33 gallons of confusion

[scrogathon]

It maybe a home made tank.

I'd plug up the down holes and water test the tank for at least 24 hours before you went any further.

I'm pretty sure it's a home made tank it's from Aqua inspiration and has no tagging or markings stating what brand it is. And I should do a water test like you said. I couldn't imagine setting it all up and having issues with it.

 

[Katrina71]

Hey welcome! Nice tank. People are nice here. They treat us " special" reefers really well. If I can be walked through this, so can you!

 

[Katrina71]

I'm not sure about your livestock plans, but I'm gonna say a Tailspot Blenny...so much personality.

 

[Maritimer]

The part that confuses me the most is why is there a water intake at the bottom where the sand or gravel would essentially be?

My own overflows have similar holes, but in a more sensible location a few inches off the bottom. Water will flow into your overflow from both the bottom and at the top - water flowing in at the bottom will have to rise to the top of that inner glass wall, and then drop into the drains from there. What you should be getting through the holes at the bottom is a fairly gentle flow ... but it'd be sucking sand if you decide to use sand. In your case, if you're filling this box with salt water, a bare-bottom tank might be a better style.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

~Bruce

 

[Rakie]

I'm not sure about your livestock plans, but I'm gonna say a Tailspot Blenny...so much personality.

The more fish I get, the more I realize all blennies and gobies have a LOT of personality.. My Neon Goby likes to hitch rides on the bigger fish in my tank and play peek a boo with in all the holes in the rocks when my Anthias tries to chase him.

My little Tangaroa decided he's an ambush predator and gets all excited when I feed and perches facing the current. His long dorsal fin pops right up when food comes close but if it doesn't get close enough it slowly lowers like he's all sad and he wont go for the food.

And my Firefish used to like to 'cuddle' with my Melanurus, so much so that the Melanurus started sleeping with the firefish in her bolt-hole until he got too big to fit.

Every other fish has a personality too -- But gobies and blennies seem to have it in spades.

 

[Rip Van Winkle]

Welcome to R2R.
My 2 cents would be to use the tank as is (even though it's not really ideal)
I'll say that from what I know, those drains are not really as well designed as they could be, precisely for the reasons already given - too small and no back up drain.

So, it seems like in order for you to get this going, you'll have to crash course everything about reefing in one go, from learning and understanding the biological system to also having to learn about plumbing your system. I think this is giving yourself a hard time for nothing and so I'd suggest taking things one step at a time. So with that in mind, either use the tank as it is, knowing that you might not want to keep it in the long run or get yourself another display tank and save this one for a little later, when you have seen more and know what the reefing "standards" are for plumbing as well as everything else. I think right now, it's not possible for you to decide what is best for you because you haven't seen enough of the hobby and I don't mean that to sound condescending, that's why I say just use it as it is to make it easier on yourself. I think if the situation was reversed and I was in your shoes, that's the kind of advice that would be most helpful to me at that point.

Actually, if you really want to get into reefing long term and you can afford it, get yourself another DT for that stand that's drilled properly. That would be specifically with an overflow built on to the back with the correct size holes for the drain and the return. I'm an advocate for as large drains as possible.

This is pretty much going to be a project for you, so you should be able and comfortable to do a little DIY yourself (sounded like you're quite able given that you said you have a CNC)

Get a list of everything you'll need to start , in terms of the DIY parts and also the other equipment that you'll need to set up a reef tank and see if that suits you, would be my suggestion. You already know you're missing lights for your tank. Lights for a SW tank are a little bit different from a FW setup. You'll probably need a skimmer to start, and also a return pump. You'll also need to dose what we call 2-part to keep your water chemistry on point. That means a dosing pump. I've basically oversimplified it, so you should research that and ask here if you need help. Research each piece of equipment so you can make the right choice, as there are different qualities and functions for each. I hope this helps you.

I'm a diver and love nature, so I would feel like something was missing at home if I didn't have any reef system set up. Welcome to the reefing hobby.

 

[Motts]

IMO from the looks of it the plumbing you have there is metric first confirm then consider going with standard plumbing.

