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DurocShark's 17 Gallon Planar Overflow


DurocShark

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FTS 8/22/16:

 

After tearing down my 70 gallon, I scrubbed any corals I thought I could put in this 17, and gave them a heck of a strong peroxide bath. They got transferred this past Saturday. Today is the first day they've mostly rid themselves of the slime from the treatment they've received, and are starting to open up.

 

Crappy cell phone, daytime reflections, and dirty glass.

 

pDQqJLO.jpg

 

 

Water test (10/4/15):

 

 

Current FTS (10/1/15):

 

mafCecO.jpg

 

The bits are mostly gathered, so I'm going to start this log for the tank that's going in my bedroom.

 

The Equipment:

  • 17.1g Mr Aqua rimless
  • 10g tank based sump
  • 100-ish gph return pump
  • Reinforced accent cabinet for stand
  • Cheep&Cheerful Chinese 160w LED light
  • Jebao RW-4 powerhead
  • Some kind of skimmer (haven't decided yet)

 

Customizations:

The tank is getting drilled for a double drain full siphon overflow, but using a planar overflow (aka "thin weir") instead of a box. The plates will be acrylic held with black silicone. The idea is if for some reason I need to take the weir apart (blown bulkhead, etc) I can pop the acrylic free of the silicone. Water pressure will hold it in place the rest of the time. I'm using 3/4" plumbing and all 3 lines go straight down. Nothing over the back.

 

I'm looking for either a 10 gallon tank or using a plastic tub for the overflow. No fuge. I have the tub already (I got the biggest one I could fit into the cabinet) but would prefer a glass tank for this.

 

I had originally planned on making my own stand, but I saw this and decided to buy it and reinforce it instead: http://www.target.com/p/threshold-wooddale-two-door-mirrored-cabinet/-/A-16981393It was strong enough for my 240lb fat ass to sit on top and the doors still opened. So I figured a 17 gallon tank would be fine. I'm going to add some bracing inside, and double up the legs. Even with the mods I'm ahead of the game at $120.

 

I have 3 different large case fans I'm going to start testing. Whichever one is the quietest is the one I'll go with. I'll post about that in this thread when it happens. Once one is chosen, it'll be mounted in the cabinet to provide cooling and ventilation to keep humidity down in the cabinet to protect the "wood". All 3 are listed has being "super duper absolutely silent yo!" so we'll see. I love Fry's.

 

Animals:

Critter wise, I'm still leaning towards a dwarf frogfish for the star. (Hence the skimmer in such a small tank. Froggies poop a LOT.) I should be able to go SPS on this tank if I want to, so we'll see once it's established. However having a froggie means I won't be able to have sexy shrimp or any small inverts. Large hermit crabs and snails will be about it. Maybe I'll load up on chitons for this tank.

 

Of course I'll have lots of macro algae. Especially since I won't have a refugium.

 

Here's the tank on the stand while trying to figure out where in the bedroom I want to put it.

 

GaPkjv8.jpg

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That's the first piece of reinforcing I'll be doing. I'm going to double-up on the feet, and put a cross brace on the front to keep the top rigid.

 

I would probably be fine doing nothing, but I live in earthquake country, so am a little paranoid.

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Drilled the three 1 3/8" holes in the bottom today. I've never drilled glass before, just acrylic tanks. So this was new to me. Not so bad at all.

 

Marked:

 

8LBeXzs.jpg

 

First hole done. I used plumbers putty to build a water dam to keep the bit cool:

 

MaxXtZH.jpg

 

Here the bulkheads are loose fitted and on the stand to check measurements:

 

kDqMr37.jpg

 

This is the ugly bit. I keep meaning to replace my shittacular Skil jigsaw, and I keep forgetting until I go to cut mdf or plywood or something:

 

C6fJZDW.jpg

 

 

Anyway, next I need to seal up the cuts in the stand, add some reinforcement, and start building the sump with a 10g tank I bought at PetSmart during their last sale. Oh, and if my black acrylic ever gets here, build the weir.

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OK, I ordered a Tunze .008 return pump and a Tunze Osmolator Nano. That's as far as my automation is planned for this tank. Well, a timer for the light.

 

The Tunze was reported to me as the quietest return pump, so that's what I went for. Around 200gph is good, figure real world 100-150gph and that's the target for this tank.

