Taking the Salty Plunge!

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Chemi

Thanks Myka! Yes, it's a standard 55 with only a 12" width sadly. Ideally I'd like a 75 just for the extra floor space. I would like do have a sump Instead, just the noise and extra parts for potential problems is deterring lol! I do have the fittings and bulkheads already, as I was going to drill and plumb my old 90g FW, but I could get it out of the house to get the shop to drill it for me by myself so it never went sumpy. I think more so my problem is the actual action of drilling it. I'm sure it's not tempered, it's super duper heavy and the panes are 3/8" wide. I'm just really nervous about it, if the glass were to break, so would my heart! If I were to drill it, it would be through the back with a modified bean animal; 2 drains instead of 3. And there lies my other problem. Attempting a C2C weir, it would have to be glass rather than acrylic, so there would be no way of adding 'teeth' for safety. Also, the only spare tank I have is a 15Tg and I'm not sure if that would be enough room for a skimmer and such. Heater isn't a problem, I have an hydor inline.

A 2-drain Bean Animal would be a Herbie.

I have a C2C weir on my tank and no teeth, just a 1/4" gap where the water runs through.

Like I said already, if you do a good job designing the sump and plumbing it will be quiet - quieter than sumpless because the skimmer will be in the sump. On a quiet system the skimmer is the noisiest piece of equipment.

Have you considered selling the spare equipment you have now like the canisters and even your 55-gallon and you could buy a drilled tank/stand/sump? Just last weekend I sold a 50-gallon (36x18x18") tank/stand/sump/return pump for $225. It's very quiet (because I designed it lol) and is a nice shape for a reef. Sometimes "exchanging" your current equipment works out better for you in the end and won't end up costing you much, if anything.