# Big Tanks, Reef Ready or Drill Your Own



## KempDesign (Feb 27, 2014)

Hey guys, as I complete the plumbing on my 210 reef ready tank that I am setting up for Mbunas, I am already contemplating the next tank I'm going to put right next to it, either a 150 or 210 gallon tank for SA cichlids. I bought my first 210 reef ready thinking that was the way to go, but after spending a lot of time on a saltwater reef forum, I've learned that a lot of those guys like to drill their own setups, prefering a single bean animal overflow system to dual overflows with either a herbie or durso setup.

how do you prefer your tank? Would you buy a pre-drilled reef ready tank or would you rather do what it seems like the reefers do? Does anyone here run a bean animal type drain? Thanks for your input. I wish I had done this research before I bought my first 210.


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

Pre drilled. I don't have the intestinal fortitude to chance it otherwise and the two tanks I have work great as is.


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## KiefKommando (Mar 17, 2015)

nodima said:


> Pre drilled. I don't have the intestinal fortitude to chance it otherwise and the two tanks I have work great as is.


This. Plus, well honestly, drilling it out myself sounds like a lot of work lol I am sure the predrilled will do fine for what you need it for.


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## Ryan_R (Aug 20, 2014)

Agree with the others. Also, a *good* glass drill bit is not a cheap thing.

-Ryan


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

Let me ask the OP a different question - what problem or shortcoming do you see with the pre-drilled tank that would be solved by changing the type of overflow?

The problems reefers face is different than what we face in FW.


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## KempDesign (Feb 27, 2014)

nodima said:


> Let me ask the OP a different question - what problem or shortcoming do you see with the pre-drilled tank that would be solved by changing the type of overflow?
> 
> The problems reefers face is different than what we face in FW.


I was originally planning to turn my entire volume over 8x per hour. With a 210 gallon tank (assume 180 gallons of water) and 60 gallons of sump and refugium (assume 40 gallons of water) I needed to pump and return 1760 gph. If each overflow only handles 600 gph max with a durso drain, I was going to flood my tank. As I understand it, a Herbie drain with a full siphon flows much more than 600 gph. From what I've read, trying to run a Herbie in each overflow is a nightmare and the suggestion from reefers is to drill 3 holes and run what they call a Bean Animal drain. Instead of buying another reef ready tank, Next time I may have my local fish store drill holes for me and install a custom overflow box that will handle the flow.

For my current 210, I now plan to dial back the flow to only 1200 gph. That means I'm only turning my total volume over 5.5 times per hour.

Does that make sense?


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

KempDesign said:


> nodima said:
> 
> 
> > Let me ask the OP a different question - what problem or shortcoming do you see with the pre-drilled tank that would be solved by changing the type of overflow?
> ...


And the problem with this would be, what? Are you concerned there will be debris left in the tank? I would be less concerned with an arbitrary "turnover" rate than whether the filter worked. As well, you may be turning the volume over, but not necessarily all the water, regardless of the flow rate. That is to say, while you may move 1200 gallons of water per hour, it may take several hours before all the water actually makes it through the filter once. Does this matter? Probably not.


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## KempDesign (Feb 27, 2014)

I'm just trying to square everything I've read about over filtering with cichlids with actually doing it with my filter set up. I don't want debris in my tank but I'm sure it can't be helped as it will collect among the rock hardscape no matter what the flow is. I've read a bunch about turning the water over 10 times an hour. That is hard to do with a 210 gallon tank!


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## Als49 (Jul 11, 2014)

If your main goal is to have as much water turn over to reduce debris in the tank, you can also use combination of canister and HOB in addition to sump. And also PH whose outlet is set to target the filter inlet.


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## KempDesign (Feb 27, 2014)

Als49 said:


> If your main goal is to have as much water turn over to reduce debris in the tank, you can also use combination of canister and HOB in addition to sump. And also PH whose outlet is set to target the filter inlet.


I am trying to minimize the number things in the display tank my just running the sump. I have thought of adding a canister though. I do plan to use a pair of powerheads to get some flow in there if needed.


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

KempDesign said:


> nodima said:
> 
> 
> > Let me ask the OP a different question - what problem or shortcoming do you see with the pre-drilled tank that would be solved by changing the type of overflow?
> ...


It makes sense from a theoretical perspective. I don't think that you need that much flow regardless. 5.5 times with a large sump and plenty of media will filter that tank fine. Don't get caught up in the numbers, take them with a grain of salt as they are really guidelines. I'd further argue that when you dealing with sump filtration, they don't make sense. I'd take a large well constructed sump filtering 2x an hour over 10x per hour HOB filters. Different types of filters totally.

My 180 is a stock Marineland tank with dual overflows. I'm running a Mag 18 wide open which provides plenty of circulation in the tank, with 3/4" tubing and the dual returns. I have no idea what the actual GPH is, but there is approximately 4' of head. From the pump the return splits via a 90* T fitting, then each return has a pair of 90* elbows and the lock line to the jets. I'm sure there is plenty of drag in this set up too. FWIW Both return lines have a ball valve on them, but again, they are fully opened.

For fun lets assume I get 1100GPH (based on http://www.dannermfg.com/Store/products ... 02718.aspx)

That comes out to 6.1 times an hour (1100/180)

With the same set up on your 210 it is 5.23 times an hour (1100/210)

You'll be fine it is not that different.


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## KempDesign (Feb 27, 2014)

Thanks, that is helpful!


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

BillD said:


> Are you concerned there will be debris left in the tank? I would be less concerned with an arbitrary "turnover" rate than whether the filter worked.


Ah turnover. I agree with Bill, worry more about how well the filter works. This, to me has more to do with circulation. Run an AC70 on a 180g tank? Won't work. Add a few powerheads? Clean tank. You'll be cleaning the filter every few days but it'll work. Bio load is another matter.


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