New tank questions

Barcochris

Barcochris

Active Member
I have a had a 125 gallon tank running for a while. Well it is just a touch to big for my house. So I am setting up my first brand new tank (others were bought used) Let me lay out my plan the ask my question. I have a 90 Gallon tall Tank that is reef ready. I drilled the back glass for two 1 inch bulkheads for a closed loop this week end. The return for the closed loop will be a Little giant pump that pushes 1100 GPH that will go to two sea swirls. I made a stand pipe for the over flow of the tank and the return pump for the tank is again a little giant that pushes 800 gph. All pumps and skimmer will be in a cabinet in the garage(shares a wall with the tank) I am excited about this because I am setting it up just how I want. the Chiller will remain in the house. the Lights will be 2 250W MH with 14K reef optics bulbs. with 2 96W actinic PC bulbs.


I have two questions.

First is I need some parts from my existing tank to set up the new tank. l Need to transfer the sump and pump. can I put my animals in a plastic cooler with a air stone and power heads for a week while I get the new tank set up? Should I transfer as much water as i can or start fresh. I am worried about the cycle before I put my animals in.

Second is my top off system. I am going to be running a RO/DI into a 30 gallon trash can. from there i want o place a pump that will top off the tank via a Tsunami top off system. My question is a pump. what do I use. I thought about drilling the bottom of the garbage can for a in-line pump but I know the weight of the water will push past the pump and just keep flowing. Second I thought of like a mag 3 pump and drop it in the water but I think when the pump shuts off the water will continue to siphon. what have you all used and am I thinking correct?
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Wow! That's unusual in it's a "Down-grade" but I have to say I respect what you're doing and why :) Good work researching before hand.

A) Are you sure you want to keep the chiller IN the house? The exhaust from them can significantly raise the room temp which increases tank temp which puts more work load on the chiller which raises room temp which raises tank temp (see where I'm going with this ?). A remote application usually works MUCH better and is more "Green".

B) Fish in a cooler for a week? Hmmm I don't know about that one.. a day or so maybe.. .a week? Whew that's really pushing it and I honestly don't know. Hopefully someone else will have some experience there.

C) I'd transfer maybe 50% of the water but consider it more of a LARGE water change. Some people like to use as much as they can to "Boost the Cycle" but in reality very little of the bacteria is suspended IN the water. Some think you can "stir the sand" to get the bacteria suspended but then you're just adding JUNK to a new tank.

D) You are smart and RIGHT to worry about the cycle. It will happen so learn about it and play for it.

E) For ATO pump I'm using a MJ600 but it's not very powerful and may not have enough to push the water HIGH. It all depends on how high your going from ATO tank to sump. In order to "Break Siphon" place at least one small hole in the ATO fill line inside the ATO tank. That should break a siphon because it WILL happen... trust me on that one.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out. We LOVE pics :)
 
Barcochris

Barcochris

Active Member
The reason the chiller stays in the house insted of going to the garage is simple. It is to hot in the garage in arizona in the summer.. I think I can only count on my chiller dropeing my temp 10 degrees below ambient temp. So if it is 120 in the garage it is going to be an issue. the litte cab that i am putting the pumps in is going to have a thermo electric cooler in. so it will not be an issue with those. and the water is there for such a small time I will be ok.
 
BigJay

BigJay

Well-Known Member
why not just cap your sump line and run a powerhead in the tank. It would be a much better chance that things will survive.
 
Barcochris

Barcochris

Active Member
Not a bad idea.. I do need to pull the tank out to get to the sump but i think I could do that. that is a real good idea.
 
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