 

[ChrisOFL]

Decide if you want sand or not because you will need to seal up those bottom grates if you do want sand. Figuring out the plumbing should be your first priority and leak test the display and sump before you make any major purchases. It is a pretty simple one intake, one return line system. If you plumb the larger intake pipe into a Durso Overflow it will make it a much quieter intake than the way it will sound now and requires the least modification for your current setup. For your return pump you can do research on what brand you want to use (Sicce is what I recommend) but just make sure it has the proper head height and nozzle size for your smaller return line pipe. You will also need some piping for the return line to connect with the return nozzle (should be near the surface). I assume that round hole in the grates is where the previous owner had their return nozzle coming through. Understand how the sump operates and how water flow works with your sump once you get the return pump installed.

For some basic supplies that I think all reefs need is: an RO/DI filter (water quality is essential), live rock, 15-35lbs would be good for your tank (sometimes less rock looks better), a quality protein skimmer, test kits (Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate, Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium) and lighting (the most difficult decision usually). You will also need to understand the nitrogen cycle and how to establish it in your tank. Starting with live rock, a live bacteria culture, and a pure ammonia solution is usually the best way to go about this. Do some research into the different lighting options: T5, Metal Halide, LED, or hybrid. I think LEDs give the best appearance for corals but many people like to supplement with T5s because LEDs can cause harsh shading. Lighting is probably going to be your most expensive purchase but it is the most important besides the RO/DI. For an RO/DI water filter I only recommend Spectrapure. They have significantly higher quality membranes and resins than other products I have tried. You need to know if your tap water contains chloramines or not as this will affect the type of carbon blocks you will need in your filter and you may need to have two carbon blocks if your chloramines are above 1ppm.

Good luck setting up your tank. Just make sure to take things slow and have a good understanding of the basics. Keeping things as simple as possible pays off in the long run because it narrows the amount of things that can go wrong.

 

[kimwstockton]

In my opinion I think one of the first things you need to do is locate a nearby reef club. There are quite a few sprinkled all across the world and look for a local reef buddy. The local club can help you locate local supplies and equipment.

 

[njtiger aquariums]

First welcome and nice score.
Let see if I can come off clear. I understand your concerns cause when I got my first drilled tank I didn't know what I was doing. I luckly had a LFS who was very helpful and gave pointers.

Would two drain lines be good yes but you can get away with how its setup (I ran my 54 corner like this for 2 years with no issues).

The larger pipe is your drain line. The opening for this pipe needs to be at the level you want the water in your overflow to be at. I would get a cap (with holes) for the drain line to prevent junk from getting in there. To help with the noise you can connect a two 90 and drill a small air hole to help. Here a link to a tread I did about it (sorry not on R2R) - http://www.njreefers.org/threads/noise-drain.94590/ The drain line would end in your sump (I would use the left side of your sump) into a filter sock (used to catch any junk coming down the pipe and helps clean the water). The water will then flow in your sump left to right (heater can go down here and other equipment (depends on if you do planted as you stated or reef) and your return pump will be on the right hand side. This pump will connect to your return line (smaller pipe) and end up in your tank.

That should give you the basic for the plumbing

As other stated I would find a way to block those bottom holes if you plan on putting in substrate.

 

[ThunderGoose]

TAKE YOUR TIME. This is a complex hobby with a steep learning curve.

+1 on finding a local reefing club and finding some friendly reefer to help out.

1) what do you want out of a reef tank? Do you like bare bottom or do you want sand (some fishes and invertebrates need a sand bed). That will determine if you leave those low holes open or close them off.

2) Learn about sumps - which chamber will you drain into and which chamber will you use a return pump from? set up your plumbing and water test everything with fresh water

3) come back here for advice on the next step

There are lots of good places to get advice out here (and some bad ones). I'm only one year into the hobby and I'm still learning and my corals are all still very small. This isn't a quick thing but I'm really enjoying myself! Welcome to the Reefing World!

 

[scrogathon]

So will all the great advice I have received on this thread I have decided I am going to shelf the idea of setting up this tank right now. That doesn't mean I will be abandoning the idea altogether I just want to learn as much as I can before I make a bad choice and do something I will regret.
I already have learned a lot more than I had originally known about the hobby but realize there is a lot more to learn. I have spent a few days learning about how the sumps work and overflows etc etc.
Currently I have decided to look into whether or not this tank is tempered and will likely drill it for an oversized drain setup and go with a herbie overflow setup in the future when i do decide to set the tank up. The idea of flooding the house is not fun so having the extra piece of mind of an emergency 1" drain will be worth the nights of sleep I will be able to get.
Appeciate all the help I have received in this thread.