Atomikk's 65 Reef

[Atomikk]

Ok Folks!! I have been lurking for a while now and have finally jumped ship. I have been fishkeeping for about 5 years. Recently I have been keeping, and successfully breeding, african hap cichlids. I always wanted to get into SW, but didnt have the knowledge and the will.

I finally caved and started building my 'begginner' tank. Its a 65 gal tank, with custom modifications for an overflow chamber. I dont have the exact dimentions, but I know its 36" long and at least 25" deep. I wanted to start small, like a nano cube, but I figured the expences are a tiny bit smaller. Why go for a 20 gal, when you can have 65 for a bit more moolah. Plus, I always wanted to keep angels.. so we will see.

I started this thread because I saw someone else do it to illustrate their trials and turbulations with their tank.

With the first post I will show you what I have bought for my tank.

1)

Mag 7 (700gph) Sump Return Pump

2)

HOB Refugium (I think its either 5 or 10 gals)

3)

Overflow Kit for my tank. I didnt feel like fiddling with sizes of PVCs, so I bought a kit. It has everything I need for the overflow. Also in that pic is a powerhead. I am going to use to pump aquarium water into my refugium.


That is it for now. Next week or two I will add more things, like a sump, skimmer, sump plumbing, and eventually lights. I want lights last since I want them to be the best.

I will keep everyone updated weekly or even daily on my shortcomings, or accomplishments. If you have any comments on my setup design, I will welcome them with answers.

[Atomikk]

Ok, I am back folks. Gone to Mexico and back. I will post some pics from mexico.

But first, I got my 65 gal deep tank. Its 36"x18"x24", so its 18 inches deep, the way I like it! I got a custom built overflow chamber with two drain holes (1", and 2"). Actually this chamber is really nice. There are three drain areas in the chamber. The chamber consists of two sections, area where the water initially drains into, and the area with the tubing (I will show you all in the pics). Its a good system in that it helps a safe circulation of water throughout the system (tank and sump). If there are any problems with the sump pump, the first area will fill up and will keep filling up until the water level in the tank is slightly lower than the highest overflow section. Then it will simply stop draining water from the tank.

Here is the all glass tank..


The overflow chamber..


And the overflow sections (three, top middle and bottom)...
..

[lessans]

Hey, dude I have the exact same tank you have. AGA w/ Mega Flow, same dimensions. I bought mine on Saturday and the guy from the lfs delivered it b/c the stand wouldn't fit in either of my parents' cars so I just had him deliver the tank w/ the stand at same time. If you bought a 12 or so gallon sump I would buy a Mag 9.5 which I will do, making the total volume at 77 gallons, so the total volume would be able to be cycled through the pump a little over 12 times per hour. With a Mag 7 it would only get cycled through the pump at a little over 9 times per hour. I suggest having it pumped at least 10 times per hour, but that's just me. The main reason I bought mine w/ the Mega Flow was so all the filtration would be hidden considering that when I walk into my basement and would look left I would see all the ugly equipment if it were HOB. I'm buying most of my stuff from www.marinedepot.com except for a few odds 'n' ends. What skimmer do you plan to buy, btw? I've decided on the Coralife Super Skimmer suitable up to 65 gal ( orginally wanted 125 gal version but won't fit under the stand). The lfs said they have it on their 46 gal hex stretch( the 65 gal version) and it takes about a week to fill up and the skimmate is pretty dark and thick...YUCK!!! I trust their judgement pretty well for they are a high quality Marine fish specialty store est.1995. There's a small staff there so you get to know them after a while. It's nice. Keep us posted and I'll do the same with mine; I haven't even ordered the equipment yet, but will be done tomorrow afternoon.

[Maker]

Coupla' quick things... I've been looking at that tank myself lately. I think it's a great small/large size.

What type of HOB refugium is that out of curiousity? And why did you decide to use it? The reason I ask is that with a 36" by 18" footprint of tank and stand you have plenty room below the tank to fit a pretty decent size combined sump and refugium. Is your skimmer and other equip. in the sump gonna take up so much room as to preclude a undertank 'fuge?

