World's slowest custom 85g system. ...and there was coral. (p.18)

[Rollermonkey]

Tell me about it. This is slow enough without external delays.

 

Fortunately, the only fabrication left will be the sump, and that's being made by OBD, just like the tank was, and it should be made on time. (deposit Sept 1 and pickup first weekend of October.

 

I really was hoping that I could get the base rock on hand and start scaping before we leave for Japan on the 14th, but that isn't going to happen now.

[Rollermonkey]

Stand and hood are ready for pickup.

Dunno why, but it looks smaller than it should be in this picture, to me.

 

 

 

 

[BeardedReeferLLC]

I think its the right size. In person it will sink in.

[Rollermonkey]

It's here! It's finally here!

 

The stand is in the kitchen, but part of the eventual footprint is occupied by the BC, so it's a couple feet from its final position.

 

In this shot, you can see the 'Cube, I'll have to scoot that away from the railing so I can slide the new stand left, to about 6" from the wall, then I can loading up the new tank and start doing rockwork, etc. You can also see the part of the hood that sticks up to help hide the lighting without trapping any heat from the lights.

 

 

The trim ring was only supposed to be on three sides, and my original intent was that the left side would be open for easier removal of the tank when empty. Now, I'm torn between doing nothing or removing the long side facing downstairs, in the event that it blocks some of the view from below. Then again, it's only an inch, so the only thing really being obscured will be the 1.5" sandbed.... Decisions, decisions.

 

 

I think I'll hide the ACE bucket (my current ATO reservoir) in the new stand until I get the sump, then use the built-in ATO reservoir in my sump for the BC until the new tank is ready for livestock. (The opening for electrical wires is on the end closest to the Cube.)

 

 

Hmm... The feeding flap doesn't stay open on its own. Looks like I need a couple of tiny gas struts for this. (The unfinished wood inside is just to keep the hood elevated above the stand a tiny bit so the pieces don't get scratched up. )

 

 

The main lid, on the other hand, stays open just fine right now. The plan is to use Kessils, but they might stick up too far to allow the lid to stay open this way unless I mount them partially countersunk.

 

 

 

 

[Rollermonkey]

Very, very carefully, with some Bed, Bath & Beyond furniture sliders, I was able to nudge my BioCube about 18-24 inches to the left.

 

Once my sump is in place and I'm done plumbing it and the filtration and whatnot, I should be able to slide the new stand to the left and all the way into place now.

 

After that, I won't be able to open the left door until the BC is offline and drained, but I think everything should be OK as I can access the outlet from downstairs and I won't be filling the system until all the stuff in the sump is plumbed and ready to go. Moving the ATO and reef controller to the new tank can wait until it is cycled and the BC is broken down.

[Rollermonkey]

In the "boring" category, picked up my bulkheads today. Two 3/4" and one 1/2"

 

Yay.

[Rollermonkey]

...and slightly less boring, I used a $100 Amazon gift card towards my return pump. $60 shipped for a Reef Octopus Diablo DC-3500

 

 

At least I'll be able to start plumbing the return as soon as I get the sump.

 

In October.

 

[FlowerMama]

At least it's all slowly coming together. Could be worse. Always could be worse. So you've moving right along on schedule for Oct!! You can say you're meeting the deadlines that were created!! . It is hard to wait though.

[Rollermonkey]

Ba dada dah!

 

I present the sump drawings!

 

 

 

 

 

Not shown: There will be a lid and top-eurobracing in the ATO reservoir along the front of the sump and it holds a bit over 9 gallons. (9.4G if filled to the brim)

 

There's room for up to a 10x8 inch skimmer, 4 reactors along the back and despite my failure to actually check ahead of time, the return pump will actually fit in the space provided. The fuge/frag/bad-crab-timeout area is only 10X15, though, but I haven't decided what I'm really going to do with it.

[Rollermonkey]

Father-in-law helped me carry the tank up the stairs from the garage and set it on the stand.

 

 

From the Family Room:

 

http://s179.photobucket.com/user/rollermonkey/media/P1000767_zpsbaa28823.jpg.html'>

 

 

From the Kitchen:

 

http://s179.photobucket.com/user/rollermonkey/media/P1000766_zps9dccaac9.jpg.html'>

 

 

I could waffle a bit and say the stand coulda been an inch taller or an inch shorter, but I gotsta say that it's pretty sweet being able to see it from two different sides and two different levels of the house.

