Ive come to a sad realization.

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Markw

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 14, 2009
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Maryland
Hi all. I have recently acquired a 150g RR tank. It has dual overflows on either corner of the tank. I bought this in hopes of setting up a reef tank, but heat is a concern in my house, and there is no way for me to keep the heat down in the tank with the strong lighting I would need to accomodate a 28" tank with a sump and all big equipment.:( That brings me to my next question.

I was thinking about setting up a brackish tank instead and not using the overflows. So, I was wondering if there was any way possible that I could plug the overflows. Temporarily, as if I every scrounge up the money for a chiller for this beast, I would love to set up a reef.

Is it possible?

Mark
 
Absolutely dude. Home Depot, Lowes, etc... Very cheap to do so. I forget the names of the exact parts (inebriation setting in) but measure out the holes you need to fill and go to the plumbing section. They'll set you up if you say "i got to plug this here hole". If it's not a permanent solution also look for rubber washers/gaskets. Good luck bud.
 
u can usually plug holes pretty easy like said above. if ur not gonna do the reef though, i would just keep the overflows and use a sump for the brackish.
 
I have a Rena Filstar XP4 filter I was going to use for the tank, and Im having serious trouble finding a tank that will fit under my tank and still hold enough water to not overflow if the lights go out. Id rather just plug the holes and deal with the water changes out of the top of the tank, no matter how tedious that darned ladder is -_-. Thanks everyone! I was going there for aquarium sealant anyway (one of the overflow panels has a very, very slow leak on the left side. I cant see it mattering too much, but better seal it now before permanent water goes in it.)

Mark
 
i don't think you are going to need to run a chiller on a 150 with metal halides. i never did on my old 125 w/3 250watt mh and t5's apprx room temp 69-72 apprx water temp 78-82 and remember that the water doesn't heat up when you turn your lights on it takes a while and i still don't run a chiller on my 220 right now lights have been off for about an hour house temp 68 reef tank 78 however each system was ran with open tops no hoods
 
S220G;3926448; said:
i don't think you are going to need to run a chiller on a 150 with metal halides. i never did on my old 125 w/3 250watt mh and t5's apprx room temp 69-72 apprx water temp 78-82 and remember that the water doesn't heat up when you turn your lights on it takes a while and i still don't run a chiller on my 220 right now lights have been off for about an hour house temp 68 reef tank 78 however each system was ran with open tops no hoods
Click to expand...
if nothing else you can put a fan above the tank it will drop the temp 3-4 degrees
 
and if you set it up salt run your lights for a couple days to see if the temps fluctuate if they are too much just add more freshwater to obtain brackish good luck with the set up and you should be able to fit pvc pipes into your bulkheads where it is drilled just run taller peices out of the water or cap off the pvc with a fitting if you don't want to use your overflows
 
you would be surprised what a few strategically place fans will do for the water temp..
I put a dual window fan blowing straight down on to my sump surface water (sitting on top of the sump) and dropped my temp 2-3 degrees..
Also if you use two or three MH, unless youre showing off your tank, put them on staggered times..start ione two hours before the next and the next then only have all three on for like 3 hours and then stagger the off times the same kindda like if the sun rose and set on your tank..only 5 hours per light. but with three lights having a total of 9 hours of light (MH's)
My friend did this (as does Mark Levenson. ie: melevs reef.com) and it dropped his temp down 3 degrees also. also saving electricity
 
You can use any old container as a sump. I use a sump with overflow in my brackish tank. It broke, and I'm currently using a 5gal bucket as a stop gap solution. THe new sump is under construction. GO brackish, get a plastic container for the sump, use a filter sock to catch debris from the overflow and bioballs for extra filtration, and a relatively low flow pump for the return. You won't close any doors should you wish to go reef in the future, and I think you'll find brackish scratches your itch. Check out my tank.
 
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