I got me a 40

[mikez104]

Stand looks good. Nice job. And welcome back

Thanks! Still have to make the dang door(s) but no sense right now as I'm in and out of there 20 times a day. New heater should be here tomorrow so I can clean up that mess. Coarline in a bottle should also be here soon. Hope that stuff actually works. Now I have to find a place to get some livestock and slowly build up the inhabitants.

 

[Jasper05]

As for the Modular Marine overflow, I'm not thrilled. I bought the 800GPH model and there is no way that thing can flow that much unless I totally screwed it up. My bad I guess as I didn't really look close enough at the specs when I bought it. It uses 1/2" bulkheads for the drain down to the sump. I bought the gate valve for the primary of a Bean Animal style drain and I don't even use it. The primary drain is at full siphon and the secondary is right at the top of the elbow right up to the little hole I drained . Maybe 200GPH? Not sure but I'll make it work for now.

The unit is very beautifully built and ultra compact but I just am not seeing the throughput they are advertising. Took a few weeks to show up also. Not sure of a way to make it work better. I think I'm limited by the pipe inner diameter.

I've encountered other members having similar complaints about using the 800 gph model. Im planning a 40 breeder myself and was hoping to use the 1200 gph model. That has 3/4 drains. I have to imagine that will be enough

 

[mikez104]

I've encountered other members having similar complaints about using the 800 gph model. Im planning a 40 breeder myself and was hoping to use the 1200 gph model. That has 3/4 drains. I have to imagine that will be enough

Who knows, maybe I'm doing it wrong but I think the 1/2" bulkheads are just too small. The 1200 with the 3/4" has to be better.

 

[mikez104]

Picked up a few starter corals yesterday. I know everyone has these crazy expensive SPS and such but I really like these.

They were not opening and Looked kind weird and so did my clowns. I started checking things and found my salinity was way to high. I don't think it could have evaporated that much in a few days but I guess it did. I slowly brought it down and everybody seems much happier. Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[mikez104]

Redo
Yes, I tore it down. All stock is back in the 10 gallon holding tank. I could only around 200GPH tank water turnover from my "800" GPH overflow. I couldn't even get it to properly skim the water surface. I figure I'm very early into this project and if I'm going fix things, now is the time. Sooooo, I got a FijiCube 1200GPH overflow and grabbed a new 40 breeder from petco for 50 bucks.

I bought a 6 dollar plastic tub and installed my new overflow and tested with my return sump. It easily handles full power of my return pump. Also, I know exactly where the water level will be so I know how to properly drill the tank. Why I didn't do this to begin with, IDK.

A funny side story... When I grabbed a new Aqueon 40 breeder from Petco on their sale and when I was getting ready to drill it, I noticed a sticker on the bottom of the tank.

So I google the text in the picture and it takes me to the Aqueon page and it states that sometimes regular glass is substituted with tempered glass and when this happens they apply this sticker to the bottom of the tank. dang, I'm glad I checked it out. I thought it was just a generic safety message. My son had just bought a 40 and his don't have the sticker so we swapped. Thant could have been a mess lol.

 

[mikez104]

Oh, and I picked up an Apex on the black Friday sale.
Merry Christmas to me.

 

[Jasper05]

Redo
Yes, I tore it down. All stock is back in the 10gallon holding tank. I could only around 200GPH tank water turnover from my "800" GPH overflow. I coulden't even get it to properly skim, the water surface. I figure I'm very early into this project and if I'm going fix things, now is the time. Sooooo, I got a FijiCube 1200GPH overflow and grabbed a new 40 breeder from petco for 50 bucks.

I bought a 6 dollar plastic tub and installed my new overflow and tested with my return sump. It easily handles full power of my return pump. Also, I know exactly where the water level will be so I know how to properly drill the tank. Why I didn't do this to begin with, IDK.

A funny side story... When I grabbed a new Aqueon 40 breeder from Petco on their sale and when I was getting ready to drill it, I noticed a sticker on the bottom of the tank.

So I google the text in the picture and it takes me to the Aqueon page and it states that sometimes regular glass is subsituted with tempered glass and when this happens they apply this sticker to the bottom of the tank. dang, I'm glad I checked it out. I thought it was just a generic safety message. My son had just bought a 40 and his don't have the sticker so we swapped. Thant could have been a mess lol.