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So... Change of plan. I had originally planned on using black acrylic for the weir. However, there's some issues with it. It won't have a completely negative pressure from the water in the tank pressing on the outside of the overflow like a traditional configuration will have. But the return will be coming up through the weir as well. Meaning the pressure inside the weir will be higher at one side than the pressure in the tank. Since the oil in plastic causes silicone to come loose, this would eventually fail.

 

Instead, I picked up a sheet of 3/32" glass. I've cut glass before, but only to very sloppy tolerances. This will need to be far more precise. More new stuff for me. Yikes!

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I made the first cut at 23 1/8". Went perfectly! Wow. I decided to quit while I was ahead.

 

That's easier than I thought. I will say though, that this is the first time I've used one of the cutters that has the built in oil reservoir. I think that may have made a difference.

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I made the first cut at 23 1/8". Went perfectly! Wow. I decided to quit while I was ahead.

 

That's easier than I thought. I will say though, that this is the first time I've used one of the cutters that has the built in oil reservoir. I think that may have made a difference.

Nice job! I'd love to try cutting glass but would definitely manage to kill myself.

 

Link to oil cutter? Sounds cool

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So I'm starting over with the glass. I bought some 3/32" glass to build the weir. But I'm worried if a rock falls or something that it'll break that thin glass. I was trying to figure out how to resolve this, and about to call the glass shop when my wife called me. "I remember you talking about that thin glass... I found a couple of really thick sheets in my dad's stuff. Want 'em?" Hellzyeah!

 

I have some 1/2" glass now. It's been in the backyard at my inlaw's for I don't know how long, so I'm not going to try scoring and breaking. I bought a wet tile saw to cut it instead.

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ReefSafeSolutions

Looking forward to watching this one unfold! Loved the pico, this one should be awesome!

 

(And you have excellent taste in temperature controllers! :lol: )

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I have some 1/2" glass now. It's been in the backyard at my inlaw's for I don't know how long, so I'm not going to try scoring and breaking. I bought a wet tile saw to cut it instead.

 

Its not scratched?

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Maybe. It's dirty, so I haven't looked closely. Scratches are the biggest reason I don't want to mess with scoring. Functionally, I don't care about scratches.

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So I'm trying to figure out the sump, while I'm pissed off at my wet tile saw (long story).

 

I was hoping to use this Hydor Slim Skim nano that's in my closet for the sump, but the damn thing is still too big. I hate this damn skimmer.

 

Now I have to figure out what I'm going to use. I know that a skimmer really needs to be last, but the baffles in the sump will somewhat be guided by the skimmer choice. If I do something like this Hydor then I heed to have the water level be high in the skimmer chamber. But most others need it quite a bit lower.

 

Gah.

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EDIT: The question mark threw me.

 

I may skip the skimmer altogether. This is a bedroom tank, so needs to be silent. I do like how quiet that Hydor can be (when it's not hanging weird because of the tank rim) and was hoping to use that.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Cutting thick glass is a pain.

 

Using the score/snap method was unreliable on 1/2" thick glass. Especially when making 1/2" wide strips. I expected it, but figured I should try.

 

So I bought a cheap tile saw from Harbor Freight. THIS one. I threw in the 3 pack of diamond blades too. So I'm using a cheap saw with cheap blades. Keep that in mind.

 

For this 1/2" thick glass, and how I'm using it, cut quality isn't a huge issue. I certainly wouldn't use it on thin glass, that's for sure. But for my purposes, it's great. And all of it was under $50 with coupons and stuff.

 

Here's a pic of the two 1/2"x12"x4 1/2" pieces I cut:

 

qMBJcDm.jpg

 

Like I said, for my needs it's fine. I'll clean up the edges on the belt sander (another Harbor Freight tool, heh) so there aren't any stress points.

 

Progress is slow but I'm getting there...

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Glass is cut and weir is in! Gonna wait a couple days for the silicone to cure, then I'll do the plumbing and some water tests.

 

mafCecO.jpg

 

 

Gt9jmqX.jpg

 

I'm thinking about siliconing some glass tabs in to hold a sheet of black acrylic to hide the weir and keep algae from growing in there. But I'll be able to slide it out whenever I need to clean it.

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