Restarting my reef tank

[ESME'GRACE]

4 years ago I had the perfect 29 gallon tank. I had some fish and sps. My husband and I enjoyed it very much. He suddenly became very sick and during that time i was not able to keep up with my tank, the return pump stopped working and i just let it go. My husband died and i was forced to move and my tank has been in my garage every since. I am now ready to start again. I now have a 40 gallon drilled tank. And i need help starting off. I have a few questions.
1. Can I use the rock and sand that i kept from my old tank or do I need to get new live rock/sand?
2. Where do i go for good plumbing techniques? This is my first drilled tank?
3. LED lighting for reef tanks. They were just becoming popular when i shut my tank down. What would you suggest?
Thank for your help

 

[pluikens]

Welcome to R2R! I am sorry to hear about your husband. Would you mind posting a picture of your drilled tank so we can help with plumbing ideas? As for the sand, I think you would be OK to reuse the rock if you treated it as new dry rock and following the recommended curing process. As for the sand, after a good rinse, you should be OK to use that as well. I have a 40-gallon tank now with two AI Prime HDs. They are relatively reasonably priced and can be programmed via smartphone or laptop out of the box with no need for additional modules for wireless functionality.

 

[ESME'GRACE]

Id be happy to get pictures this afternoon. Thank you for your quick reply.

 

[ESME'GRACE]

Id be happy to get pictures this afternoon. Thank you for your quick reply.

 

[ESME'GRACE]

Here are the picturs of the 40 gallon drilled tank i have. Front and back.

 

[pluikens]

Thanks for attaching the pictures! Do you know how big the drain bulkhead is? If you're comfortable with drilling the tank, I'd suggest drilling another drain hole and installing a retrofit overflow box like the one from CPR: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/cpr-retrofit-overflow-box-with-backing.html. The back of the tank would look the same then but with two bulkheads coming through, one that you can put a gate valve on and the other for the emergency. If you don't want to drill the tank again and the current bulkhead is 1.5 inches, I'd suggest going with the Eclipse style overflow box which brings most of the plumbing to the back of the tank with a smaller overflow weir inside the tank. That item is here: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/eclipse-m-overflow-box-800-gph-eshopps.html

I run the CPR box on my 40 gallon and you can see my plumbing here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/40-gallon-mixed-reef-first-time-reefer.326489/#post-4047421

 

[count krunk]

For best plumbing, you'll want 3 drains.

However, with the location of that hole, it might not be possible to use a premade overflow that takes the drains outside of the tank. I mean a synergy overflow or similar design.

With that style of overflow, there are two holes in the back of the tank that the water flow into. It flows into the in tank overflow box (very small) into the much wider outside of the tank overflow box that will have the 3 drains going down into the sump.

For 3 drains, use the bean animal style drain system.

For two drains (you want at least 2 drains) have a regular and emergency drain. There are many different options for making the primary drain near silent. You want the emergency drain to be nice and loud so it alerts you.

LEDs are nice, they're are many good budget friendly options these days. T5 and MH are still a classic combo. T5 and LED seem the new the new duo of choice.

 

[ESME'GRACE]

Thanks for attaching the pictures! Do you know how big the drain bulkhead is? If you're comfortable with drilling the tank, I'd suggest drilling another drain hole and installing a retrofit overflow box like the one from CPR: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/cpr-retrofit-overflow-box-with-backing.html. The back of the tank would look the same then but with two bulkheads coming through, one that you can put a gate valve on and the other for the emergency. If you don't want to drill the tank again and the current bulkhead is 1.5 inches, I'd suggest going with the Eclipse style overflow box which brings most of the plumbing to the back of the tank with a smaller overflow weir inside the tank. That item is here: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/eclipse-m-overflow-box-800-gph-eshopps.html

I run the CPR box on my 40 gallon and you can see my plumbing here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/40-gallon-mixed-reef-first-time-reefer.326489/#post-4047421

