BlindSwordsman's 3 Tank System (1 Viewer)

[BlindSwordsman]

I think creating a build thread for this is probably good. So, here it is.

People probably know from the other thread that I'm going crazy and thinking about getting rid of my couch in my den/fish room and setting up a new system. So, long story short, after some consideration, I've been spending a few days rearranging things in my house to make room, and bought three (3) 40 gallon breeder tanks and metal stands from Petco. So, beside juggling with redoing my house decor again, I'm also working on setting these up. @MistakesWereMade had a concern that this would add a bit of weight to my main level. I'm thinking it should probably be fine as they are close to the edge of the wall and the foundation. Also, my house was built in 1980, the beams of the floor are solid wood, and run perpendicular across underneath so there should be a lot of support.

For the whole system: I originally planned to buy 3 frag tanks with the dimensions of 36" x 20" x 6", which would cost me too much. But, the footprints of the 40 gallon breeder tank is 36" x 18". So, it's just 2" smaller and they are much cheaper on sale, so I go for these even though they might not be too fancy and I have to do more things to prep them. My plan is to plump all 3 to the same sump. It will be nothing fancy. It will include a place for the skimmer, a chaeto compartment, and a live rock compartment.

For the lights: I still have some black boxes that I can use but I don't want to have canopies for these, and I don't like the look of things dangling from the ceiling, so I'm looking into buying some cheap LED with tank mounts, to keep things uniform and neat.

For the stands: The stands purchased are made out of black metal and I like to hide stuff underneath there so I will have to learn how to skin them with some sort of wood to match with my other stuff (using magnets, I'm thinking).

For the tanks: I have to learn how to drill these glass tanks, and maybe paint the back walls??

There are a few things I still need to figure out and get them done, so you'll find me posting questions to ask how to do them later. Meanwhile, this messes up my current room setup. I've been busy pushing the display curios around, removing the 40" TV from one wall, adding a 50" TV on another, adding shelves, patching walls, replacing the sofa with 1 seater chair, etc. So, basically, I'm stirring up a lot of dust here .

Alright! So, the next thing on the list will be: Drilling these tanks. But before that, I think I need to buy some overflow boxes for these and decide if they should be left/right corner overflow boxes or center overflow boxes. I'm somehow drawn to the middle overflow boxes. I think people don't like them because they sit in the center, right at the focus of the tank?? .. But they kind of divide the tank out evenly and I'm usually drawn to things that look 'balanced' . So, I dunno. Is there anybody who knows better to let me know if my head is not screwed in straight right now??

 

[reef junkie]

This sounds like a fun project! What the livestock plan for each tank? Figi cube usually has some clearance sales on external overflow boxes If thats interest you. Could do peninsula style tanks. Might make cleaning and access easier??

 

[Varig]

Awesome Ken. Does indeed sound fun. Regarding lights, I’ve been really happy with the 80/20 mount. Depending on the light it can be pretty cheap to build a light stand. You could decide if you want it to span single tanks or the full set of 3.

As for overflows. I have no knowledge. I like my center mounted external overflow. I know you like to do things thrifty so you could easily build your own if you did an internal overflow. But I thought I heard the Petco tanks have tempered bottoms? If so then clearly you can’t drill the bottom. But you know better there.

If you decide to build your own let me know. I could easily cut the weir slots in acrylic for you.

 

[BlindSwordsman]

It's been quite a day and I got some work done. I even ran out a bit to buy a skimmer from some member. When I arrived at the meeting place, I suddenly realized I had assumed the skimmer would fit and I didn't look into its size . It is big! But, I took it anyway . For today alone, I made a mess out of my house, chopping up the sofa because I wouldn't be able to make it fit through the door to get it out. I gain the space in that room back by doing so and other things that I needed to rearrange. The stands were also delivered. So this is the kind of 'before' pic after things were cleared out of that room and the 'dry fit' of the tanks. Nothing fancy or impressive, I guess .. But, hey!! I think I can even fit a 4th tank into this room if I want to . I think they fit well into the space I have .. In any case, it's enough work for one day. I'll continue this later. I will follow up with people's comments above tomorrow. I'm calling it a day. I'm going to feed my fish, cook my dinner, and .. head to bed!!

