# my first sw system diary



## Fish Finder (Mar 25, 2005)

Im going to be setting up 9 20g extra high and 8 10g (all togeather 260g







)tanks all predrilled tanks into one big system. Im looking for any sugestions that you may have on how i should set it up. Im thinking about using a 55g tank for the stmp system. any sugestions? I will be posting pic's as i bild.


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## JAC (Jan 19, 2004)

How are you stacking them together?


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## Fish Finder (Mar 25, 2005)

I am thinking about puting them in two racks on top of eachouther. on the bottom im going to have the 20g x-highs and above them having the 10g. and placing the stmp system on the side next to them or underneath. Or just line them all up next to eachouther and have the stmp system on the side.


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## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

nice man, good luck post some pics when you get it going


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## Fish Finder (Mar 25, 2005)

here are the update's on the system. Ive desciede not to use the 10G tank's only the 20G extra high. I will be using a 50 breeder for the sump which i will work on this week and post updated pic's of it. Here are a few pic's of what has been done so far.


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

looks good so far. i am guessing this is going to be your store basically?


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## Fish Finder (Mar 25, 2005)

this will be my home bais. So i don't have to rush to the warehouse i can just collect them and go home. From there i will bring them to the warehouse the next day.


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## Fish Finder (Mar 25, 2005)

as for the sump woud it work to use a 50 breeder. In using it i will put a collection bag on the end of the return line. it will rest on top of a milk carten that is upside down with bio ball's in it. In the center will be the skimer(after 6 weeks) and at the very end will be the retrun pump. How dose that sound? If any one has any sugestion's or think i should do it differently just let me know.


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## Serygo (May 17, 2004)

Sounds pretty good... Keep us posted


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## Jebus (Feb 29, 2004)

Nice....

play ALOT of pipe dream lol.


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## Guest (Aug 16, 2005)

Justin, where are the bloody bulkheads! Did you honestly go and silicone aorund the PVC?

--Dan


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## jiggy (Jun 27, 2004)

petstore by me is selling all their old tanks.. they have 20g talls for $2 each.. and 30-55g tanks for $20ish.. all predrilled


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## jiggy (Jun 27, 2004)

i think ur gonna have a ton of leaks without bulkheads..
i tried an external pump on my rubbermaid sump.. i used literally 3/4 tube of silicon and it still leaked..


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## Serygo (May 17, 2004)

:O 2$ for 20g!!!!!
I gots to go over to Jersey now!!!


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## Fish Finder (Mar 25, 2005)

DannyBoy17 said:


> Justin, where are the bloody bulkheads! Did you honestly go and silicone aorund the PVC?
> 
> --Dan
> [snapback]1157555[/snapback]​


it's all good. I did it the same way in the warehouse and no leak's there so im not weried


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

i think a 50g sump should be fine for the tanks as long as you have a crap load of LR in it to help keep those holding tanks clean.


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## Fish Finder (Mar 25, 2005)

k the tanks are all done but the sump. i still need to put the sand bed filter in it. Here are the finished pic's.


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## Niche (Mar 9, 2004)

very nice... should be something else when your done


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

id highly reccomend a larger sump. if youre going to be getting fish in and out. id suggest one of those 200 gallon stock bins. they are grey and a cube. about 3' tall, 4' wide, 4' long. what you do is get two of those, one of you feel like a low baller. make a 2x4 frame for the tanks that go over the top of the bins, the bins can hold the weight of the tanks. from the tanks bulkheads, have a pipe leading below waters surface in the sump. have a 4-5" sandbed down there. throw in some macro algae under there and have a low kelvin light to cause good algae growth. for the return, have a 3,000gph external pump. hook up a uv steralizer to the return line so there is no chance of disease transmission. plumb it with 2" pipe and tap a hole to make returns for each tank. get adjustable vaulves. they can be found at www.aquaticeco.com. you can avoid the uv steralizer thing if you do not have any inverts in the system, you can just constantly run copper. that is if you are selling or temp holding the fish in this system. if you do use a 55g as a sump, you will find many many many problems.

1- your pump shuts off for some reason, youve got 260 gallons of water above, there will be a little water out of each tank that will drain out untill the water line goes below the overflow. and if your sump is any more than 1/4 full, it will overflow.

2. a sump this size can not handle the flow neede for your system. you need around 3,000gph total. they dont make powerheads that big.

i strongly reccomend that you do it my way if youre planning on having this setup for a while. i work at a local fish warehouse, saltwater, freshwater, and inverts. our store is 5x bigger than any lfs and we supply many lfs with their fish. for our sw system, invert system, and pondfish system, we use the stock bin method i explained above. if you have any questions on what to do or what to buy, pm me and ill be happy to help you all the way through.


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

and lastly you have your cinder blocks stacked wrong. they are more prone to breaking the way you have it


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## 0123 (May 18, 2004)

my work uses a 100 gallon stock tank for 4x125 gallons and another one for 10x60 gallons and 1x 125 gallon tanks


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

dont go with the 55g sump, youre just asking for trouble. the 55 would do nothing.youd be better off buying a bunch of small powerheads off of www.aquatraders.com. it will produce the same effect as a 55g sump.


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