- Location
- Long Island
Hey all. I'm in the middle of a new build of a 46 bow. Tank was bought used from a mr member last year and was an African tank for a while. Gave the fish to a local store and started setting up. I had to do this on a budget so im re using some old gear and updating with used gear from here and RC. So I'm reusing an old wet dry as a sump, but I modded the top section where the bioballs would go to be a fuge. It fits in the tight bowfront stand and I was able to save a few bucks by recycling it. It's connected to a little giant return pump. I just got a Bermuda aquatics 3 series skimmer from custom king with a mag 7. I did buy new Marco RO ms and sand, I got the 40/40 package, I have the rock but the sand didn't show up yet. The tank is installed in my basement workshop so it sits on a concrete floor with both a sump and floor drain close by. In fact I plumbed a drain line straight into the sump. The lower sump section holds 4-5 gallons before the overflow. The fuge holds another 4.5 gal. So doing 10%water changes will be cake, I can just pump the sump out by opening and closing some valves. I also put in a. Alternate intake that goes up and over the side so I can do largeer water changes if needed. I'll keep the piping out of the tank unless I need to drain say 20-30% of the tank. Idts hard to explain but I've been testing it for a week and it works perfectly, drained the whole tank in a few minutes tonight.
I have a sweet light i also got from a member it's a 250w mh w 2 96w power compacts and moonlights. N ice casing built in fans w sep switches for all. It's a little big for the tank but I'm going to build a canopy following the video from the guy on 3reef/ YouTube that built one, real easy even with the curve.
So here are some pics
I know bug mess right now but will all be neatened when done!
Here's the sump, the PVC seen in the bottom takes the drain from the fuge away from the return and skimmer pumps. The top section will be the fuge, it will e fed from the overflow box.
Plumbing
Pump and floor drain
I know my unions should have been placed closer to each other but it's fine it works.
Marco rocks
Top view of re tentative skimmer plumbing and location
I still have a lot to do but am getting closer. I don't have a big budget and have to make do with what I have. I know there are better ways to setup but j need to keep things reasonable on the startup. The stand is so small that u can fit much in there and the sump us so tight that I had to cut it just to get the skimmer pump inside! Lol
I have a Neptune ac/jr and a tunze 7094 to setup still, and my RODI should be here tomorrow. So if the skimmer flow test works j should be mixing water soon.
I have a sweet light i also got from a member it's a 250w mh w 2 96w power compacts and moonlights. N ice casing built in fans w sep switches for all. It's a little big for the tank but I'm going to build a canopy following the video from the guy on 3reef/ YouTube that built one, real easy even with the curve.
So here are some pics
I know bug mess right now but will all be neatened when done!
Here's the sump, the PVC seen in the bottom takes the drain from the fuge away from the return and skimmer pumps. The top section will be the fuge, it will e fed from the overflow box.
Plumbing
Pump and floor drain
I know my unions should have been placed closer to each other but it's fine it works.
Marco rocks
Top view of re tentative skimmer plumbing and location
I still have a lot to do but am getting closer. I don't have a big budget and have to make do with what I have. I know there are better ways to setup but j need to keep things reasonable on the startup. The stand is so small that u can fit much in there and the sump us so tight that I had to cut it just to get the skimmer pump inside! Lol
I have a Neptune ac/jr and a tunze 7094 to setup still, and my RODI should be here tomorrow. So if the skimmer flow test works j should be mixing water soon.