scored a 40 breeder now what?

zoomcorvette

zoomcorvette

New member
I was wondering if most people have there frag tanks as stand alone systems or do they plumb them into the main system?

I scored a new 40 breeder drilled for a glass-holes overflow and return, and the overflow and return kits for $65. I could not pass it up.

I am also wondering why this thing needs a 1.5" drain setup? I have to calculate all the volume to make sure my sump will not overflow.

I will do some pics hers soon of my whole setup as I think I will need to move everything to make plumbing this easier.
 
I thought this would be easier. I have my sump behind my tank along with my topoff tank. This is going next to the main tank. My issue is the large capacity of the overflow drain lines. I think they will add up to alot of water and I have to figure out if my sump has the capacity PITA, if it does not I will need to shorten the plumbing which will require me to move the sump below the 40 breeder and next to the 150.
 
Your sump will never overflow as long as you make sure of 2 things:

1) drill vacuum break holes in your return lines to stop them from reverse siphoning when your return pump is off. Dont be afraid to drill more than one, safety first.

2) on setup, fill your system at the display tank and let water flow thru the overflow to fill the sump. Run the system when your sump is almost full. Remove excess water from the sump so the skimmer area holds the right amount of water for your skimmer (when the skimmer is running). Turn the system back off and let it fully settle out for a while. Now you can mark the water level in the sump with no flow. This is your mark for water changes. With the system running, mark the water level in the return chamber. This will be your mark for top-off while the system is in operation. Maintaining this water level with DI will keep your salinity levels stable, your skimmer running properly, and will eliminate the possibility of a flood.
 
zoomcorvette said:
I thought this would be easier. I have my sump behind my tank along with my topoff tank. This is going next to the main tank. My issue is the large capacity of the overflow drain lines. I think they will add up to alot of water and I have to figure out if my sump has the capacity PITA, if it does not I will need to shorten the plumbing which will require me to move the sump below the 40 breeder and next to the 150.
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You are over thinking the drain. It ONLY flows what the return pump feeds it. No more than that.
 
I have a center return refugium so the skimmer section and refugium are always at a constant level, the center section is the only one that varies and I have an ATO on that. My salinity is spot on all the time. On the drain, won't the drain line empty when I shut off the return pump off?
 
zoomcorvette said:
I have a center return refugium so the skimmer section and refugium are always at a constant level, the center section is the only one that varies and I have an ATO on that. My salinity is spot on all the time. On the drain, won't the drain line empty when I shut off the return pump off?
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Yes, but there is such a small volume of water in the drain it's not really any real concern.
 
zoomcorvette said:
When I turn my return pump off now the refugium adds about 5 gallons from the tank dropping below the overflows and ?.
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I already addressed both of your concerns above. If water is draining past the bottom of the teeth on your overflow, you need to siphon break your return lines.
 
These glass-holes overflows use 1.5" returns there huge. and if I plumb to the back there will be like 10 feet of PVC so it seems that will be alot of capacity plus the return lines, and tank volume above the overflow. Just a little math and I will feel better. Thanks for the quick responses. It is nice to hear another opinion with someone with more experience than myself.
 
I get it now they will not be completely full so very little water. So back to the original question do most people plumb there frag tanks into the main system or do they create an additional system for the frag tank?
 
In regards to your question about separate plumbing or plumbed to your main system, It is ideal to have a separate system for your grow out tank, which act as a back up just incase your main system crashes.
I have my grow out tank plumbed to my main system though, which gives me greater than 220 gallons of total system volume, which makes my system more stable as a whole than separate. Pluse having just one system allows me to maintain easier (just one water change and just have to dose one system as opposed to 2). plus, I'm heavily feeding my grow out tank (almost everyday), because I'm trying to get the clalices and acans to grow faster, so having it with a bigger system allows me to do that.
 
zoomcorvette said:
I get it now they will not be completely full so very little water. So back to the original question do most people plumb there frag tanks into the main system or do they create an additional system for the frag tank?
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That is personal preference. Do you want a redundant system to keep frags in from your display for safe keeping, or just need more room for stuff with less maintenance? Tying in saves a lot of money and maintenance taking care of one system, but if it crashes, you lose everything. As a separate build, it's not affected by your main system if something goes wrong, but then you are maintaining 2 complete systems.
 
Decisions....I want this frag tank for a place to store and growout frags. I hate the look of the racks in the main tank. Crashing sounds brutal I hope that never happens. I currently have about 200 gallons of capacity in my system and everything is oversized so I think I will plumb it in. I just did an experimental piping fit up and the drain fits. Now for the return. I plan on using a mag 24 for the returns in both tanks. I have a plumbing question can the union for the drain be on the horizontal section of piping? Thanks again everyone for the advice. I like the thought of two separate systems but I also like the ability to set this up and use it without worrying about the additional system. I can see people do it both ways.
 
Whats nice about redundant systems is you can use it for quarantine and medicating as well. Lots of people dont like medicating 200g systems. Cant really blame them.

Your best bet is to befriend someone like beard who has a grow tank and give him frags. Hes spent the money already s o you dont have to. Then leave it fallow for emergencies. What i do.
 
I have a fallow 29 gallon QT tank that is always running and seperate from the main system. I have this 40 breeder all setup and running now. I switched to a mag 24 return pump and now I have micro bubbles. It runs both tanks. Now I have to figure this out and get a LED for the breeder. So far I have a $100 into this with everything.
 
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