Well after a year of spinning my wheels I am finally getting around to setting up a tank with a sump, skimmer and real lights!! Prior to this it was just all-in-ones tanks. Lots of rock and water changes with weak PC's.
Tank is a 75 gallon Aqueon with a megaflow and 30 gallon sump.
I am putting together a little hangout spot area off our TV room. It will be nice in the fact I will be able to view my tanks from my couch while chill-axing watching TV etc. I am setting up my 75 gallon here along with a 125 gallon (6ft) planted tank. Once I get my "mineralized soil" done this tank will be setup.
Here is a pic....sorry for the mess. I have 80-100#'s of fluorite in the room and the 75 is moved away from wall for painting.
Full Version: My 75 gallon and first build.
Now I had to go about building a sump. This was pretty scary for a newbie!! Never built one, heck I am not even sure if I full understand the concept of how one keeps the water in it much less the design of one.
I looked allot on www.melevsreef.com for sump ideas. Crazy cool stuff on his site. But decided to a similar sump that I saw Fat Tony a member on TRT built. But I left out a bubble trap after the refugium as I plan on having a very flow.
I used glass as I could get it at Lowes' for about $2.40 a panel and they cut it. Glass is a thinner than I would like. Hopefully it will hold up!!
Not the best silicone job, but when your back and hip are in spasm every time you bend over you make due!! (long story two years ago I was in a wheel chair for 8 months.)
So it will go left to right. Skimmer---->bubble trap---->return---->fuge.
I looked allot on www.melevsreef.com for sump ideas. Crazy cool stuff on his site. But decided to a similar sump that I saw Fat Tony a member on TRT built. But I left out a bubble trap after the refugium as I plan on having a very flow.
I used glass as I could get it at Lowes' for about $2.40 a panel and they cut it. Glass is a thinner than I would like. Hopefully it will hold up!!
Not the best silicone job, but when your back and hip are in spasm every time you bend over you make due!! (long story two years ago I was in a wheel chair for 8 months.)
So it will go left to right. Skimmer---->bubble trap---->return---->fuge.
For rock I bought a bunch from www.bulkreefsupply.com Cant recall but I think it is around 60#'s of the "Reef Saver" rock. Pretty cool looking stuff!!
Not sure if anyone knows but they will take group orders. I did this thru one of the nano-reef.com's forum. Pretty easy, they give you a code after so many people sign up to do it. Take code then order online. Pretty easy club idea!
Anyway I was going to cook it with some live rock but decided I wanted to go for a a rock formation that looks better than my "pile-o-rocks" that I have done before. So I left it dry. I am going to peg, glue, tie to make a better looking formation. I am not going for the whole "Zen" Japanese look. But something that looks better than my previous avalanche look.
Once I get the formation done I will leave room for a bit of live rock to help seed it. Also I will add some donated live sand from others tanks to help kick things off a bit....hint hint...wink wink.
Dont have any pics of roc yet , but I will.
Not sure if anyone knows but they will take group orders. I did this thru one of the nano-reef.com's forum. Pretty easy, they give you a code after so many people sign up to do it. Take code then order online. Pretty easy club idea!
Anyway I was going to cook it with some live rock but decided I wanted to go for a a rock formation that looks better than my "pile-o-rocks" that I have done before. So I left it dry. I am going to peg, glue, tie to make a better looking formation. I am not going for the whole "Zen" Japanese look. But something that looks better than my previous avalanche look.
Once I get the formation done I will leave room for a bit of live rock to help seed it. Also I will add some donated live sand from others tanks to help kick things off a bit....hint hint...wink wink.
Dont have any pics of roc yet , but I will.
Fuge looks good. You may find yourself using it as Intake>fuge>return as bdare tried this method and got a lot of bubbles.
As far as the sump working you want to make sure that when you return pump is off that there is enough room in the sump to catch the excess water that continues to flow out of the tank. Reason being is if the power goes out and quits pumping from the sump, water will still flow from the tank to the sump and hopefully will have enough room before it overflows the sump. The water will only flow as fast as you pump it out. The level in the sump is controlled by the baffles.
As far as the sump working you want to make sure that when you return pump is off that there is enough room in the sump to catch the excess water that continues to flow out of the tank. Reason being is if the power goes out and quits pumping from the sump, water will still flow from the tank to the sump and hopefully will have enough room before it overflows the sump. The water will only flow as fast as you pump it out. The level in the sump is controlled by the baffles.
For skimmer I was at a loss. Never used one I just know that they make allot of bubbles are expensive and skimmate looks like it came out of a patients NG tube, yes I work in health care!!
I have heard many brands mentioned and that it seems it is a Ford/Chevy thing. That the more expensive ones are the bomb and cheaper ones are junk.
So I took a trip down to SWE/saltwater empire on a Thursday at 1130. Fritz(owner) and Lee(manager) and one other customer who was leaving. Now this is my kind of shopping!! So Fritz showed me the line of Skimmers they have mostly Octo, Vertex and maybe others. Later in talking with him I thought a Octo Extreme 200 would be best as I might move up to my 125 if the planted thing doesn't pan out. He agreed but told me he had a SWC Xtreme 200 for sale that he used on his frag tank at his home.
Man this thing is huge. Wondering if I should have gone with a smaller skimmer.
Here is a pic inside the sump.
I have heard many brands mentioned and that it seems it is a Ford/Chevy thing. That the more expensive ones are the bomb and cheaper ones are junk.
So I took a trip down to SWE/saltwater empire on a Thursday at 1130. Fritz(owner) and Lee(manager) and one other customer who was leaving. Now this is my kind of shopping!! So Fritz showed me the line of Skimmers they have mostly Octo, Vertex and maybe others. Later in talking with him I thought a Octo Extreme 200 would be best as I might move up to my 125 if the planted thing doesn't pan out. He agreed but told me he had a SWC Xtreme 200 for sale that he used on his frag tank at his home.
