90g conversion from FW need help

[saltnewb]

No shocker, but I'm bored with my 90g freshwater.

To start I plan on doing a fish only tank with live rock and live sand and eventually down the road invest in lighting for coral.

I have the materials to build my own sump, 36" x 15" x 15", that will be 35g.

I just ordered my protein skimmer, terminator ii, seemed like a good deal, $85 new in box including everything needed.

I don't plan on drilling holes in the tank so will do a HOB overflow, probably going to go the PVC DIY way and may make two, if needed.

I'm not sure , what return pump to get. I wouldn't mind getting a starter pump, but would rather get something that is going to work with a reef tank in the future and a fish only tank instead of spending the money twice.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks

 

[booth2010]

Well for the pump issue, a pump is a pump for fowlr and reef tanks. The only difference bring head height and heat output. Obviously the better the pump usually less heat output. Your flow in reef tanks will mainly be coming from powerheads in the tank. I think usual flow from the return pump is 10x with the rest coming from the powerheads. Even in a fowlr I would add powerheads to keep detritus from settling and to keep water agitated

 

[prsnlty]

typo

+1 ^ Check out the DC pumps from Fish-Street. Their great little pumps and run cool. Their powerheads are an excellent choice as well.

 

[saltnewb]

Awesome! Thanks for the direction. I didn't know about the 10x water capacity for the pump. I will check them out now with an understanding of what cost to expect now.

 

[booth2010]

But remember it's 10x at that head height. So you'll want a 900gph at whatever the height is. So you may need a 1500gph ish just look around

 

[saltnewb]

I was noticing that Ipoh the fish-street website. Maybe I'll put the sump tank on top of the main tank

 

[heathd.hd]

I did the same thing your doing now I'm trying to upgrade later... kinda sucks wasted money buying junk. Anyways. Just drill it now Imo. Also look into led lighting the Chinese stuff is not that expensive. I'm lighting my 150. For 400 bucks. You can do alot of things. Check out reef radiance or some of the other similar lights there's a ton. You could go with one 155 light than add a second later if you chose to go corals. 150 bucks tops. Also do some research into your sump since it will be in your stand. You will probably want 3 areas in there refugium return and skimmer. These couple of things I would go back and do right in the first place instead of having to redo later. Also take some time in doing your rock. Make something cool the first time. Aqua scape threads are all over this forum. Down the road I think it will pay off for you. Dry rock from marco or brs is not that expensive.

 

[heathd.hd]

The jaebo pumps are decent also and the wave makers come with controllers at a good price.

 

[saltnewb]

I haven't even started to build the sump yet, but I was thinking a three chamber sump. First chamber for the skimmer, second for love sand/rock and third back to tank/first chamber. The tank is 48" long and I was debating the possibility of 2 24" light fixtures versus 1 48" fixture. I'm finding a lot of light fixtures on CL for decent prices that are 48" and 24".

 

[heathd.hd]

Mine has the fuge and skimmer sections on the outside ' s of the return pump section and bubble trap. This allows you to have a slow flow rate in the fuge. I made mine myself. 3 separate pieces so I could fit it through my door in the stand.

 

[heathd.hd]

I changed the plumbing a bit after this but you get the idea.

 

[heathd.hd]

Also I think the 10x is debatable I've read different things all over on that deal. I've only got about 5x so that's been in my mind as another thing to change or maybe not lol. Some people like slower flow to there skimmer so it gets more time to clean the water. Idk.

 

[saltnewb]

Thanks for attaching the plans. Definitely helps as I plan my sump box

 

[heathd.hd]

Just an idea I changed things a bit but the concept stayed the same. I researched meleves Web site and kinda came up with my own version of 3 of his.

 

[heathd.hd]

As you can see In the actual picture I drilled it wrong and had to run plumbing across the middle. Ha. That lasted a day and I took it apart sealed that hole and re drilled the way I originally wanted to. Redid the plumbing again but oh well. Lesson learned.

 

[heathd.hd]

My Floss filter idea also went out the window I went with a sock in the end. To much salt creep.

 

[saltnewb]

I noticed there wasn't any floss filter in there, but if it works go with it. I heard sock filters aren't bad, but should plenty on hand to switch them out for cleaning them.

 

[heathd.hd]

Floss actually worked but I had to change daily and it really splashed around. I'm big into limiting my maintenance. If I can.

 

[saltnewb]

Sounds like I'm going to be looking for you when I have more questions.

 

[heathd.hd]

Lol. I'm learning from my mistakes. Mostly. I've asked alot of questions also. If you go through my posts there's a lot of good advice on all sorts of things.