Picked up aquarium, have several questions, and critique my plan please

[cvrle1]

Hello everyone,

Wanted to post separate thread from the one asking about all extra equipment I got with it, as I have questions specific to the tank, stand, sump, etc.

Tank is 120 gallon, 4 x 2 x 2
It came with stand which is 4 x 2 x 28 inches (height)
It also came with Oceanic Model 2 reef ready sump (36 x 17 x 12.5)

Tank is reef ready as well, and has dual overflows (non corner) I would like to take these out, plug the 4 holes at the bottom of it, and install Beananimal overflow system. I checked last night, and it looks like tank is non tempered (used polarized sunglasses and cellphone, glasses turned black when rotated) I found few threads on removing overflows already, but wanted to see if anyone thinks this is a bad idea


Stand is in quite a good shape, other than bottom which has warped, and has come undone in several places. This should be pretty easy to replace with new piece of plywood I am guessing. Also, stand doesnt have a top, so should I put one?






Height of 27 inches (inside the stand) is that enough room to maneuver skimmer and so on? I was playing around with the idea of building my own stand if needed be, but hoping this one will be good to use.

Sump, can I even use this sump, or should I try to re-purpose it for something else? It is Reef ready as well, so it is drilled on the side and has a bulkhead for the return. I could take that out and patch the hole, but am afraid that sump is way too long. Would I have enough room to have dedicated area inside the stand for controller, power cables and bars, ATO, and so on? Inside of the stand is 45 inches, so that would leave me with 9 inches of space. Sounds tight.





Finally, I got about 100# worth of sand. It was live sand, looks to be aragonite, however it was just taken out and put into 2 buckets with barely any water. I am guessing it is mostly now dead, or will be soon. Since I cant set this up for several months, it will keep sitting there. What is the best way of getting this sand ready to go when time comes? I will wash it well, but should I bleach it, cook it and so on, like it is recommended with dead rock that was once live?



Thanks again everyone for the help!

 

[jrlg]

my only advice would be, and you sound like a DIYer, since you're taking your time with this, and you are thinking about it already I would just make a new stand with the height at 36" to give you more room above the water level in the sump for controllers and what not. I just bought a tank and stand and personally going steel for the stand due to the fact I don't want to see what happens to my system when wood rotted by salt water will do with 1800 pounds of water on top of it.

 

[scardall]

I would consider a Herbie type overflow as it works well too and you don't risk damaging you tank. Here is a link yo look at. https://blog.marinedepot.com/education-center/charts-diagrams/durso-herbie-bean-animal-overflow

 

[cvrle1]

Thanks for the info and link. While I was looking around, I stumbled on this video. It shows how to convert dual overflow into Herbie. Any reasons why this shouldnt work, or is bad idea?


Thanks!

 

[E_reefer]

I agree with the others that stand height may give you a challenge, but if you do keep the stand it does not need a deck, or top as you put it, just some fresh paint. The sand will stay partially “alive” as long as there is water in there. You can just rinse the sand and put it back in- you will need to just cycle it, but there will still be some life. Im not sure about the sump- if you don’t replace it, I would tear out all the middle section and re do the baffles to your liking. The overflow, is it not possible to do bean animal just in two separate overflows? I mean one would always run a little higher but I feel like it would work. If not I would not mess with the current configuration.

 

[cvrle1]

Quick question on the overflows. I posted this same question on the other message board, and few people said it was bad idea to remove the overflows. Reason i got the idea in the 1st place was due to few threads I found on RC, and it looks like that as long as few guidelines are followed, it should be pretty straight forward thing to do. I have no idea if linking to other forums is allowed here, so I wont do it. I am however looking into possibly trading this tank for non RR one, but still would like to know why some folks consider removal of overflows as bad. Not trying to challenge anyone for sure, but just asking information wise. Thanks

 

[E_reefer]

Quick question on the overflows. I posted this same question on the other message board, and few people said it was bad idea to remove the overflows. Reason i got the idea in the 1st place was due to few threads I found on RC, and it looks like that as long as few guidelines are followed, it should be pretty straight forward thing to do. I have no idea if linking to other forums is allowed here, so I wont do it. I am however looking into possibly trading this tank for non RR one, but still would like to know why some folks consider removal of overflows as bad. Not trying to challenge anyone for sure, but just asking information wise. Thanks

I would say its not so much just removing the overflows as bad, but changing the configuration like closing off existing holes and drilling new ones- I mean you should be able to just glue plugs into the existing bulkheads I just feel that I would prefer to not have additional holes and fittings that could potentially leak. What is wrong with doing a normal durso style drain anyway? I have used durso for years and never had any sort of noise issues, except for rare occasions the drain would make a gurgling noise and I would just need to stick a dowel down the hole at top of the drain and clean out the salt creep then it would be near silent again.

