Does Everything Look Good? Do You See Anything Wrong?

[Beausoleiljacob]

Hey Reefers,
I am almost done completing my aquarium. I have completed plumbing, adding my heater etc. I still have yet to add my ATO & Vortech. Attached are pictures of my tank. Do you see anything wrong? Thanks! I want to do it right from the beginning. Do you recommend adding a mat (what type?) underneath the sump?

 

[Jimbo662]

Will the sump not fit in your stand? It'll cut down on the noise. If not, I'd get some type of tray to put it in just in case there are any major splashes. Also, I'd put the heater in the sump. With it in the overflow water will be draining too fast for it to heat properly. I put my in the section with the return pump. This way the water in that area is a lot more calm and has time to heat. I would replace the metal clamp with a plastic clamp. On my first tank I used the metal clamps thinking they would be ok. When I took the tank down after a year they were both corroded...one actually fell apart when I was trying to remove it.

 

[frogman_reefer]

Only problem (potential) is the electricity so close you your pipes. You might want to move that at least 12 inches away incase of a leak.
2nd heater comment above
+1 on removing any metal clamps. I have a couple on my chiller and the rust fast! Do it right the first time and save yourself time and expense later on.

Other than these and some aesthetic items it looks ok to me.

 

[Zoanthkid]

I don't know that I would recommend mounting your power strip directly under the overflow and I would also make sure there is a "drip loop" in your power cords before they get to where they are plugged in. Water travels when it leaks and even the slightest bit can cause big problems with your equipment and your electrical work in your house.

 

[ReeferBob]

Is there a hole drilled on top of the drain standpipe? It will help with flushing and cut down on noise. Also you are going to get a lot of salt creep on your walls with the sump where it is. You might want to glue the drain pipe onto your bulkhead fitting if you haven't already done so. Friction fittings are ok but I would not use one where you have it. If it slips off, you are looking at a big mess. And finally, I put a tank very similar to this over a hardwood floor once and it was not a good idea. Chances are you will have at least 1 flood or so and when you do, you have no way of drying all of the water that will get under the stand. It will damage the floor.

What is behind that wall? Can you go through the wall and put all of the equipment in that space?

 

[Beausoleiljacob]

Will the sump not fit in your stand? It'll cut down on the noise. If not, I'd get some type of tray to put it in just in case there are any major splashes. Also, I'd put the heater in the sump. With it in the overflow water will be draining too fast for it to heat properly. I put my in the section with the return pump. This way the water in that area is a lot more calm and has time to heat. I would replace the metal clamp with a plastic clamp. On my first tank I used the metal clamps thinking they would be ok. When I took the tank down after a year they were both corroded...one actually fell apart when I was trying to remove it.

Since the Eshoppes sump is so small in terms of the return area, would I be able to put it in the protein skimmer chamber?

 

[Beausoleiljacob]

Is there a hole drilled on top of the drain standpipe? It will help with flushing and cut down on noise. Also you are going to get a lot of salt creep on your walls with the sump where it is. You might want to glue the drain pipe onto your bulkhead fitting if you haven't already done so. Friction fittings are ok but I would not use one where you have it. If it slips off, you are looking at a big mess. And finally, I put a tank very similar to this over a hardwood floor once and it was not a good idea. Chances are you will have at least 1 flood or so and when you do, you have no way of drying all of the water that will get under the stand. It will damage the floor.

What is behind that wall? Can you go through the wall and put all of the equipment in that space?

My only concern was that I won't be able to maintenance that line. Would there be any need to maintenance it?

 

[Latino277]

• All hosed need to be secured. I noticed you don't have any clamps on the gray drain line. I know there is not pressure there but, it would really suck if you bumped it and it came loose. I've used those claps before. They rust but I've never had one fail on me.
• The heating can go anywhere in the sump. the return is the best place since it will have the most contact time.
• the power strip should be moved away from the drain. Maybe the other side of the stand

 

[ReeferBob]

My only concern was that I won't be able to maintenance that line. Would there be any need to maintenance it?

Yeah that is the trade-off, you would need to cut it off to remove it. I had a similar setup with a hang on back eshopps. I glued it because it did come off once making a huge mess. I never needed to remove it after that though. The other option is to thread the drain line or put a barbed fitting and run plumbing that has a clamp or is threaded on. One thing you can do is run a PVC compression coupling and glue a stub pipe into the bottom of the bulkhead. The compression coupling will allow you to remove the bulkhead for maintenance if needed.

 

[ReeferBob]

Looking at your return bulkhead, that is going to have to be cut to remove it. You could use that same PVC fitting I pictured to make that one able to be serviced without cutting as well. I love those fittings I use them on my 120.

 

[mcarroll]

The heating can go anywhere in the sump. the return is the best place since it will have the most contact time.

Contact time is not an issue since the tank is a closed system. As long as the heater is in the water and the water is circulating, it's heating the whole system - no waste. :) In fact, with excellent flow, you can get away with a smaller heater....check out the inline heater options and Tunze's Reefpack that allows a heater to be installed inside.

Having said that, mounting the heater in the drain box is a bad idea for another reason: If the return pump fails or even slows significantly, then the heater becomes isolated and the tank starts cooling. With only one heater I'd have it in the main display.

But I'm a fan of having right-sized heaters in every tank on the system, but with good placement. Single points of failure are to be minimized and this is an easy one. :)