crazywolf Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I decided to get a new tank going. I had an eclipse I had wanted to turn into a nano reef laying around. It's being arcylic is what made it appealing. I wanted to drill it and do some additional DIY stuff to it. I also had a bunch of 10g AGA laying around perfect for a sump/fuge. So I bought the stuff I needed including Maxi-Jet's new utility pump, some glass sheets, and a bunch of plumbing. I am no quite sure what I'm going to do about lighting just yet. I will either retrofit something or get a sunpod 150 over the tank. I'm also trying something I haven't seen before by using a 4" PVC pipe for the overflow. I plan on cutting it in half or so and adding teeth. I am really excited to see it finally coming together. I plan to document the whole project like I did with my lighting project on my 6g. The Tank The "Stuff" UPDATE 1# 6/21/2008 Well the work began pretty quickly. Here are some pics of the overflow being built out of a 4" PVC pipe. I had to notch the bottom to fit the tank properly. It's not perfect but the silicone will hopefully mask small issues. Full Shot Top Notches Notch to fit the tank Bulkhead Test Fit Close up Another close up Link to comment
I Ate A Cake Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Sounds like a really good 12G Eclipse. Good luck. Also, go for the Sunpod. It wouldn't get as hot as a retrofit in a hood (I heard those get very hot in Eclipses, like 85+). Link to comment
crazywolf Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 Sounds like a really good 12G Eclipse. Good luck. Also, go for the Sunpod. It wouldn't get as hot as a retrofit in a hood (I heard those get very hot in Eclipses, like 85+). Thanks! I have lost sleep thinking of what and how I wanted everything. Good advice on the Sunpod. I think I will go ahead and get one in the mail. I have heard the bulbs are not the best that come with them. Any recommendation on an upgrade? I added some pictures to the original post. I plan to update that one until everything is setup. Hopefully I will be able to finish all the plumbing tomorrow. I also need to cut the glass for the sump/fuge. Link to comment
crazywolf Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 Update 2# 6/22/2008 Well I made some decent progress today. I cut the glass baffles for the sump. Boy was that a pain. Next time I will go with acrylic. Here are some pic's of my progress. I got the return's and drain drilled. I installed all the plumbing for the tank I can until the sump is ready. I didn't realize it would take so long for the silicon to set so I could only do 2 of the baffles. I'm learning a lot since my first reef was a AIO Nano cube. Link to comment
StevieT Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 very cool, this is about what you have to do to make an eclipse work! Link to comment
crazywolf Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 Thanks I also have a 150W sunpod coming that I got from the classifieds on here. I plan on leaving the frame off and build a arcylic top with "wings" for the sunpod feet to sit on. I filled it with water and did not see much bowing. I might add a center brace if needed. I also might use electrical conduit to hang the light over the tank. I have not decided yet. I had a general plan in mind but it's fairly fluid. Link to comment
StevieT Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 great! My first tank was an Eclipse 12, I pretty much gutted it as well, but not this crazy, very nice plan you have here. Link to comment
seagul Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 looks sweet!!! krylon fusion, paint that overflow and you're all set!! Link to comment
crazywolf Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 great! My first tank was an Eclipse 12, I pretty much gutted it as well, but not this crazy, very nice plan you have here. Yeah this was my first fish tank ever when I went nuts with Freshwater. I can't wait to get everything running and see how it works out. looks sweet!!! krylon fusion, paint that overflow and you're all set!! Thanks! Definitely agree on the krylon. I went looking all over for it this weekend but couldn't find any. I was over thinking the issue LOL I will hit walmart tonight and pick up some. I'm planning on painting the back of the tank and the overflow. I'm thinking I might have the make the teeth a little deeper. Does anyone think there will be an issue if they are only about a 1/4" deep? Link to comment
javi Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 that looks awesome. cant wait till ya finsih it. Link to comment
crazywolf Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 that looks awesome. cant wait till ya finsih it. Thanks me either. I dropped by my LFS this weekend to try and get the GF excited about it and managed to get excited myself. LOL Link to comment
StevieT Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 I would think you want them deeper to deal with evaporation. If the water level drops bellow them, you will loose all input and you will have a huge mess on your hands. Link to comment
crazywolf Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 I would think you want them deeper to deal with evaporation. If the water level drops bellow them, you will loose all input and you will have a huge mess on your hands. Good point! I guess I just figured the evap would happen in the sump but 1/4" isn't much room to play with. I will deepen them before I attach the overflow. Link to comment
121a Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 potentially the best eclipse on here... great job on it, all these new setups make me want to start another tank, but i cannot, savin money for something. Link to comment
Matty1124 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 your right on the evaporation will only be noticable in the last chamber in your sump (where your pump is)... also how big is your drain? it looks kind of small (looks like a 1 inch bulk head but then you put a barb fitting which looks like 1/2-3/4 inch) which wont be a problem depending on how much flow you plan on having from sump....it looks like your planning on having all the flow come from your sump, so this would worry me... lastly about your drain it looks like you dont plan on having a durso, i highly recomend putting one in... good luck and keep the pics comming Link to comment
