Setting up a tank for my dad! Water testing today!

[--chris--]

I just ordered the SC-65, 85 shipped. It has favorable reviews on many forums including this one. I was looking at the bubble magus and then found it doing some "research" by accident. Shipped same day I paid, worth looking into.

I hope my daughter one day does something for me like this! I like the overflow idea. Keep up the good work and build info coming!

 

Thanks for the info...im pretty cetain ill go that route, but ill wait a day or so before i order (im never one to do things on a whim).

[kriskristofferzen]

Thanks for the info...im pretty cetain ill go that route, but ill wait a day or so before i order (im never one to do things on a whim).

When I get it, I'll post a review or some pics but may be too late by then as you may have ordered. There is a long thread on reef central...here is the thread...it is another model but you get the idea.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2032645

[ZX6Reefer]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Factory-direct-sale-65-Gallon-Protein-Skimmer-SCA-301-/190720710934?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c67d71916

 

 

 

Yeah it looks like that's it. There is a mod that improves its performance some, too. You can trim the plastic nozzle and it works a lot better. Google sc-65 mod and it should come up.

 

Or click here http://lmgtfy.com/?q=sc-65+mod

[MGDMIRAGE]

Oh wow I may pick that skimmer up for my 15.

[--chris--]

Since im probably going with that skimmer now, ive been thinking of using a Makers heatsink and going LED for the light. The problem im having when researching for it is that its hard to find people who are building LED's for softie/moderate light tanks lol.

 

Energy consumption is important in this build, i was thinking of using thirty 3 watt LED's driven by meanwells. Running them 8 hours a day. I think this will be plenty of output for leathers and bottom dwelling LPS, he has no interest in sticks at this point. Could i go with even fewer LED's, to increase the daily run time and keep the energy consumption the same?

 

18" heatsink, 12" high with 30 degree optics is what im thinking.

 

Ive never built a LED array, so any input is appreciated.

[Julian_blnc]

I dont know if youve bought lighting but two Par 38 should cover that tank, its what I have on my tank, 30x18x16 and it works well for my LPS

Two Par 38s from reef breeders will be 180 dollars,

 

or the reef breeders value fixture should cover the tank and there the same price

[--chris--]

I dont know if youve bought lighting but two Par 38 should cover that tank, its what I have on my tank, 30x18x16 and it works well for my LPS

 

Two Par 38s from reef breeders will be 180 dollars,

 

or the reef breeders value fixture should cover the tank and there the same price

 

I priced out a basic Makers heatsink build and it was getting close to $300. I think that RB value fixture is one hell of a deal. The local club here did a group buy on them back in Januarary, and so far its been glowing reviews coming from everyone.

 

The value fixture will probably be the best route.

 

There is a group buy going on right now for that fixture, so i may be ordering it soon if the price is discounted enough.

 

edit: wow....$172.50 shipped with 90 degree optics. Might pull the trigger...

[--chris--]

Lumber for the stand is cut and ready to go....

 

 

The stand will be 30" high, and be a flush fit with the tank.

 

I need to pick up some deck screws and i lost my kregg jig so i have to buy another. Then i can slap it together.

 

 

Im flip' flopin on the overflow idea. I know its queit, it works well, and has fail safes but im not sure i want (black) PVC to be the first thing people see since most people will be looking down into the tank once they get up close to it.

 

The other idea that is similar is a built in glass coast to coast or black acrylic (would the acrylic hold in that situation?) Two drains drilled in the back like the PVC C2C, but it would look better as far as aesthetics are concerned. Im not sure what i will do...

[--chris--]

We have a stand!

 

 

 

And also to confirm, I am getting in on the March group buy for the Reef Breeders 16" dimmable fixture w/90 degree optics for $172.50 delivered!

 

Tank: done.

Stand: roughed in

Light: Ordered

 

 

Need skimmer, rock, sump, and to skin the stand and those will be the last big pieces. Then plumbing, maybe (if time/room/money permits) ill do some basic wiring to keep the wires inside the stand with only one running to the wall, build a light hanger, and finally a water test.

[--chris--]

Skimmer is ordered

 

 

Ill be working on the sump this coming week as i get time. Because i goofed when i made the stand and set it up to fit the tanks dimensions ecactly, i may not be able to fit a 29 gallon like i wanted to for the sump,

[--chris--]

I need some re-assurance here on my sump calculations.

 

I spent 20 minutes measuring the stand and cutting some cardboard into tank shapes. I found through trial and error, test fitting, etc...that i can fit a 24x12x? standard size tank into the stand with 1/2" to spare on each side. Its a perfect fit in other words. I have a 24x12x12 sitting here, and after test fitting it in the stand i think its my best size. Its as big as i can go, and with 12" height i can still reach into the sump to clean/maintnence. Ideally, i could do 14"...but the extra 2" is not worth buying/customing making it.

 

My question is:

 

By my calculations i need about 5.2 gallons of spare room for the sump to safely handle the back flow from the tank when i cut the power to the return pump. Does 5.2 sound about right? I calculated the tanks size (30x20) then followed RC's margin of error and added 2" as my water height in the tank. So 30"x20"x2" = 5.2 gallons. I have a feeling it will be closer to 3 gallons since the overflow im using will keep the water level closer to 1"...but ill build for 2" as a safety margin.

 

At this point, i realize a fuge of about 3-4 gallons will be useless so ill be aiming towards using bio pellets in a reactor. Therefore my sump design looks like this:

 

 

That setup leaves 7.5 gallons filled to the BRIM or 6.2 Gallons when filled to 1" below the brim.

 

Im really leaning on the NR community here, sump design is not my forte. Any input is appreciated. Im ready to build this thing

 

 

edit: Two considerations i neglected.