 

[Dadzilla11]

My thoughts on corner vs center overflow is you lose real-estate with center and well really depending I also believe flow is more of a challenge. Like, well you know, we all have one right...)

 

[Dadzilla11]

I'm kinda liking you concept..

 

[Dadzilla11]

Your

 

[BlindSwordsman]

This sounds like a fun project! What the livestock plan for each tank? Figi cube usually has some clearance sales on external overflow boxes If thats interest you. Could do peninsula style tanks. Might make cleaning and access easier??

Well, we'll see how fun this will be later . I want these tanks to look presentable but more like growing out, frag tanks than probably display tanks. I'm not planning to have sand or rocks in these. They will be a place where I can keep things I currently can not keep, or over growing, or don't have room for, or killing each others in my display tank. I also don't aim to collect every single thing from the ocean but maybe now that I have a little more room, I can collect and grow a few more things that I haven't had yet. As for fish, I have no thought of adding fish into these tanks at the moment unless I have specific need for them. Other than that, I actually haven't thought of specific plan for specific tank or such. But, now thinking about it, it could be interesting to maybe organize them that way, e.g. An all zoa tank? An all mushroom tank? (There's a sort of hype for bounce mushrooms and such?? I've been adding a few mushrooms here and there lately .) An all LPS tank? An all SPS tank? (Well, an all SPS tank will be a toughie as I don't excel in keeping SPS. Maybe I could do that if I could find myself a mentor, someone who can come up with a manual like 'SPS Keeping for Idiots' or something like that .)

For the Fiji cubes, or similar brand name tanks, I'm sure they are nice, but even with the sale, I think they are still too expensive compared to the cheap stuff I'm going for. With limited budget, between 'corals' and 'equipment', I usually spend the money on corals instead.

Awesome Ken. Does indeed sound fun. Regarding lights, I’ve been really happy with the 80/20 mount. Depending on the light it can be pretty cheap to build a light stand. You could decide if you want it to span single tanks or the full set of 3.

As for overflows. I have no knowledge. I like my center mounted external overflow. I know you like to do things thrifty so you could easily build your own if you did an internal overflow. But I thought I heard the Petco tanks have tempered bottoms? If so then clearly you can’t drill the bottom. But you know better there.

If you decide to build your own let me know. I could easily cut the weir slots in acrylic for you.

@Varig: 'I know better'?? Well, that statement is wrong on so many levels. If I 'know better', I'm not the blind swordsman .

Checking it online, I think the external overflow still requires a small box inside the tank? I don't see much of a difference there, except the smaller box and a way higher price compared to the internal, a bit larger overflow box. Having an external overflow does not completely eliminate the need of a box inside the tank. I think I can live with the larger internal box with a much a lower price. And it's not that I don't appreciate your help, but I'm thinking it might not be worth it make it ourselves instead of buying an internal overflow box that costs around $50 on Ebay. To save $50, and make the box ourselves, we are talking about the cost of the material, time and effort, the work that I'd ask someone (you, @Varig ) to make it. I think it's a bit too much trouble just to save a few bucks.

My thoughts on corner vs center overflow is you lose real-estate with center and well really depending I also believe flow is more of a challenge. Like, well you know, we all have one right...)

@Dadzilla11 : You have some good points about the possible interference with the flow due to the placement of the internal overflow box. Putting it in the corner will likely cause less interference and we can avoid having it splitting the tank into 2 sections. So, I probably should go for the corner overflow box because it's more practical.

The next 'fish' related cost will be the lights. I've browsed around a bit and I think some people said good things about these Nicrew lights? They come with the mounts so that should work. I'm thinking about buying 3 for these 3 tanks, unless someone have something better with reasonable price that you can offer that can work for these tanks????

https://www.amazon.com/NICREW-Aquarium-Dimmable-Spectrum-Saltwater/dp/B08HVJJLX3?th=1

And now, I'm going to put the stands together .

