new guy needs help with 180aga reef

[Rich52]

Hi all
i am a new member.
i was born in somervill mass and moved all over boston i am now in RI ,Portsmouth next to newport, i have been in to reefs way back and times have change so much ill call my self a new guy to it.
I am seting up a 180 aga with two overflows and i have a Aqua Medic Ocean Light that came wit 3 250 W MH and 4 39W t5s i was going to buy a Precision
Marine Protein Skimmer bullet 2 with a sedra 12000 pump , i was also going to buy a Mag 24 for my return, i have a 40gal breeder tank for my sump and plain on putting a refugium in my sump with glass deviders in it and two Tunze streems with controlers on them, i got the AGA Kits for the over flow and
i my want to go with a pump out side of the sump rather then the Mag 24.
does any body have any pictures of how the plumbing goes realy dont have a clue on plumbing, i am just looking for a simple set up on the plumbing.
any help would be grate.
Thanks and have a grate day.

RICH.

 

[Moe_K]

Hi Rich,
Welcome to the BRS.
One suggestion I have is to improve on that skimmer.
I'd go with a EuroReef, or with the cheaper knockoff: the ASM skimmers.

Nice lights, Rich, I'm sure they'll treat you well.

 

[hans1976]

Rich,

Where are you getting that light? Sounds like something I am interested in?

 

[NateHanson]

Hi Rich, Welcome back to the hobby.

In thinking about your return pump you should also do some planning for the rest of the flow in your tank. Will you supplement with powerheads, closed loop pump, tunze streams, etc? That will have an impact on your pump choice. Is the return pump going under the tank? (that'll require a quieter external pump). I agree with choosing an external pump. In general they're more reliable and won't add as much heat. It's also easier to get one that's strong enough to power an eductor/penductor nozzle on your return (I'm a big fan of these).

Good luck!
Nate

 

[johnny]

welcome back and good luck

 

[NeO]

Hi Rich,

Inland Reef ( The store is closed now) has some pic. of plumbing a dual overflow tank.

http://www.inlandreef.com/Images/DIY/Plumbing/plumbing_dual.gif

 

[mdp01776]

Precision Marine Protein Skimmer bullet 2 is a pretty good skimmer. With that said i would bump up to the next size. Bullet 3. Most manufacturers tend to over rate their product.

If you go with a needle wheel style like Euro-reef or ASM go bigger than manufacturer suggestions

FYI
I run an ASM G-4X on my system. 170 total gal.

 

[Rich52]

HEY GUY
I got it right from Aqua Medic, a lot of people sell them like CORAL REEF AQUAIUM in Seekonk mass his web site is www.inverts.com if you go on line and put the name in a lot of sites sell them.
Thanks and i hope this helps.

Rich

 

[Rich52]

Hi
And thanks for the welcome.
i am going to put two tunzes 6100 and i am looking at exturnal pumps just trying to find a good one , thanks for the help and have a grate day.


Rich

 

[Rich52]

HEY GUY
Thanks for the welcome and have a grate day.

Rich.

 

[starrfish]

Hi Rich, welcome to the BRS! Here's a good article from RC on sumps - there might be some tidbits on how to plumb them in there:

http://www.melevsreef.com/what_sump.html

Good luck.

Daire

 

[MickyB]

I can't take it anymore and have to know whats up with Grate...HA...
Welcome After you go with a sump you never go Back. It's not as bad as it seems..

 

[Rich52]

Grate

HEY MICKYB
LOOKS LIKE I AM NOT PERFECT.
I just misspell GRATE and ment to spell Great day.
Ihope this helps.

Rich

 

[Moe_K]

Mike was only kidding, Rich. Don't take it personally.
Ask anyone who's met MickyB - he's a nice guy. It's hard to communicate tone of voice on the internet. Everyone misspells something once in a while. Talk to Casey (clamm). I still don't think he's figured out how to spell "sponsor."

 

[MickyB]

Sorry Rich didn't mean anything by it...

 

[jacqur]

Hi Rich,

Welcome to the BRS.

I agree with previous posts - You would be better off going with an external pump for both heat dissapation and noise. Dolphin is the vendor I use but lot's of other good quality products out there. Sequence is another that comes to mind.

This is a great opportunity to start off right and capitalize on the experience/mistakes of others. I suggest planning on more flow than you think you will need and then you have capacity when you want it. If you already have the Tunze's then great. If not you may consider a larger pump like ~ 3000 gph @ 6' and use an Ocean Motion device to plumb 4 or 8 returns. That's how I run my system. This will involve enlarging the comb teeth on the overflows to accomodate increased flow. Another option is 2 pumps (1 a return from the sump at around 1000 gph and another as a closed loop.) Simple concept that a lot of reefers are using if you are starting from scratch it is easy. You just drill one or two additional intakes in the back or bottom of your tank and pipe them directly to the pump intake. The return then goes back to the tank via an array of nozzles or an Ocean Morion, or Sea swirl device. This is a great way to set-up a large tank because you get a ton of flow without dependence on the built in overflows. No overflow potential. Result is quieter and a redundancy in the system with 2 pumps.

Anyway - I'm in central Ma and have experience with plumbing and such. If you would like a hand when you are ready to tackle the job, I wouldn't mind helping out on a weekend day. I don't work for free but we could negotiate a fair rate - say a 6 pack of Miller lite?


Rob

 

[theLIQUIDzoo]

hey...i'm from middletown!

got my start with aquidneck aquarium (on west main road) advice back in the day.
went there recently and it was sorta lame.