Alright guys I got a doozy for ya. About four months ago I set up my sister with her first tank. Needless to say it's been severely neglected. It's a very neat tank..40gal hexagonal. However that's about where the neatness ends. She's put of town for her birthday and I'm going to overhaul it for her. Right now it's got some point of sale fluorescent lights that the previous owner built. Going to go LED since she loves the features mine has. It's running a marineland canister filter right now (I know nitrate factory and it's horrible) what's worse and not once has she changed the filter media!! I'm surprised her two clowns are still alive honestly. I'd like to add a small sump, I have the protien skimmer and return from another build I can give her. My question is..is it even feasible with the stand? The only opening is at the front and it's about 12 inches wide by 18 inches tall. I have no idea how to fit a sump in there. HOB refugium maybe? Would like to keep the cost minimal maybe a Rubbermaid sump? I'd really like to have a protein skimmer since she isn't too keen on maintenance. Any thoughts or suggestions will be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys!
Old tank overhaul
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Dalmatia
Valuable Member
Alright guys I got a doozy for ya. About four months ago I set up my sister with her first tank. Needless to say it's been severely neglected. It's a very neat tank..40gal hexagonal. However that's about where the neatness ends. She's put of town for her birthday and I'm going to overhaul it for her. Right now it's got some point of sale fluorescent lights that the previous owner built. Going to go LED since she loves the features mine has. It's running a marineland canister filter right now (I know nitrate factory and it's horrible) what's worse and not once has she changed the filter media!! I'm surprised her two clowns are still alive honestly. I'd like to add a small sump, I have the protien skimmer and return from another build I can give her. My question is..is it even feasible with the stand? The only opening is at the front and it's about 12 inches wide by 18 inches tall. I have no idea how to fit a sump in there. HOB refugium maybe? Would like to keep the cost minimal maybe a Rubbermaid sump? I'd really like to have a protein skimmer since she isn't too keen on maintenance. Any thoughts or suggestions will be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys!
If she dosent clean her filter media, swap it with just live rock rubble, maybe some phosguard too. Get a hob bio wheel like, emperor 400, which is very easy to clean. Just have some floss filter in there,very easy to rinse under the tap.
That's just my 2 cents
No she doesn't have an ATO, she didn't add anteater for about three weeks and when I came home the salt creep was like icicles on her hood. I got her a Reef Octopus HOB protein skimmer so all she had to do is clean the collection cup. She has plenty or LR (about 50lbs). In the next week I'll be making her an ATO so she one has to fill the reservoir every other week or so. Trying to make it as easy as possible but if she can't keep up with it this time I'm not fixing it again.
Dalmatia
Valuable Member
Lol, i feel for you
I wonder what the salinity jumped to (1.30)? But there's a skimmer and lots of live rock, you don't need much more but to get rid of the media in the eheim filter and replace it with just rubble (lots more bb on LR that stays in the dark), you shouldn't have to ever open your canister again, so that's one problem solved! Put more flow through the rock and it's a Berlin system of filtrating
I'm not sure if it actually jumped that high..there was A LOT of salt creep on the outside of the aquarium. I added a maxijet 1200 from my other tank for more flow but pulled the canister filter out all together. There wasn't enough room for the tubing with the new HOB protein skimmer and there's a chamber in it where you can add filter media so I may add rubble or a pure chem bag. The only other thing I'll add is a GFO reactor is her numbers are high but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
it's nice of you to help her out 
whatever you do, just keep in mind the type of fishkeeper she is. If you add a bunch of things, they probably are more likely not to get used. KISS method seems the most appropriate
whatever you do, just keep in mind the type of fishkeeper she is. If you add a bunch of things, they probably are more likely not to get used. KISS method seems the most appropriate
Well here's the first update..I got her a reef octopus bh1000 HOB protein skimmer as that seems to be easy for her to empty. Also have a set of programmable LEDs on order for her (shown with mine in pic) and have painted the back glass back to look cleaner. I have a picture of the skimmer on the front so you can see what it looks like in action. Not much skimming as it's still breaking in and there's not much to skim at this point.
Newest development, the HOB skimmer lost it's prime last night...negligence set in and she decided she didn't want to mess with it and didn't bother unplugging it. Now I'm having to take it all apart because I can't get it to prime up again. Hoping the pump isn't shot because it's less than a week old and it was quite expensive. Smh
It jus boggles my mind, if she can sit on the laptop two feet away from the tank and hear and see something isn't working right..just fix it. Either do it yourself or come get me and I'll do it lol. It's so easy to take care of the way I have it set up for her. ATO, HOB skimmer, water tests set up, programmable LEDs. All that needs to be done is stay vigilant and some common sense.
3lusive
Active Member
But if YOU are paying for all of it, and she knows that YOU will come running to the rescue, what motivation does she have to make an effort. If the equipment fails, so what it didn't cost her anything, and at that point, its just plastic. LOL
If the tank fails , it really doesn't do anything to her , because it wasn't her investment in the first place.
I have a sibling that is the same way, so I understand what you are dealing with
If the tank fails , it really doesn't do anything to her , because it wasn't her investment in the first place.
I have a sibling that is the same way, so I understand what you are dealing with
Very true...it's so hard to get serious with her about it because of course my parents side with her saying "you're the fish guy she doesn't know what to do, you need to help her" blah blah blah. I even typed out a weekly tank chore list for her. Like it can't be any easier lol. Honestly if I had room I'd move it in with me it's a really cool looking tank.
