thirdchild Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Current FTS (04/2014)My 40g breeder buildPartsPetco 40g breeder, Petco 20l sump, Lee Mar Stand, 700gph glass-holes overflow and 3/4" returns, Mp10s, Radion, ReactorsFishRandall's GobyOnyx ClownPicasso ClownTailspot BlennyTimeline6/24/12, bought 40g breeder & 20l, overflow kit, return kits8/05/12, plumbed, water and rocks in8/06/12, 2 radion g1 lights added8/09/12, livestock added9/19/12, chalice, mushroom, sps frags added9/21/12, blenny added9/22/12, blenny and clown died11/08/12, c-quest onyx clown and rbta added11/17/12, moved carbon and gfo into media reactors 11/26/12, added picasso clown12/5/2012 added tailspot and bangai12/2012 added limbaughi chromi8/2013 rbta split into 311/2013 traded chromi and added tanaka wrasse 1/2014 rbta split into 2, downgraded to 1 radion g1 with wide angle lens 2/2014 upgraded to 1 radion g3 pro with wide angle lens 4/2014 tanaka wrasse diedAug 2012Sept 2012Nov 2012Dec 2012May 2013November 2013January 2014 January 2014 with 1 fixture (Gen 1 at 65%) and wide angle lens February 2014 with 1 fixture (Gen3 Pro at 45%) and wide angle lens March 2014 with 1 fixture (Gen3 Pro at 45%) and wide angle lens April 2014 no lighting changes from March May FTS Original first postBought the Petco special of the day, a Aqueon 40g breeder & 20l sump.It'll be pseudo-DIY since I own no power tools and have no construction skills.Work keeps coming up too... so this is going to be very slow going!Drilling... I'll call some glass shops for quotes on baffles and drilling. The plan is to measure, mark and tape stuff exactly where I want them before I bring it to a shop.I know I'll need to redo this diagram after I get the kit and the templates taped for the water level I want to keep. But I think the rule of thumb is at least 1" from all edgesNext step..Figuring out what I want the sump to be like so I know how many baffles to get a quote for Link to comment
Singlefin Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 nice. if you're putting the overflow close to the side you might want enough room to get your hand in there to scrub. Link to comment
thirdchild Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 nice. if you're putting the overflow close to the side you might want enough room to get your hand in there to scrub. Good point. I'm sticking the overflow in the middle and using 2 returns. Moved the returns in so there's a 2" clearance now all around. Diagram so far. Link to comment
thirdchild Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 Some more diagramming to plan out the sump and figure out what size baffles I want. I'll have to break out the Pythagorean theorem to figure out how long my return plumbing is. Link to comment
thirdchild Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 After some advice, changed the sump. The glass-holes kit arrived so I updated the measurements for the holes to be drilled. With luck I can find a shop who'll take care of this for me :-) Link to comment
Snapper Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 After some advice, changed the sump. The glass-holes kit arrived so I updated the measurements for the holes to be drilled. With luck I can find a shop who'll take care of this for me :-) are you sure about doing a 1 drain set up as opposed to 2 drains? I hear 2 is better as it is an emergency drain. Also, 700 gph is a bit much isn't it? what part of S. Cal are you in? (asking mainly on where you will buy your fish/corals from, i'm in the same neck of the woods lol) Link to comment
thirdchild Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 are you sure about doing a 1 drain set up as opposed to 2 drains? I hear 2 is better as it is an emergency drain. Also, 700 gph is a bit much isn't it? what part of S. Cal are you in? (asking mainly on where you will buy your fish/corals from, i'm in the same neck of the woods lol) Well the kit came with 1 hole and it's pretty hefty so I think it'll be safe. The overflow box from the kit itself is very slick and you can buy a little lid for the top so nothing big enough to clog the hole can get through. Hopefully blockages won't happen As for the overflow rate, I think the speed depends on how fast the return pump pushed water to the top. Once at the top, the water falls back down again. 700gph is the max a 1.5" hole will allow I think. I haven't poked around much yet but the weight of the water in the pipes, bends and stuff are all pushing against the return pump, so the actual speed will be lots lower that whatever the return pump is capable of. Gonna try figuring out what my headloss is and what pump to pick next. Oh, I'm just east of downtown LA, near Monterey Park. I 've bought fish and live rock from Vivid, corals from trading and a few places. I'll try and do a laundry list when I'm done with work. Link to comment
