Planning my dream tank.

[Luciën]

So my wife gave me approval to build a bigger tank 🥳.
I would like to get an l240x w70x h65cm tank. The 240x70 is partly based on what is possible with an second skylight, the specs say thats enough for a 240x60 tank but I think having an 10cm extra sand area for the cory's would be great and the light would be enough to handle it, guess placing it 10cm offcentre backwards would be an option. The 65h is because 60cm of swiming height would bennefit the angels, and larger then that would be hard to reach for maintance. Ofcourse I would like to include branches sticking out of the tank with emersed growth as my current one.

The old tank is going to function as the sump that would add 325L extra volume.. So that wold be total gross of +-1400L 😊
My luck is thats where it is going to be placed there is an waterpipe and drainage pipe that goes upstairs to the laundry room behind the a wall right to it.
So an auto water change system is something I wanted for a long time and its now possible. I'm thinking that using my old tank that is side drilled now, then as sump would be good to let out excess water, that would be filled into the tank on top on a daily basis using a timer.

The new tank needs an overflow too but where it's going to be is something that I don't know yet.. In the center or to the far right, what is better?
Hope there are members that have good input to help me think things thru 😅

 

[Zeus.]

The height of the tank is one consideration, also the height of the base is critical also IMO, if its too high you will need a step-up to reach the bottom of the tank esp at the back. Too low a base height and fitting a sump and CO2 cylinders in becomes tricky also. I did my 500l so a 6.6Kg CO2 cylinder with regulator just fit in, so it was lower than the average base, which made it better for viewing when sat in down. However reaching the substrate level was still tricky and needed a step-up (I'm 5 ft 10in). Mine was a braced tank which also makes it tricky for access, open top makes it much easier

 

[Luciën]

The height of the tank is one consideration, also the height of the base is critical also IMO, if its too high you will need a step-up to reach the bottom of the tank esp at the back.

Thanks for your input. The place where the water pipe runs through is stairway closet where the co2 cylinder can be placed I have a 10kg on under my current tank thats going to be used. So will try to keep the tank cabinet as low as I can around 65cm same height as the tank a total of 130cm. It will be low enough to view the tank from the couch.. I'm 1,96m thats 6ft 5in so high enough for the most maintenance.

 

[RickyV]

So will try to keep the tank cabinet as low as I can around 65cm same height as the tank a total of 130cm. It will be low enough to view the tank from the couch.. I'm 1,96m thats 6ft 5in so

That's funny I am 5ft 4 in and I have 101 cm tall cabinet and 75 cm tall tank. I like being eye level with the tank, it also just makes the tank feel a lot bigger. But I understand some keep it low for viewing from the couch.

The new tank needs an overflow too but where it's going to be is something that I don't know yet.. In the center or to the far right, what is better?

I have tanks with both center and far right overflows and both work great. You should pick the one that will be hidden best with the aquascape you have in mind. The center overflow is nice though because I get 2 side views of the tank.

 

[Luciën]

That's funny I am 5ft 4 in and I have 101 cm tall cabinet and 75 cm tall tank. I like being eye level with the tank, it also just makes the tank feel a lot bigger. But I understand some keep it low for viewing from the couch.

Ha yes I get your point, but one of the things I enjoy a lot from a rimless tank is being able to watch it from the top. And I'm going to add emersed growth also.

I have tanks with both center and far right overflows and both work great. You should pick the one that will be hidden best with the aquascape you have in mind. The center overflow is nice though because I get 2 side views of the tank.

Ah okay I would have it standing to a corner on the right side so it will only be viewable from the left and front. How did you sort out the inlet to the overflow do you experience dead spots?

 

[Wookii]

So my wife gave me approval to build a bigger tank 🥳.
I would like to get an l240x w70x h65cm tank. The 240x70 is partly based on what is possible with an second skylight, the specs say thats enough for a 240x60 tank but I think having an 10cm extra sand area for the cory's would be great and the light would be enough to handle it, guess placing it 10cm offcentre backwards would be an option. The 65h is because 60cm of swiming height would bennefit the angels, and larger then that would be hard to reach for maintance. Ofcourse I would like to include branches sticking out of the tank with emersed growth as my current one.

