New 200gal tank,have a few ?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
J

JustLooking

Gambusia
MFK Member
Feb 12, 2006
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I pick up my new to me 200 in the next day or 2.

The tank is drilled with 2 holes in the overflow for drain,& 2 in the cener of the tank for return.
I hope you can see this in the pic.
I am not crazy about the return hole location,can I plug these holes & run new return lines up & over the back?
Or is there a way to use them as they are that still looks ok?
Last ? for now is I am planning on making my w/d using a 45 gal tank,do you think this will be large enough?

Thanks in advance,I plan on doing a nice build up of this & posting it in the diy section.the only thing I have to start with is a tank,I have to diy everything else.
 
Forgot the pic

kefj4BtOp5OYaeW75BhPre7AS2EG.jpg
 
That tank looks awesomw bro!!!!

I do agree with ya that the overflow is situated in a kinda weird place...(far side)...........but you could add a cannister as a backup and position it on the other end and or just use a large powerhead to force the detrius towards the ooverflow!!!..........Good luck moving that big boy!!!:)
 
JustLooking;780631; said:
I pick up my new to me 200 in the next day or 2.

The tank is drilled with 2 holes in the overflow for drain,& 2 in the cener of the tank for return.
I hope you can see this in the pic.
I am not crazy about the return hole location,can I plug these holes & run new return lines up & over the back?
Or is there a way to use them as they are that still looks ok?
Last ? for now is I am planning on making my w/d using a 45 gal tank,do you think this will be large enough?

Thanks in advance,I plan on doing a nice build up of this & posting it in the diy section.the only thing I have to start with is a tank,I have to diy everything else.
Click to expand...

You could use one of the holes in the overflow box for your return. You would run the pipe up through the hole and with a couple of 90 degree elbows place the return nozzle where ever you want it. Here's a picture of a tank like mine. The return pipe from our mechanical filters comes up out of the overflow box and two bends later it enters the little hole on the far right.

overflowbox.jpg


If you're only using a wet dry for filtration, all your pipes/plumbing would be hidden under the canopy. As far as using only one hole to drain--we have a 300 gallon tank with two overflow boxes. We were newbs when we set up our system, and we plugged one overflow box up. With only one hole draining to the wet dry filter, we have excellent water parameters. We actually have the return from the wet dry filter draining into the plugged up overflow box where we also have the heater.

If you are going to add a canister filter in addition to your wet dry system, you might want to come in from the top. We have an acrylic tank, and that's exactly what we did. We drilled four additional holes in the top of our tank to accomodate two extra uptakes for our mechanical filtration system and for the uptake and return of the FX5 we threw in for good measure. The top of our tank looks crazy with all the pipes and hoses, but it's all hidden behind the light and doesn't show from the front of the tank.

pipes-4.jpg


The pipe in the front left, is the return from the mechanical filters coming up out of the overflow box and reentering the tank. The pipe in the front right is one of two uptakes for our "poop" suckers. Further back is the FX5 return hose, and behind that is the 2nd "poop" sucker pipe. Further back and not visible, are the FX5 uptake hose and the main mechanical uptake pipe, and the return from the wet dry filter. It's quite "busy" back there.

Our light structure hides it all.
newtank-02.jpg
 
Thanks for the reply
I have thought of using the overflow that way,but then I would only have one drain.
My real concern is how to get rid of the 2 holes in the bottom center of the tank.
I dont want to have my returns coming right in the middle of the tank.
 
What about putting in bulkheads and capping off the pipe coming out of the bulkheads? Does your stand have a hole right there? That's how we "capped off" our one overflow box. The short pipes coming out of the overflow box are capped off. You'd always have the option of using the holes, although I don't know what for! Seems like that would be a very safe option. Better yet, you could insert a short piece of pipe into the bulkhead inside the tank and cap it off. It could be covered with substrate, and no one would know the difference.

Susan
 
I think that is what im going to do,cap off bulk heads.
The stand is not an issue,I still have to make that.
 
you could have some heavy-duty valves on some tubing and use them for draining during WC's, maybe
 
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