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Freaking out about having to plumb my soon to be new set up!

Joined
Oct 2, 2009
Messages
1,462
Ok so the heading says it all... I freak out about plumbing a new tank. I am getting my very first reef ready tank in a few days and the thought of plumbing it horrifies me beyond the capacity of rational speech. Helpful hints or suggestions would be great.


Also.... I want to convert my 55 gallon into a sump/refugium for my new tank but I am not sure how to bond glass and acrylic... Anyone care to tell me what to use?

Thank you in advance!
 
What are you trying to glue together for your fuge/sump? Are you wanting to set up partitions? Aquarium silicone (always use silicone marked aquarium as it is vinegar based, non-aquarium is ammonia based) works well for supporting acrylic vertacally on glass. Where we have used it we coated both sides of the each of the three acrylic edges that touch the glass and it held up for years.

Since your new tank is "reef ready" will it be predrilled? Sometimes that only means the overflows are in place but the holes are not drilled. Not predrilling gives the option of side or bottom holes. Does it have two overflows? If so, will you bring them together to have a single flow into the fuge?
 
plumb_it.jpg


This is how I want to set up and plumb my new set up. I know the tank will have one overflow and return drilled but I may set up a second one. Just depends on how brave I feel lol. I worry so much about making mistakes. I dont have a lot of money to correct these mistakes if they are made. Plus I tend to get frustrated and discouraged easily since I am not the best at these things. Tell me what you think of the set up. Also will a standard 55 tank fit inside a 75 gallon stand?
 
The drawing looks good. that is a very common style of sump to use.

what are the dimensions of the 55 you want to use as a sump? It may be too big to fit under the 75, but it depends on what dimensions the two tanks are.
 
LOL, we had the same issue with doing a sump for Monty's larger tank. Initially I was going to put it on a desk but the leg opening would not house my 25 gallon so when the donated tank came with a roomy donated stand we expected it to work until we measured and found that the 25 is too tall. It would just fit if you never needed to get into it but even then the skimmer would have to be outside. It looks like we are stuck with a using a 10 unless I can find a low (breeder) 15, really really cheaply.
 
Have any of you ordered or used glasscage.com? I was looking into their stands and canopies as I already have my tank ordered... (Kinda heard bad things about their tanks a while back) Plus they do custom work ALL the time so its cheaper for the most part than buying an all glass (oceanic) stand and canopy. I might could have them make the stand maybe an inch or two longer so it would accommodate the 55. Since I am only getting a 75 gallon I would really like the extra water volume that comes with using the 55 plus I have a REALLY large skimmer and have trouble with it fitting my sump currently... I would really rather avoid this problem once I upgrade.
 
dwhatley;163384 said:
LOL, we had the same issue with doing a sump for Monty's larger tank. Initially I was going to put it on a desk but the leg opening would not house my 25 gallon so when the donated tank came with a roomy donated stand we expected it to work until we measured and found that the 25 is too tall. It would just fit if you never needed to get into it but even then the skimmer would have to be outside. It looks like we are stuck with a using a 10 unless I can find a low (breeder) 15, really really cheaply.


I hate when that happens. When I was upgrading my skimmer I had to have the top of my current sump cut because it wouldn't fit in there. I was going to switch out the stand and then realized that the stand was to short to fit the skimmer... IT SUCKED! lol. My husband wasn't to happy about it either lol. Not to mention that this is all having to be brought up and down 2 flights of stairs! No, he really wasnt pleased. LOL
 
Better to have 1/4" glass cut for your baffles. Have them cut 1/8" shy of your sump's inside width - the silicone will fill gap and adhere.

I've built several sumps. I usually wait until I actually have the return pump and skimmer before placing baffles. Skimmer can go on an eggcrate shelf to it's proper operating depth.

Make sure to leave enough reserve volume (space) to hold the water that will drain into sump when power goes off.

I like this simple plan - sized for whatever purpose:
http://www.clubswam.org/forum/index.php?topic=17.0

In the first "photograph" not image... I would run the water level in the return pumps chamber higher as the water falling that far might cause air bubbles to get pumped up into the display. This is the chamber where your auto top off would go.


Hope this helps. Good luck!
 
sk252006;163387 said:
Have any of you ordered or used glasscage.com?
I bought my tank from glasscages.com three years ago. The tank is built very strong, with extra thick glass, etc, and the price was great. The precision and attention to detail was not so good IMO, even a little sloppy, and the people I had to work with when ordering and spec-ing out my tank were touchy and unprofessional (had a chip on their shoulder). If you don't require perfect looking seams, like the low price a lot, and don't trigger a crazy response from the person on the phone, then I think it's a good way to go.

However, their stands use the plywood walls to support the weight of the tank, and so they may not be able to build a stand that is larger than the footprint of the tank. Call them and ask them about it to find out for sure.
 
Joe-Ceph;163423 said:
I bought my tank from glasscages.com three years ago. The tank is built very strong, with extra thick glass, etc, and the price was great. The precision and attention to detail was not so good IMO, even a little sloppy, and the people I had to work with when ordering and spec-ing out my tank were touchy and unprofessional (had a chip on their shoulder). If you don't require perfect looking seams, like the low price a lot, and don't trigger a crazy response from the person on the phone, then I think it's a good way to go.

However, their stands use the plywood walls to support the weight of the tank, and so they may not be able to build a stand that is larger than the footprint of the tank. Call them and ask them about it to find out for sure.

I called them and they werent willing to over size the stand however they were willing to sell me one of there very own sumps lol. not really want I want. I can make a sump myself so I guess I will maybe keep looking... though the price of their stands and canopies are VERY interesting.
 
Glass Cages stands are really nice. I would consider finding another tank to use as a sump, and go ahead and buy a GlassCages.com stand. One thing to think about is that since the walls of the stand support the weight, and there is no internal frame, the door is small, and may limit the size of the sump that you can put under there. Sure you could put the stand over/on top of a sump that is too large to go through the door, but it will be trapped in there for life, so be aware of the door size restrictions before you order one.

A 21" tall sump will be a pain in the a-- unless the stand you get is 36" tall or more. Maybe you can find a used sump on Craigslist that is ready to go and will fit under most stands easily. Most are 16" tall. You can probably sell your 50 gallon tank for more than the cost of a good used sump; why struggle trying to make a tank do a sump's job.
 

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