Also, I'm with the previous poster. If the return pump from your sump is going to be the only tank circulation then I think a 9.5 from what I have read (not experienced) might be a better choice. Maybe on a SWCD or other form of alternating current.

Can't wait to see how this tank turns out for you. If I look at enough of these 65g AGA Megaflow threads I might just have to pull the trigger...

Ted

[Atomikk]

Hi guys, thanks for your posts.

I didnt buy mu sump because I dont know how big I want it to be. I am thinking 20-30 gals making my volume close to 100gals. I think a mag 7 will be sufficient enough for a return pump. I have 2" return pvc so it requires at least 700 gph (which I have). If I need to upgrade eventually I will. Also I plan on having either a wavemaker, or two or more alternating currents. I was just in mexico and relaized that it is necessary that back and forth motions of the water are being made.

As for the HOB refugium, I wanted it to be a fuge that is not connected to the return pump. My philosophy on that is if you have a fuge that is linked with the main return pump, the microrganisms die off when sent back into the tank with such pressure. I want everything that grows from the fuge to drain into the main tank. I feel that it will be more efficient in that way.

Honestly, I didnt know much about these overflow AGA systems until yesterday. It blew my mind how efficient it can really get. I will keep you guys posted on how the tank stand comes along. I have to figure out how to run the pipes through the top of the stand.

[lessans]

I just called my lfs and the guy said if you have a Mag 9.5( which I recommended earlier) you run the risk of overflowing the tank so what you had in mind( the Mag 7) is actually better in our case so I've changed my mind and decided to get the Mag 7.

[Atomikk]

Good. That is what I thought earlier. I would pump as much as it trickles/flows into the sump.

[mpcart]

I have an Oceanic with the mega-flow overflow (same as yours, I think) and my Mag 9.5 works fine. These overflows can handle more than the 600gph advertised. I have my 9.5 teed of back into the fuge with a ball valve so i can adjust the flow.

-Mike

[mrreuben]

keep the pics up. I would love to see how its coming along since im going to be buying the same tank in about a week or 2. I already built the stand. just waiting for enough cash to build up for the tank.
Hey MPCART what kind of livestock do you have in your tank under those lights? i am still deciding what type of lighting to buy, so maybe i could have a better idea with your input.

[Chuck H.]

Nice 65 AGA Reef Ready Thread! I've had mine set-up since Jan'04 and couldn't be happier (unless I had more money to buy more corals to put in it!). I have a Mag 9.5 return that I have a ball valve on. I periodically open it all the way just to shake things up a bit and the overflow handles the water volume fine. I've had two different skimmers on it, a Euro Reef ES5-2 in my 20L sump and an AquaC Remora hanging on the back (which I'm currently using becuase the maintenance is a tad easier, the inside of my cabinet is a little cramped and doing anything more than emptying the skimmer cup was a pain in the butt with the Euro.) I'd recommend the Remora. You can see the other hardware I have in my signature. Good luck!

[Atomikk]

Next thing for me is to pick up my stand, to drill holes into the top of that stand, and to figure out my sump. I might either buy a pre-made Berlin sump, or just convert a small tank into a sump (just got to cut and glue baffles then). I will post pics tomorrow of the stand, I should have it done.

[Atomikk]

Hey Chuck, is that a HOB Refugium on the one side? I think you have set it up the way I am going to. How is it working for you?

[mrreuben]

depending on what you want to do with the sump, i would make one out of a 29 gallon tank. it will probaly only run 50 dollars with the partitions and all. and use an internal pump

[mrreuben]

here is what i had in mind for the sump using a 29 gal and some glass partitions.

[Atomikk]

Interesting design mrreuben. I will probably have the drain pvc dump all tank water through a filtration system of sponge, carbon. Then I will have it go into another section where I can skim the water. From there it will get into the last section where it will be returned back into the tank.

[mpcart]

Originally posted by mrreuben

Hey MPCART what kind of livestock do you have in your tank under those lights? i am still deciding what type of lighting to buy, so maybe i could have a better idea with your input.

The tank is only 4 months old so just a bunch of LPS (brains, frogspawn, candy cane, plate coral) and softies (xenia, rics, mushrooms, and zoa's). I don't really plan on SPS but there seem to be a lot of people keeping them under T5's.

