• Looking to buy a cephalopod? Check out Tomh's Cephs Forum, and this post in particular shares important info about our policies as it relates to responsible ceph-keeping.

75 Gallon Bimac Tank

Joined
Dec 4, 2008
Messages
505
Well... I decided i want another bimac tank. I couldnt put it in my other tank since i had put coral in other and had no place to put it. So i got a 75 gallon glass aquarium. For filtration i got CPR SYS 192 filter package. Since the volume of that is only like 6 gallons or something i put it in a 20 gallon tank. It is all in a sump. I have a chiller hooked and i am running it at about 63 f.

I definitely learned not to trust my lfs. They had a 60 there which is what i was planing to get. I got it home and i got all the 5 GALLON JUGS!(you do the math that is a lot) I start to fill it up and it hits the top of the tank at only 48 gallons!:hmm: After that i checked my measurements and every thing esle it all turned out to be only about 49 gallon tank. So i had to call the fish store and tell them. A corse they didnt believe me so then i went up to them(45 min drive!) They measured and were speechless.(the guys face was so funny when he put he numbers in the calculator :lol:) So after a lot of talking we decided to take a 75 home. I got home and i had to get all 48 gallons of water into 5 gallon jugs and then get more 5 gallon jugs. Then put about 60 pounds of live sand in it. I learned two things from this: 1 Get an RO machine! 2 Dont trust your lfs.

So here are some pictures of the tank and over flow and sump. The only question i got is how should i octo proof my over flow? It is an external. Also do you think i need to octo proof my return? It is just a J hook with a pvc elbow attached to it.
 

Attachments

  • conv_304095.jpg
    conv_304095.jpg
    3.2 MB · Views: 268
  • conv_304096.jpg
    conv_304096.jpg
    3.1 MB · Views: 280
  • conv_304097.jpg
    conv_304097.jpg
    3.2 MB · Views: 247
I learned a similar lesson about advertised tank size. Unfortunately it was two tanks too late and quite embarassing. My first clue was not until Octane seemed to need a larger tank. His tank SHOULD have held 45 gallons empty and I had a small sump to add 10. When he started entering senescence I could tell he needed a larger tank, confused, I measured ours to find out it only held 35. He died before I could complete the cycle and move him to the larger tank we set up for him (from my carelessness, not directly from the tank size). I have two of these, NOT 45 gallon tanks that now make great 35 gallon sumps :hmm: for the 65 gallon tanks that replaced them.

I determined having my own RO was way worth it early on but then I maintain 6 sw tanks > 35 gallons and 3 smaller ones (in addition to the 2 feeder tanks and whatever else I am playing with at any given time.

I can't help with the overflow questions since we also learned after our first tank to drill if you are using a sump!
 
I have a question about keeping live food for this tank. Is it possible that i could keep all the live food in the sump? There is plenty of room and i dont think anything will get sucked up in the return and if it does then he gets an extra little treat. I would probably put some live rock in there so then i could put crabs then they can get out of the water. So will that work?
 
Lots of people use there sump as a refugium. It is usual set up so there is a bulkhead between the live stock and the pump, but I think a slip on prefilter would work. Also remeber you have to put a light on your sump if you are going to use it as a refugium.
 
It can work this way but I personally prefer to keep separate feeder tanks because the feeders have to be fed and that adds waste to the sump. Since I use a filter sock with charcoal where the water enters the sump and don't have any other kind of filtration (other than the skimmer) set up in the sump, food and feeder waste would be returned to the main tank. Keeping a couple of 2 and 10 gallons is better for my setups than adding more filteration to any of my sumps.
 
Ok thanks for the replies. I got one more question. To help get he ammonia going can i put some dead shrimp in a filter sock and just let it sit in there? I mean wouldnt it help get the bio filter started because there is all that ammonia in the tank from the shrimp.
 
Yes, this is one of the ways you will see recommended to do a fishless cycle. Just remember that you need to continue to add a bioload to the tank. You really don't need to put it in a filter sock but keeping it captive would help remove the goo when it is spent. However, if you use good live rock, you do not need to supplement.

Here is a short article that suggest how may and how often to use the shrimp in a fishless cycle. Google fishless cycle shrimp for more opinions.
 
So it has now been 3 months (almost). i set up the tank in november. i think this weekend if the tides are low i will go lookin for a baby bimac. i got a bunch of LR. Got my new chiller to keep it at a nice 60 degrees. i will just have to do some quick octo proofing(good octo proofing) and it should be ready.
 
Will do for sure D. I do have a water proof camera and will get some photos. Its supose to be -1.07 tide here so i have a pretty good chance. I aslo believe reading that bimacs start hatching around now so i am really hoping that i get a baby! Can any one confirm about the hatching time for bimacs?
 

Shop Amazon

Shop Amazon
Shop Amazon; support TONMO!
Shop Amazon
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Back
Top