 

[BlindSwordsman]

Oh, I got a long phone call while I was typing so my thought got interrupted. I also meant to ask the experts on here about the overflow drilling. For the current, drilled tank that I bought online, it came with the sort of overflow that they label as 'secondary drain' in the picture below. What is the benefits of having such drain compared to the other ones? Can we even simply drill a hole on the side and connect the hose/pipe directly to it and let the water drains out from there? Is there a point/important purpose/benefit for the drain similar to this 'secondary drain' that I'm not getting??

 

[H2OHOH]

If budget is a concern, I’ve seen people use these as an overflow mechanism

 

[miltonkl]

If you want an internal center overflow, I have a 40b tank ready to go you might consider looking at and returning one you have so save some money/effort. I was going to use it but didn't wind up liking the bottom drill because I was too cramped with the plumbing in the stand I happened to have with it (which you don't have to take) so went with another option I had.

Personally, I'd suggest external overflows for that ease of plumbing. Are you planning to also drill in the return lines or run those over the top of the back? If you're drilling them, I'd definitely do the overflows on a side and not the middle so you don't start feeling like you have to make it symmetrical and drill two returns

What are you doing for the sump? As I remember, those metal stands have bits on the side that will get in the way of you being able to push them all together and sliding one long tank underneath. Though if they're just decorative they could certainly be cut away. Not sure if they are or not.

 

[postie1686]

I’ve done the low profile overflow like suggested above in the past. A drain up in each corner with a 1/2” return in the center. I printed covers to raise the water level where I wanted it

 

[BlindSwordsman]

Well, I probably shouldn't made too many assumptions and should check every angle before doing something. I was moving on to figure how to set up the plumbing before I could figure out about the drilling and that might be a mistake. I read online that people thought the 40 gallon breeder tanks had bottom tempered glass but the sides were not. Then I read @miltonkl had a drilled bottom 40 gallon tank, and it got me wonder ... And I got more concerned about this warning sticker on the tanks:



Does this mean all sides are tempered glass? I used my cell phone and sunglasses to check and I .. don't know what the heck I was seeing. I'm not sure. I see rainbow everywhere and it could just be me going coo coo!!!

 

[MistakesWereMade]

Check the specs of the tank on the manufacturer website. I highly doubt the sides are tempered. If anything, email them to get your answer. I have my doubts about the bottom being tempered too. My thought is drilling the tank will void the warranty. Probably also is a legality thing so you don't sue if you get hurt.

Since you are planning on not using rock or sand, my vote is you do corner overflows. For no other reason than I want to see you build some sweet looking concrete frag rock holder for the back walls.

 

[miltonkl]

Check out this video from King of DIY. I thought he did a good job in this one of giving some tips on how to tell if your glass is tempered and had saved it for future reference the next time I was looking at drilling a tank. I believe they put that sticker on all of their tanks, tempered or not, and you just have to check/take the gamble to see.

 

[BlindSwordsman]

@miltonkl : Thanks for the offer of your 40 gallon tank. I'll keep that in mind but sometimes I'm a bit anal retentive and I want things in certain way . Also, if I can drill it, I'm thinking about drilling it on the side instead . And I'll check out that YouTube video you just sent later. Thanks!

So, again, if I drill these tanks, I'm thinking about drilling on the side, then do a 90 degree angle turn up. I think people usually don't do this but they drill the bottom because the 90 degree turn might limit the flow, correct? Or there's something else wrong with it? ... For my 10 gallon frag tank, I just drilled the side, then let the water directly flows through that, no turn up or down whatsoever. .. I got the water down to my sump at least. It kind of works. But again, I'm not very savvy in doing these things . Wonder if I just do the same for these?

The purpose of the low profile strainer recommended by @H2OHOH above is to prevent things going down the drain and clog it up, right? So, that's why people put it at the end of the drain? Or I'm just being clueless like usual? ... Looking at that, I'm even thinking: Why don't I just drill a hole on the side, stick that thing in, and call it done??!!! Why we have to get complicated?

