Aegeon's 25G Cube Build

[Aegeon]

Again, since I have more time to think about this build than to actually work on it, I've been thinking about the sump. I'll be using a Mr. Aqua 7.5G 12" cube tank for the sump. This is not a lot of volume, but should serve to keep most of the equipment out of the DT.

 

Below are some Sketchup drawings of my current thoughts. I'd like to create 3 chambers, an input/skimmer section, a "fuge" section and a return section. "Fuge" is in quotes because it'll really be too small to be a real refugium. I won't be able to keep any livestock there, and a deep sand bed would be too small to have any real impact, so I'm planning to just keep some extra live rock rubble and possibly some chaeto in there.

 

With the baffles positioned as in the drawing, the water level should run at 8" in the input/skimmer section and 7" in the "fuge" section. With these water levels, the sump should be able to hold just shy of 2 gallons of back-flow from the DT when the pumps are off. Based on where the overflow and return are positioned in the DT, back-flow should only be about a gallon, so I should have enough open volume in the sump to compensate.

 

A quick mockup of the Tunze Nano 9002 skimmer and Maxi-Jet 1800 return pump in their respective chambers.

 

As usual, comments/suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

[Aegeon]

Well, I've still had more time to think about my tank than to actually work on it. It's amazing how much time an infant takes up, considering he doesn't do much but eat, sleep and poop.

 

In any case, the tank will be lit by a DIY LED fixture. I've collected all the parts, and hope to get a few hours this weekend to knock it out. In the meantime, I've put together a few sets of Sketchup drawings. Let me know what you think:

 

The fixture will consist of 18 Cree XR-E Leds (9 royal blue, 9 cool white) driven by 3 700ma buckpucks. The pucks are the pre-wired version and come with an external dimming pot. Since I'll be running three strands of LEDs from a single power supply, I'll be wiring in individual power toggle switches for each strand so I can switch them on/off individually.

 

I have 2 5"x10" heatsinks from heatsinkusa.com that the LEDs will be mounted to. Everything will be house in a 12"x12" aluminum chassis by Bud Industries that I ordered from Mouser, and cooled by 2 40mm fans.

 

Front. Nice and simple.

 

Back, showing toggle switches and dimming pots. The tube extending out of the middle of the chassis is 1" OD aluminum framing tube from McMaster-Carr, and is what will hold up the fixture. It will be attached to the heatsinks themselves inside the chassis. I'll be running aluminum pipe up from the back of my stand, behind the tank, and using a 90deg fitting to position the fixture over the tank. This should let me swivel the fixture out of the way for tank maintenance. I'll also be able to run all the wiring for the power supply through the pipe to keep things nice and clean.

 

View from underneath, showing the positions of the leds. Also visible are mockups of the buckpucks, pots/switches, and the barrier strip I'll be using to help distribute the power inside the chassis. The chassis also has a lip around the opening so I can add a piece of acrylic to the chassis as a splash guard.

 

There are lots of holes to be drilled, and they have to be fairly accurate, so I've created a set of templates like this for the hole patterns. I have them printed out at full scale, so I should be able to lay them directly over the parts to be drilled and not have to measure too much.

 

Let me know what you think. All comments/suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

[FZhang]

any updates?

[Zer0]

any updates?

 

+1

[Aegeon]

I haven't had nearly as much time to work on the build as I'd like, so it's been really slow going. There has been progress, however. I've completed the LED light fixture. A few photos, sorry the tank is so dusty.

 

Light fixture mounted. Nice and clean, all the wires run through the support tubing in the back.

 

View in the back of the stand showing the mounting brackets. These clamp on to the support pipe with set screws, so I can change the height of the fixture over the tank.

 

Back of the fixture. Each string of LEDs has individual dimming pots and on/off toggle switches so I can control the output at the fixture if necessary. You can also see the vent holes for the two 20mm fans used for cooling. The top of the fixture has vents holes drilled near the front of the fixture to allow air to flow in, across the heatsinks, and out the back of the unit. The fans are 12V, wired in series with each other, and in parallel to the driver controlling 6 royal blue Crees. The blues (actinics) will be the first LED string on in the morning and the last off at night, so this ensures the fans will always run anytime any of the LEDs are on.

 

50/50 color mix.

 

Whites turned up. On another note, the little white water tank to the right of the stand is one of the 2.5 gallon square jugs I got to use as ATO reservoirs.

 

Blues turned up.

 

 

The light fixture was by far the most labor-intensive step of the build so far. The rest should be fairly straightforward, so I hope to have a box of wet rocks in the next two weeks or so. Next step is building out the sump and completing the plumbing. This weekend I finally managed to get my BRS RO/DI unit home from the office where I had it delivered a few weeks ago, so I'm going to try to get that set up sometime this week also.

 

As always, comments/suggestions appreciated. Thanks!

[Aegeon]

Posted a quick video of me playing around with the dimmers and power toggles. Sorry for the poor quality, the video was taken with my Canon point-and-shoot:

 

[Zer0]

Damn.. i wish my setup was as nice as this one. It's so clean and perfect. Great job on the LED's, great job on the light hanger, stand, and everything else lol. Can't wait to see it filled with water!

[FZhang]

that aluminum housing makes the entire thing look really professional.

 

Given any thought to the fuge lighting yet? Still going with LED's?

 

I was going to just take a spare AC adapter laying around that would be able to run a few cheap white LED's and just plug it into a timer. Doesn't really need to run the LED's at full capacity just somewhere in the middle. But ended up going with the JBJ Nano-Glo because it was on sale at marinedepot.

 

But I am planning to put in moon-lights into my fixture and might use the above method but splice in a resistor to lower the output. Just figuring out how to hide the wires

[Aegeon]

Thanks for the comments...

 

Given any thought to the fuge lighting yet? Still going with LED's?

 

I hadn't really thought through lighting the fuge yet. The stand is going to be really cramped with the sump, the ATO tank, etc. I'd thought about doing another DIY LED fixture for the fuge, but now that you've pointed out the JBJ Nano-Glo fixture, i think it might be about perfect.

 

The chamber I'll have for macro will be pretty small, so the JBJ should put out plenty of light for it. I also like being able to mount it on the side of the sump, rather than trying to figure out how to suspend it above the fuge. The space above the fuge is currently reserved for my ATO water tank.

 

Another bonus is not having to find the time to put together another DIY LED project. It's already taken me way too long to get to the point I'm currently at.

 

If anyone has used the JBJ unit with chaeto, I'd love to hear any pros/cons you might have.

 

Thanks!

 

Thanks for the suggestion!

[FZhang]

Hey,

 

I can't comment on how well it would grow chaeto right now but maybe in a month or so. But I will say that it definitely looks nice. Well made, and extremely bright. Definitely was not expecting the light when I plugged it in and I was seeing spots. Really underestimated the 1W LED's. The kelvin rating on them is 6500K too so I don't see why they shouldn't work perfectly.

 

The reviews on marinedepot.com are nothing but positive. Grew chaeto well for all of them.

 

It does seem perfect for you application. The dry side is just about 3/4" thick so you'd need room for that.

[Aegeon]

It does seem perfect for you application. The dry side is just about 3/4" thick so you'd need room for that.

 

I have a few inches front-to-back around the sump inside the stand, so I think it'll fit just fine. Placed an order for one from Marine Depot. Figure I'll give it a shot and see how it does. If it doesn't work out, I'll find something else to do with it. Thanks for the suggestion.

[irogers]

very nice looking build. looking forward to seeing it stocked

[Aegeon]

Managed to get my BRS RO/DI unit installed last night. To maintain the required Wife Acceptance Factor (WAF), I had to agree to keep the unit out of sight. There wasn't enough room under the kitchen sink to mount everything, so I rigged up the unit in the mechanical closet in our condo.

 

This closet also houses the furnace and water heater, so I think it'll work out well. It's already wired with electrical outlets I can use if I need to rig up a booster pump, and is plumbed with a drain line in the floor, currently used for the water heater and humidifer overflows. The only downside is that the closet is on the 2nd floor, and my tank is on the 1st, which means I'll be lugging buckets of water around. Should only be a real pain for the initial fill of the tank. After that, water changes should only be about 5 gallons at a time, so I should only have to haul a single bucket downstairs each week.

 

Unit mounted in the closet. Had to be careful running the lines to avoid the hot areas around the furnace and water heater:

 

Closeup:

 

The closet already had a feeder pipe plumbed out of the wall that I could use for the cold water feed. The other, older saddle valve is for the line that feeds the humidifier on the furnace.

 

The entire install took about 45 minutes, most of it getting the unit mounted to the wall. Fired the unit up for about an hour to flush out all the filters and check for leaks. TDS meter reads 000, looks like everything's good to go.

[Aegeon]

very nice looking build. looking forward to seeing it stocked

Thanks! I'm excited to get it up and running, too, but I suppose patience is a virtue. Between work, the wife and the new baby it's tough scraping together more than an hour or two each week to sneak off and work on the tank so it's been slow going, but I'm getting there.

 

Also took some time to read through your tank thread, very cool. Love the pico also.

[lilopop11]

Lookin good..following this thread

[MGDMIRAGE]

Very nice clean build!

[DRLOVEtoreef]

this is coming along really well! a few ideas for you to consider ...

 

> if you decide to add a second cabinet to house additional equipment, consider housing the electrical components in that area ... the idea being that any splashing around the sump could create quite an issue with those power strips being close by

> on your gfci box .... great idea, but, consider changing the box to a plastic one with an outdoor plastic cover ... again, it will help to control rusting, and, eliminates the concerns associated with splashing water

> also, you may want to look at a way to place some form of liner under the sump area or in the bottom of your stand ... may people use a pond liner, but, a shower curtain works well and is cheap ... this will provide some level of safety in case of a some failure and help to control the water on the floor --- this has been a life saver for many people in our club and something i highly recommend ... in my stand, i used oil based paint in many layers and siliconed the bottom edges to create a semi-functional contained zone

 

 

other than, looks like you have an awesome start ... what are you going to use for rock?? products like marco rocks or the rock bulkreefsupply carry are dried up live rock that is much cheaper, allows you to eliminate the concerns with getting "dirty live rock" full of algae, and, you can seed with a few small live rock pieces, and, after a few months, you won't know the difference.

