# Curious Transfermation



## Aquatic_Fan (Nov 30, 2007)

Hi everyone, I have a 10 gal SW and a 40gal FW.....now what I was thinking of doing was to convert my 40gal into a SW and I want to use my 10gal as the filtration. I was going to get 2 pumps.....1 will be a sucking the water to the filtration and the other will be the return pump. How big of a protein skimmer will i need and if anyone could recommend some brands or models that would be very nice.....I don;t know much about protein skimmers and could use some help about those and what they do and how they work and what is required to fill them with. As for lights I have a place where I can buy either really good ones or just decent ones. Pending how much I can afford I will get.

I plan to take my sweet time with this since abit of money will be going into it. Is R/O water still recommended to fill my 40gal and to do top offs with? And does my 10gal filtration have to be just about level with the bigger tank or can it sit underneath the table of my 40gal? I plan to do this sometime at the end of May.....knowing that I will have alot more money income going through summer. I am planning to put Live rock and maybe coral......but for me I don't think Coral would be the best cause first it add's to my budget and second it needs special care and treatment.

I am still thinking of questions and ideas I'd like to mention and will reply to most posts. Let me know if I am missing anything that I mentioned.


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## fish_4_all (Nov 13, 2006)

Is good this is being asked now in the planning stages. I am not certain but I do not think that you want to have pumps feeding a sump but you want and overflow to do so. This keep your sump from going dry and keeps your tank being sucked dry. 

Again, not possitive, but I have heard of very few sumps that have pumps running to them, just from them. [/img]


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

Yes. From the tank, you want an overflow, and a similar box that is located inside the tank that the water flows into the overflow, and then down to the sump. As for the return pump, you can use a strong powerhead. The LFS's here use the QuietOne pumps, and it looks very effiecent.

PS's take out waste in the water. There are a ton on the market, and to find the best, look for reviews on forums (like ours) for the best reccomendation.


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## Aquatic_Fan (Nov 30, 2007)

fish_4_all said:


> Is good this is being asked now in the planning stages. I am not certain but I do not think that you want to have pumps feeding a sump but you want and overflow to do so. This keep your sump from going dry and keeps your tank being sucked dry.
> 
> Again, not possitive, but I have heard of very few sumps that have pumps running to them, just from them. [/img]


What is an overflow mean....like water pouring into the tank like from an Aquaclear filter or something like that?


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## Aquatic_Fan (Nov 30, 2007)

Cody said:


> Yes. From the tank, you want an overflow, and a similar box that is located inside the tank that the water flows into the overflow, and then down to the sump. As for the return pump, you can use a strong powerhead. The LFS's here use the QuietOne pumps, and it looks very effiecent.
> 
> PS's take out waste in the water. There are a ton on the market, and to find the best, look for reviews on forums (like ours) for the best reccomendation.



What do you mena bos inside the tank so that water flows into the overflow and then dwon to the sump......do you mean sort of like a drain? then after it goes through the sump it gets pumped back into the tank?


As for protein skimmers......what size do you recommend i buy......iv seen large ones and like really small ones......do they have categories to follow for certain tank sizes?

thanks


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## fish_4_all (Nov 13, 2006)

The overflow is a special section on a slat water tank with either a sump or wet dry where the water simply flows down the tube to the sump. The water level is controlled this way. Basically a waterfall.


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## Aquatic_Fan (Nov 30, 2007)

fish_4_all said:


> The overflow is a special section on a slat water tank with either a sump or wet dry where the water simply flows down the tube to the sump. The water level is controlled this way. Basically a waterfall.



How would i get the water to drain into the tube.....would i have to drill the glass to make a hole so water can fall through to the sump? I sort of don't really understand.....umm do you have a picture that might show me what overflow means?

sorry


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

Take a look at this:

http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=15266

That was my fuge plans for my 10G. SKAustin explains the overflow and U-Tube thing pretty well.

Here is an overflow you can buy:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=18358
You can, however, make your own if you dont want to spend the money.


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## Aquatic_Fan (Nov 30, 2007)

Cody said:


> Take a look at this:
> 
> http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=15266
> 
> ...



Ok now i understand what you mean by overflow........and that is a nice filter to buy i wouldn't mind that thanks for the link


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