hockeyhead's 55 gal SW

**Cliff** · 11-18-2010, 04:37 PM

Originally Posted by hockeyhead019

... and as far as skimmers go the inside is around 25 inches which will be tight since from what most of the one's I've been looking at are around 23" in height or so... I was gonna get the eShopps 150 I think it was. And I don't plan on having to empty the cup too much. I was going to run clear tubing into a 2 liter bottle so the cup from the skimmer just drains all the gunk into that.

I would be a little concerned if you could not remove the cup and the skimmer for occational cleanings. The stuff that gets pulled out of the water will coat the inside of the cup and your skimmer with a flim of gunk and it stinks like you would not beleave.

My skimmer has a biult in fitting in the cup for the same line that you are talking about. I'm not using it tho, it just seamed like another part that I would have to clean. Everyone I talked to, and even the manufacture's instructions, suggests giving the inside of the skimmer body and cup a really good cleaning at least once a month.

Just make sure you can do that and you should be set

**hockeyhead019** · 11-18-2010, 05:24 PM

I think I'll be ok with being able to get it in and out, only time will tell though and I'll be kind of bummed if I have to downgrade what I was plannin on using because of that... we'll just have to wait and see I guess.

The skimmer will be my next purchase and then I'll put some water in the tank and just get everything up and running

I appreciate all the advice/guidance Cliff!

**hockeyhead019** · 11-19-2010, 12:29 PM

Really am not liking the look of the plumbing currently to the sump... would much rather have a drilled spot for an over flow in the back top right corner of the tank... I'm looking around for tuts on how to drill your own tank, doesn't seem very hard, just need a diamond bit and water to cool it, just have to find the bit that'll do the job for a 1-1/2" overflow line or maybe I'll be knocking down the size of my proposed drain line, since my return pump goes through 3/4" and can get 1000gph (that's minus head) I'm thinking I could knock down the size of my drain line... thoughts?

Back to reading lol

**labnjab** · 11-19-2010, 02:31 PM

Check your local fish store. One around here will drill a tank for $25. You can also use a HOB overflow too.

**hockeyhead019** · 11-19-2010, 03:00 PM

no local stores besides petsmart etc... plus I could do it myself and get a diamond bit out of the deal haha... I was thinking about an overflow box but I'm worried about power outages and overflows... from what I've read an HOB overflow won't keep it's siphon to keep working after it loses it. A regular in tank overflow will..

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong as there are frequent outages around me and they usually last a couple hours so I don't want to have to worry about things over flowing since that would suck to have 30 gallons of water pour out onto my floor lol

**Cliff** · 11-19-2010, 04:40 PM

Do you have a local reef club in your area ?

You can usally find someone who drills tanks there if you can't find anyone at your LFS

Or, have you consider one of these ?

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/of...600GPH%29.html

**labnjab** · 11-19-2010, 04:43 PM

A drilled tank is nice, I love ours, but I heard drilling a tank is tricky and can result in a broken tank. There is another alternative to a standard HOB overflow. A u-tube HOB overflow will have problems with power outages, but one of the cpr overflows will restart themselves. You hook them up to a aqualifter pump. When the power returns the pump starts the siphon again. http://www.google.com/search?source=...a4c364e3bd645b

**hockeyhead019** · 11-19-2010, 05:22 PM

Originally Posted by Cliff

Do you have a local reef club in your area ?

You can usally find someone who drills tanks there if you can't find anyone at your LFS

Or, have you consider one of these ?

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/of...600GPH%29.html

Considered it but that's almost another $200 I'd have to spend ya know? I think I'll drill the tank doesn't look extremely difficult but I'll have to take my time with it to make sure I get it done right (Just like anything else lol).

**Cliff** · 11-19-2010, 11:23 PM

Sorry bud, I keep forgetting your on a fix budget as a student

Post some pics if you end up drilling the tank your self. I'd love to see how that works