TYSDADI Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 After only 3 and a 1/2 months of running my bc 29 I already want to go bigger. My plan is to make a mixed system of 3 different tanks all using the same water. The main tank will be a 120 gallon mixed reef with a 40 gallon breeder on each side. The plan is to have one of the 40 gallon tanks to be a fuge and the other a place to put all the great non-reef safe animals that I just can not live without. Everything will be connected together using a 75 gallon sump. I have already obtained the 120, 1 of the 40bs and the 75. The whole system will be in my living room wall with the 40bs flush and the 120 protruding about 6-8 inches. Has anyone done this before? With my 75 gallon sump I am starting fresh. Does anyone have Ideas on chamber sizes and positions? What is a good skimmer that would handle the entire system ( even bigger as I am sure that I may want to add another tank in the future.) Is there any downside to connecting different tanks together to make on big system? Thanks in advance for any input. Link to comment
reefone Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 chamber size for the sump will depend on a few things. first u should get ur skimmer or have it picked out. that will tell u the size of the first chamber. then the return chamber i like to have about 4g. rember this is where evaporation happens so the more water the less u have to top off. then the rest of the sump can be a fuge or what ever u like. also rember when u lose power all tanks on the system will back syphen so u need enough room in the sump for that. Link to comment
cruiZe Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 3 return pumps in sump all going into each of the tanks then all flowing back to the sump? Or somehow going through eachother? following along Link to comment
reefone Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 3 return pumps in sump all going into each of the tanks then all flowing back to the sump? Or somehow going through eachother? following along easiest would be 1 big return pump that hits a manifold which splits to 3 returns. 1 return goes to each tank. for drain i would go something like 1" pvc coming out of each tank that goes into 1 2" pipe. Link to comment
TYSDADI Posted January 1, 2011 Author Share Posted January 1, 2011 3 return pumps in sump all going into each of the tanks then all flowing back to the sump? Or somehow going through each other? following along The two 40s will be set slightly higher than the 120. I was thinking that the fuge tank would flow into the main tank so that any pods that were too close to the overflow would go right into the main tank and not get chopped up by the return pump. Pretty much the same for the other 40 as well. Link to comment
reefone Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 with a system this big u will need to do some planning and research. write it all down and look on rc at some of the big tanks to see how the big tanks do it. there r lots of ways to set this up. u just need to figure out what will work best for u. ive got a 240g with a couple sumps in the basement. it took me a couple weeks of planning. every time u think u have it figured out something else will pop into ur head.lol. what about water changes? my sumps sit off the floor about 2' so ive got bulkheads with ball valves for easy wc. Link to comment
TYSDADI Posted January 1, 2011 Author Share Posted January 1, 2011 easiest would be 1 big return pump that hits a manifold which splits to 3 returns. 1 return goes to each tank. for drain i would go something like 1" pvc coming out of each tank that goes into 1 2" pipe. That is a great idea. I hadn't thought of that. I will have to do some research on big pumps and calculate the flow rate on a system this big. Link to comment
TYSDADI Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 1. Any Ideas on what skimmer might be able to handle such a big system? 2. Is there anything else I should put in my sump? 3. Is there anything that anyone out there can think of about what I may need in the future that I wouldn't need right away. I am shore that there will be more questions down the way. I am still in the process of getting the equipment needed to pull this off. It will be a slow build as money has to be budgeted. Since money is an issue I want to get the proper equipment the first time. I don't mind paying a lot for an item that is needed but I do not want to buy an item just to replace it in a couple months. Once the build actually starts I will post lots of pics. Thanks again, James Link to comment
cruiZe Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 what type of overflows do you plan on using? You will need some serious heaters and a serious skimmer, but they are out there. will one of the 40b's be a massive display fuge or what? Lots of macro? you could also have a large fuge area in your main sump Link to comment
reefone Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 im running a swc 250a cone skimmer on my system. been very happy with it. reef octopus is another skimmer that weel worth the price. the choice is limitless on skimmers. i only run 1 250w heater on my tank. the mh lights do most of my heating needs. thats only in the winter in the summer im worrying about cooling. extras u may want down the road. some kind of gfo reactor, ato, maybe a controller of some kind. Link to comment
