New tank build: your feedback is needed

Liron Mishal · Oct 5, 2018

Hi guys,
I pulled the trigger today on a new tank after about 12 years out of this hobby.
my previous one was a 260 USG tank but now we have kids so a smaller one is all i can get approval for

Anyway, I will be building it myself and already ordered the glass. It will be 41"x 23.6"x 23.6", 12mm extra clear glass with a 15mm bottom, rimless configuration, about 105USG including the sump, viewable from 3 sides

I need to confirm the order on Sunday, so your feedback would be much appreciated. This is how it's going to look, overflow side against the wall.

I'm a little bit concerned regarding the overflow design.. can I make it more slick? is there something wrong with it? perhaps the bulkhead hole is to close to the edges of the overflow bottom?
what drain pipe diameter would you use? i went with a 2" tubing for drain..
any thoughts?

L

Ichthus1 · Oct 5, 2018

The rimless peninsula tanks have a really nice look. The drawing looks like it only has one bulkhead. I would recommend having at least two, ideally three. This would allow you to run a herby or bean animal style overflow for redundancy. Also, I would use 1" pipe. It is a common size and will be much cheaper to buy all of the plumbing supplies. I would also check the stand height to make sure whatever skimmer you plan to use can come out easily for maintenance.

Liron Mishal · Oct 5, 2018

Will a 1" pipe allow a flow rate of 1200 gph? I think its a bit small..
As for the bulkhead, I'll add another one for a failsafe, dont think I'll be able to squeeze a third one in there..

The stand, its 29" tall, it will house a bubble magus a8 with about 4 inches of headroom.

Ruben's Reef · Oct 5, 2018

!!! Welcome to R2R @Liron Mishal !!! That will be a nice looking build. I like Peninsula tanks. Don't forget to make your own Build Thread to keep track of your progress and for us to enjoy.

reacclimating 2 the hobby · Oct 5, 2018

my ghost overflow is 16" and fits three bulkheads... 1" should be fine and I'd agree with the statement above yours on costs and availability.

Breadman03 · Oct 5, 2018

BeanAnimal is, in my opinion, the best drain setup with a full siphon, an open channel that operates as a Durso with just a small amount of water flowing through it, and an emergency drain that stays dry unless the other drains clog and during initial startup. It is the only choice I would make if building from scratch. You should look up the Ghost and Shadow overflow boxes as they are good examples for an overflow with an external box.

Ichthus1 · Oct 5, 2018

A discussion about flow rates can be found here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/1-pvc-flow-rate.125543/

Are you going to try to flow 1200 gallons per hour through your sump? Only an opinion, but I think that may be overkill. Do you plan to run a refugium in the sump? If so, contact time with the water is important as well. You can accomplish turnover with high flow in the tank and slower flow in the sump.

Liron Mishal · Oct 5, 2018

Thanks guys for all the feedback! I appreciate it!
3 drain pump it is then. I'll set it up with 3 1.5" PVC pipes, I hope it will cope with the target flow rate.
1200 GPH is needed to achieve a flow rate of 10 times the DT volume per hour.. I've been reading a lot for the past few months and as i understood, that's what I should aim for..
didn't I understand it correctly?
I don't plan on having a refugium, but that may change when I'll get to the sump build. i just dont think I have enough space for it as I'm going to use a refrigerator, a calc reactor and a bio pellets reactor.

Here's a drawing of the filtration setup: