just a newbie from Lacombe

[mik]

my first thread! So im in the research stage of it it all and was hoping for some advice and help? I am building a house in the summer and want to be very prepared for the tank setup and purchase. First question, their is a window facing where i want to put the tank room (14ft away) will it be a problem? Or what if i got that window tinted or something?
Second is their a club for around Red Deer? Because it is a new hobby for me and no one that I know keeps salt. (not a winer just annoyed that it isn't very popular)
Thirdly anyone breed or make tanks or even want to design plumbing with me for my build? Im leaning towards a 120-180g DT (drilled) with my existing 75 fresh converted into a sump below and im thinking a fuge above for growing copepods.? Ideas would be great but pics would be really cool. O and the tank in wall with a room just for them size being 11'X7'
Thanks guys and hope to learn lots from you in the future!

[Alberta-newb]

Welcome to Canreef! You're starting off right in the hobby and doing lots of research and asking questions first, wish I had done more of that as I probably would have done some things differently myself. There are some very knowledgble people here so it's an excellent resource of info.

I'll try to comment on some of your questions right away, others with more experience can fill in details and correct me if I'm wrong.

I don't think a window 14' away should pose too much of a problem unless it puts direct sunlight on the tank, even then it may only be a problem in the summer and a curtain solves that. Using the 75 for a sump for a 120 or 180 is ideal, even a luxury! I'm using a 45 as a sump for my 120 as it was the biggest I could fit in the space I had. Quite often the sump and fuge are together as one unit although I know of systems where they are seperate. My 45 serves as both by siliconing baffles in the tank to create seperate zones. My fuge is on one side and my DT overflow drains on the other side, my return is from the middle. A lot of ways to skin a cat (who came up with that saying anyway??)

With an in wall build and seperate fish room you can get a real nice set-up going. Do some carefull planning and you can make maintenance very easy. A couple of things I did which really helps were as follows:

I plumbed a dedicated water supply line close to my tank for my RO unit and also for cleaning stuff like my skimmer cup, I also plumbed in a small bar sink.

Using a RV water storage tank with pump to store mixed saltwater.
Smaller tank mounted above the DT for atomatic top-up

These things alone mean I never have to move a bucket of water again...something I hate with my freshwater tank.

Dedicated GFI circuit (wish I had two, but the panel box is full)


Just some ideas to think about, as far as plumbing goes there are all kinds of ways to do it sop you have to make some decisions on things like overflows, closed loop systems, internal or external return pump, etc...

[mik]

thanks i never thought about a tank above for the evaporation. with a auto shut of! i am going to put a ro/di unit witha bar sink in the room and a floor drain just incase!

Also i'm a carpenter and at work the plumbers have some pipes that they melt together and have complete plastic valves,fittings and elbows (everything) they are green and blue in color and they said that you could run acid though them then drinking water and the water would be good to drink. Have you heard of the stuff? It's from Germany. Even for pvc rock bracing i was thinking! so if anyone knows more about this product let me know because i was planning on trying it for my plumbing stuff, or if someone want's to try it out before i do in the spring!

[mark]

Nice to be able to plan ahead.

Consider structure as well, such as tightening joist spacing below the tank, telepost placement etc.

Do think about non standard dimensions such as a deep front to back, as untamed or the classic but extreme Oregonreef.

I'll as give the standard advice, READ LOTS, but do search out build threads. Posts like Lando's and others you can get quite a bit from pictures. Even if not planning a CL, take a look at OM's picture forum as lots of layouts.

Also try to see some tanks first hand. Being able to talk about a system while standing in front of it can really be helpful.

[mike31154]

Welcome to the salty side. Yes it's not that popular/well known, but in my view that makes it all the more intriguing.

Just a quick comment on the window business. I know we don't get as much consistent sunlight as our friends south of the border, but down there, there are more and more marine aquarists experimenting with sunlight to light their tanks, solartubes etc. With a search I'm sure you'll stumble across some good threads on that. I often wondered why some aquarists were so paranoid about a little sunlight getting into their systems, after all, it's what the animals we keep evolved with over thousands of years. Even with the window closer to your display, in summer the sun is high so it would only receive indirect light. In winter, if it's a south facing window you'd get more direct sun, but it's so low on the horizon, that I don't imagine it would cause that much of an algae problem, particularly if your water quality is in good shape. My 2 cents on that. Some very good advice already in this thread for you and more to come I'm sure.

[Frenchie]

Welcome to the reef.

I have two pieces of advice for you, do lots of research, and be prepared for this thing to become an obsesion!

I don't think the window would be a problem.

I would be glad to help you out with the plumbing design when you get to that stage. Let me know what you need.

If you can post some of your design ideas as sketches you will get lots of advise.

[Doug]

Welcome
to
Canreef

Going to move to the reef forum.