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drakedeming

My future reef

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11 Comments
by
drakedeming
, 01-08-2010 at 11:50 AM (1196 Views)
Well being that I am a newbie to reefs but somewhat experienced at fish keeping( freshwater). So far I have decided on a 33 gallon long with a custom sump under it that should hold 30 more gallons. I am going to build the sump and stand myself. I received a kit for xmas from my mom that is 700 gph overflow. It is made by glass-holes.com. I can not wait to drill a hole into a piece of glass I paid good money for! Also I have a octopus skimmer rated for 200 gallons. I know this is overkill but I am a firm believer of doing something right the first time. I do not want some cheap skimmer that is going to not work well. I have been drawing up plans for the sump and will post them as soon as I have a definite idea of what I am doing. I also have an RO/DI unit from melev as well as a nice dual tds tester for ingoing and outgoing from the RO. Still need to set it up though.

Click image for larger version Name: skimmer.jpg Views: 168 Size: 120.6 KB ID: 321
Attached is a pic of my skimmer with my cat "Moo" behind it.

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Updated 01-09-2010 at 02:21 PM by melev

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‎ Tank Entry

Comments

  1. doomicon's Avatar
    Yikes drilling glass! Know alot of people who have done it, I've personally never had the "guts" to do it lol. Keep us posted on the progress.
  2. drakedeming's Avatar
    Yeah, it seems pretty scary. I do have some 10 gallons I can practice on though. Will post pics.

    Also I have a mag 7 return pump I forgot to mention in my post.
  3. VulcanRider's Avatar
    Just make sure you keep the drill bit wet. Here is a link to a good video about it.

    http://www.youtube.com/user/LimpitsR...24/CxnugJGiT3o
  4. Jamest's Avatar
    We just drilled a hole in a 10 gal tank and a small crack appeared below the hole. Since then 3 more cracks have appeared so not it will not work!! Good Luck!!
  5. melev's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Jamest
    We just drilled a hole in a 10 gal tank and a small crack appeared below the hole. Since then 3 more cracks have appeared so not it will not work!! Good Luck!!
    10g tanks are very thin, and they glass is exceedingly brittle. If the bulkhead was only hand-tightened you should be good. However, if you really doubt the aquarium will hold, it is probably smarter to err on the side of caution and get a new one.
  6. melev's Avatar
    I like your shiny new skimmer. However, 200g skimmer on a 33g tank won't work out too well in the long run, which you will discover. Just like me putting one of those massive RK2 skimmers on my 280g. The water rarely gets dirty enough for the skimmer to pull out anything. I'm not suggesting you downgrade the skimmer though - get a bigger tank! hehe

    Try it out and see how it works for you. I usually suggest oversizing it somewhat, but for the current tank you've mentioned, I'd be looking at a skimmer rated for 100g probably. Of course, you could overstock that tank and feed it like nuts, I suppose.
  7. doomicon's Avatar
    Have to agree with Marc, go bigger to match the skimmer :-)
  8. drakedeming's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by melev
    I like your shiny new skimmer. However, 200g skimmer on a 33g tank won't work out too well in the long run, which you will discover. Just like me putting one of those massive RK2 skimmers on my 280g. The water rarely gets dirty enough for the skimmer to pull out anything. I'm not suggesting you downgrade the skimmer though - get a bigger tank! hehe

    Try it out and see how it works for you. I usually suggest oversizing it somewhat, but for the current tank you've mentioned, I'd be looking at a skimmer rated for 100g probably. Of course, you could overstock that tank and feed it like nuts, I suppose.

    Would this be true even if I have a large sump capacity with an overstocked display? Also will the skimmer just not work well because there would not be enough waste or would it work fine but just be ridiculous overkill?
  9. melev's Avatar
    It just won't make the foam, usually. More dirty water is what a bigger skimmer needs, which is why you want to match the skimmer somewhat. If you had spent thousands on a huge Deltec rated for 500g, I would have told you the same.

    Try it out for yourself and let us know how it goes for you. I don't mean to be negative at all - forewarning you allows you to know what to look for.
  10. drakedeming's Avatar
    That makes sense now. I will prob get one rated for 100 gallons instead and save the 200 for my 125 gallon when I decide to set it up. This is all new to me and I am still learning though.
  11. melev's Avatar
    We've all been there, buying stuff twice or three times trying to get it right. Keep reading what others are doing and ask questions. That helps avoid unnecessary expenditures.

    A 200g-rated skimmer on a 125g tanks sounds like something I would do.