If I go through with this, the internal overflow is 5" x 4". I think it is fit to drill 1 hole for 1 drain only? I don't think there's room for 2. So, that means I can't do an emergency drain or such. The pre-drilled 90 gallon tank I bought (and using) does not have an emergency drain either though.

I'm heading to the office now, but I'll call Aqueon later today and ask about their tanks and tempered glass to see if they can tell me anything. I couldn't find the info online from their website. But people pulled old info from the past about there's chance that they use tempered glass instead of regular glass if they are out of regular glass. So, I have a feeling calling them won't help much. I will try to test them out again, maybe using a computer monitor instead of the phone next time to see if I learn anything from that. And I probably just buy the drill bit, take a chance and drill it to see how that ends up.

@MistakesWereMade: If I do the concrete frag walls for these tanks, that will be a lot of concrete pouring to do . I haven't decided how exactly I want them to be yet. ... Now, looking at them, I kind of flip flop on what I said before, and I'm now thinking: If I can go through with the tank drilling and get these set up, I might even start these off by keeping the left and right tanks as 'frag tanks', but maybe aquascape the middle one and try a SPS dominant tank or something there?? (That way, I have a bit more live rock in the system and helps to stabilize the system.) I can always switch it back to a 'frag tank' later if I want to?? I don't think I need this much space for 'frag tank' from the start anyway.

 

[miltonkl]

I'm a fan of the egg crate frag racks. Nice and cheap! I wonder if you could lean one against the side (with a piece of live rock or something to hold the bottom from slipping) and effectively recreate your concrete wall or if the frags would fall out too easy...

 

[H2OHOH]

The strainer piece acts as the internal overflow box. You drill back of tank, insert bulkhead, and insert on the inside of tank. You then plumb down to your sump out the back. you don’t have all the redundancy and box in the back, but costs $5 vrs $100 plus. Or if you want redundancy do two….but then it costs you $10.

 

[Varig]

For what it's worth, these are straight from Aqueon. For all their "standard glass rectangular aquariums" I would read this that they all have tempered bottoms. I tried to attach the full catalogue that has page 7 in it, but it was too big. You can find it with the Google Machine, but page 7 looks like this:



So, not what you're looking for.

To your point about @miltonkl 's being bottom drilled, I would suspect it's not an Aqueon 40B then? Clearly lots of people make that footprint tank. Just a guess though. But it appears you're leaning towards a rear overflow anyway, so all good.

In terms of why one type versus another, I'm no expert, but my understanding why people do all the fancy overflows is for noise. I think if you just put a bulkhead in the back wall it "might" be splashy/noisy? Beyond that I don't think there is any reason it won't work, water will flow with gravity .

 

[bigmax]

Oh, I got a long phone call while I was typing so my thought got interrupted. I also meant to ask the experts on here about the overflow drilling. For the current, drilled tank that I bought online, it came with the sort of overflow that they label as 'secondary drain' in the picture below. What is the benefits of having such drain compared to the other ones? Can we even simply drill a hole on the side and connect the hose/pipe directly to it and let the water drains out from there? Is there a point/important purpose/benefit for the drain similar to this 'secondary drain' that I'm not getting??

View attachment 65689

The primary drain is a siphon, this is to make the water flow silent (it is not pictured correctly in Marine Depot pictorial - it requires 2- 90 degree elbows). In order to maintain a constant siphon you'll need to restrict the primary line to some extent, preferably with a gate valve. The secondary line should account for well less than 10% of the overall flow, and as there will be little flow it will be very quiet as well e.g. no excessive water and air mix avoiding the 'sucking sound'. The primary reason for the 3 pipe bean animal is noise reduction.

The bean animal is likely not the best solution in your case.

Below is a very good bean animal implementation video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJQMSmFjc-Y

Also, I watched a YouTube video last year, you can look it up. You can use your smart phone and a pair of polarized sunglasses to determine if you glass is standard plate or tempered (tempered will appear to have striations when viewing, where non-tempered will not). I've spoke to Aqueon before and they will move 'randomly' between tempered and plate so there are no guarantees of how each tank was built...there comment was they will likely use 'whatever glass is on hand at the time'.