Plumbing questions

thegriffer · Jan 12, 2017

Ok so a few months ago or probably just over a month ago I decided that I wanted to upgrade and grow out of the little tanks that I have been used to for quite some time now. I decided I wanted something quite a bit bigger than what I already have and I was thinking around 40 or 50 gallons or maybe something smaller for the right price. When I was at my LFS I came across this 30 gallon tank kit that came with a stand, heater, lights (which are obsolete to me because of the corals), fluval 206 canister filter and obviously the tank itself all for $200 Canadian and to make things even more interesting it was a floor model that they used as a planted freshwater display tank and they decided it wasn't worth there time to clean it. I'm 17, I work a part time job at a retail store so for me $200 was a steal and I had absolutely no issues with cleaning the hell out of that tank so I made up my mind in about 50 seconds after seeing it. It's been a while now and I have a few corals and other little critters. I hadn't really done my research about saltwater and canister filters and how they are "Nitrate factories" and since this was right around Christmas I was getting crazy hours and all of my pay cheques went right into this project I don't regret any of it. So I bought a sump after reading about how they are the way to go for most marine aquariums (keep in mind that I've only ever had bio cubes and Nuvo aquariums before where all that stuff is built in) but long story short even though I've already typed like 2 paragraphs which I apologize for I am just really happy and proud of what it has become I have the sump overflow and return pump all hooked up underneath the aquarium in the stand. I did run into a few problems and I had to sort of improvise and later on had some leaks but I stayed up until 3 in the morning making sure everything was good and it has been running for a day now and I haven't seen a drip come from it. So here is my issue:

Some of you may have already noticed my problem. The tubing on the left side is my in take overflow and on the right is my return out take I was doing a water change when I took the picture so the bubbles in the tank is from the water level being so low. I have to apologize for butchering the pvc plumbing job with the cement this was my first time doing anything like this and I had no idea how messy the stuff was but I have no complaints it does the job and the only thing I would have changed is adding a gate valve instead of a ball valve because they are so dang hard to twist and get the perfect amount of flow. But anyways back to the point. My overflow is located in about the centre of my tank since it is supposed to be a kit hooked right up to a canister filter underneath. So my problem is if the power goes out I am so screwed. The tank would drain to about half way and my sump would completely overflow. I have looked into some of these options:

- Getting a HOB overflow
- Getting a battery back up

Her are my concerns with each of those options. The first problem would be that I am going to have to cut a hole in the back of the stand to get a pipe to run to the sump. So I can pretty much kiss my structural integrity of the stand good bye or at least have the constant worry of it falling apart on me. And my second concern is I'm not sure how long a battery back up would last. So basically if the power goes out my room is flooded but I mean at least my room is in the basement haha my mom would still kill me.

So that is my issue and I was just wondering if there are any ways to combat this issue. Anything either than what I have mentioned. I am open to ideas and I would really appreciate whatever advice I could get. I'm going to go pick up a 100 gallon tank on the weekend that my friend is giving me and it is hooked up quite similar to the one I have now so I have a lot of room for improvement on my next tank.

Once again I apologize for the long post. Super sorry.

Thanks.

RamsReef · Jan 12, 2017

What city are you in?
Use the FB group of that city to look for used gear.
Raise the overflow pipe in your main tank to the level you want your water to be (Near the top)

If your tank does not have any inhabitants I would recommend you ask your local group on FB for someone who can make you an overflow box and drill your tank, lots of people can do this usually if you are in a city.

Canister are not nitrate factories, the saying comes from people not maintaining them and them becoming nitrate factories, you will need to clean it every 3-7 days, I clean my HOB filter every week.
Since you do not have a skimmer or other export method I would recommend you keep you fish count very low and get fish that work... couple algea eaters, etc, nothing to heavy.

Happy reefing.

thegriffer · Jan 12, 2017

Ramasule said:
What city are you in?
Use the FB group of that city to look for used gear.
Raise the overflow pipe in your main tank to the level you want your water to be (Near the top)

If your tank does not have any inhabitants I would recommend you ask your local group on FB for someone who can make you an overflow box and drill your tank, lots of people can do this usually if you are in a city.

Canister are not nitrate factories, the saying comes from people not maintaining them and them becoming nitrate factories, you will need to clean it every 3-7 days, I clean my HOB filter every week.
Since you do not have a skimmer or other export method I would recommend you keep you fish count very low and get fish that work... couple algea eaters, etc, nothing to heavy.

Happy reefing.

I'm live in Calgary in Alberta I'll definitely take a look at some Facebook groups. Unfortunately I already some fish and inverts in the tank but your first point there about just raising the tube closer to the top is actually a really good idea and really simple I kind of feel like an idiot for not realizing the solution was pretty easy. Thank you very much! I appreciate it. And I will hold on to the canister filter for any future projects down the road.