Reef ready tanks?

[thekarens]

Question, if we bought a reef ready tank could we take out the overflow and plumb the return and drain to run a canister underneath? Not sure how that would work since most FW tanks have the holes drilled in a different area than salt tanks. If it can be done what kind of bulkheads are used?

[eklikewhoa]

Yeah you can....

If it were me....
I would get threaded bulkheads, then get threaded barb fittings on the bottom side and teflon tape the threads. This would lead to your filter intake/output.

for the other side you could have either threaded or slip fit and just put a strainer on one side and loc-line on the other.

[rage]

I believe a RR tank costs more, yet it is inconvenient if you just want to do fresh water. Why don't you try to trade for a non-drilled tank? How big is it?

[Delock]

Question, if we bought a reef ready tank could we take out the overflow and plumb the return and drain to run a canister underneath? Not sure how that would work since most FW tanks have the holes drilled in a different area than salt tanks. If it can be done what kind of bulkheads are used?

Why waste the time buying a reef ready tank when you can get one with holes drilled in the bottom?


Unless the tank is used!

[thekarens]

Whoa! I haven't bought any tank yet, but occasionally you can get a better deal on Marsh and most of those tanks are reef ready. I will probably buy a used tank and not all tanks can be drilled. I'm just keeping my options open for when I find the right tank/deal

[Delock]

Whoa! I haven't bought any tank yet, but occasionally you can get a better deal on Marsh and most of those tanks are reef ready. I will probably buy a used tank and not all tanks can be drilled. I'm just keeping my options open for when I find the right tank/deal

Most reef ready tanks can be drilled. But if you going used doing what you want to do will not be a problem.

[Zulaab]

I believe a RR tank costs more, yet it is inconvenient if you just want to do fresh water. Why don't you try to trade for a non-drilled tank? How big is it?

Rage can you explain to me in layman's terms why in a fresh water enviroment its more inconvenient to have a reef ready tank compared to a non-reef ready.. I have both at home, and run only fresh, and I can only say this...
1. There is no comparison... wet/dry is superior in almost all if not all aspects of cleaning your tank.
2. Oxygenation is FAR superior with a wet/dry compared to canisters, and since I keep Africans who are used to super high oxygenation they are happier in the wet/dry enviroment.
3. Last night took me two minutes to clean my wet/dry. Removed the pad installed a new one. Done. Canister break down takes about 30-40 minutes for me (this is about the amount of time I have to adjust the clocks on my timer from when I turn the power off until its back on again). Never shut down the wet/dry while doing the maintenance.
4. Water changes. Easier to do with a wet/dry compared to a canister.. I dont have to prime anything with a wet/dry and a reef ready system.

I know I love my wet/dry's and reef ready tanks... I am looking for a reason to return to a canister system/HOB/Powerhead system. Can you give me one ?

[rage]

Sorry, I did not mean it like that.
I meant if Karen was not going to use the overflow, drilled hole and a wet/ dry that come with the benefit of the RR tank then it's inconvenient to get one and then having to cap it off. If she was going to use it like you said, it's great.

I am no expert at this but if it was me, I don't like to use a RR tank for fresh water because I don't like the overflow taking up space in the tank, the noise it makes and the potential for leakage at the bulkhead and overflow in the sump itself.

Of couse you can have a leak with a cannister filter too but not as much. A canister filter is more compact, a all built-in-one filter instead of all the plumbing, and pump you need with a wet/dry. It's just my 2 cents. :)

[Zulaab]

I am sorry if I sounded like I was jumping on you about this, but I agree... A wet/dry takes up more space than a canister, a reef ready tank should be used for exactly that with a wet/dry, dont use it if you are going to just cap it.
I have never had a leak with either a canister and a well installed wet/dry system, but then again I had like 2 people look at the setup and assist me with the setup when it was done...
I just love wet/drys for the superior cleaning skills and ease of cleaning.. yes they are a pain to setup first time.. but after that they are nice.
In my house sadly what makes the most noise (and yes I am going to fix it one of these days) is the damn fan on the light fixture..

[algarciajr]

I prefer the rr ready tanks for my fw setups. They are noisier but it is a trade off I can live with. I prefer a wet/dry over cannister filters and also I like not having to use an over flow box.

[Brownsnoutuk]

Its harder to feed flake and floating pellets using RR tanks. A lot of the food goes over the overflows.

[thekarens]

If you are using reef tanks as is you can cut down on the noise tremendously by using or making a durso pipe. What I want to know is how you keep the small fish from from going down the overflow.

[Brownsnoutuk]

Or you could stuff the overflows full of bioballs and add a drip tray across the top. Makes a great wetdry in the overflow and cuts out most of the noise.

[thekarens]

Back to how do you keep the fish from going into the overflow

[rage]

I use a piece of plastic grate-like thingy bought at the Craft section at Walmart. :) to keep the fish out. You also have problem with the food spilling over into your overflow.

A durso standpipe is a good idea to cut down the noise but what I don't understand is that most of the detritus will stay in the overflow, is it not? Cleaning such small space is always a problem for me.