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Bare-bottom All-in-one concept


supersecretshinto

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supersecretshinto

I am planning to construct my first DIY allinone plexiglass setup. Total dimension will be 20"x20"x20". Display will be 18gal and sump/fuge will be roughly 10. I was thinking of going barebottom in the display and putting the substrate in the fuge. The slanted bottom in the display (I believe) will make for easy rock stacking all the way to the top and maximize viewability of all rocks placed in the display. Besides being a royal pain to build (I'm not afraid of that) are there any pitfalls I am overlooking?

 

I plan on using standard mech/chem filtration in chamber 1, skimming in 2, and fuge in 3, return pump in 4. I also would like to employ the use of a flow alternator of some sort that I could place below rather than the display and route the water to display nozzles (not shown) via plastic tubing. The back panel will only be connected up to the point where the slanted bottom ends and the remaining segment of the back panel will remain removable for maintainance.

 

Will post drawings of the bottom area as they are created. CAD would be nice, but XP paint is all I got right now. What's your initial impression?

post-19772-1147403695_thumb.jpg

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brent-konieczny

You should plan on having something come up over the bottom on the front of the tank (a trim base). Otherwise it would look sloppy with lr leaning against the glass in front. Also, all the weight from that rock would push on the front bottom of the tank quite a bit. You might want to consider that for your scaping issues.

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how are you going to get the rock to stuck to that slanted base? epoxy?

i'd make that base flat. that is the only thing i would change though.

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supersecretshinto
You should plan on having something come up over the bottom on the front of the tank (a trim base). Otherwise it would look sloppy with lr leaning against the glass in front. Also, all the weight from that rock would push on the front bottom of the tank quite a bit. You might want to consider that for your scaping issues.

A base trim matching the hood thickness was what I was going to do to cover that up with maybe a little substrate in the front to sort of "level things out" there. I was planning to use a thicker plexi to withstand the pushing if the rocks. Think .5" will work....

 

how are you going to get the rock to stuck to that slanted base? epoxy?

i'd make that base flat. that is the only thing i would change though.

I really wasn't planning to stick them down. I was just going to rely on gravity and the rocks below each rock to prevent sliding. Don't think that will work, huh?

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I really wasn't planning to stick them down. I was just going to rely on gravity and the rocks below each rock to prevent sliding. Don't think that will work, huh?

it might, but it will be prone to rockslides, especially with water flowing in around there. plus, you'll have a really hard time cleaning the glass down by the bottom corner since the rock will be hard up on the glass.

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supersecretshinto
i think the slanted base cuts out on a lot of room and water volume

True. However the space I have taken away is space I can't see in my square tank anyway. I thought as long as I utilized the lost space somehow it wouldn't make much difference. It has always been hard for me to decide which rocks to put on the bottom to build up the reef. I was kinda trying to avoid having to make that choice and spend alot of time trying to get the rocks to stack well.

 

it might, but it will be prone to rockslides, especially with water flowing in around there. plus, you'll have a really hard time cleaning the glass down by the bottom corner since the rock will be hard up on the glass.

I am glad you brought up water flow as it was a secondary design consideration for the slanted base. If my water is coming in near the surface in the back and being forced down by the front glass, I thought that the speed of the current could be maintained if the tank shallowed on it's way to the drain. do you think that will be the case?

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supersecretshinto
where were you thinking about putting the returns at?

I haven't decided yet, but I suppose they will have to be close to the top in the back to avoid too much backsiphon into the bottom if the pump is turned off.

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supersecretshinto

There, gave it some bottom trim. Look better?

 

And yeah, I may have to end up epoxying some of the lower rocks down for this to work if they aren't flat or heavy enough. I will probably build it despite what I've heard so far. At least vote "go" or "no go" if you read this thread. I am sure many of you see enough wrong with this idea that you don't know where to begin, but a simple go/nogo vote will suffice. Right now I got the feeling no one's diggin' it.......am I right about that at least?

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brent-konieczny

Go ahead at your own DIY exploring risk. You won't know how good it is until you actually do it.

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I would like to see it come to life ....new idea to inspire all the rest of us.

 

I wouldglue down a few small rock .5 inchs about an inch away from the front of the tank to keep the lr off of the glass.

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Holy moly how in the world are you going to access anything?

Is there some sort of secret behind the scenes diagram?

 

You don't need to reinvent the wheel ifit compromises the feasability of a design. Fans always have worked fine for everybody else.

 

The pressure on the bottom seam of the display area might cause some issues with leaking/cracking/etc.

 

How are you going to make nice angle cuts?

 

NO GO for me. It doesn't look thought out.

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supersecretshinto
I would like to see it come to life ....new idea to inspire all the rest of us.

 

I wouldglue down a few small rock .5 inchs about an inch away from the front of the tank to keep the lr off of the glass.

Thank you very much my friend! It seems that unconventional ideas are not readily accepted by many in this hobby and I am glad to see that there is at least one person who would like to see one of these built.

 

 

 

Go ahead at your own DIY exploring risk. You won't know how good it is until you actually do it.

More truthful words were never spoken.

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supersecretshinto
Holy moly how in the world are you going to access anything?

Is there some sort of secret behind the scenes diagram?

 

You don't need to reinvent the wheel ifit compromises the feasability of a design. Fans always have worked fine for everybody else.

 

The pressure on the bottom seam of the display area might cause some issues with leaking/cracking/etc.

 

How are you going to make nice angle cuts?

 

NO GO for me. It doesn't look thought out.

Access will be in the back. The portion under the red line will be attached. the upper back panel will be held in place with a plexi lip (represented by the blue rectangle) at the bottom and by a couple of fasteners at the top where the red circles are (accessable when the hood is removed). I hadn't considered this a problem as it is how my current one works more or less. I guess if the back was against a wall or something it may be a problem.

 

If fans works so well for everyone, why do so many people buy chillers?

 

Only one piece (the display bottom) will have to be cut at an angle. The rest will be straight cuts. I think you may be under the impression that the clear portion and the black portion are seprate but they are not. I had planned to use black plexi on the display bottom and back along with some in the lower compartment. The rest will be constructed from clear plexi and painted on the outside (black portions) I am still reserching coatings for this purpose.

 

Not feasible? I'm not sure I would describe this design as being outside the realm of possibility. After all, I am talking about building a fish tank with a slanty bottom, not a time machine.

post-19772-1147463787_thumb.jpg

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supersecretshinto
I am glad you brought up water flow as it was a secondary design consideration for the slanted base. If my water is coming in near the surface in the back and being forced down by the front glass, I thought that the speed of the current could be maintained if the tank shallowed on it's way to the drain. do you think that will be the case?

Anyone have an answer for this question?

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I'm still scratching my head here. Why is the slanted bottom needed again?

Saves on money spent on rock?

 

I think waterflow on your slant bottom will run into friction on its way up and tumble over making the top water faster then the bottom water churning it. It actually could make this an interesting experiment for waterflow. For this to work the current would need to be pushed against the front panel and forced downward pretty hard.

 

I still can't really see a practical reason for this. Since you're going all custom all in one, it makes more sense(to me) to just get a custom sized tank and add baffles for your fuge. You could use a 3d diy rock background/bottom to build your ramp.

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supersecretshinto
I'm still scratching my head here. Why is the slanted bottom needed again?

Saves on money spent on rock?

 

I think waterflow on your slant bottom will run into friction on its way up and tumble over making the top water faster then the bottom water churning it. It actually could make this an interesting experiment for waterflow. For this to work the current would need to be pushed against the front panel and forced downward pretty hard.

 

I still can't really see a practical reason for this. Since you're going all custom all in one, it makes more sense(to me) to just get a custom sized tank and add baffles for your fuge. You could use a 3d diy rock background/bottom to build your ramp.

OK, let me try to explain it again briefly. I like the rocks to stack as close to the surface as possible. Yes, this does take more rock and I would save on the rock that would be placed on the bottom in the back simply to provide height. But also, in stacking rocks up in the back of a square bottom tank, alot of dead current spots are created. I was looking to 1- Make it to the top with less rock. 2- Increase the water flow around each rock and eliminate any stagnant areas. 3- Maximize the viewablility of the rocks that are placed in the display as it is a shame to have to put a beautiful rock on the bottom simply because it is shaped best for supporting other rocks. 4- I was thinking that this configuration would allow me to more easily find places for new frags (since they come on smaller rocks) as well as more freedom to move some frags to more favorable positions (closer to or further from light and current) if need be. 5- To route all air circulation past all electrical equipment in the order of heat produced by each component, maximizing the cooling potential of the ventilation (and also magnified with the addition of an evaporative cooling chamber rather than a chiller). 6- Some systems/housings are parially merged and need to be next to thier co-components......I know that last one might not make any sense yet but let me work up some diagrams and try to elaborate on what I mean.

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Ok i'm understanding.

 

I feel the same way actually, but im going to ramp the back corner of my tank with a little diy liverock/3d background.

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supersecretshinto
Ok i'm understanding.

 

I feel the same way actually, but im going to ramp the back corner of my tank with a little diy liverock/3d background.

I'm glad to see you kinda coming around to this idea a little bit! I think the DIY backgroung is a good idea but I could never do a good enough job to compare with the real thing. My experience with DIY backgrounds is, they either look awesome or they look awful when you get them done. I'm thinking mine would be the latter. What I am hoping is that eventually coraline etc will overgrow the bottom/back and give it a real reefy look. I plan on using enough rock to almost completely hide the bottom/back from view, but if the spaces that do show get covered with coraline or macro it should blend in rather well and not look as strange as some bare bottom tanks (primarily since it wont seem like there is a bottom.....the roks will extend from the base of the front glass all the way up to the top of the back). Maybe it just looks better in my imagination than it will in reality, but I want it to seem like more of a tiny chunk of the side of a reef rather than a miniature representation of a reef from the sand to the surface. Like maybe it goes down further than you can see. You know what I'm getting at?

 

I am also thinking it would be pretty cool if the rocks in the back actually did break the surface a little bit all the way across. Like maybe the reef extends fuurther up than you can see as well.

 

So I guess the purpose of this design is also somewhat artistic in nature........

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