 

[cvrle1]

I would say its not so much just removing the overflows as bad, but changing the configuration like closing off existing holes and drilling new ones- I mean you should be able to just glue plugs into the existing bulkheads I just feel that I would prefer to not have additional holes and fittings that could potentially leak. What is wrong with doing a normal durso style drain anyway? I have used durso for years and never had any sort of noise issues, except for rare occasions the drain would make a gurgling noise and I would just need to stick a dowel down the hole at top of the drain and clean out the salt creep then it would be near silent again.

My biggest issue with overflows is their size and look. They stick out 5 inches, so on a 24 inch deep tank, you lose 1/5th of space in both spots. I dont have issue with how they function, as they can be made into perfectly good system, it is just their look that I cant get past. Since it will be a while before I can even start setting it up (playing around with the idea of building a stand for more room) I am hoping to be able to find another non RR aquarium, and then sell this one.

 

[Muttley000]

I have a 90 that I removed the overflows. It was no big deal and I just siliconed glass over the holes. I drilled the end for a bean overflow and bought a couple of pieces of glass to make a coast to coast overflow box. It's been running several months now without issue.

 

[E_reefer]

My biggest issue with overflows is their size and look. They stick out 5 inches, so on a 24 inch deep tank, you lose 1/5th of space in both spots. I dont have issue with how they function, as they can be made into perfectly good system, it is just their look that I cant get past. Since it will be a while before I can even start setting it up (playing around with the idea of building a stand for more room) I am hoping to be able to find another non RR aquarium, and then sell this one.

Ah- I see, I didn’t consider you could reduce the footprint quite a bit.

I have a 90 that I removed the overflows. It was no big deal and I just siliconed glass over the holes. I drilled the end for a bean overflow and bought a couple of pieces of glass to make a coast to coast overflow box. It's been running several months now without issue.

Nice! I didn’t even think of that- does sound pretty easy actually. Do you have it setup as a peninsula?

 

[Muttley000]

Ah- I see, I didn’t consider you could reduce the footprint quite a bit.



Nice! I didn’t even think of that- does sound pretty easy actually. Do you have it setup as a peninsula?

Sort of, I just kind of have a multitank system taking over the basement, and the short end is against my sump so I just plumbed down.

 

[Victoria M]

Sort of, I just kind of have a multitank system taking over the basement, and the short end is against my sump so I just plumbed down.

kinda? lol.

 

[cvrle1]

Nice! I didn’t even think of that- does sound pretty easy actually. Do you have it setup as a peninsula?

Here is a thread from RC that got me thinking about this whole removal. He used glass and siliconed it over the holes. I would do the same thing if I go this way. You could also use bulkhead plugs, but I wouldnt go that way, as sooner or later they will leak.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1934188

 

[E_reefer]

Here is a thread from RC that got me thinking about this whole removal. He used glass and siliconed it over the holes. I would do the same thing if I go this way. You could also use bulkhead plugs, but I wouldnt go that way, as sooner or later they will leak.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1934188

Nice- very detailed too, well it looks like you have your guide for what to do lol. And no, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it- the glass over the holes is the way to go and pretty much guarantees it won’t leak. The overflows might be a pain though. [emoji52]

 

[cvrle1]

Nice- very detailed too, well it looks like you have your guide for what to do lol. And no, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it- the glass over the holes is the way to go and pretty much guarantees it won’t leak. The overflows might be a pain though. [emoji52]

Yeah I am still hoping I will be able to trade this tank for non RR one, or at least find cheap non RR and then sell this one. It would make this a lot easier and faster for sure. We'll report what happens in few months. thanks for the help