Thanks for attaching the pictures! Do you know how big the drain bulkhead is? If you're comfortable with drilling the tank, I'd suggest drilling another drain hole and installing a retrofit overflow box like the one from CPR: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/cpr-retrofit-overflow-box-with-backing.html. The back of the tank would look the same then but with two bulkheads coming through, one that you can put a gate valve on and the other for the emergency. If you don't want to drill the tank again and the current bulkhead is 1.5 inches, I'd suggest going with the Eclipse style overflow box which brings most of the plumbing to the back of the tank with a smaller overflow weir inside the tank. That item is here: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/eclipse-m-overflow-box-800-gph-eshopps.html

I run the CPR box on my 40 gallon and you can see my plumbing here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/40-gallon-mixed-reef-first-time-reefer.326489/#post-4047421

I wish i had the ability to drill another hole, but I don't. I think I'm going to go with the eclipse overflow box, per your suggestion. I also think I need to use new bulkheads because the previous owner plumbing doesnt match up with my sump. Thank you for the pictures of your plumbing. I think that along with my research makes more sense to me.

 

[pluikens]

I wish i had the ability to drill another hole, but I don't. I think I'm going to go with the eclipse overflow box, per your suggestion. I also think I need to use new bulkheads because the previous owner plumbing doesnt match up with my sump. Thank you for the pictures of your plumbing. I think that along with my research makes more sense to me.

The eclipse box requires a 1.5" bulkhead so once you get the old bulkhead off, measure the hole to make sure the Eclipse is an option. The hole size for 1.5" bulkheads is 60mm.

 

[Chef Tommy]

Bulk Reef Supply did a series on 52 weeks of reefing. Lotsa useful info and one week on plumbing specifically.

 

[ESME'GRACE]

Funny you mention that, I've been watching that. Sometimes he's way over my head. Lol. Which isn't far stretch.

 

[ESME'GRACE]

I got my bulkheads removed and confirmed they are 1.5" so tomorrow I'll be off on my road trip to get supplies to work on my tank for the next few weeks. It's an hour and a half to the nearest saltwater supplier. I need a new heater so i can start the curing process of the rock that came out of my old 29 tank. And the plumbing parts I need. My husband would have done that part for me. But I'm a bright girl and with your help and pictures, i feel like i can handle this part. Wish me luck.

 

[pluikens]

Good luck! Have you drawn out your plans for the plumbing? What's your sump look like under the tank? Are you going to be plumbing into filter socks or directly into the sump?

 

[Ruben's Reef]

!!! Welcome to R2R !!! This is my 40g with the Eshopps Eclipse S overflow installed. Don't know if will fit good on the pre-drill hole that your have

 

[ESME'GRACE]

No socks, plumbs direct. I'll pull the sump out of the stand tonight (it has to be cleaned anyway) and send a picture of it. I've never seen one like mine online before. Not an artist. After drawing it out, im not sure that the Eclipse will work. What do you think? Unless i run the emergency directly in the refuge section.

 

[ESME'GRACE]

!!! Welcome to R2R !!! This is my 40g with the Eshopps Eclipse S overflow installed. Don't know if will fit good on the pre-drill hole that your have

Nice exactly what i had in mind

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Nice exactly what i had in mind

You can check on my build link and see a few other pictures. Thanks

 

[pluikens]

I would suggest running an emergency directly into the fuge, that's pretty common. If you see in the link I sent you to my build thread post, my secondary drains into my sump next to but not into the filter sock. @spyder813 can you measure from the top of the bulkhead on the outside where the threads are to the bottom of the top tank trim? I'd like the OP to know if the weir box of the eclipse will fit under the trim on the wet side of the tank and if it will be too low so the water line when running is much below the trim.

 

[pluikens]

@ESME'GRACE You'll probably also want a gate valve rather than ball valve on your drain.

 

[ESME'GRACE]

Your right, i had the gate valve in my head. But i wrote ball. Thank you for the correction. I would have been upset at myself if i got all the way home with the wrong one. To far away to exchange it.

 

[ESME'GRACE]

You can check on my build link and see a few other pictures. Thanks

How far down to you think your hole is from the top I'm thinking mine may be to far up for the eclipse. I'll be sure to measure before I head to the store.