 

that is all i got right now

[Aegeon]

this is coming along really well! a few ideas for you to consider ...

 

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. A few of your ideas are things I've been pondering myself. The second stand/remote fuge idea is something that's well down the road. If I eventually wind up going that direction, I'll be moving some of the equipment out of the current stand (like the ATO setup). I agree that moving the electrical out of the current stand would also be a good idea.

 

In the meantime, I think one of those power strips will be coming out. The AC transformers for my light fixture are a bit large, and i'd rather not have them (and their timers) in the stand itself, so I think I'm going to run one of the power strips outside of the stand.

 

About sealing the inside of the cabinet: I agree it's a good idea. I'm not big on the idea of lining the cabinet with plastic sheeting, and just sealing the inner corners and painting the surface would still leave the front edge/door of the cabinet open, allowing water to spill out. The inside of the stand itself is a odd shape because of the extra 1x3 bracing along the walls, so I've been considering trying to fabricate an acrylic "tray" that would be form-fitted and sit in the bottom of the stand and act a sort of a bin that the sump could sit inside to catch any drips/spills. If I made it 3 to 4 inches tall, it could hold a gallon or so of water in case of an overflow. I'll be working on the baffles for my sump pretty soon, which will be my first attempt at working with acrylic. If that goes well, I may try the tray idea.

 

As far as rock, I'm still up in the air as to where to get it from. I have considered going the dry rock route, and still may. I'm also looking at aquacultured rock from places like Tamp Bay Saltwater, or trying to score some from local reefers or Craigslist.

 

Thanks again!

[DRLOVEtoreef]

good points ... i would definitely do your research into the dry vs. live rock ... after you have read enough threads of people dealing with pests, bryopsis etc ... it will definitely help you appreciate the benefit of starting with "clean" dry rock ... good luck

[Zer0]

That's what i did this time around. I could NOT deal with the excess algae and the caulerpa that infested my tank. IMO, base rock is the way to go in the beginning. Remember, it will become live over time and you will get to have all of those awesome critters and what not, only without all those pests and nuisance algaes. Just a couple small pieces of live rock will seed the entire tank.

[DRLOVEtoreef]

amen brother! plus, with dry rock, you can get more creative with shapes and rock by being very specific with the rock provider - marco rocks is really good about letting you specify what size and shape you want, then, finding that rock and taking pictures to show you b/f you buy! so much easier than having to find it in live rock and paying a premium ...

 

if you do go with the dry rock, make sure to cure it ... i placed mine in vat of r/o water for a week with a strong pump to wash off any dirt/gunk!

[Aegeon]

Thanks to you guys, I'm thinking of going the dry rock route. I have the time, and like the "pros" of dry rock: cheaper, easier to aquascape (don't have to do it all underwater, or worry about taking too long), no pests, etc.

 

I started a thread in the Beginner's Forum to talk about dry rock a bit, since I want to check some assumptions/logic about cycling a tank with it. Thought it would be more suitable than here. Would love you guys to comment. Here's the thread: Cycling: Live Rock vs. Base Rock

[DRLOVEtoreef]

alright, made some comments over there - sorry for blabbing on and on

[Aegeon]

Well, my build has been put on hold for a little while. As it turns out, it looks like we may be moving from our current condo out to the west Chicago 'burbs. My wife works out there, and the hour-long daily commute each way with a 3-month old is just not working out. So, we'll be renting a house close to her office and the daycare we have Andrew in. Unfortunately, this postpones the tank build for a little while until we get settled in the new place. The upside (besides a content wife and baby that doesn't scream in the car for two hours a day) is that the new place should have lots of things our condo does not, like a 2-car garage and a yard for the dog.

 

In other news, I wound up ordering 30 lbs of dry rock from BRS. The Eco Rox arrived a few days ago, and I'm pretty impressed with how it looks. Very light and extremely porous. You can actually shine a light though several of the pieces, and when viewed up-close, there are millions of little pits and crevices everywhere. BRS was great about getting me pieces at the size I requested, and I think it'll make for a great aquascape. It's pretty chalky/dusty when it arrives, so it'll need to be well rinsed before it goes into a tank, but I think it'll work out nicely. I'll try to get some pics in the next day or two.

[Aegeon]

Here are some photos of the dry rock from Bulk Reef Supply that arrived last week. Can't wait to get this stuff into the tank, I think it'll look pretty sweet.

 

The rock.

 

Playing with arrangements.

 

 

The rock is porous enough to see light through even the larger pieces.

 

And up close, you can see the millions of tiny pits and crevasses.