TYSDADI Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 what type of overflows do you plan on using? You will need some serious heaters and a serious skimmer, but they are out there. will one of the 40b's be a massive display fuge or what? Lots of macro? you could also have a large fuge area in your main sump The 120 is reef ready. The one 40b that I have is drilled ( I don't know what it is call but there is a strainer on one side and return on the other.) One of the 40b's will be a massive display fuge with lots of macro's and anything else that I can and still be fuge-like. I was thinking about having a large fuge area in my main sump so that the cheato can go wild and not over clutter my display. Link to comment
Enjoij5 Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 I would suggest putting valves between all those tanks and sumps in your PVC work so can close one off and leave the tank be when you have to work on something. Always handy when dealing with multiple tanks in one system. Link to comment
TYSDADI Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 I would suggest putting valves between all those tanks and sumps in your PVC work so can close one off and leave the tank be when you have to work on something. Always handy when dealing with multiple tanks in one system. Yes, valves and unions on almost every pipe going to and from every tank. Link to comment
Aquanist Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Not almost, but EVERY! Make sure to leave room for some additional reactors in your sump; biopellets, carbon, PO4 remover and 1 extra at least. I would go with separate return pumps just for simplicity. I have my pump after RC controllable outlet so I can turn off the pump for feeding time. You might want to look at Tunze 7096 for your stream controller. ---grat litle piece of equipment, and you can divide the outlets... Good for controlling the whole system. Link to comment
TYSDADI Posted January 4, 2011 Author Share Posted January 4, 2011 Make sure to leave room for some additional reactors in your sump; biopellets, carbon, PO4 remover and 1 extra at least. As for the carbon, P04 remover etc. Do you put mesh bags full in the sump and let the water passively flow over/around or do you have to make a media rack of some sort to push the water through? Link to comment
reefone Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 As for the carbon, P04 remover etc. Do you put mesh bags full in the sump and let the water passively flow over/around or do you have to make a media rack of some sort to push the water through? media reactors. Link to comment
Jake42393 Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 this is gonna be awesome to see good luck! Link to comment
TYSDADI Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 First and foremost this build is coming along slowly but nicely. The only way I could convince my wife to let me do it was to do a lot of home renovations. Mainly replacing windows, doors, siding ect. But I got to finish the garage which is now cut in half longways and now half expanded living room and half fish room with washer and dryer in the corner. (I guess its all about compromise.) I am still working on finishing the living room side of the addition with only electrical work to do in the fish room. All and all I can see an end to the construction and the beginning of the now 426 gallon mixed system. To explain the increase in System size, the 40 gallon breeders that I was going to use as satellite tanks ended up being to small esthetically, it looked like the 120 was going to swallow them. So I ordered 2 30x30 cubes which are 93 gallons apiece. They look much better.:lolspin: I will be still using the 40 b's one as a frag tank and the other as a breeding tank. So that is: 120 main display (mixed reef) 93 display (planted tank) 93 display (fowlr) 40b non display (frag tank) 40b non display (breeding tank) 75 sump The stand is built and I have all the tanks in place ready to be plumbed. Yesterday I even cut out the drywall so I could see how the whole thing will look. If I do say myself, It looks awesome! Link to comment
TYSDADI Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 pic with 40b's in place. Way too small imo. pic of the new stand wall between living room and old garage coming down wall gone. yipee! old windows and siding going bye bye. windows gone. new windows and siding done. new living room wall with tanks cut out. Please don't mind the spackle I am working on it. Link to comment
Alkamist Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 wow this is pretty awesome! What are you gonna keep in the 90 FOWLR? Link to comment
Paleoreef103 Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 If you're going for that comprehensive of a system you'll need a beast skimmer. What is your skimmer budget? If you can afford it, a Bubble King Supermarin 300 external would probably be the best you could hope for. This would also handle your system, but it is not on the same level as a Bubble King http://www.shop.reeffiltration.com/product...mp;categoryId=2 At over 400 gallons, I'd go look at http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/totm-list at the tanks that have total water volume around what you are looking at. Link to comment
spanko Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Following along. Amazing concept. Link to comment
TYSDADI Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 wow this is pretty awesome! What are you gonna keep in the 90 FOWLR? I don't have a stock list yet but it is going to be mainly semi-aggressive fishes and any fish that decides to eat coral that was supposed to be "reef safe". Link to comment
TYSDADI Posted September 11, 2011 Author Share Posted September 11, 2011 FINALLY!!! I have finished the main build of my system. I have been cycling for 5 weeks and am now slowly stocking. I'll tell you I could not be happier. Here are some pics of what it all looks like now. Link to comment
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