cableguy69846
Member
It is about time I got a saltwater tank. I have been looking at them and reading about them for a few years now. I have been doing freshwater for a while and originally wanted a salt tank. I finally have one. Got the LR and salt water today. Still need to get more for it, but it is started.
It is a 10 gallon tank with about 12 lbs of LR in it. It has a 170 GPH powerhead in it that is going to be replaced with an AC110 fuge and smaller power head in the future. Right now, the lighting is 2 10 watt 6500K CFL bulbs in a dual incandescent hood. They will be replaced with 50/50 bulbs soon. Then I can think about some more powerful lighting. I got 1.5 lbs of live rock, and 12.5 lbs of dry rock, so this tank is going to sit for a while while it all spreads. I am also going to add a sand bed. That will be soon as well.
That's all for now.
That is where I started. Now this is where I am.
I have been a busy dude. I got an awesome deal on a 15 gallon tank that is drilled for a 1" drain and 3/4" return with a stand, 10 gallon sump, return pump, and bunch of live rock. I jumped on it. Once I got it I set it up and ran it. The plumbing was not pretty but functional. I decided to change it. The 10 gallon sump was not modded in any way, so I decided to change that too. I also modded the stand so the entire back of it would be open.
I also decided I didn't have enough room in the sump for a fuge, so I am going to pipe in a 2.5 gallon tank to do that.
Ok, down to the details.
I split the sump into two sections.
On the left is the 3" pvc rock rubble stack where the water will enter the sump. It is on an eggcrate riser so the water will flow out of the bottom and blow any detritis out.
The first section of the sump is going to be jammed with live rock and later a skimmer. Probably going to be a Coralife Super Skimmer rated for a 65 gallon tank.
The second part of the sump is the return. Right now I have a return filter from a BioCube 29 but am going to replace it with a Mag Drive 3 in the near future.
The return is 3/4" pvc and the drain is 1" pvc. The drain is going to be split so I can drain into the 2.5 gallon fuge and the sump.
The drain to the fuge is 3/4" with a valve on it so I can shut it down.
The fuge is going to be drilled for a 3/4" drain to the sump and be sort of slow flow. I have a 10watt 6500K mini CFL lamp in a 12" hood for it.
Ok, on to the nitty gritty. I had all the plumbing and all that mocked up the other day when I noticed the drain had a small leak in the bulkhead. Silly me tried to teflon tape it and crank the nut down which resulted in it breaking. The new bulkhead won't be here until late next week. So, I am sort of stuck until then.
On a more minor note, I made an eggrate top for the display tank.
On the list of things to do, I still need to paint the back of the DT black, and get the plumbing taken care of once the bulkhead gets here. After that, it is going to be flooded and everything else will get taken care of while it is up and running.
To do list:
Drill and plumb fuge
Purchase skimmer
DIY LED fixture for DT
Set up ATO system
Paint back of DT
Glue plumbing
Purchase Hydor Koralia Nano powerhead(s)
Purchase Mag 3 return pump
After all of that, I should be good to go. This is going to take a while though. The good thing is this, I don't really have to get any more live rock though.
My original 10 gallon is stacked with it.
That is all for now. I know this post was a bit all over the place, but I hope you get the idea so far.
It is a 10 gallon tank with about 12 lbs of LR in it. It has a 170 GPH powerhead in it that is going to be replaced with an AC110 fuge and smaller power head in the future. Right now, the lighting is 2 10 watt 6500K CFL bulbs in a dual incandescent hood. They will be replaced with 50/50 bulbs soon. Then I can think about some more powerful lighting. I got 1.5 lbs of live rock, and 12.5 lbs of dry rock, so this tank is going to sit for a while while it all spreads. I am also going to add a sand bed. That will be soon as well.
That's all for now.
That is where I started. Now this is where I am.
I have been a busy dude. I got an awesome deal on a 15 gallon tank that is drilled for a 1" drain and 3/4" return with a stand, 10 gallon sump, return pump, and bunch of live rock. I jumped on it. Once I got it I set it up and ran it. The plumbing was not pretty but functional. I decided to change it. The 10 gallon sump was not modded in any way, so I decided to change that too. I also modded the stand so the entire back of it would be open.
I also decided I didn't have enough room in the sump for a fuge, so I am going to pipe in a 2.5 gallon tank to do that.
Ok, down to the details.
I split the sump into two sections.
On the left is the 3" pvc rock rubble stack where the water will enter the sump. It is on an eggcrate riser so the water will flow out of the bottom and blow any detritis out.
The first section of the sump is going to be jammed with live rock and later a skimmer. Probably going to be a Coralife Super Skimmer rated for a 65 gallon tank.
The second part of the sump is the return. Right now I have a return filter from a BioCube 29 but am going to replace it with a Mag Drive 3 in the near future.
The return is 3/4" pvc and the drain is 1" pvc. The drain is going to be split so I can drain into the 2.5 gallon fuge and the sump.
The drain to the fuge is 3/4" with a valve on it so I can shut it down.
The fuge is going to be drilled for a 3/4" drain to the sump and be sort of slow flow. I have a 10watt 6500K mini CFL lamp in a 12" hood for it.
Ok, on to the nitty gritty. I had all the plumbing and all that mocked up the other day when I noticed the drain had a small leak in the bulkhead. Silly me tried to teflon tape it and crank the nut down which resulted in it breaking. The new bulkhead won't be here until late next week. So, I am sort of stuck until then.
On a more minor note, I made an eggrate top for the display tank.
On the list of things to do, I still need to paint the back of the DT black, and get the plumbing taken care of once the bulkhead gets here. After that, it is going to be flooded and everything else will get taken care of while it is up and running.
To do list:
Drill and plumb fuge
Purchase skimmer
DIY LED fixture for DT
Set up ATO system
Paint back of DT
Glue plumbing
Purchase Hydor Koralia Nano powerhead(s)
Purchase Mag 3 return pump
After all of that, I should be good to go. This is going to take a while though. The good thing is this, I don't really have to get any more live rock though.
My original 10 gallon is stacked with it.
That is all for now. I know this post was a bit all over the place, but I hope you get the idea so far.