crazywolf Posted June 24, 2008 Author Share Posted June 24, 2008 potentially the best eclipse on here... great job on it, all these new setups make me want to start another tank, but i cannot, savin money for something. Wow thats a huge statement. I have done a lot of reading trying to get to this point. I just want a nice system that makes it easier to maintain and I can keep most things that I might want. The livestock will be very basic at first. I should have my light by this weekend. I will build an aryclic top that will cover the system. I want to use 1/2" pipe to hang it. your right on the evaporation will only be noticable in the last chamber in your sump (where your pump is)... also how big is your drain? it looks kind of small (looks like a 1 inch bulk head but then you put a barb fitting which looks like 1/2-3/4 inch) which wont be a problem depending on how much flow you plan on having from sump....it looks like your planning on having all the flow come from your sump, so this would worry me... lastly about your drain it looks like you dont plan on having a durso, i highly recomend putting one in... good luck and keep the pics comming I thought that would be the case since the pump will keep the level in the tank stable. The drain is a 3/4 however I have been toying with upgrading. How large should I go? I just bought another new pump as it seems the new maxi-jet utility pump only puts out 75gph at 4ft. I don't think the pump will be more than 2 feet from the returns but I picked up a quiet one 2200 today while I was out. I'm thinking it will push a lot more water. All my flow is going to come from my sump. Would I be better served using a closed loop and the sump? If I added an additional 1" drain for the sump and used the 3/4" for the closed loop? I have another thread where I was trying to figure out how much flow I could get. Link to comment
crazywolf Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 Well I had some time to do some more work. I installed most of the sump panels, and got my first coat of krylon fusion on the overflow. I'm hoping the whole thing will be ready by this weekend or so. New Quiet One 2200 in the sump Getting the space between them consistent About the paint the overflow First coat of paint. I plan to paint it at least once more maybe twice depending on how it looks Link to comment
I Ate A Cake Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Again, looks really good. I will be tagging along. Oh, let me know how you like the Quiet-One pump. I plan on using it for a future 20H setup I want to have, and need a pump that is absolutley silent (bedroom tank). Link to comment
crazywolf Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 Again, looks really good. I will be tagging along. Oh, let me know how you like the Quiet-One pump. I plan on using it for a future 20H setup I want to have, and need a pump that is absolutley silent (bedroom tank). Thanks! I'm not sure how quiet it is but it's certainly big. If I had not removed the baffle next to where the pump was going to go it wouldn't have fit. I will let you know once I start my plumbing tests how loud it is. Link to comment
exsarg Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Thanks! I have lost sleep thinking of what and how I wanted everything. Good advice on the Sunpod. I think I will go ahead and get one in the mail. I have heard the bulbs are not the best that come with them. Any recommendation on an upgrade? I added some pictures to the original post. I plan to update that one until everything is setup. Hopefully I will be able to finish all the plumbing tomorrow. I also need to cut the glass for the sump/fuge. I just completed a retrofit in the canopy w/Current-USA 32w lamps, Model 1611, I then purchased a 40x40mm(~1.5") little over 10cfm fan, 12v very quiet, complete w/12v power supply, like $18, from BuyExtras.com, very good merchandise, purchased small sheet plexiglas, cut 1.5" hole in right end facing canopy and series of 1/8" holes in "grill" pattern in opposite end, built "tunnel" around lamps and reflector, works like a charm, run 11hours, at most a 1degree rise, I'm pleased, in fact it does much better than the Aquapod, I plan to replace the fans, already done one, w/higher cfm units, the one replacement indicates it will help considerably, the change was from 15cfm to slightly over 18cfm. Didn't mean to be so windy,ha!!! Holler if I can help Exsarg Link to comment
airman_verde04 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 looking good man! awesome work all around! I really like return ports there.. thats going to look great!! Keep the pictures coming. Link to comment
crazywolf Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 looking good man! awesome work all around! I really like return ports there.. thats going to look great!! Keep the pictures coming. Thanks! I like them too. My OCD will kick in if things are not symmetrical LOL Hopefully this weekend I will get to see it in action. The light should be here also. Link to comment
crazywolf Posted June 26, 2008 Author Share Posted June 26, 2008 I got a little more work done. The sump is finished, I finished painted the overflow and I painted the back of the tank. The Sump - it's not pretty but I think it will do the job. The overflow is painted and just needs to be installed. The tank is all painted and ready for it's final cleaning. Then the big water test and my first attempt at getting my levels set. Link to comment
Matty1124 Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 heres a tip for painting krylon on acrylic... once its dry hold the tank up to a light and look at it... sometimes it takes more coats then you think to get good coverage... you sump looks good but i think you mess up on your baffle order... the middle two baffles should be touching the bottom if your planning on having that be where your fuge is... the sand will block the one part of it thats an under baffle, you dont have to have sand mind you... it can be fixed by simply removing that baffle... you dont need all those baffles anyway... i have 2 in my 20g long sump/fuge... over all though it looks good Link to comment
crazywolf Posted June 26, 2008 Author Share Posted June 26, 2008 heres a tip for painting krylon on acrylic... once its dry hold the tank up to a light and look at it... sometimes it takes more coats then you think to get good coverage... you sump looks good but i think you mess up on your baffle order... the middle two baffles should be touching the bottom if your planning on having that be where your fuge is... the sand will block the one part of it thats an under baffle, you dont have to have sand mind you... it can be fixed by simply removing that baffle... you dont need all those baffles anyway... i have 2 in my 20g long sump/fuge... over all though it looks good Yeah I actually put a light inside the tank after the first coat to see where the thin spots were. Once it dry's I will check it again for any thin spots. Well when I was building the sumps I actually planned on 3 baffles each side. I was going to leave it as it but I could just add a 3rd baffle to the right side to keep the sand in it right? I didn't think about the sand blocking the flow. Thanks for the heads up. I figured based on other peoples issues with bubbles I would build additional baffles. This way the flow won't disturb the sand as much. Link to comment
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