-Mike

[mpcart]

Originally posted by mrreuben



here is what i had in mind for the sump using a 29 gal and some glass partitions.

That's the same basic design, minus the filter, that I had on my 20L. I used acrylic for the partition until the bottom of the tank cracked and caused a flood. I think I'm going to switch to a 29.




-Mike

[Chuck H.]

Atomikk,

My 'fuge is a CPR Aquafuge - 12". I'm doubtful it does much as far a filtration is concerned (I have Chaeto. algae growing like mad, but I don't think it is enough to "filter" out much in the way of nutrients) since it is only approx. 4 gallons in capacity. However, it has proven excellent for propogating 'pods, which are all over the place. Plus it provides a bit of light to the main tank for nightime viewing pleasure!

Chuck

[Atomikk]

Ok got my stand today. The top of the stand is cut out, which freaked me out but was assured that its built to withstand anything. Here is what I mean.





I do feel like I should add a mid brace for more strenght.

We will see...

Now off to design my sump. The LFS here in Toronto was going to charge 499$ for a 30 gal sump..... SO I am going to build one myself.

[Atomikk]

Was looking online for some Berlin type sumps. Would anyone recommend this one?

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium...ump.asp?CartId=

[Phyxius]

Have a 65 gal here too. I did use a 20L for a sump that houses a CS6-1 ER, center refugium and a mag 9.5 for a return with a T feeding a chiller also that returns to the tank. The flow with a 9.5 is fine for me this way and may go with a 12 due to all the T`s. The way you have yours set up a 9.5 with a by pass will work great. I had a Mag 7 on it and with the head loss from it the return flow wasn`t as strong to the tank.

A 20L and Acrylic here in the US ran me about 60.00 total so it was pretty cheap I can post pics later if you want.
I also custom built a canopy to house 2- 250watt MH with actinic T5`s for supplement for pretty cheap also.

Also your stand with a 36" span should be fine with that stand. If it was a 90 I WOULD brace the center.

[Atomikk]

Thanks Mike.

I dont have the time (or room in my house/apt) to build a sump from scratch. If someone has a good tutorial on how to convert an old aquarium into a sump, by all means post the link here.

I was thinking of the easy way and spend the extra dough to get a decent sump..

what about something like this?
http://www.championlighting.com/prod...cat=395&page=1

[Phyxius]

That would work but if you put a fuge in their also in the future you would need a taller baffle in it. Using the HOB fuge you have now would be fine for it then.
Making your own takes up no more space than the kitchen table for a day. It makes it alot easier if you can have the baffles pre cut for you in glass or acrylic and then just glue them in place.

I made a 20H first but needed more room for my skimmer. I made it to fit a smaller skimmer and then bought a larger skimmer . The 20L was the second one I did and its pretty easy and will save you lots in the process. You could put the extra money into lights or etc.. Just make sure you plan ahead for the future and it will save you $$$ in the process. Here is a site that may help with questions on sump and how to build it for what you need. Just look under sump sections:
http://www.melevsreef.com/

Heres my 20H and never used it:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...39__Small_.JPG

Heres my 20L I did a few months ago: Using the mag7
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...uge_Small_.JPG

And here it is now: using the Mag 9.5. You can see the 90 degree angle thats robbing lots of flow back to the tank so I`m going with a Mag 12 to return and run chiller
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...27__Small_.JPG

[Atomikk]

Hmm, the more I am thinking about it, the more I am leaning towards converting a fish tank into a sump. Probably do a 30"x20"x14" or something as close as that.

[SaltyMember]

Good thread! I just finished upgrading from my 29g to a 65g AGA RR this weekend. I also used a 20g long tank as my sump with acrylic baffels. It seems to be working well so far.
I also used a mag 7 for my return pump. I plumbed it with 3/4inch tubing with a ball vavle on it and I am getting good flow since there are no turns in the plumbing. With head pressure I figure I am getting 500gph flow into the tank. I think this is plenty since the water entering my sump is pretty strong, turbulent and pretty noisy. I am still tweaking the drain plumbing to make it more quiet. I will try to post pics of my setup later tonight.