Snapper Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Is the hole 1.5" bulkhead or your referring to a 1.5" hole with a 3/4" bulkhead? I bought corals from vivid, most of mine but fishes i had bad experiences from them. Lots of Ich in those waters. Link to comment
thirdchild Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 Is the hole 1.5" bulkhead or your referring to a 1.5" hole with a 3/4" bulkhead? I bought corals from vivid, most of mine but fishes i had bad experiences from them. Lots of Ich in those waters. Yes the 1.5" hole is for the 3/4" returns I'm doing. So the 2.75" hole in the middle is for the overflow box. Hmm, sorry to hear about Vivid. I actually haven't bought a fish for 2 years. The fish I've currently got all came from Vivid and still perky Been to Rainbow Pets in Arleta? They have nice dead rock. I have to decide if I'm getting dead rock from them or online. I also bought a couple of invertebrates from Pasadena Tropical Fish in Pasadena. Haven't done fish or corals there though. Link to comment
thirdchild Posted June 30, 2012 Author Share Posted June 30, 2012 I decided to go with a SCA-301 skimmer, so I've cut down the size of the skimmer compartment. It should still accommodate some alternatives if I need to switch. Called up a shop and they said to bring over the tank for a quote. So I drew holes on the tank and it's ready to rock tomorrow. Latest & greatest: Link to comment
Snapper Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 1) how strong is your pump? 2) I think you will lose a lot of power when it does the split on your return. 3) 1 thing i have thought of is our heaters won't fit in your fuge,what heaters are you getting? we might need 2 heaters for it to work. 4) i suggest you add some LR in the fuge as well. 5) has anyone tried that chemi elite, does it really work? 6) I have actually thought of a UV sterilizer of late, have you considered one? Most big tanks seem to have one running once in a while. Link to comment
thirdchild Posted June 30, 2012 Author Share Posted June 30, 2012 1) how strong is your pump?2) I think you will lose a lot of power when it does the split on your return. 3) 1 thing i have thought of is our heaters won't fit in your fuge,what heaters are you getting? we might need 2 heaters for it to work. 4) i suggest you add some LR in the fuge as well. 5) has anyone tried that chemi elite, does it really work? 6) I have actually thought of a UV sterilizer of late, have you considered one? Most big tanks seem to have one running once in a while. 1) Probably going with a 700gph return pump 2) Yes. that and the chiller will reduce alot of power. I have to recalculate, but a 700gph pump will be acting like 350gph for me 3) Probably 2 100w heaters. If one breaks the other one keeps chugging. 4) Maybe. I kind of want to put some of my current live rock down there and replace with new dead rock. Gotta see what room there is after heaters and chaeto 5) I've been using chemipure elite in my current tank for 2 years... works for me. You can do a search on the forum for opinions. I usually use it with purigen 6) not really thinking about more equipment. I know reactors, dosers, sterilizers etc are all possible with more room but I'm trying not to buy a bunch of stuff til it's started and I see how my current livestock does Well 1st glass shop backed off last minute, so I ended up calling a big list of shops this morning from the car. One finally said yes, they'll give it a shot. So hopefully I'll have sump glass and a drilled tank Monday/Tuesday. Now I have to look for someone to build me a stand. Link to comment
Smity Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Same setup here on my 40g Breeder... *check my sig for pics* acouple suggestions, which I should have done also. 1. you can remove 2 90's by having the return pipe go all the way to the top of the tank THEN run your T strait across. 2. I would not run your full return through the chiller instead T off the main return following the step above put a ball valve inline before the chiller and run the chiller return back to the sump. This way your not putting a major load on your return pump running full presure to chiller then its trying to pump all the way to the top of the tank. Plus the adjustable rate of flow will help with effiecincy of the chiller itself. Example you could dial the ball valve to 200gph through the chiller and the rest goes up to the display.with basically just vertical headpresure besides the T. food for thought. EDIT: rough draft pic Link to comment
