center positions about 4" down from the top rim. The sump also has 2x 1" bukheads but I don't have plans to use them yet.
Today's question: what kind of overflow would you recommend? I've thought about coast to coast using the three existing bulkheads. Or maybe something like the synergy reef systems overflow that will require drilling more holes. I'd prefer not to drill but if I end up with better reliability, less noise or better aesthetics I'm prepared to try it. What do you guys think?
Baby just woke up from her nap, so that's all for now. Thanks in advance! I've been really inspired by the reefs featured on here and all of the expertise on this forum.
I've been into aquariums for almost 30 years. My first job at age 11 was working in an aquarium store for store credit. I have FOWLR and a some nano reef zooa and softie experience and have even grown some SPS in my 28g nano cube. But I've never had or attempted a large reef tank - mostly because of cost and commitment.
My 28g which I've had setup for 5 years has a slow leak on the bottom - the salt creep has 'cured it' and it's been OK for a month but I think it's on borrowed time. So I'm setting up a new home for my clown, coral beauty, blood shrimp and a few corals with space for lots more!
I found on Craigslist a few tanks - an 'JBJ 28 Gallon Nano Cube LED Aquarium - 89 Watt Advanced' which will be my quarantine tank along with the old one if I can patch it (possibly on the level and linked together).
The big project is the Visio 6'x2'x'2 180g and the 4'x2'x2' 120g sump I've bought. They're used from craigslist and have almost no scratches. They're plumbed with 1" bulkheads (more on that later).
My father in law was visiting and he helped my build my stand. It's a customized 'Rocket Engineer' design. His design suggests a 2x8 rails for 180g but I went with 4x6 to give me a little more clearance in the cabinet without growing the overall height too much. I used quite a few 6" bolts and poly glue and stainless deck screws. To prevent 'racking' we braced the back and ends with plywood. The cabinet hardware is stainless at the bifold and black surface mount cabinet hinges on the left and right sides. I used the upside down tank as the surface to set and attach my rails together at the start. There's a corner trim and a base trim and feet to do still. The top trim goes on after the tank to cover the black plastic base of the tank. I plan to stain the outside with a gel mahagony I've used before and cover with spray polyurethane. The inside I'll paint white. The top of the tank is about 5' 8" which is above my eye level. I wanted height to make my 2' tall sump accessible which grew the design height. But being so high, I won't see the glass crossbraces or inside of the plastic rim on the display tank (it's above my eye-level). Tank maintenance will mostly require a stool. I may remove carpet and tile under where the tank goes and add an outside drain (we do live in earthquake territory).
So now onto plumbing. The tank came with 3 x 1" bulkheads at left right and center positions about 4" down from the top rim. The sump also has 2x 1" bukheads but I don't have plans to use them yet.
Today's question: what kind of overflow would you recommend? I've thought about coast to coast using the three existing bulkheads. Or maybe something like the synergy reef systems overflow that will require drilling more holes. I'd prefer not to drill but if I end up with better reliability, less noise or better aesthetics I'm prepared to try it. What do you guys think?
Baby just woke up from her nap, so that's all for now. Thanks in advance! I've been really inspired by the reefs featured on here and all of the expertise on this forum.
