[quote=“fishguy9, post:21, topic:1342”]
-drilling/piping the 2 15 gal tanks together is gonna be WAY cheaper than buying another pump. even if u dont want to drill them, set then against each other and make a skimmer of sorts (overflow) to keep the water levels in them the same.[/quote]
The only problem with this is finding something that is cost effective. Buying 2 15gallon tanks and either having someone drill them or buying the 1 1/2" - 2" diamond tipped drillbit may not be very cost effective. I think the drill bit is around $40 by itself. And I am sure the two tanks are going to be like $30 each. Not to mention that I would need to make sure the tank doesn’t have tempered sidewalls, and I still would have to find 2 tanks that will fit underneath my cabinet. That doesn’t look like it is going to happen. I only have about 12 1/4" to work with at the very most.
As for setting them together and making an overflow, I am not sure how to do that. I would still have to move the water from one tank to the other using a pump. So matching two pumps would be a nightmare, like someone already said.
[quote=“fishguy9, post:21, topic:1342”]
-aside from the sump being “worth a lot just to be under the tank” why not just use the tidepool that came with the tank when u bought it? seems like cutting your skimmer investment in half would of been a more sensible idea than ditching the sump.[/quote]
When I initially bought the setup from my LFS, I was planning on using that setup just as it sat in a FOWLR tank. After seeing other tanks, and other setups, I started to feel that maybe a Reef tank would be what I wanted. When I started to do more research into Reef tanks and talk to people that had been in the hobby, namely Dr. Mac, they recommended going a different direction. Dr. Mac took the time to show me the setup that he has on his tanks and when he explained the basis of how skimmers work and the science behind it, I felt like putting the money into a better skimmer would be better for the tank and would allow me to switch my tank to a full Reef tank in time. It also seemed like less work and in the end would give me a much better looking tank. I won’t have to clean 3 filters on a daily basis. I just have to remember to empty the skimmer cup, and keep a watch on my water specs.
The other thing is, the tidepool it is too small to be my only sump. It will just barely fit the ASM skimmer that I have, and it leaves no room to have any kind of a refugium. I also need my sump to be a holding tank in case I ever lose power. As most of you know, with an overflow system if my pump stops working, gravity will not. So its going to keep putting water into my sump until the level of water drops low enough to stop overflowing. With the Tidepool, even without the skimmer, I dont think it could hold much water out of the overflow and that isn’t acceptable to me. I can’t take the chance that something happens in the middle of the day and floods my dining room. My wife would have my head.
In hindsight, I wish I had done just a little more planning and a little more research. But, that is why hindsight is 20/20.
*** Important Part ***
Finally, I think I am going to attempt to build my own acrylic tank. I have to do a little more research, but I think I can get a 4’x8’ sheet of 1/8" acrylic for around $40 from Lowes. I also can’t remember if that was acrylic or plexiglass. If it is plexiglass, I will have to look around and see if I can use plexiglass, just to make sure it wont leech chemicals into the water. I know for a fact that they have a 2’x4’ sheet 1/4" acrylic for $43. The only thing I don’t know is whether it is cell cast or extruded. One sight I quickly skimmed over said that it is very important to have cell cast. We will see what happens. Hopefully this will end my adventures of starting this tank and start the adventure of maintaining the tank…
