new tank help.

[e46er]

Originally Posted by Myka

So I will be upgrading my tank in the very near future here. Im thinking of a typical 220 (72"Lx24"Dx30"T) Welcome to the wet armpit crowd. Have you considered flopping it sideways so it's 30" wide and 24" tall?

not a huge deal for me. yes id considered it but its going to start to intrude into the room a lot.
so my initial thoughts are:

a bean animal drain I don't see the point in drilling an extra hole and doing extra piping. I've never even heard of a Herbie overflowing so IMO a Bean Animal is a waste of time, effort, and supplies.

concern wasnt about overflowing it was adjusting the herbie. if you keep a small trickle in the 2nd standpipe it will account for fluctuations. i suppose you really dont NEED the 3rd hole because your main drain is restricted and doesnt overflow.

what size holes? 1.5"? for 1" piping or 2" and run 1.5" piping? I'd do two 1.5" drains (bulkhead and piping) for Herbie, and 1" return.
1.5" is what I was thinking as well.

current sump is a 40 breeder but I think a 75 would be a better choice. Agreed.

the rest of my equipment will just transfer over.
apex, dosing pumps, top off pump, vertex in 280, snapper running GFO and carbon once in a while, and powerheads I'd get a bigger/better skimmer, JMHO.
i currently have a vertex in 180..... it pulls tons of crap out. what actually makes a skimmer 'better' than a different one apart from the price and longevity of the pump? I dont really plan on much more livestock than I currently have but figure if Im buying a new tank might as well go bigger.

internal or external overflow? my only concern with an external overflow is fitting it through doorways......currently where I live my sliding door is 10' so not an issue but I dont plan on being here forever.Have you considered false wall where it's an internal overflow, but it spans the full height/width of the end?
no I had not, I dont think Id like it since it would need to be quite wide to get my arm down to the bottom, for whatever reason.
either way I would prefer the bulkheads out the back as opposed to the bottom. Really? That just makes you use more elbows in the plumbing.

couple bucks and not a big deal on restriction on the drain since its going to have a gate valve anyway. at the end of the day the flow will be what it will be regardless if the restriction comes from a few extra elbows or a slightly more restricted gate valve. bulkheads out the bottom are hard to tighten, hard to move a tank, since you cant set it down without removing the bulkheads, and hard to clean to apply fresh silicone, out the back is much more practical for future moves.
the return is basically the same idea since my snapper is running a manifold tee back into the sump so not much different than a valve on the outlet side either.extra work is negligble, Im a gas fitter and spent the last 10 years running steel gas lines PVC is a walk in the park.

i have a canopy so I dont see the point in paying for eurobracing over regular trim since its hidden anyway. Sometimes eurobracing is cheaper because it allows the builder to use thinner glass. I'd ask for a price each way. The nice thing about eurobracing (or trim) is that when you use a magnet glass cleaner you don't splash water where trimless you splash water easily. Drives me bonkers.

never thought of that, I was going with just regular black trim but the euro brace does look much nicer. but that concerns me about fish landing on it...... I will ask I was quoted on 12mm front and sides and 15 mm bottom which i thought was on the small side but they build aquariums Im just a gas fitter. I wouldnt buy a tank that size any thinner glass.

any comments, ideas or advice? it will be an SPS tank Nice. Therefore, I want to push even more for you to upgrade skimmer.

possibly in the future if I find the vertex isnt keeping up. but my downhill bike has 3 whistler bike park seasons on it so shes a tired, abused old gal. the new carbon model last year was $10500 plus tax so Im trying my hardest to leave the CC at home when I pass the bike shop, but I will have a new bike before i have a $1000+ skimmer.

[mrhasan]

My only 2 cents would be to go to a much much MUCH bigger skimmer than vertex in-280. You should aim for something that is "hypothetically rated" for something like a 500 gallon tank to the least.

Will look forward to your build

[e46er]

^ Im aware with the vertex in280 its 'undersized' but its currently what i can afford. too many hobbies not enough $$
I always thought skimmers were more about your bioload size than anything else but they used tank size as an average reference.
so without any intentions of adding more fish from my 120 to the new tank It should/hopefully suffice until I can afford a bigger one.

I could be out to lunch as well on the subject. except being poor Im sure about that.