Breaking down my tank, need a few suggestions

[ltkenbo]

Ok, so I have had my 55 gallon saltwater tank for about 9 months now. I have had a plague of dinoflagalates and I have tried water changes, raising the pH, blackouts and nothing seems to help. Luckily they are not a toxic variety but they cover everything everyday and are so ugly and gross that I can no longer stand it. I am also moving my tank into another reason anyways so breaking down the tank and starting over will let me do this easier. So I have 5 fish, 2 percula clowns, a watchman goby, a coral beauty, and a junior copas tang.

My plan is to setup another smaller tank temporarily to put the fish in while I am working on the current tank. First question, how big should this temporary holding tank be? It will hold fish and a couple corals, but not live rock because I am going to junk the old stuff.

Second, I want to make my own live rock structure that will fit the aquarium perfectly, plus I will make it while the aquarium is empty with no fish or water so it will be easy to make it just how I want it. Anyone have any good links to a thread or something like this?

Third, I want to add a internal overflow cause I seriously can't stand the siphon/ hang on back one. I need links to any good kits/tutorials about installing one. I won't be able to drill the bottom so it would be coming out the back.

 

[Smitty]

You may be able to get by with a 20 gal long, or a 29gal...you'll just have to stay on top of w/c's. Also, don't throw your rocks out and sand out, just boil them good and then let them dry completely out, and then reuse them. There are several links on the forum in reference to drilling the tank, just use the search bar. Good luck, and keep us updated.

 

[ltkenbo]

Well I know about drilling the tank, but I need to find a good overflow kit. Yeah I thought about boiling the rock, it's just I'm worried about the dino spores still surviving, I also thought a custom structure might be better for flow and everything, but maybe I'll read up more about boiling the rock though.

 

[BL1]

the guy here: 20L. AIO. foam wall. - Nano-Reef.com Forums made his own custom overflow out of acrylic sheets

 

[ltkenbo]

Ok so these ones seem pretty good, which one should I go with?

700 gph Overflow complete kit - Glass-Holes.com dope aquarium stuff

1500 gph complete kit - Glass-Holes.com dope aquarium stuff

 

[ltkenbo]

Anyone?

 

[ltkenbo]

Ok come on seriously guys I need some advice on this.

 

[Bifferwine]

For a 55 gallon tank, go with the smaller one.

 

[ltkenbo]

Alright thanks biff. Ok, so I just bought a 20 gallon tall tank today for $25 locally that can hopefully house my fish temporarily while I break down the tank. How should I cycle the thing? Should I put a few pieces of liverock from my main tank?

Also when I start up my main tank again after breaking it down, how can I ensure or at least prevent the transfering of dinoflagalates to the new started up tank?

 

[reeffreak]

There is no way unless you don't reuse anything except the tank.You can clean the tank with vinegar and water,rinse thoroughly.Reusing the sand and live rock will be a risk.My advice is better maintenance and maybe better equipment.It won't come back if it doesn't have the nutrients to feed it.

 

[PRC]

I would add an algae scrubber to the mix if I were you. You can find the directions in the DIY section. they're easy to make, cheap, and they work incredibly well. It takes less than 5 minutes per week to clean it. I seriously don't know why more people don't use these things.

I've got a 90g tank right now, I'm not using a skimmer, I have live rock and an algae scrubber. That's it. I have cleaner water than 90% of the tanks that I see, my nitrates are 0, and my parameters are very stable. And I don't have 1 strand of algae in my tank.

I'm not saying ditch your other equipment, I'm just saying add the algae scrubber into the mix. It will take about 3-4 weeks to see some noticeable growth. But once you do, it works great.

 

[supernatureal]

The Glass-holes kit are great I have the Bigger one but my tank is 90 gal. all parts came to do also get the return kit. Both are great and come with the right size hole saw.

 

[ltkenbo]

Sweet, yeah I'll probably do one of those algae things cause I'm gonna use one of the closets in the new room as a sump room :-)

Oh and btw, which return kit do you think I should get?
http://www.glass-holes.com/Return-Kits_c27.htm

Also I have a mag drive 7 pump now used with my eschops HOB overflow box, will this be sufficient or should I go with a slightly bigger one?

 

[PRC]

The mag7 does 700gph without headloss, even if you lost 150gph , you're still at 10x the 55g tank. So I think you're good there.

I don't know anything about the glassholes returns, eschops is obviously good equipment. I use a HOB overflow as well, and am happy with it. Does your HOB overflow box have 2 drains or 1? If you're going to do an algae scrubber, I would try to get one with 2 drains, install the algae scrubber on 1 and use the other to go directly into the sump. install acouple of valves on the down pipes so you can adjust the flow on them, and you'll be good.

Here's mine as an example.. the pipe with the elbow on it holds the algae scrubber and has a 1/4 inch slit cut in it all the was across the bottom so the water can flow out, install and endcap at the end, hang the scrubber with some tie straps.

The other pipe goes directly into the sump.

 

[ltkenbo]

Well I already ordered all the stuff. Ordered 2 return kits also and several bulkeads cause I think I wanna drill the tank also for a future closed loop system. I am so sick of the hang on back, if the filter from the pump gets too clogged up then it slows the flow so then eventually too many bubbles build up in the siphon tube and almost cause it to break, a drilled one will be soo much easier to deal with.