Building a new freshwater tank-> turning into saltwater l

[HaNs]

Im building a new tank for my freshwater Datnoids

I want to turn it into a saltwater tank next year

It will have 2x 150w metal halides

Plan on getting rid of my fx5 and building a huge sump and a over flow box

Tank will be 1.5m x .5 x .5

Will be making stand and lid out of ply and sealing it

Any thing else that im missing or need to change?

Should have plenty of room for a skimmer under there.

Size of sump?

Or tips would be good

[snookie]

whats going to happen to the dats ?? 8)

[HaNs]

whats going to happen to the dats ?? 8)

I have 4 soooo.... either a huge mofo tank or sell a few and get a smaller freshwater

Id say it would be the large tank option :-? as i think they are one of the best freshwater fish we have over here

But that will be next year hopefully, also depends on how fast they grow

May chuck them in my 220L native if the native doesnt work out this year and advance the marine plans

Getting a co2 bottle for the big tank 8)

70-100L sump? :lol:

[wasp]

Welcome to the club!

Any size sump is OK as long as it can fit the skimmer and all other equipment you want. A big sump is good as it provides more stability, and slower depletion of elements. But on the other hand the more water, the more electricity to keep it warm, although you may be able to design your way around that.

The two 150 watt halides would normally be considered at the low end of light requirements for a marine tank of that size, it would be restricting on what corals you could grow and where in the tank. A marine tank that size would normally have three halides, you could use 150 watt ones or 250 watt ones depending what kind of corals you will be having, and what k rating you will use for the bulbs. In addition you may choose to add some supplementary actinic (blue) light via flourescent tubes, although this is more to make the tank look nice than a necesity for the corals.

Other than that you would just need plenty of flow, liverock, and disconnect any aerobic filtration you may have such as cannisters, trickle filters, or whatever.

[HaNs]

Welcome to the club!

Any size sump is OK as long as it can fit the skimmer and all other equipment you want. A big sump is good as it provides more stability, and slower depletion of elements. But on the other hand the more water, the more electricity to keep it warm, although you may be able to design your way around that.

The two 150 watt halides would not normally be considered enough light for a marine tank of that size, it would be very restricting on what corals you could grow and where in the tank. A marine tank that size would normally have three halides, you could get away with 150 watt ones but three 250 watters would be a lot better. In addition you may choose to add some supplementary actinic (blue) light via flourescent tubes, although this is more to make the tank look nice than a necesity for the corals.

Other than that you would just need plenty of flow, liverock, and disconnect any aerobic filtration you may have such as cannisters, trickle filters, or whatever.

I use the sump in the fresh to get the bugs worked out

I can chuck another halide or 2 in there, 4 halides @ 150w to get good spread?

Ill insulate the base to retain heat and sound. Half the base used as a sump? 750mm long

Do most skimmers sit in the sumps or to the side?

Room for a Calcium reactor?

[wasp]

Actually I edited my previous post in regard to light requirements it might not be nessecary to have quite as much as i said first time. I was thinking of sps corals, but it depends pretty much on what corals you want. But what I edited it to would be more in line with a general tank that has the right light for a bit of all sorts of corals.

3 halides would be right for spread, and some flouro tubes give a bit more spread if you wish but not essential.

You can get hang on skimmers, or in sump ones, the hang on ones are more for smaller tanks so you will likely want to put the skimmer in the sump, the in sump ones are a bit cheaper also. Most calcium reactors can go either in or out of the sump just depending what suits.

[HaNs]

Actually I edited my previous post in regard to light requirements it might not be nessecary to have quite as much as i said first time. I was thinking of sps corals, but it depends pretty much on what corals you want. But what I edited it to would be more in line with a general tank that has the right light for a bit of all sorts of corals.

3 halides would be right for spread, and some flouro tubes give a bit more spread if you wish but not essential.

You can get hang on skimmers, or in sump ones, the hang on ones are more for smaller tanks so you will likely want to put the skimmer in the sump, the in sump ones are a bit cheaper also. Most calcium reactors can go either in or out of the sump just depending what suits.

Im thinking of suspending my lights so they are easy to get to and change/add more

Want to stay with one light source, halides

I may make the sump longer so i can get a good sized skimmer in there. Ill ask some more questions when i get around to making it. IE sizes of different parts of the sumps

I dont know that much about corals as yet, but i hope to learn before i set up my tank. Ill have a look at marine tank's to see what id like. I do LOVE the setup they have at Wonderworld in Rotorua(2m+ i think) and will pop into the shops in Auckland to have a look at more tanks. Any suggestions of what shops to go see for a perve?

[wasp]

Hollywood Fish Farm in Frost Rd, Mt Roskill is well worth a look. They have a very nice display tank, plus you can look how their sumps are set up, skimmers work, all that stuff.

Checking out the lighting of the display tank will give you a good idea what you might want, don't take too much notice of the lighting on the other tanks though it's OK to hold stuff for a while but not enough for long term.

[HaNs]

What specs should i be aiming for in a return pump?

What are good brands and how much will they set me back?

[davidb]

eheim 1260 seems pretty standard. I run 2 of them, one for skimmer one

for return. dunno new but find one second hand and it will be $80-100...

[HaNs]

So you need a external pump to pump water into the skimmers?

What material do people like to use for sumps?

[wasp]

Hi HaNs, check out the thread "Camnbrons Tank setup", that's a pretty good example of a sump set up, and you can see the return pump in it also.

Some sumps have some baffles in, to prevent bubbles from the skimmer getting back into the main tank.