Oh...I left out part of the drawing:neutral: The emergency overflow is plumbed directly to the sump. Above the water level so that if its ever kicked in, you would hear the splashing and know something is wrong.

I only have one GSP and hes about 4.5" without the tail. Hes been getting very fat lately though. I think he needs a diet! Hes in a tank by himself and this new tank is for my Porcupine and a school of blue chromis. I like having the one puffer as the center piece and then a bunch of "schooling" fish as kind of a "filler" (dont know what else to call them).

ya Darts hould do the trick

J

What would you guys recommend for baffles in a rubbermaid type container? Would acrylic still work well?

Also, Im still trying to find the containers...Anyone know a place in Vancouver with really good selection of Food grade rubber containers? Need to be food safe of course and I prefer clear.

Thanks.

Not sure how many food grade clear plastic containers you can find, especially ones that hold water. You could try some sort of weld-on to attach the baffles. But the fit isn't going to be that great unless you cut it very carefully; the plastic tubs are all weird shaped.

If you have the money, time and skill, consider getting some glass cut and siliconing yourself a sump. It would be the exact dimensions you need and you could do all the baffles at the same time.

Oh, and may I request some pics of your GSP? I love seeing big ones cuz not many people keep them in the propper conditions to have them grow to adult size.

Yeah the baffles in a rubbermaid container seem like more trouble than anything. I think I may rethink my sump. I actually have a few empty 33G tanks that would work, I just did not want to have to try drilling them. Might save me some trouble in the end though and would look nicer!

I will take pics of my GSP as soon as I can...I have no camera now. I can try with my camera phone though. Hes been a very healthy and tough GSP...Gone through ich twice and now even if other fish get ich, he NEVER does! He was also bit really badly on his belly a few months ago and it healed amazingly. I am very impressed with how tough their skin really is. I would guess its because it can stretch so well. I have never seen his puff up yet and Ive had him three years. My porcupine seems to puff up a few times a week for no apparent reason besides maybe wanting attention because he does it when Im watching the tank.

Some Porcs have been known to puff up for practice/attention. Does your's spit at you?

Sweet, can't wait for the pics. Pics for both please!

Pm SeaHorse_Fanatic, I think he has some glass drill bits, and will drill the tanks for a minor fee.

Do you have your GSP in marine sg now?

My porc spits with ridiculously good aim...He has spat right into my mouth twice now.

My GSP is in marine. He has been for about a year now and hes actually gotten brighter and more active. He seems to be doing very well in full marine. I got him in frashwater of course, even though he was already a bit big to still be in freshwater:neutral:

Awsome, my gf really wants a porc, but we don't have the tank space at the moment.

Good to see another pufferholic in vancouver! do you think we can come visit sometime? :D

Yeah! As soon as I have the new tank up your welcome to come by. I will let you know. How many puffers do you have? You mentioned the Celyons...any others? Where did you get yours? I have not seen very many Ceylons around Vancouver before.

Sweet!
Only got 2 ceylons atm. In the future, will be getting a porc and a C. schoepfii (spiney burrfish). We actually got the from her lab proffessor at SFU. They were going to be used for some experiments I think. I really regret not saving more of them. The rest of them died cuz no one was taking care of them. There were about 10 total.

Thats cool that you saved the Celyons!

Anyways, back to plumbing...

How hard is it to drill glass tanks? I think I might want to just take advantage of the spare tanks I have and use them as sump/refugium. I have seen people "drill" them using a dremmel (sp.), has anyone here done this? I would be drilling relatively thin glass (1/4" I think) which actually makes me more nervous. Seems like drilling thicker glass would be easier.

LOL, sorry about the highjack!

There are lots of posts on RC about people drilling their own tanks. I think more people drill with bits rather than use dremmel. I think if you don't apply much pressure and let the drill bit do it's thing, you should be fine. Never done it though, but will when my GF lets me drill our tanks...

Yeah, Im thinking I will have to go get a drill bit. Im really scared to drill a tank though. Only good thing is, these tanks are old and scratched, so if I screw up, its not so bad.

I will check RC for threads on drilling tanks.

If it's not too much to lose, it's totally worth the attempt to do it yourself!

Yes, I am going to attempt it! I will head out today to find the drill bits I think. Will let you know how it goes...either I will have a sump or a cracked tank!

You might consdier a diamond hole saw. I even think you can rent them from RONA. I haven't tried it yet but will in a week or so. Some of the shop people tell me to form a dam around the area you want to cut and fill it with motor oil or some other lubricant to take the heat away. Then be patient about drilling it.

I have been reading up on it and yes, you need to make a dam around the area being drilled. I have only seen people run water through it while drilling though. I agree too that patients will be key!

Where do you recommend I get the drill bits? I know they are pretty pricey...

People were buying drill bits on eBay and I've seen the diamond dremel bits at Princess Auto.

Use water for cooling and just make the dam up with putty, your kids Playdough etc

Yeah I just found some on ebay for quite cheap. May not last long but I only need to drill 4 holes in relatively thin glass, so I think they may do the trick.

What size hole is generally needed for a 1.5" bulkhead? I thought 2" but does it depend on the bulkhead itself? Or is there a standard?

You should phone up rona to see if they rent the bits. I bought some holesaws from ebay but I never did look for bits.

You guys think this retrofit would be enough light to make my fish look good???:mrgreen:

Would I be better just ordering two? Nice thing with retrofit is I can just add another if its not enough!

Which bulbs would you recommend with it?

http://oceanaquatics.com/store/produ...-Retrofit-Kit/

http://oceanaquatics.com/store/categ...7%22-%26-Over/

Im going with the T5 retro fit. Nicer reflectors and it will cover the tank nicer. I can also add another if its not bright enough.