 

1) Skimmer water height...im not sure what the height should be for those ebay skimmers. Ill have to look around tonight.

 

2) I didnt add a bubble trap, which will eat up real-estate...so the sections will be slightly smaller than those posted in the sketch.

[--chris--]

Another question for anyone who as DIY'd a stand before.

 

Im going to have the whole front panel of plywood skin removable from the stand. It will be held in place with magnets, but im not sure where people get those magnets from? I was hoping to avoid hunting down a Home Depot employee.

 

And i see from reading around a bit that most people run the SC30x skimmers at 8-9" of water. Hmmm that could make my sump design no good if i have to raise the baffle to 8".

[--chris--]

Overflow installed!

 

[zemuss]

I would put a bubble trap on the sump and thats it nothing fancy. Just a bubble trap between the area where the equipment is and the return section.

 

For me a sump is all about keeping it simple.

 

"Z"

[Lawnman]

I just finished with some tank maintenence over at my Dad's place. I convinced him to get another tank and it's been great spending time together doing something we both love. He also had a tank in the 80s/90s and is still blown away at the advances in the hobby.

 

Great idea... enjoy your time together!

Awesome to read this. My dad had plenty of salt tanks when I was growing up. He was always impressed with my tanks and where the hobby has gone. He has since passed on just wanted to say your post made me think of some good memories we had.

[--chris--]

I would put a bubble trap on the sump and thats it nothing fancy. Just a bubble trap between the area where the equipment is and the return section.

 

For me a sump is all about keeping it simple.

 

"Z"

 

I like this plan. Will the empty space leave me enough "overflow" room you think? Im setting up to do the sump today.

 

 

Awesome to read this. My dad had plenty of salt tanks when I was growing up. He was always impressed with my tanks and where the hobby has gone. He has since passed on just wanted to say your post made me think of some good memories we had.

 

Good stuff. My dad has no idea this is happening, so its kind of funny when he seen some pics of the tank on my phone (I was showing him pics of my 11 month old and scrolled by them). He asked who that was for, i had to tell a little lie obviously...and i said it was for me. He said thats a really nice size tank, looks very nice and starred at it for a bit. So i think the dimensions are good by him.

[--chris--]

Baffles are in and done.

 

 

 

I ended up with this for baffle locations:

 

Baffle one = 14" from left, 9" tall (per skimmer depth requirement)

Baffle two = 15" from left, 10" tall (left 1.5" gap at bottom, seems to be common size)

Baffle three = 16" from left, 6" tall (the plan is to keep the return section water level around 5 to 5.5" deep)

 

That leaves me with about 8.5 gallons of "overflow" space while still leaving my skimmer plenty of space and i can still add a pump or two for reactors (bio pellets and carbon?). I built this with the idea of no fuge, ill be relying on pellets first and then vodka if the pellets dont work for me.

[RollaJase]

Sump looks great. I built in more overflow space then I needed, downside is most hang on skimmers wont reach down far enough (cant fit an in sump skimmer due to height restrictions). I used this site to calculate my total volume and then modified the equations to find out how much water I needed.

http://www.angelfish.net/tankvolcalc.php

[--chris--]

Thanks for the link, came out pretty close to what it thought.

 

I got the overflow (center style, centered in the back) installed yesterday after work, and today i drilled the bottom for 2-1" bulk head drains. I also trimmed the bottom. Pics to come later.

[--chris--]

The skimmer showed up today. Holy smokes is that thing small! I was not expecting that....

 

Its about the size of a one liter pop bottle.

 

I promptly broke the hard air line that sticks out of the venturi (my fault, even though it broke very easily). The pump doesn't *snap* into the bottom as tight as i thought it would, which means when you remove the skimmer for maintenance you will have to be mindful to have a good grip on the pump or else it will fall out while your picking it up. Other than that, i like it. I realize its a lot of complaining before i even run it. Just my first impression is all...

[--chris--]

Still no response from the ebay seller on the replacement volute.

 

I picked up some plywood today, ended up using birch because thats all the store near me had without waiting a week and it was $28/sheet...so cant complaing. Ialso picked up the hardware that i think will work to hold the front panel on the stand. It looks like this:

 

 

 

Its a magnet, nothing fancy. Its $1.20, probably cheaper at home depot.

 

I might be removing that nice plastic trim i added to the tank, as it added 1.3" to teh length and width of the tank...thus making the tank to big for the stand.

[--chris--]

Plywood is rough cut, just need to chop it down to fit each side of the stand. The Birch is much nicer than i expected. It cuts much better than the oak i used last time as well. If your looking for a wood that can be stained to look like something else, id check out the birch.

 

 

The sheen doesnt come through in the pic, but it looks amazing. This will look great if i can button it up correctly.

[evo_2679]

Chris - nice build !!! Tank looks sweet !!! And that skimmer was a beast on my 40 Breeder when I had it set up !!!

[--chris--]

Thanks for the assurance, i just cant believe how small it is! Are cone skimmers typically smaller than their standard shape counter parts?

 

Ive got the side of the stand skinned. In this pic the front is held in place with some clamps for a preview of the finished look. I will be adding trim to the bottom, and the vertical seams to hide the rough edges of the stand. After i took this pic i took the front skin off (which will be held in place with magnets), and laid the tank on it to flatten it out as it had a nice bow in it. Ill give it a few days, hopefully that bow disappears.

 

[--chris--]

I got a hold of the seller of the skimmer, they are sending me a new venturi for $9 shipped. Not bad.

 

You could actually buy that venturi, and stick any atman/via aqua pump on a skimmer body and have a pretty decent skimmer for cheap since most people throw away skimmers when the pumps shit out.