[Rollermonkey]

Things to do tomorrow:

 

Submit deposit for fabrication of sump

Pick up heater

Swap out bulkheads for the correct sizes

 

Return pump arrives Wednesday

 

I think I have most of the parts ID'd for the return line, but I'm going to hold off on the underside piping for the overflows at least until the sump is here.

[myst_]

That's a really nice sump design you've got there. I'm also in the process of designing my sump and my tank is also a 36x24. Interesting to see how you've squeezed everything in, I never thought to have the top off reservoir across the whole face like that.

[Rollermonkey]

Thanks, glad someone finally noticed!

 

I have figured out that I've got room for a Bubble Magus Curve 7 in the skimmer chamber, room for 4 full-size reactors across the back, and the return pump will be a Reef Octopus Diablo DC-3500. The ATO reservoir holds 9.4 gallons, but for the eurobrace across the top of that section, so I'm calling it 9. The fuge section is 10X15, so it isn't huge, but that's a result of cramming in all the full sized components, to prepare for any possible future upgrade.

 

I won't have any real space in the stand on front of or on the sides of the sump, so I'm thinking if I can make a shelf in there for some storage... I don't want to drill, so I'm going to have to give some real consideration how to pull it off.

[Rollermonkey]

Just ordered a bunch of plumbing stuff.

 

Should have everything to get from the return pump to the return nozzles and everything in between using flexible PVC, valves, fittings, etc, plus got a couple hard schedule 80 PVC pipes to get me thinking about the other pipes inside the overflow, and what I'll need to buy to finish the work in there.

[Rollermonkey]

I should have waited until I went to the FS to order the plumbing stuff.

 

The husband builds the tanks, sumps, skimmers, reactors, etc. The wife does all the QT, inventory, etc. Both work the floor.

 

The husband told me he drilled my tank for two 1" overflows and one 3/4" return.

 

With that, the wife sold me bulkheads.

 

Neither thought to mention or ask if they were ABS or Schedule 80 sized holes.

 

Yeah, I got the wrong ones on the first try. lol I should have waited to place the BRS and Marine Depot orders, now I have to get a hold of them before they ship all the wrong stuff on Tuesday.

 

Sigh.

 

...e-mails sent.

[Rollermonkey]

...and I have a shipping label generated by BRS but no response to my e-mail.

 

Eff.

[Rollermonkey]

Marine Depot must be at work today. Got an e-mail from them, they've swapped the parts to the right size.

 

Hopefully BRS can perform at least as well...

[Rollermonkey]

Double-Eff.

 

Just got off the phone with BRS.

 

The stuff is sitting in a trailer at their dock, but rather than pull it out and repackage it with what I actually need, they gave me an RMA and I'll have to ship it back to them and reorder.

 

Like next month, when the credit finally shows up on my card.

 

Marine Depot wins this round, hands down.

[Marine Depot]

Marine Depot wins this round, hands down.

 

Yay us!

[Rollermonkey]

I guess that's what I get for trying to save $0.30 / fitting.

[Rollermonkey]

...and to make matters worse: UPS picked up the trailer from BRS today at 5PM local time.

[Rollermonkey]

I have a return pump.

 

The Reef Octopus Diablo DC-3500 showed up today. A nice bonus, not shown on any of the store sites, or CoralVue, or Reef Octopus's own site, is that it has an inlet strainer.

 

Nice long cord for the control head, too. I'm not as happy with the reducer(s) being all one piece, and that it reduces to a nipple, though. I want all threaded couplings, thanks.

[Eric OBD]

Check to see if standard PVC fittings will thread on to it. I know the first models of these and other DC pumps had some issues with this but newer models are being updated to fit with standard PVC threads.

[Rollermonkey]

^I'll take the discharge off the pump and bring it to Lowe's when I start gathering the fittings for my return line.

 

Marine Depot box arrived with my flexible PVC piping. This stuff is really nice! I'm not going to need any elbows in my return line. Well, maybe one at the top of the overflow box.

[Rollermonkey]

Updated sump sketchup:

 

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