Tank Stacking...help me out

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

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#1
May 16, 2003
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#1
OK I just had a crazy idea...someone help me out here :)

I have a 20g saltwater tank that pretty much has nothing in it. (I got some chaeto awhile back and it has been growing rampant in there practically taking over the tank. I have liverock in there that was slightly damaged in a move...but there is also a nassarius snail in there who has been around for a couple years.)

So I've decided that I'd like to rearrange my tanks and I have a stand in my bedroom with a 29g on top and a shelf on the bottom that could hold another tank. I'm thinking about moving the fish that are in the 29 (FW) into my 46, and then I could move a 10g underneath the 29 on the stand and use the bottom tank for a refugium and turn the 29 into another SW tank??

HOW would one go about doing the plumbing for that??
 

TRe

TRe

Elite Fish
#2
Feb 20, 2005
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ft. lauderdale
#2
its actually easier than youd think.. if you dont wanna get yur tank drilled or dont have the means to just pick up a HOB overflow and a return pump that matches (or less) the gph of the overflow.... as far as the actual plumbing i just use 1" flex tubing ;)
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

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#3
May 16, 2003
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#3
I'm quite possibly the least mechanically inclined person ever...so no, its not easy ;) BUT I am willing to try.

HOB Overflow...what is this? Where would one get one? Does someone make them (brand)? Oh dear goodness gracious...I googled it and saw someone reccomend LifeReef's HOB Overflow, googled LifeReef and THEY'RE IN THE SAME TOWN I LIVE IN lol Maybe its a sign. :D
 

TRe

TRe

Elite Fish
#4
Feb 20, 2005
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ft. lauderdale
#4
heres a few picks of my old setup :


first heres the actual overflow in use

heres how it drains down

heres where it drains to... the flex tube on the right is the drain and the left is hooked up to the return pump and pumps the water back to the display
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#6
Oct 22, 2002
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#6
Yep...that will do it...the key, as TRe said, is making sure you don't overload the overflow with too much return pump. Also, you need to factor in the ft of head the pump can push the water when selecting a size. This is a very easy thing to do even if you aren't mechanically inclined.
 

T

TheFool

Large Fish
#10
Apr 19, 2006
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#10
It's also easier as if you get a cheap acrylic to use as the refugium you can drill it pretty easy, and you get to lsoe the HOB overflow, the most unreliable part of the whole operation.
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

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#11
May 16, 2003
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#11
Thanks for the illustrations Tre...very helpful.

Although I totally understand the whole fuge above the main tank idea...I don't think thats feesable right now. Will have to work on it.

Now all the sumps etc that I've seen have like the dividers in them and I'm guessing thats mostly so that the stuff thats in the "refugium" part (critters, macroalgae etc) doesn't get disturbed as much as if they weren't there right? I just have a plain ol 10g tank that I was going to use...so I guess it won't be worth much unless I do some dividers? I also got an acrylic homemade refugium at home off of ebay and I'm thinkin I might be able to do something with that...

The guy from LifeReef called me back last night and quoted me about $200 for all the pieces for plumbing...HOB overflow, tubing, clamps, return pump, the little u shaped piece to hold the return tube on the tank etc... Is that at all reasonable?
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

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#13
May 16, 2003
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#13
He is used to doing things for larger tanks so in his voicemail this morning (haven't returned his call yet) he first said about 220 and then said "well you'll need a smaller pump so somewhere around 200." So he didn't really say what brand pump or anything... Here's his website, if anyone wants to check it out and let me know what they think of the quality. Lifereef Filter Systems It looks like the pumps he has are GenX, Supreme MagDrive, Iwaki (Japanese and American), Little Giant and Velocity...so I'll pop him an email and let him know I'm interested and ask which pump he was planning on.
 

Limi310

Limi310

Superstar Fish
#16
Nov 30, 2005
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#16
FroggyFox said:
Now all the sumps etc that I've seen have like the dividers in them and I'm guessing thats mostly so that the stuff thats in the "refugium" part (critters, macroalgae etc) doesn't get disturbed as much as if they weren't there right? I just have a plain ol 10g tank that I was going to use...so I guess it won't be worth much unless I do some dividers?
Click to expand...
Also they help to prevent microbubbles from getting back into the display tank.....the baffles break them up/make them float to the top, so you definitely would want to make some. I bought glass from Lowes for my sump and it was super cheap and they cut it for me to the sizes I needed.

P.S. The HOB overflows are usually ridiculously expensive by themselves....$70-$100, I paid $50 for my Mag7 off ebay, $12 each for the return (ubend) tubes, and the rest of the plumbing pieces and hoses were pretty cheap . So depending on what you are getting, I would say $200 is fairly decent.
 

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FroggyFox

FroggyFox

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#18
May 16, 2003
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#18
Alrighty, he was a good salesman and called me back again (since I hadn't had time to call or write yet) to make sure I got his message. I already forgot which pump model he said, but he did say it was one of the Mag ones (6 or 7?) wth a ball valve to control flow. He also let me pick the color of the overflow :D hehe Clear, black or blue He's going to put it together and give me a call when its ready for me to come pick up.

geez...another $200 down the fishtank gullet.
 

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