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I've recently acquired a 30 gallon long tank which appears to have possibly been used as a reef tank at sometime. It has been pre-drilled with a glassed in overflow in one of the upper rear corners.

I'm at a loss as to how you plumb this for a sump/refugium and then for the return.

As I would like to set this tank up in my office as a reef tank are there any good sites and/or books that will give me good detailed plumbing instructions.

Additionally, what would be a good lighting setup for this tank.

I didn't post this in Technical Tinkering as I felt it would get more specific help in this area.

Any information is greatly appreciated.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

OldTimer,

First off, do you have another tank to use as the sump/refugium?

A 30 gallon is pretty small to be drilled, but heck anything seems possible in this hobby.

First you need another container/tank to use as the sump. In order to plumb mine I just bought the AGA overflow kit, but I'm afraid those fittings will not fit your tank.

Is it possible to post a picture?

As for literature, Anthony Calfo's Book of Coral Propagation as well as the book Reef Invertebrates that he wrote with Robert Fenner are both good reads for helping with plumbing and start up in general.

Since I dont really "understand" your tank, it's hard for me to help much more, but I can tell you that you're going to have to figure out the drop rate of the water and get a pump suitable for the return line. If it helps, I can post a picture of the plumbing of my overflow.

DRO may be able to help you out a little more. It's one of those things that's easy to picture in your own head, but hard to share with others.

Sorry I wasn't much of a help.



[hr width='40%'][font color="#000080"]
If genies were real and wishes came true, I’d rub the bottle and be holding you,
I’d close my eyes, wish upon a star, open my eyes, and there you are…
[/font]

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Oops...completely missed the whole lighting part.

But the lighting completely depends on what you plan to keep.

Since you said it'll be a reef tank, I'd go with some sort of metal halide lighting. You could do a small pendant.

Other options could possible include VHO or something if you wanted to be limited to softies and LPS. If you're considering SPS and clams I wouldn't go with anything but MH.

The fixtures that I suggest depend on how much you're willing to spend. If you go to [link=Marine Depot's]http://www.marinedepot.com" style="COLOR: #3c4e82[/link] website, you can see some options. They've got some of the best selection matched with prices on the web.

HTH



[hr width='40%'][font color="#000080"]
If genies were real and wishes came true, I’d rub the bottle and be holding you,
I’d close my eyes, wish upon a star, open my eyes, and there you are…
[/font]

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Depending on the size and shape of the overflow you can use either a Stockman standpipe, or a Durso standpipe. If there isnt an overflow box, I would go with a Stockman standpipe just because of the way it is built.


[link=Stockman standpipe link]http://www.rl180reef.com/pages/standpipe/standpipe-ken_stockman.htm" style="COLOR: #FF0000[/link]


[link=Durso standpipe link]http://www.rl180reef.com/180/pages/standpipe/construct.htm" style="COLOR: #FF0000[/link]

Does that help you any?


[hr width='40%']I lay here in my bed and dream of you
Hoping you are dreaming of me too...
Someday the miles will be less and we will dream together
Your heart and mine Always and Forever...

Yes, it does help and I've found some additional info on some other sites. I'll also try to get a picture posted shortly to show the current setup. Thanks.

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

You dont have to go with metal hailides just because alot of the bigger tank use them and they get good results does not mean you need to go and spead $200-$300 on them. pc lighting or T5's will be very good on smaller tanks.

This pic that im posting is my friends tank its a 240l tank and he is useing t5's and this tank is only 4 months old.

he was told to get halides and not to use T5's but as you cab see his tank has got very good growth .



Last edited by Darryle at 02-May-2005 06:18

Here is the pic

Darryle attached this image:

Darryle,

Is that a twin or triple tube setup?

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Realy depends on what you want i mean tht tank is a combo of T5's and T8's

Was thinking a wee minute ago and yuo should go with three for more growth i would use
1 marine white
1 actinic
1 marine white

put them in this order and you should have good growth!

Let us know how it goes!