Swingline77
Active Member
I want to set up a tank to hold abalone, and nothing else. This is for an amateur science project, and will not need to be decorative in nature, at all. Any help that can be given will be appreciated.
I have a 90 gallon glass tank on a stand. I plan to drill a hole in it to plumb it for either adding a sump immediately, or to have the option of doing this later. The proposed sump will be under the aquarium, in the stand cabinet. I’m thinking that to avoid hassles later, I should probably add a sump right from the beginning.
The purpose of the sump will be to add extra water to the system, and to provide habitat for beneficial microbes that can keep the tank clean. I will not need a refugium for young fish, etc.
I currently have gravel, power jets for circulating water in the “display” tank, and two fluvial U2 underwater filters, and a heat exchanger, and air pumps. The tank is currently next to a window, and I’d rather not have to move it. The overall theme of the build will be to put enough quality equipment into it so that it works properly, without wasting money on that which is not needed.
I need to know where to plumb the tank. I’ll be using home-made drain unless there is a considerable advantage to using a store bought overflow box. I’m thinking that I’ll drill a hole about 2” below the desired water level, so that I can have a pipe running up from here. I can then swivel the pipe to finely tune the water level. For safety, how high should the tank be filled? Is it fine if it’s right up to the lip, or should I have it a bit lower? In the event of power loss, I don’t want the sump to overflow. I might just put a check valve at the bottom of the hose to the sump. The head from the top of the tank to the floor is 4.5’.
Before I plumb the tank, I need to know what size hole I should use. This will be determined by the maximum amount of passive flow I need to have through the drain. This will be determined by the turnover rate I need between the display and the sump. For my purposes, I don’t see why this can’t be rather low, like 3x the volume of the display per hour. The only issue I see for running turnover this low is lack of heat homogenization. As this might be a serious issue, perhaps I should run at least 5-7x the volume of the display per hour. Or, should I focus more on TOTAL system volume?
As for return rates, it seems that those with high turnover rates like high rates for algal health.
As long as I’m going to drill the tank, I think that maybe I should over drill the size of the hole right away rather than under drill it. This way, in the future, the tank will have more versatility.
Should I have any algae in the sump at all? I can see it doing its part to clean the water, but it will also require lighting. I won’t have algae in the display, since the abalone will eat it. If there is not algae in the sump, does the sump need to get any light at all? Should the sump be covered? I’d like to use an external pump, mainly to keep the temperature down. Temps need to be maintained in the upper 60s, lower 80s are lethal.
Should I add live rock, or just gravel? I’m planning to add medium to the sump onto which beneficial microbes can grow. I don’t plan on having any companion animals, but should I?
I’ll have a protein skimmer.
Should the sump be covered?
Should I attempt to block as much light as possible from the tank, or should I let sunlight in?
As for temperature regulation, I’m not sure what I’ll do. I live in a climate with cold winters, and the tank will be in a basement. For six months of the year, if anything, I might have to actually heat the tank to proper temperature, provided I keep the room cold enough. In the warmer months, unfortunately I run a dehumidifier, which heats the basement further above 70 degrees than it already is. One option is to run an air conditioner. This would not be desirable since it would be expensive. Another option is to use the heat exchanger. The exchanger involves two separate flows of water, which exchange heat with each other. One flow of water would have a send and return to the sump. The other, would have a send and return to a cooler full of ice water. I’d have to replace ice on a daily basis. The two flows of water need to be powered by external pumps. I don’t know what rate of flow I should use.
I plan to have battery backup for the tank. In the event of a power outage, and they will occur, I need to keep the tank limping along until the power comes back. Part of the reason a smaller sump pump would be an advantage is that it would draw less power in such a situation. However, I can simply have dual sump pumps. One will be large, and handle most of the flow, while the other is small. Or, they can both be the same size, and add to enough volume when used together. Regardless, the point in having two sump pumps, other than for having a safety margin in case one fails, is that one can be small enough to run off of backup power.
I think the only things I’d need to run off of backup would be heat, the two pumps for the heat exchanger, a small pump to keep flow moving through the sump so that the microbes won’t die, and the U2 filters (so the bacteria in these won’t die). Perhaps I’d also run a bubbler. As an off-the-cuff estimation, I’d think I could get three hours of run time out of a 100-AH battery. I probably should look into buying a generator in the future. This might even be a bit much. I might just be able to remove the filter media from the U2,s and put it in the display, using a bubbler and a pump to keep minimal circulation, while I do the same with the sump. However, I’d still need to address temperature. How long will the microbes stay alive if water flow stops, but heat is maintained? I’d guess at least a day. I ask in relation to cutting the pumps while feeding, also.
I might be able to pick up either a used CS-2 skimmer or a Reef Octopus 150 skimmer. Will either do as well as the other? I’m guessing that a 33 gallon “breeder tank” should make a fine sump, what do you think?
I don’t know what I’ll do for kalkwasser. I’ll probably hook a drip pump up to a stirred holding container, but I don’t know.