Man this thing is huge. Wondering if I should have gone with a smaller skimmer.
Here is a pic inside the sump.
QUOTE (nanoty @ Mar 7 2010, 11:22 AM) 
Fuge looks good. You may find yourself using it as Intake>fuge>return as bdare tried this method and got a lot of bubbles.
As far as the sump working you want to make sure that when you return pump is off that there is enough room in the sump to catch the excess water that continues to flow out of the tank. Reason being is if the power goes out and quits pumping from the sump, water will still flow from the tank to the sump and hopefully will have enough room before it overflows the sump. The water will only flow as fast as you pump it out. The level in the sump is controlled by the baffles.
As far as the sump working you want to make sure that when you return pump is off that there is enough room in the sump to catch the excess water that continues to flow out of the tank. Reason being is if the power goes out and quits pumping from the sump, water will still flow from the tank to the sump and hopefully will have enough room before it overflows the sump. The water will only flow as fast as you pump it out. The level in the sump is controlled by the baffles.
Thanx for the reply!!
Yup I have pretty high baffles maybe 12inches+. I read up on the overflow part and was pretty freaked out about the idea actually!!! If worse comes to worse it can fill the entire tank!
As far as the fuge having issues with bubbles I will have to test it out. I wanted to keep the flow really slow, under 100gph. Almost to the point of needing a pump just to circulate in it. If I need to I have the option of adding a bubble trap to the fuge. I will test it out when I have the rock setup and cooking in the tank before the sump gets all dirty and broken in. I even have the glass cut for it.
Here is a picture of the tank sitting on the stand getting filled late last night.......I had to work at 6 am today.....not enough sleep!!
Here is the rig!!
Here is the rig!!
Very nice. I'm also setting up 75RR tank.
QUOTE (adam87 @ Mar 7 2010, 12:18 PM)
Very nice. I'm also setting up 75RR tank.
Thanx!!! Shoot me link to your build!! Your 40 looks good. That birdnest looking thing is awesome!!
Hooked it all up last night to test it out. But realized I did not have a GFCI installed. So ran to HD after work and installed my first GFCI!!! Man I hate electricity!!
So after what took me easily 10x longer than it would an electrician to install we had power finally.
Hooked it all up. Here is a couple of shots of the plumbing. It is 1 1/4 and 3/4 tubing. I soaked it in a warm bucket to soften it so connections would be easier. Without doing that I would have been fighting with a coiled mess!!!
Left to right. Overflow into skimmer---baffle--bubble trap--return split at a "T" with flow diverted into the refugium.
I have a gate valve above the return pump to help adjust/restrict flow back to the tank and refugium or to give the pump more head pressure. After the "T" water goes to the refugium. I would have liked to have used a gate valve but I didn't have any so I used a ball valve to control flow to the refugium.
Does this all look correct??
So after what took me easily 10x longer than it would an electrician to install we had power finally.
Hooked it all up. Here is a couple of shots of the plumbing. It is 1 1/4 and 3/4 tubing. I soaked it in a warm bucket to soften it so connections would be easier. Without doing that I would have been fighting with a coiled mess!!!
Left to right. Overflow into skimmer---baffle--bubble trap--return split at a "T" with flow diverted into the refugium.
I have a gate valve above the return pump to help adjust/restrict flow back to the tank and refugium or to give the pump more head pressure. After the "T" water goes to the refugium. I would have liked to have used a gate valve but I didn't have any so I used a ball valve to control flow to the refugium.
Does this all look correct??
Well I ended up going with a Ocean Runner 2500. Some people would say I am under powered but I did not want to max out 600 gph overflow and I did not want the sound of a waterfall in our tv room. Very happy quiet, and it seems to match my overflow and sump well.
SO out goes the Mag 9.5 and in goes the OC2500
Well for lights I ended up getting a Tek 6 bulb that came pre-loaded with bulbs for $320. Pretty happy as the budget is starting to evaporate!! Now I dont know much about bulbs and what the latest, greatest, bestest or any other "est"s. I do know actinic help coral pop, and I prefer white light over yellow.
The lights the Tek came with are all Ice Cap except one lonely ATI. The lights are as in this order I believe top to bottom in picture.
IC-Twilight, IC-Actinic, ATI-Pro Color , IC-Deepwater(14k), IC-Reef Crest(10k), IC-Twilight.
SO out goes the Mag 9.5 and in goes the OC2500
Well for lights I ended up getting a Tek 6 bulb that came pre-loaded with bulbs for $320. Pretty happy as the budget is starting to evaporate!! Now I dont know much about bulbs and what the latest, greatest, bestest or any other "est"s. I do know actinic help coral pop, and I prefer white light over yellow.
The lights the Tek came with are all Ice Cap except one lonely ATI. The lights are as in this order I believe top to bottom in picture.
IC-Twilight, IC-Actinic, ATI-Pro Color , IC-Deepwater(14k), IC-Reef Crest(10k), IC-Twilight.
Twilight only.
I am thinking about swapping the actinic and Twilight around so when lights first come on or for night viewing I can have a actinic and a twilight running instead of two twilights. Opinions?
I am thinking about swapping the actinic and Twilight around so when lights first come on or for night viewing I can have a actinic and a twilight running instead of two twilights. Opinions?
Center four lights.
IC-Actinic, ATI-Pro Color , IC-Deepwater(14k), IC-Reef Crest(10k),
IC-Actinic, ATI-Pro Color , IC-Deepwater(14k), IC-Reef Crest(10k),
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