thirdchild Posted July 1, 2012 Author Share Posted July 1, 2012 Same setup here on my 40g Breeder... *check my sig for pics* acouple suggestions, which I should have done also. 1. you can remove 2 90's by having the return pipe go all the way to the top of the tank THEN run your T strait across. 2. I would not run your full return through the chiller instead T off the main return following the step above put a ball valve inline before the chiller and run the chiller return back to the sump. This way your not putting a major load on your return pump running full presure to chiller then its trying to pump all the way to the top of the tank. Plus the adjustable rate of flow will help with effiecincy of the chiller itself. Example you could dial the ball valve to 200gph through the chiller and the rest goes up to the display.with basically just vertical headpresure besides the T. food for thought. EDIT: rough draft pic Thanks for the awesome ideas. I'll reroute my plumbing like you suggested. This should be way more efficient than my original outline. Link to comment
Smity Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 No problem! Another thing you can do also this is what I was told it to use 1.25-1.5" then reduce it to 3/4" right at the return bulkhead for your return plumbing. I used 1" then reduced halfway to 3/4" halfway up *shakeshead*. From what I gather the larger pipe diameter will reduce the friction that is encountered when water is pushed through the PVC. Link to comment
thirdchild Posted July 1, 2012 Author Share Posted July 1, 2012 No problem! Another thing you can do also this is what I was told it to use 1.25-1.5" then reduce it to 3/4" right at the return bulkhead for your return plumbing. I used 1" then reduced halfway to 3/4" halfway up *shakeshead*. From what I gather the larger pipe diameter will reduce the friction that is encountered when water is pushed through the PVC. Hmm, that's another interesting idea. I do know I want to put in some unions /union ball joints to make it easy to disconnect and clean. I wonder if there is a way to use the unions to change the size of the pipe? Link to comment
thirdchild Posted July 4, 2012 Author Share Posted July 4, 2012 Well glass shop finished on time on Monday. Glass shop did a good job even though it was their first time fooling with an aquarium. Nice guys. I found some time this evening to paint the back today but I was dumb and forgot to clean behind the plastic trim at the top. So now there is some dirty water trapped above the paint. Already made some scrapes trying to get at it before it dribbles down the paint. I flipped it over and I'm going to leave it alone til the paint is settled. bah! Then I tried to start building the sump. Boy it's alot tricker than I expected! I tried taping stuff off but I'm an idiot or something because taking the tape off took off alot of silicon. I'll have to clean up the mess afterwards. Link to comment
thirdchild Posted July 11, 2012 Author Share Posted July 11, 2012 Bought sand and a return pump last week. Finished gluing baffles in my new sump and things look ok for now. Link to comment
Smity Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 WOW they did do a good job. I was wondering where this thread was Link to comment
thirdchild Posted July 11, 2012 Author Share Posted July 11, 2012 WOW they did do a good job. I was wondering where this thread was Yes, the baffle corners were even a little rounded. Not will happen though for another week and a half while I wait for my new stand. I finally ordered a stand today! I talked to about four LFS and ended up with the more expensive LFS. The store guy asked me what I wanted and went over my options. Most importantly they called up Lee Mar on the spot while I was there. Link to comment
thirdchild Posted July 26, 2012 Author Share Posted July 26, 2012 Maybe new LFS is not so good. They just called to say the stand is delayed until next Saturday.... So now my livestock is going to live in plastic for over a week instead of 2 days. I hope nothing dies. Link to comment
thirdchild Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 Oh, so now it might come on Wednesday. So I placed a preorder for some AI Vegas. Hopefully they're out at the beginning of the month! If they don't... might have to switch to Radions. Link to comment
devilsadvocate Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 what is AI vegas? http://www.aquaillumination.com/vega/ Link to comment
Snapper Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 That thing looks to be $500 ! Link to comment
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