Fish outta water.. (1 Viewer)

[mbh427]

Hey all,

So I've been keeping cichlids for about a year until this past weekend when I sold them all and picked up a 120g Aqueon reef ready tank. I'm sure if I tried to, I can try to figure it out, but I'm really feeling intimidated by the setup with the whole sump, pumps, plumbing thing.

Can you guys please help me or point me in the right direction as to what all I need to get my tank up and running? I brought it home on Sunday afternoon and haven't touched anything yet, which is totally not like me lol.

So I'll try to list all that I have:

Aqueon 12308 aquarium (48.5 x 24.5 x 25.5)
Custom stand
Jecod DCS-9000 pump
R200 refugium
And a protein skimmer (not sure of the brand at the moment)

What kind of fittings do I need to get it all hooked up together? And what else do I need to get? Any recommendations on powerheads and lighting, etc? I'm more of a visual person so any pictures and diagrams would be greatly appreciated. Please help this fish out of water lol

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[Clownfish Chris]

this can be complicated without details but I will give some info based on assumptions. Is it new or used? Do you have pictures? I believe that aquarium has two overflows with two holes drilled in the bottom of each. The smaller hole is for the return lines from the pump to the aquarium the larger is for the drains to the sump. Sumps can be set up in a umber of ways; refuge sections, filter sock sections, drip trays with bio balls, and more. Google image search terms such as Durso pluming, reef sump pluming, reef return pluming. This will give you an idea.

I like to use spaflex pipe as much as possible.

 

[mbh427]

Everything is new. I'll go home after work and post pics, probably around 6:30 or so.

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[Andy]

Where are you located? Part of town?

 

[Clownfish Chris]

Where are you located? Part of town?

Good Question! If you are on the north side anywhere remotely close to me I wouldn't mind helping you out in person.

 

[mbh427]

I'm in Cypress. 290 and mueschke area

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[mbh427]

Here are my equipment:

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[below radar]

I don't have anything special but here's my set up. I have an external pump

Sent from Earth

 

[mbh427]

Ok, so I've got the thing started, finally. My sump was too big to fit through the front door, and the back opening. Luckily, the tank is still empty so I pulled it out and had it leaning against the wall while I dropped in the sump from the top.

So this is how I have it setup now. It looks like I have to cut the return pipe to make it fit according to the instructions. Can you guys look at the pictures and please give me an idea of what I need to do next?

Thanks!

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[below radar]

Your return is too high imo. Do you not have a hole on the top side of your overflow box for your return?

 

[below radar]

Sent from Earth

 

[mbh427]

Yes, there is a tab that I can break on the return side. Also, on the second pic, do I put my return pump in that back compartment? And where do those two hoses go to?

 

[below radar]

The 2 hoses are do your drains. I'll look up those sumps to see where the pump goes. It most likely goes in the front compartment.

 

[below radar]

Just watched the video on the Eshopps website. The return is in the small chamber between the skimmer section and drain chamber. Hope you like my super awesome picture editing skills

Sent from Earth

 

[mbh427]

So the return pump goes in that small section in the back, right? And you said that the hose on the right (looking from this angle) goes to the skimmer, so where do I hook it up to on the skimmer? And the hose on the left goes to the refuge? Does it just float in there? And so I have to get pipes or tubes to connect the two drain pipes together? Sorry for the all the dumb questions, and thank you so much for helping me!

 

[below radar]

This will explain better than I did
ESHOPPS | R-200

 

[mbh427]

OK, so I finally have everything hooked up. The last part left was the flexible hose from the return pump to the tee, but my bigger hose would not flex enough due to the really tight space. So I had to get slightly smaller hose and it barely fit. My question is, on the last picture, my return pump is supposed to to go in the middle compartment to the right of the skimmer, but it doesn't fit in there. Would it be OK to leave it in the same area as my skimmer? Please let me know what you guys think.

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[below radar]

That hose is a no go. You should run whatever the size is of the pump discharge as long as you can. Use 22-1/2 and 45s to make it from your pump to your tee.

 

[below radar]

You should also put a ball valve on each side of the tee.

 

[mbh427]

OK, done.

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