Oh and another question. I got my closed loop pump from "Nautical" today...Thanks again for delivering man! Its a beast...It will be more than enough flow for my closed loop. Its rated at 6000 gph, so even with a bit of head loss and elbows, it will be a lot for a 115G tank. Now Im thinking that I will go with less flow through my sump and refugium because the return pump does not need to be a factor in providing the tank with flow. What would you say is ideal flow through a sump and refugium without being too little? Im thinking a MAG18 could work but it just seems like so little. Any ideas?

Or maybe the Sequence Snapper?

Have a 145g with a Dart on a CL. Started with a monster pump pump that even with head loss was giving 2000+gph through my 75g sump full open. After running awhile, valved it back to ~1000gph which seemed better (pulling less bubbles through, more settling of detritus, etc).

Ended up replacing the return with an Iwaki 70 series (still get ~1000gph).

Yeah I may valve this thing back a bit. But this is a 6 foot tank and I want good flow across it. Its also going to be barebottom and really for that to work effectively needs lots of flow so no detritus settlings. But it will be set up with an option to valve it back if needed.

Overflow-Have the glass but need to make it black. Anyone ever used Krylon IN their tank for long term and had no bad effects? I don't think I would go this route but apparently its quite the debate around the net...Seems to be about 50/50 boths ways on whether its safe or not. Otherwise, I may just leave it clear and hide it with rockwork a bit and then hope coraline covers it fast.

Return Pump-I have the 2" drain for my overflow and want to keep the flow through my sump and refugium pretty low. What is a ideal flow in a sump/refugium? I have enough flow through my closed loop that the return does not need to be a factor in the tanks flow. I think I will use a mag drive, so a suggestion would be great. There will be just one elbow at the end of the return and the head will be about 5'.

when you determine the flow, here's a couple of links for pump selection

http://www.reefs.org/library/pumps has the flow curves and wattage


http://reefcentral.com/calc/hlc2.php determine loss with plumbing and pump

Is there such thing as an "ideal" flow though? Reason I ask, is with this style overflow, its all determined by the return pump, not the overflow itself. So I want to get a pump at the flow I need. Then I match the overflow to the pump and have the exact flow through the sump Im looking for.

Have not been able to find any reference though on what flow through a sump or refugium is good.

You running a refugium and sump in series so that somewhat makes it harder to determine as they are two separate vessels with two separate purposes.

If you were overflowing into a sump having only a heater and skimmer easy, I would say just match your skimmer rating.

For a refugium see 5-10x the size of tank used (Calfo/Fenner) and I'm sure someone will say go 20X since a refugium can split into different types. You doing cheato only, thinking about a refugium in it's truest sense (a place a refuge for injured fish or area of no predation), a tank on the side for more delicate species (seahorses) etc. You don't need the flow of a reef tank but you don't want to go stagnate either.

If you had space or mod your plumbing you could split flows. I have planned a separate ref sitting above and to the side of my 75g sump fed either by teeing off one of the drains or off the return pump (most likely) and it would overflow into the main sump.

Didn't get it done yet so currently I have a single sump/ref combined. Using a 75g that has a skimmer in one section, two types of algae each in their own separate sections, areas for LR, heater etc. which works also.

I could reread the thread but guess I'm trying to say what's your goal and go from there. Then again you could drop a pump like this into your final ref tank and probably not look back. Maybe start another thread with a poll to get an idea for combined sump/ref return pump? Another good reference is Canreef TOTM and read through the setups of some of those great tanks for ideas.

btw I do feel for you. I had started planning my tank before the basement was even dug of the house I'm in now. Every time I finally said no more, this is what I'm going with, I would stumble onto another option. And even now it's setup, I'm still playing.

Mark, thanks for all your help! Its been great. And I know what you mean about stumbling into another option or realizing what you had wanted to do might not work so well.

Having said that, more changes I think:biggrin:

I will most likely now be using just one glass tank as a sump. I do not have room anymore for what I wanted to do. The Skimmer and Closed loop pump take up way more space than I thought. I am going to try to keep the closed loop pump on a "shelf" Im building under the stand to keep it off the ground and taking up more space but even then, space is becoming scarce!

As for the sump, its basically going to be a just refugium, in the sense that my skimmer will not be internal, nor will the return pump. I will post a new drawing soon to see if what Im now thinking will work.

This is another thing I guess I need to consider...My skimmer pump is a Mak4 at 1190 gph. Im considering a Mag18 for a return at 1125 gph at 6' head and I will likely loose a bit more flow due to elbows. Will this cause any problems? Is this what you meant by matching the flow to my skimmer?

Sorry...Im confused again.:neutral:

Basically.

I have a ASM G3, ignoring the tank size it's rated for and the circulation pump rating (Sedra 5000 @500gph) it supposedly can process ~200gph (though I'm feeding mine with a MJ1200 I had around). If it was the only thing I had in my sump, technically running anymore water past it than 200gph is overkill. Now of course lots of other thing come into play and there are no rules, the idea is just to give a starting point.

Having said that, I'm probably pulling a 1000gph through my sump (it's also though a refugium), but I'm happy, tanks happy.

Ok, that makes sense then. I think I will go with a Mag18 then for sure. Its pretty close to the skimmer pump and will not be a ridiculous amount of flow running through my sump/refugium.

Got my lights today (At least what Im going to start out with). I ended up going with the 60" Sunlight Supply T5 2x80watt Retrofit kit. Im going to start with the two 80watt bulbs and see if it looks good enough for a FOWLR...The individual reflectors should distribute the light nicely I think, especially since its a relatively shallow tank. I am going to add another T5 retro kit for just actinics though to get a bit of a dusk dawn effect. May not need the full 60" though. Might just go 48" for those.

What would you guys recommend for moonlights? I need something that will look good on a 6 foot tank...