New reef/fish setup.. help please

[guppa]

Hi Guys

Im in the process of buying everything for my 1st ever marine setup. Im a beginner in this hobby so I'm not an expert at all. I want the flow of the tank to be very good.

The dimensions of the main tank I'm looking to buy are:
41" Long x 18" Deep x 25" Tall.
64 US Gallon
53 UK Gallons
141 litres

The sump I'm looking to buy will be a diy sump and I'm thinking of the making it from a tank with the below dimensions.
36" Long x 16" Deep x 15" Tall.
32 US Gallon
27 UK Gallons
122 litres

First of all I'm not going to rush into setting it up. Im trying to make the system the best i can. The tank, sump and stand will all be custom made so the depth and height of the tank measurements can be adjusted if any of you think they should be?

Im planning on having a 4inch deep sand bed in the main display with 35kg of good quality live rock. The finished tank will be overstocked with corals and about 5 fish.

The sump will have a large skimmer and some live rock in the 1st section. In the 2nd section i want a large refugium with miracle mud. After the refugium i want the water to go through a sponge and bio balls. Then finally in the last section i want the heater and return sump pump.

I am ready to start making the main tank now and have a few questions.

I was going to do the tank with 12mm thick glass. Is this too thick or is it a case of the thicker the better?

The front panel will be Starfire glass. Has anyone ever had any problems using this glass? I've heard it scratches easy? :s

What would be the amount of water i should look to turn over per hour through the sump?

I was thinking of having 2 Drain pipes and 2 return pipes. Do you think this is a good idea? or is it too much?

What size should the bulkheads for the drain pipes and return pipes be?

Would really appreciate any advice or help you can give me as i don't know much on this subject.

Thanks in advance!

[glarior]

First of all I'm not going to rush into setting it up. Im trying to make the system the best i can. The tank, sump and stand will all be custom made so the depth and height of the tank measurements can be adjusted if any of you think they should be? Build the biggest you can afford. I don't see anything with the size you have chosen. For the corals you may want to look into what lights you will use. How far depth they go, their color spectrums so you can have optimal growth/aesthetics.

Im planning on having a 4inch deep sand bed in the main display with 35kg of good quality live rock. The finished tank will be overstocked with corals and about 5 fish. DSB have mixed reviews. Thought about a plenum? or something to sift through the sand?

The sump will have a large skimmer and some live rock in the 1st section. In the 2nd section i want a large refugium with miracle mud. After the refugium i want the water to go through a sponge and bio balls. Then finally in the last section i want the heater and return sump pump. fuge and LR work great. Why the bio balls last?

I was going to do the tank with 12mm thick glass. Is this too thick or is it a case of the thicker the better? The glass size chart says 12mm, I have never used glass. What about acrylic?

The front panel will be Starfire glass. Has anyone ever had any problems using this glass? I've heard it scratches easy? :s Looks clear :-) It scratches like any other glass I have used

What would be the amount of water i should look to turn over per hour through the sump? I have read 10-20x per hour for reef. My 120g reef has dual rio 3100 at 4ft head height or ~700gph, So, every hour my tanks fully cycles 11.7 times an hour

I was thinking of having 2 Drain pipes and 2 return pipes. Do you think this is a good idea? or is it too much? Personal preference, I like having dual over flows and returns. do you plan to have internal overflows?

What size should the bulkheads for the drain pipes and return pipes be? For that size of tank 1" drain would be plenty and 3/4 return.

Would really appreciate any advice or help you can give me as i don't know much on this subject. Read all the info you can and enjoy the hobby

Thanks in advance!

My reply is in red

[guppa]

Thanks for the reply! Ok so I'm going to order a tank with dimensions 41" long x 22" wide X 21" tall. I'm making it 22" wide now instead to give me more room to aquascape the live rock. I have also reduced height of the tank to 21" After a 4" sand bed and about 3" at the top of the tank for water movement i'll have 14" of water. Do you guys think this is enough? As i don't want it to be too tall as i want plenty of light to hit the corals.. I've read up on DSB and after loads of advice decided to use one. They seem to be good along as they are seeded buy good live rock and the live sand used is a small grain size also it cannot moved at all. The critters inside the live sand will keep the sand clean. Im also going with 2 1" holes for the drain and 2 3/4" holes for the return. Thanks again and please let me know if you think 14" of water height is enough. Thanks

[Cliff]

+1 to the above reply

I just have a few things / suggestions that I would like to add (green font)

Hi Guys


What would be the amount of water i should look to turn over per hour through the sump?

Just make sure the turn-over through the sump matches your skimmer. Any faster or slower and your skimmer will not work as effectively as it should. Flow through you sump is different than flow in the tank as it is based on your equipment. You might want to set-up your sump to have a different flow rate for the refugium compartment as they typically need lower flow rates to process nitrates and phosphates


What size should the bulkheads for the drain pipes and return pipes be?

The size will be based on the flow you want through them. The below two links can help with that:

http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.co...umbing-basics/

http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.co...e-sump-basics/


Would really appreciate any advice or help you can give me as i don't know much on this subject.

Thanks in advance!