I just bought a 180 gallon bowfront, it is 72 long, 17 wide at sides and 24 in the middle, and 28 high. It came with a 35 gallon sump half filled with bio balls, with room for filter pads on top of the bioballs and sponges before entering the main chamber where the output pump would be. I need to really bulk up my filtration because it will be housing 3 large stingrays while I repair the tank they are in, and afterwards a large moray eel. There is an overflow wall in each back corner, and 2 holes drilled in each of these corners, I believe they are 1.75" and 1.25". It came with what I believe SW guys call "reef ready" overflow, essentially a tall piece of PVC bent 180 degrees at the top for water to come in. It was running on a mag9.5, 950 gph pump before I bought it. Glass is tempered, so I believe drilling it is out of the question, if I am wrong about that and there is a way I am totally willing to drill to make the overflows bigger. I am also willing to tear the overflow wall out. So... questions...:
First of all, is my sump big enough, or do I have to make a new sump? I feel like its on the small side, will I absolutely need bigger or can I make it work with some tweaking? Would simply adding an FX6 be better than redoing a new sump?
What can I do with my plumbing to ensure highest GPH turnover rate? I have no experience with overflow walls, I wonder if I should tear it down, I know GPH my system can handle is directly proportionate to the size of my overflows, so how can I maximise the output with my existing 1.75" drain holes? Do they need to be bigger, is there a way to make them bigger? What about the overflow itself?
Does anyone know how much the drains I have now can handle in terms of gph? The tubing that came with it from the barbs at the end of the holes into the sump were 1.25" for the drain and .75" for the output if I had to guess, didn't have a chance to measure them yet. Obviously it handled 950 GPH just fine, I really would like to double that if possible.
In the end, I just want to maximize what I have with filtration. I have about a month to get the tank in top notch shape before I have to start redoing my other seams, let me know what you guys think I can do, as I have never owned a tank with the overflows drilled in the bottom. Any resources I can look at that will help me understand the concept better?
Thanks.
First of all, is my sump big enough, or do I have to make a new sump? I feel like its on the small side, will I absolutely need bigger or can I make it work with some tweaking? Would simply adding an FX6 be better than redoing a new sump?
What can I do with my plumbing to ensure highest GPH turnover rate? I have no experience with overflow walls, I wonder if I should tear it down, I know GPH my system can handle is directly proportionate to the size of my overflows, so how can I maximise the output with my existing 1.75" drain holes? Do they need to be bigger, is there a way to make them bigger? What about the overflow itself?
Does anyone know how much the drains I have now can handle in terms of gph? The tubing that came with it from the barbs at the end of the holes into the sump were 1.25" for the drain and .75" for the output if I had to guess, didn't have a chance to measure them yet. Obviously it handled 950 GPH just fine, I really would like to double that if possible.
In the end, I just want to maximize what I have with filtration. I have about a month to get the tank in top notch shape before I have to start redoing my other seams, let me know what you guys think I can do, as I have never owned a tank with the overflows drilled in the bottom. Any resources I can look at that will help me understand the concept better?
Thanks.