The old tank is going to function as the sump that would add 325L extra volume.. So that wold be total gross of +-1400L 😊
My luck is thats where it is going to be placed there is an waterpipe and drainage pipe that goes upstairs to the laundry room behind the a wall right to it.
So an auto water change system is something I wanted for a long time and its now possible. I'm thinking that using my old tank that is side drilled now, then as sump would be good to let out excess water, that would be filled into the tank on top on a daily basis using a timer.

The new tank needs an overflow too but where it's going to be is something that I don't know yet.. In the center or to the far right, what is better?
Hope there are members that have good input to help me think things thru 😅

Wow that's an awesome size!!

Having done a fair bit of sump planning along with auto-water changes, as you know, I do know that simple overflowing from the sump (i.e. simply adding fresh water and letting the old water overflow) doesn't really work as intended - there is just to much variability of water height in the sump. Power cut's, feed timers [if you're getting a pump that can do that), maintenance etc will just cause water to flow from the display tank into the sump which will then disappear out of the overflow when you don't necessarily want it to.

You are better to pump a know quantity of water from the sump into a fixed container, and then pump the exact same fresh water back in (or do both at the same time). The old water and then be pumped out of the fixed container, to the waste pipe.

In terms of overflow and return, I prefer a linear set-up - overflow at one end, return at the other. I just think it's easier to manage flow and distribution generally, than trying to circulate everything from the centre out to both ends separately. I can thoroughly recommend the Eshopps Eclipse overflow boxes if you are able to source one - and a the three pipe Bean Animal set-up has worked perfectly for me.

 

[Luciën]

Having done a fair bit of sump planning along with auto-water changes, as you know, I do know that simple overflowing from the sump (i.e. simply adding fresh water and letting the old water overflow) doesn't really work as intended - there is just to much variability of water height in the sump. Power cut's, feed timers [if you're getting a pump that can do that), maintenance etc will just cause water to flow from the display tank into the sump which will then disappear out of the overflow when you don't necessarily want it to.

Ah yes I understand. But my intention is to have a very simple sump with sponges from on side to another and keep my sump tank as full as it can get using the old overflow box as ehm waste overflow.. Doing daily water changes would get te water back up to level in with an reasonable time.. I'm not used to use my feeder timer of my return pump so maintenance wisei can see dipping to large arms in the would let the water over flow quite a bit but thats only water that gets replenished quickly with the fresh water return I'm thinking of making it smart so I could also switch is with a phone to adjust the water hight in the sump.. I don't think it could run dry or overflow in this method or maybe i'm missing something.

You are better to pump a know quantity of water from the sump into a fixed container, and then pump the exact same fresh water back in (or do both at the same time). The old water and then be pumped out of the fixed container, to the waste pipe.

This seem to me like to much going on for daily water changes and this that could go wrong.. What if one pump fails?

In terms of overflow and return, I prefer a linear set-up - overflow at one end, return at the other. I just think it's easier to manage flow and distribution generally, than trying to circulate everything from the centre out to both ends separately. I can thoroughly recommend the Eshapps Eclipse overflow boxes if you are able to source one - and a the three pipe Bean Animal set-up has worked perfectly for me.

Yes i have the Eshops overflow on my current tank. But I think an intank overflow would look a bit better, althou I am a fan of your intake mod. If I would have an overflow in the center I should get the flow from the sides to the center making a strange clash in the middle? I see alot of marine tanks having a overflow in the center..

 

[RickyV]

Ah okay I would have it standing to a corner on the right side so it will only be viewable from the left and front. How did you sort out the inlet to the overflow do you experience dead spots?

On my center overflow tank the tank is drilled from the bottom and uses herbie style. I used to have a two returns one facing the left and one facing the right side. This worked well. Recently I upgraded to a single 2 inch return pipe to get more efficiency out of my pump. Now I have the return facing the front panel so the flow goes from the front and bottom the back and top. I'm sure I have dead spots with so much hardscape and plants but I haven't had any problems.

Here you can see the return and center overflow (I am going the paint the return black). I just need to grow the plants in the center to the top because I dont like how light the oveflow is compared to the rest of the background.