Oh wow! That overflow was that unbearable huh!? Let us know how the new overflow works for you. Are you keeping the drains at 1"?

What do you mean you know where exactly to drill? Doesnt the overflow sit under the lip?

 

[mikez104]

Yeah, that Modular Marine would be great for like a 20 or something. The 1/2" drains were just too dang small. The new one has 1" drains and is awesome.

The thing I really liked about the Modular Marine was the way the box on the back of the tank sat almost as high as the box inside of the tank. That really minimized the risk of overflow in my mind. They also shaved back the ouside box so it cleared the plastic trim.

The new one sits below the trim. I was worried that the water level would be below the trim also. I don't want that. So I did some testing and found where I want to drill the tank for the proper water level. I'll have to trim back the trim on the tank a little to get the water level where I want. No big deal. I'm glad I did a little experimenting now instead of being Pi$$ed later.

 

[fishface NJ]

Who knows, maybe I'm doing it wrong but I think the 1/2" bulkheads are just too small. The 1200 with the 3/4" has to be better.

Your tanks is looking great!

I am building my stand for 40B. I bought the Modular Marine 1600 because it has (3) 1" drains. The big selling point for me with the MM overflow box is the outer box sits higher than the inside box

 

[mikez104]

I so wish I would have done that but I just didn't know. :/ Glad you got the right one the first time.

 

[Jasper05]

Id like to see your overflow when its installed

 

[mikez104]

Id like to see your overflow when its installed

I'll post pics. Maybe a vid. I videoed the last drilling. Hopefully this one will go smoothly also.

 

[mikez104]

When I was removing my livestock from my 40 I wanted to try and trap my cleaner shrimp instead of net him/her because it's pretty big and I didn't want to hurt it so I made a trap out of a juice bottle. I put it in and checked it about an hour after I turned off the light and bam, I caught it!

So I ran to rinse off my hands and in that 30 seconds when I was gone and the room light was on, he found his way out. Lesson learned. It would not go back in. lol I ended up just netting it after I removed all the rock. :/ It worked out though. Smart little things..

 

[mikez104]

Got some more done. Tank drilled and the back painted. Most of the drain plumbing is done. Why am I always 1 fitting short?? lol Need one more 45 to get the emergency drain to work right.

 

[mikez104]

Yay. Re-plumbed and working 100% better. So glad I went this route. This is the fiji cube 1200GPH overflow. It handles my pump with ease. I dialed in the gate valve and this thing is pretty much silent. The only thing I can hear is the water flowing into the filter sock. Still have to clean up the return.

 

[mikez104]

Here some pics of the size difference between the modular Marine 800 and the Fiji Cube 1200. The holes through the glass are much bigger and the 1" drains move a ton more water.

 

[mikez104]

Oh wow! That overflow was that unbearable huh!? Let us know how the new overflow works for you. Are you keeping the drains at 1"?

What do you mean you know where exactly to drill? Doesnt the overflow sit under the lip?

Just reread this. No, I raised it up a bit and trimmed the tank trim. I wanted to make sure the water level was above the trim. See here. Now that I look at it, it looks kinda like a face...

 

[cwerner]

Yeah that's the reason I went with the Eshopps L for my 75 gallon. I wanted a full bean animal overflow + it had the larger diameter drain pipes.

What is your estimated tank turnover with that setup? I bought a 2200 gph pump and use it at like 50% power. I thought I would use the 10x turnover standard, but I just don't think it's necessary and my pump and sump are much quieter at the lower flow rate.

 

[mikez104]

Yeah that's the reason I went with the Eshopps L for my 75 gallon. I wanted a full bean animal overflow + it had the larger diameter drain pipes.

What is your estimated tank turnover with that setup? I bought a 2200 gph pump and use it at like 50% power. I thought I would use the 10x turnover standard, but I just don't think it's necessary and my pump and sump are much quieter at the lower flow rate.

I'm guessing max is 500~550? The flow chart is not all that detailed but that is inline with my calculations. That will be a little over 10x but I'm sure I'll dial it back some. Yeah, this pump makes like no sound. Love the DC pumps! the only sound I hear is the water going into the filter socks. I'm going to dampen that.

 

[count krunk]

Glad you got it figured out. I was going to recommend the fijicube overflow box that you ended up getting!

I have the same one on my 40b and it's pretty awesome