New 125 Gallon Reef Tank

cmj25 · 07/04/2006, 01:42 AM

I wanted to share my plans regarding a new reef tank that I will be setting up. Iâ€™m not exactly new to this hobby, but I still feel that I need a lot of advice before upgrading my reef aquarium from a 40 gallon to a 125 gallon. I haven't spent any money yet and I wanted to run my ideas around and get feedback on how to improve my plans, or whether or not they will work at all. The tank will be a 125 gallon acrylic tank that I will be drilling myself. The dimensions of the tank will be 72" x 18" x 20". I would eventually like to house SPS and LPS corals. My main concern about the drilling is whether or not I will be drilling too many holes and compromise the structural integrity of the tank.
I will be using two overflow towers in the back corners of the tank. These two towers will be 7" x 7" (custom made from wetdryfilter.com). I asked the folks at wetdryfilter.com about the smallest dimensions they would suggest the overflow towers be (with a total gph of approx. 2700), and they said at least 8â€ x 10â€. Is this fairly accurate? I wanted to use 7â€ x 7â€ just to save some real estate, but if I need to go bigger, I definitely will. Inside the two towers will be 3" holes for 2" bulkheads leading to the 60 gallon sump. The 3" holes will be 2.5" from the back and side walls. So these are the first holes I want to drill (in the bottom).
Next I want to drill four holes evenly spaced across the upper back wall. The holes will be spread about 16-17" on center and they will be 2 5/8" diameter for 1.5" return. These holes will be 2 5/8" from the top of the tank. The return line will use a Dolphin Ampmaster 2700 and will use the four holes/bulkheads for outlet into the tank. I want the quietest yet most powerful pump possible. So the Ampmaster outlet is 1.5", which brings me to another question. Should I increase the pipe size coming out of the Ampmaster, and then downsize at the return into the tank, or should I just use 1.5" all the way up? So from the Reef Central calculator, I figured to have approx. 2097 gph flowing into the tank from the Ampmaster.
The next set of holes that I'd like to drill will be for a closed loop under the upper return line. Obviously, one of my main goals is to provide adequate circulation. These two holes will go vertically down the center of the tank. They will both 1 7/8" for 1" bulkheads. The bottom hole that you see in the drawing is for pump intake. The second upper hole will be plumbed with a spray bar to spread flow behind the rocks and help eliminate dead spots. The lower hole will be about 5" from the tank bottom (2" sandbed) and the upper hole approx. 2" above the lower one. For the intake side of the pump I was thinking of getting a check union valve (marine depot) right before the pump itself. Would this be necessary? Also, I'm not quite sure what pump I'd want to use for the closed loop. My goal for it is to get another 700-800 gph of flow at the bottom of the tank to give me that total flow of approx 2700-2800 gph. It is my understanding that the 2" overflows can handle this easily. Am I correct? Any suggestions for a quiet pump to run this closed loop?
This pretty much sums up my initial drilling and plumbing setup plan. Again, my goal is to create adequate flow from the start, but without compromising the structural integrity of the acrylic tank. Is this a workable design or is there some way I can improve it? Would this be too many holes to drill? I would greatly appreciate any feedback/advice that can be offered. Thanks a lot!

Cue J

silverwolf72 · 07/04/2006, 01:59 AM

for the closed loop that I'm planing on using a sequence dart which I've heard really good things about. Just woundering why you would want to run 2700 GPH threw your sump. I'm still setting mine up so I'm no expert by far but that seems like alot from what I've pertty much read you should have about 2x to 3x threw the sump. Stay with the same size pipping from the pump as far as you can before reducing it also you will not get any more flow from going larger than the output size of the pump. Check valves arn't needed on a closed loop but make sure you use ball valves so that you can remove the pump for servicing.

07/04/2006, 01:42 AM	#1
cmj25 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 1	New 125 Gallon Reef Tank I wanted to share my plans regarding a new reef tank that I will be setting up. Iâ€™m not exactly new to this hobby, but I still feel that I need a lot of advice before upgrading my reef aquarium from a 40 gallon to a 125 gallon. I haven't spent any money yet and I wanted to run my ideas around and get feedback on how to improve my plans, or whether or not they will work at all. The tank will be a 125 gallon acrylic tank that I will be drilling myself. The dimensions of the tank will be 72" x 18" x 20". I would eventually like to house SPS and LPS corals. My main concern about the drilling is whether or not I will be drilling too many holes and compromise the structural integrity of the tank. I will be using two overflow towers in the back corners of the tank. These two towers will be 7" x 7" (custom made from wetdryfilter.com). I asked the folks at wetdryfilter.com about the smallest dimensions they would suggest the overflow towers be (with a total gph of approx. 2700), and they said at least 8â€ x 10â€. Is this fairly accurate? I wanted to use 7â€ x 7â€ just to save some real estate, but if I need to go bigger, I definitely will. Inside the two towers will be 3" holes for 2" bulkheads leading to the 60 gallon sump. The 3" holes will be 2.5" from the back and side walls. So these are the first holes I want to drill (in the bottom). Next I want to drill four holes evenly spaced across the upper back wall. The holes will be spread about 16-17" on center and they will be 2 5/8" diameter for 1.5" return. These holes will be 2 5/8" from the top of the tank. The return line will use a Dolphin Ampmaster 2700 and will use the four holes/bulkheads for outlet into the tank. I want the quietest yet most powerful pump possible. So the Ampmaster outlet is 1.5", which brings me to another question. Should I increase the pipe size coming out of the Ampmaster, and then downsize at the return into the tank, or should I just use 1.5" all the way up? So from the Reef Central calculator, I figured to have approx. 2097 gph flowing into the tank from the Ampmaster. The next set of holes that I'd like to drill will be for a closed loop under the upper return line. Obviously, one of my main goals is to provide adequate circulation. These two holes will go vertically down the center of the tank. They will both 1 7/8" for 1" bulkheads. The bottom hole that you see in the drawing is for pump intake. The second upper hole will be plumbed with a spray bar to spread flow behind the rocks and help eliminate dead spots. The lower hole will be about 5" from the tank bottom (2" sandbed) and the upper hole approx. 2" above the lower one. For the intake side of the pump I was thinking of getting a check union valve (marine depot) right before the pump itself. Would this be necessary? Also, I'm not quite sure what pump I'd want to use for the closed loop. My goal for it is to get another 700-800 gph of flow at the bottom of the tank to give me that total flow of approx 2700-2800 gph. It is my understanding that the 2" overflows can handle this easily. Am I correct? Any suggestions for a quiet pump to run this closed loop? This pretty much sums up my initial drilling and plumbing setup plan. Again, my goal is to create adequate flow from the start, but without compromising the structural integrity of the acrylic tank. Is this a workable design or is there some way I can improve it? Would this be too many holes to drill? I would greatly appreciate any feedback/advice that can be offered. Thanks a lot! Cue J

07/04/2006, 01:59 AM	#2
silverwolf72 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Lake Forrest CA Posts: 1,732	for the closed loop that I'm planing on using a sequence dart which I've heard really good things about. Just woundering why you would want to run 2700 GPH threw your sump. I'm still setting mine up so I'm no expert by far but that seems like alot from what I've pertty much read you should have about 2x to 3x threw the sump. Stay with the same size pipping from the pump as far as you can before reducing it also you will not get any more flow from going larger than the output size of the pump. Check valves arn't needed on a closed loop but make sure you use ball valves so that you can remove the pump for servicing.