I might put in a level-2 UV lamp, but I don’t know.
Am I overlooking anything important? Thanks.
I have a 90 gallon glass tank on a stand. I plan to drill a hole in it to plumb it for either adding a sump immediately, or to have the option of doing this later. The proposed sump will be under the aquarium, in the stand cabinet. I’m thinking that to avoid hassles later, I should probably add a sump right from the beginning.
The purpose of the sump will be to add extra water to the system, and to provide habitat for beneficial microbes that can keep the tank clean. I will not need a refugium for young fish, etc.
I currently have gravel, power jets for circulating water in the “display” tank, and two fluvial U2 underwater filters, and a heat exchanger, and air pumps. The tank is currently next to a window, and I’d rather not have to move it. The overall theme of the build will be to put enough quality equipment into it so that it works properly, without wasting money on that which is not needed.
I need to know where to plumb the tank. I’ll be using home-made drain unless there is a considerable advantage to using a store bought overflow box. I’m thinking that I’ll drill a hole about 2” below the desired water level, so that I can have a pipe running up from here. I can then swivel the pipe to finely tune the water level. For safety, how high should the tank be filled? Is it fine if it’s right up to the lip, or should I have it a bit lower? In the event of power loss, I don’t want the sump to overflow. I might just put a check valve at the bottom of the hose to the sump. The head from the top of the tank to the floor is 4.5’.
Before I plumb the tank, I need to know what size hole I should use. This will be determined by the maximum amount of passive flow I need to have through the drain. This will be determined by the turnover rate I need between the display and the sump. For my purposes, I don’t see why this can’t be rather low, like 3x the volume of the display per hour. The only issue I see for running turnover this low is lack of heat homogenization. As this might be a serious issue, perhaps I should run at least 5-7x the volume of the display per hour. Or, should I focus more on TOTAL system volume?
As for return rates, it seems that those with high turnover rates like high rates for algal health.
As long as I’m going to drill the tank, I think that maybe I should over drill the size of the hole right away rather than under drill it. This way, in the future, the tank will have more versatility.
Should I have any algae in the sump at all? I can see it doing its part to clean the water, but it will also require lighting. I won’t have algae in the display, since the abalone will eat it. If there is not algae in the sump, does the sump need to get any light at all? Should the sump be covered? I’d like to use an external pump, mainly to keep the temperature down. Temps need to be maintained in the upper 60s, lower 80s are lethal.
Should I add live rock, or just gravel? I’m planning to add medium to the sump onto which beneficial microbes can grow. I don’t plan on having any companion animals, but should I?
I’ll have a protein skimmer.
Should the sump be covered?
Should I attempt to block as much light as possible from the tank, or should I let sunlight in?
As for temperature regulation, I’m not sure what I’ll do. I live in a climate with cold winters, and the tank will be in a basement. For six months of the year, if anything, I might have to actually heat the tank to proper temperature, provided I keep the room cold enough. In the warmer months, unfortunately I run a dehumidifier, which heats the basement further above 70 degrees than it already is. One option is to run an air conditioner. This would not be desirable since it would be expensive. Another option is to use the heat exchanger. The exchanger involves two separate flows of water, which exchange heat with each other. One flow of water would have a send and return to the sump. The other, would have a send and return to a cooler full of ice water. I’d have to replace ice on a daily basis. The two flows of water need to be powered by external pumps. I don’t know what rate of flow I should use.
I plan to have battery backup for the tank. In the event of a power outage, and they will occur, I need to keep the tank limping along until the power comes back. Part of the reason a smaller sump pump would be an advantage is that it would draw less power in such a situation. However, I can simply have dual sump pumps. One will be large, and handle most of the flow, while the other is small. Or, they can both be the same size, and add to enough volume when used together. Regardless, the point in having two sump pumps, other than for having a safety margin in case one fails, is that one can be small enough to run off of backup power.
I think the only things I’d need to run off of backup would be heat, the two pumps for the heat exchanger, a small pump to keep flow moving through the sump so that the microbes won’t die, and the U2 filters (so the bacteria in these won’t die). Perhaps I’d also run a bubbler. As an off-the-cuff estimation, I’d think I could get three hours of run time out of a 100-AH battery. I probably should look into buying a generator in the future. This might even be a bit much. I might just be able to remove the filter media from the U2,s and put it in the display, using a bubbler and a pump to keep minimal circulation, while I do the same with the sump. However, I’d still need to address temperature. How long will the microbes stay alive if water flow stops, but heat is maintained? I’d guess at least a day. I ask in relation to cutting the pumps while feeding, also.
I might be able to pick up either a used CS-2 skimmer or a Reef Octopus 150 skimmer. Will either do as well as the other? I’m guessing that a 33 gallon “breeder tank” should make a fine sump, what do you think?
I don’t know what I’ll do for kalkwasser. I’ll probably hook a drip pump up to a stirred holding container, but I don’t know.
I might put in a level-2 UV lamp, but I don’t know.
Am I overlooking anything important? Thanks.
