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DurocShark's Bubble Algae Farm (RETIRED)


DurocShark

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DurocShark

Change of plans. I'd originally wanted to run sumpless, mostly because of my suspicion that the glass is tempered, and because the opening in the stand would make for a rather small sump.

 

Then I found the Aqueon ProFlex Model 2. The model 2 is rated for a 75 gallon tank and has a footprint of 29 7/8" x 9 78". Just small enough to fit in the stand. $259.99 at BRS.

 

But of course, I now have to deal with getting the water out of the tank and into the sump. Siphon overflows scare me. I know there are ways and there are ways, but it still makes me way nervous. So looking around I found the CPR Deluxe siphon overflow with an attached Aqualifter. The Aqualifter eliminates my worries about breaking siphon when the pump's off. Only one drain (I may drill for a tall backup standpipe), but otherwise this eliminates my biggest concern.

 

Throw in an 800gph pump (Sicce) and I'm out $500. The pump's a bit slow for this setup, but it should be adequate all told.

Now I have a place to put my ATO, heater, skimmer, and a refugium. All to keep the display tank clear of clutter.

 

Sigh.

 

Remember, this tank was free...

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Steensj2004

Change of plans. I'd originally wanted to run sumpless, mostly because of my suspicion that the glass is tempered, and because the opening in the stand would make for a rather small sump.

 

Then I found the Aqueon ProFlex Model 2. The model 2 is rated for a 75 gallon tank and has a footprint of 29 7/8" x 9 78". Just small enough to fit in the stand. $259.99 at BRS.

 

But of course, I now have to deal with getting the water out of the tank and into the sump. Siphon overflows scare me. I know there are ways and there are ways, but it still makes me way nervous. So looking around I found the CPR Deluxe siphon overflow with an attached Aqualifter. The Aqualifter eliminates my worries about breaking siphon when the pump's off. Only one drain (I may drill for a tall backup standpipe), but otherwise this eliminates my biggest concern.

 

Throw in an 800gph pump (Sicce) and I'm out $500. The pump's a bit slow for this setup, but it should be adequate all told.

Now I have a place to put my ATO, heater, skimmer, and a refugium. All to keep the display tank clear of clutter.

 

Sigh.

 

Remember, this tank was free...

AWWWWE YEEEAH, sump time!

 

You won't regret a sump, trust me.

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DurocShark

BTW: The landlord made me get insurance before I could set this tank up.

 

State Farm, $138 a year with $300,000 damage coverage. So I would pretty much have to burn this townhome down to max it out. They're going for around $300k in this complex.

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  • 2 weeks later...
DurocShark

OMG OMG!

 

It's finally on the stand!

 

My son, who's 6'3" tall, standing in front of it:

 

mPwIo7S.jpg

 

With the sump in the stand. It's a tight fit, and I haven't even put the bottom yet! By the way, that's a 48" ruler on the side.

 

VfU8xXy.jpg

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DurocShark

Well, crap. I don't think I can use the sump. Not enough room to service it. I'm going to play some more, but it's looking unlikely.

 

:rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant:

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HarryPotter

Just sucks. I really liked this one. I'm going to do my damnedest to make it work.

If it doesn't, I'm interested in buying it. Where are you located?

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DurocShark

Got wifely approval to have the sump OUTSIDE the stand.

 

WOOT!!!

 

(I have to work on building a cabinet for it, but it's not an immediate need.)

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DurocShark

Got the scape done. The rocks are glued with CA glue (super glue) then water weld epoxy. I hid the epoxy as much as possible by pushing rubble into the still soft epoxy. It's mostly hidden now. I hate white epoxy. The purple "coralline" stuff isn't much better. So using rock rubble to fill it makes more sense to me.

 

When looking at this, keep in mind that I'll have a 3-4" sand bed as well. So the bottom few inches are going to disappear.

 

g8BqCc9.jpg

 

WvcDkH8.jpg

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DurocShark

Well, it's definitely not tempered glass. I scratched it trying to get that tape off the front. Time to go find some acetone...

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Steensj2004

This is turning out awesome, digging the scape. Glad your sump got worked out! You won't regret the sump, much better IMHO/IME!

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  • 2 weeks later...
DurocShark

With some finagling I got the sump in the stand. Flex hose FTW!

 

There's pretty much NO space left inside, so my ATO reservoir will have to go elsewhere. I can live with that...

 

I need to buy some hose for the pump return from the sump then I can get it running. WOOT!

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DurocShark

Sump and tank are wet. Just tap water to check for leaks and such. Totally overfilled the sump. Whoops...

 

FTS:

9eJ7HOS.jpg

 

Overflow:

 

nDKWc4X.jpg

 

Left side:

 

dzIHIIL.jpg

 

Right side:

 

XfrRuYR.jpg

 

Sump:

 

f6zJSTK.jpg

 

Relative to the rest of the house:

 

JElbaCX.jpg

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DurocShark

The Sicce Syncra Pro 800GPH return pump is droning like mad. Ugh. I REALLY hope it quiets down.

 

I'm guessing it's loud from too much head pressure, but come on. 1" ID vinyl hose, a sponge underneath, and the droning is still loud enough to be annoying in the kitchen.

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Have you had the pump impeller out? Sometimes there are little rubber spacers/washers etc that steady the impeller to stop it buzzing on the casing etc. If so have they been put back in the right order if it's been disassembled?

Alternatively a strip down can sometimes free impellers and shafts off and allow the impeller to 'float' correctly stopping a buzz. After that it could just be a lousy unit that has scraped through qc and has an imbalanced impeller causing a drone.

 

Your tank doesn't stand that tall, certainly no taller than my set up and I have a Jebao DC2000 pushing water nearly 6 feet high with no issues at all. I have PVC piping apart from a flexy connection to the pump. The flexy hose goes from the pump up to a tee that sends water horizontally left to the tank right to a UV. The tank feed then goes through a 90 degree elbow and up some 5 feet to another 90 degree elbow and then horizontally again to the right side of the tank. It is 32mm PVC, but the 90's must put a hell of a lot of extra load on the pump and it still has no noise issues.

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