New equipment and plumbing questions.

USMA36 · Feb 16, 2017

First build slowly progressing and quickly going over budget. Since I am staring with dry rock can I hold off on a lighting and skimmer purchase until the tank is fully cycled? It would be nice to spread the purchases out a month or so especially since I ended up buying a new tank and plumbing last night. I Was goning to buy used but lfs had a sale. I Spent more than i wanted ( which I am quickly learning that happens a lot in this hobby) but I ended up with Reef ready 90 gallon aqueon with offset overflow for 302.00 which I thought was a good price. I also spent a good amount on plumbing. I plan on using both overflow holes to drain into the sump via two stand pipes (not sure what type) but they are pvc with holes at the top covered by a collar and a cap at the top. They have a small tube coming out of the cap that the lfs says quiets things down. I am using flexible hose into two filter socks on a trigger ruby 36 sump. From there I plan on using a jabeo D.C. 12000 plumbed to a check valve up to a manifold with 3 returns on back of the tank. I have a ball valve after the check valve and each return on the tank can be adjusted or turned off. Do I need any other valves in the system? Should I have any valves to turn off water coming from overflow into the sump? I cannot express how thankful I am for all the help I have received on this forum. I don't know how people succeeded in hobbies like this before the internet.

Brew12 · Feb 16, 2017

USMA36 said:
First build slowly progressing and quickly going over budget. Since I am staring with dry rock can I hold off on a lighting and skimmer purchase until the tank is fully cycled? It would be nice to spread the purchases out a month or so especially since I ended up buying a new tank and plumbing last night. I Was goning to buy used but lfs had a sale. I Spent more than i wanted ( which I am quickly learning that happens a lot in this hobby) but I ended up with Reef ready 90 gallon aqueon with offset overflow for 302.00 which I thought was a good price. I also spent a good amount on plumbing. I plan on using both overflow holes to drain into the sump via two stand pipes (not sure what type) but they are pvc with holes at the top covered by a collar and a cap at the top. They have a small tube coming out of the cap that the lfs says quiets things down. I am using flexible hose into two filter socks on a trigger ruby 36 sump. From there I plan on using a jabeo D.C. 12000 plumbed to a check valve up to a manifold with 3 returns on back of the tank. I have a ball valve after the check valve and each return on the tank can be adjusted or turned off. Do I need any other valves in the system? Should I have any valves to turn off water coming from overflow into the sump? I cannot express how thankful I am for all the help I have received on this forum. I don't know how people succeeded in hobbies like this before the internet.

Yup, you can hold off buying both until the tank is cycled.

I like having valves on my return lines. I use them when I mess with my stand pipes to prevent draining my overflow into the sump but I don't have an offset overflow.