Hey all. It's been a while since I've been in the saltwater hobby but I'm trying to get back into it. About 6 years ago when I lived at home, I had a 56g column tank, 15g sump, lit by a Current nova extreme pro 36" t5HO lighting system. For majority of that time, I had a snowflake eel and some other things in that tank. The eel stayed with me for about 3 years, then I was tearing down the tank and ended up donating the eel to the LFS. Since then, I've moved to Florida, and a few years without a tank, I'm starting to want to build another one with my wife.
Two options I had in mind were a small nano reef, to put on the counter/bar in the kitchen, or get something a little bigger and keep a couple of fish. I ended up coming across a 40g breeder tank, stand, HOB overflow and sump setup for cheap, so I picked that up. With the way the stand is, my apartment is, and my toddler is, the sump will not be used. I have been trying to come up with an alternative way to have a sump, and I think I may have figured it out...
I'm planning to turn the tank into an all in one setup, with the back of the tank being used as the overflow/sump. It wil probably end up turning the "display volume to about 35 gallons, given that there will be about 5 gallons in the back flowing at any time. The only fish I want to keep in the tank is a pair of clownfish. It will mostly be a reef tank after it has matured enough and I have kept the water stable over the course of a few months, then I will start adding corals. I am going to get my old nova light shipped down to me in Florida so that I can use that initially for the tank. Until I can pick up a nice LED setup.
Other than that. I have an idea of what I want to do with the tank, I just have a few questions though...
The overflow design being one of them. I was looking around in lowes and Home Depot for materials to make the sump/overflow... And could not come across any acrylic to make what I want. They had glass and plexi glass. No acrylic though. I don't really want to use glass, being how fragile it is, and the potential to cut myself on it when I reach in the back to do anything back there.
I talked to the LFS around here, to see what they would recommend. And they pointed me towards ABS plastic. Ideally, I would like to have the black acrylic like companies use in their AIO tanks... I like the modern look to them. A lot. Does anyone have
Any idea where to get that from?
As far as actual sump design goes, I want to have water flow into the sump from the right side of the display, flow into the first chamber, which will have teirs, so if I ever want to put any kind of filter media in there, I can.
Pass through the first baffle, and it will lead into a hydor slim skim.
Through the next baffle , I would like to have the water flow through a dam of live rock and a very deep sand bed. Maybe like 6" then through another dam of live rock on the exit side of that chamber into the next baffle.
Which will contain my macro algae. Prob chaeto. With a either a 65k light over the top of it, or some sort of submersible light just in that chamber to help it grow, and then through the last baffle will be a return pump on the left side of the display. I have a little mockup of how I want it, once I figure out how to post pics from my phone, I'll add them.
Does this idea actually sound decent for an AIO setup?
Is the hydor slim skim a reputable skimmer? I know I've had hydor products in the past and they were all great quality. And I'll probably be using a couple of koralia powerheads in the tank.
There's more to add, but this is enough reading for now. It's time to get the little one to sleep for a nap. Lol.
Any input / ideas / help is definitely appreciated.
Two options I had in mind were a small nano reef, to put on the counter/bar in the kitchen, or get something a little bigger and keep a couple of fish. I ended up coming across a 40g breeder tank, stand, HOB overflow and sump setup for cheap, so I picked that up. With the way the stand is, my apartment is, and my toddler is, the sump will not be used. I have been trying to come up with an alternative way to have a sump, and I think I may have figured it out...
I'm planning to turn the tank into an all in one setup, with the back of the tank being used as the overflow/sump. It wil probably end up turning the "display volume to about 35 gallons, given that there will be about 5 gallons in the back flowing at any time. The only fish I want to keep in the tank is a pair of clownfish. It will mostly be a reef tank after it has matured enough and I have kept the water stable over the course of a few months, then I will start adding corals. I am going to get my old nova light shipped down to me in Florida so that I can use that initially for the tank. Until I can pick up a nice LED setup.
Other than that. I have an idea of what I want to do with the tank, I just have a few questions though...
The overflow design being one of them. I was looking around in lowes and Home Depot for materials to make the sump/overflow... And could not come across any acrylic to make what I want. They had glass and plexi glass. No acrylic though. I don't really want to use glass, being how fragile it is, and the potential to cut myself on it when I reach in the back to do anything back there.
I talked to the LFS around here, to see what they would recommend. And they pointed me towards ABS plastic. Ideally, I would like to have the black acrylic like companies use in their AIO tanks... I like the modern look to them. A lot. Does anyone have
Any idea where to get that from?
As far as actual sump design goes, I want to have water flow into the sump from the right side of the display, flow into the first chamber, which will have teirs, so if I ever want to put any kind of filter media in there, I can.
Pass through the first baffle, and it will lead into a hydor slim skim.
Through the next baffle , I would like to have the water flow through a dam of live rock and a very deep sand bed. Maybe like 6" then through another dam of live rock on the exit side of that chamber into the next baffle.
Which will contain my macro algae. Prob chaeto. With a either a 65k light over the top of it, or some sort of submersible light just in that chamber to help it grow, and then through the last baffle will be a return pump on the left side of the display. I have a little mockup of how I want it, once I figure out how to post pics from my phone, I'll add them.
Does this idea actually sound decent for an AIO setup?
Is the hydor slim skim a reputable skimmer? I know I've had hydor products in the past and they were all great quality. And I'll probably be using a couple of koralia powerheads in the tank.
There's more to add, but this is enough reading for now. It's time to get the little one to sleep for a nap. Lol.
Any input / ideas / help is definitely appreciated.
