New tank and misc

[Simpte]

My aunt found a 65 gallon tank with iron stand and lights and heater and some other stuff for $40.00 and bought it for me.  The nice surprise is the tank came with and overflow box, sump, and another piece.  I'm very new to reef tanks and not sure what the third part is or what the material in the overflow and unknown part is.  I've posted a few pics to help.


And this one is the part I'm unsure of....................

What is the suff in them and why is it there?

[ohioreef]

Looks like a mechanical filter.

[Simpte]

So I dont really need it then.  Thanks for the help.   I'll clean it over the weekend and add it to my current setup that has finished cycling

[bigfalcon36]

Looks like a home made trickle filter.

[REDPYRO]

take out the thing inside and put LR in it

[bigfalcon36]

I was thinking along the same lines, but take the stuff out and drill it out for a 3/4" bulk head on the side.  Set it up as a refugium.

[Simpte]

The problem I have with that is my stand is a stor bought pressed board one   It splits the area underneath in half.  I can put the sump underneath but the refugium would half to be on the other side.  Is that still workeable?

[Joel]

Great score!!!! That's a heck of a good price.

THe piece your not sure of is the bio tower. That is called DLS (dual layer spiral) inside of it. It was used in place of bio balls for surface area for bacteria. It works very well but also traps dirt and eventually becomes a perminate nitrate and phosphate problem. In the pic of your overflow box it looks like DLS was being used for a pre-filter material which was common several years ago as well. For fish tanks this type of set up works well but I'd replace the DLS with bio balls. If your going to do more of a reef type aquarium, this might not be the best way to go.

Does the bio tower just rest inside the sump? If so you could not use the bio tower and modify the sump to become a "marsh" or "fuge" and use the over flow box to deliver water fom the tank to the sump. If you want some help or ideas, stop by next time your in the neighborhood. We'll come up with a plan that will work.

See ya...Joel

[Simpte]

Thanks Joel.  I should be around Saturday   For some reason, my car just steers its way over there
Should I bring in the equipment?

[Joel]

sound like your steering is working fine.

Yeah, bring the sump, bio tower and overflow box. We'll give it a look over and come up with a plan.

See ya...Joel

[Simpte]

Sump doesn't fit under tank   Any suggestions anyone?  I was thinking about moving the stand but its kinda heavy filled with water, rock, and sand lol