EnderG60 Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 Welp Ive decided to build an other nano that fits the stand i got and has more stuff now that i know what im doing. My current tank is 18x12x12 with the rear 2.5" being the sump, with just a simple overflow, bioballs return thing going. It's made of 1/8" home depot plexi and marine goop.(i know i know but its held and works pretty damn well) New tank will be 24x14x14, made of cast 1/4" acrylic bonded with weld on #4..MMM yeah Since both my tanks are run off bio balls I decided to keep them on the new tank, but I will add a fuge as well..cuz well why not..I can:P . Im gonna make a skimmer for it as well using a rio 800 with the venturi parts, return pump will be a mag 5(its gonna go through 3 splitters and 4 right angles and i still want like 300gph) Lighting will be a either a 70w or 150w metal halide with a 32w PC actinic supliment, housed in a custom hood with lots of fans(more on that later) Here is what the sump is gonna look like Im making up the parts list so I can order all the stuff tomarrow, and then I have to work out how to position the 3 or 4 return nozzels...ahhhh its gonna be fun more to come.... Link to comment
darwin604 Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 Very cool . . I'm going for the same sort of an idea in the system I'm putting together - difference is that mines going to be a drilled glass tank but I want to build the sump to a custom design I made out of acrylic. Know any links to a good FAQ / idiot guid to working with acrylic? d. Link to comment
birdman204 Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 Just a thought, you may not want to run your skimmer from your refugium..... that area is LOOKING for dirty, detritus filled water. Link to comment
EnderG60 Posted August 4, 2004 Author Share Posted August 4, 2004 Its just the best place to put it for two reasons. 1. I dont wanna see it in the main tank, and 2 it will help control flooding in case of power outages. I can always make a small cage or put a sponge on there. BTW nice avitar birdman:P Link to comment
EnderG60 Posted August 9, 2004 Author Share Posted August 9, 2004 Welp It has begun, I just placed an order for most of the acrylic I need(except for the baffels and such which I will use 1/8" home depot stuff for to save on cost) and the pumps. Current Cost as of now : 1/4" Clear Acrylic 23.5" x 14" 1 $9.36 $9.36 1/4" Clear Acrylic 23" x 14" 2 $8.96 $17.92 1/4" Clear Acrylic 14" x 14" 2 $5.48 $10.96 1/4" Clear Acrylic 10" x 23.5" 1 $6.68 $6.68 1/4" Black Acrylic 14" x 23" 1 $11.20 $11.20 36" Length 3" O.D. x 1/8" Wall 1 $13.50 $13.50 (cut one each 11" & 3" length) Total Acrylic Cost : $69.62 + $20 shipping Weld On #4 and 2 aplicators : $13.00 Mag Drive 5 pump : $49.95 Rio 800 RVT pump : $18.45 (free shipping from marine depot) Total so far $151.02 NOTE : I will be tracking ever single cent i spend on this project and compare it to what it would cost me to walk into a LFS and just order everything..since i work at the LFS thats not that hard:P Major costs to come : Wood and trim for canopy and stand, PVC bits, MH lighting Link to comment
EnderG60 Posted August 16, 2004 Author Share Posted August 16, 2004 WEEEE parts acrylic and pumps arrived! Just gata find my exacto, gather all my dremel bits and put out the drop cloth and its go time. funny how the actual parts always feel bigger then you expect... I would take pics, but my digi cam is off for repair:( OH yeah gata make up a list of bits to get from home depot, man i love projects:P Im off to spend money and get high on solvent fumes: Link to comment
EnderG60 Posted August 18, 2004 Author Share Posted August 18, 2004 Side note, in order to cut the baffels easyer i picked up an adapter for the dremel call the minisaw....its basicly just like it sounds...small saw thing for the dremel. IT KICKS ASS!! Cuts much straighter and doesnt melt the acrylic like the cutoff wheels.. if your gonna use a dremel for this this thing is a must have! Link to comment
SaltCreep Posted August 18, 2004 Share Posted August 18, 2004 stop blabbering about this project and lets see some pics:) Link to comment
EnderG60 Posted August 18, 2004 Author Share Posted August 18, 2004 digi cam will be back soon....my mom broke it and its getting fixedX) Link to comment
EnderG60 Posted August 21, 2004 Author Share Posted August 21, 2004 Well...old camera sucks, so i got a new camera! So since im done with the skimmer here are some pics! Link to comment
The_Barbe-Hatten_Project Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 i second; running the skimmer from the refugium is probably not the best way to go... Link to comment
EnderG60 Posted August 22, 2004 Author Share Posted August 22, 2004 ill put some baffels around it to keep crap out, there isnt a hole lot of room back there to put it anywhere else....only way to make sure is to build it and see if it fits anywhere else. so we will just have to wait and see:P Link to comment
irishbing Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 i think you thought birdman meant to put the skimmer in the main tank...if you did, i think he meant put it in front of the refugium. Link to comment
seis66 Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 whats wrong with puting the skimmer in the fuge? Link to comment
The_Barbe-Hatten_Project Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 it's a good idea to put the return from the skimmer and the pump in the same compartment to control flooding... however, putting the acctual pump in is going to: 1. block light 2. attract the precious macro, sand and other organisms 3. debris will damage the pump 4. a fuge requaires a low flow rate and a pump is going to increase it... my recomendation is to place the skimmer and return in the same compartment as the Mag-5 pump... Link to comment
EnderG60 Posted August 22, 2004 Author Share Posted August 22, 2004 Guys, in order for me to make the pump section big enough for hte two pumps I would have to elimiate 1/2 the fuge, in which case I may as well just not even put it in there. There will be no macro in there as I dont feel like putting a light over it. I think making two more lil peices that go around the pump to keep critters out is a much easyer solution. But either way I havent even stared on the tank yet, so things might change as it comes together Ive got some idea's brewing so your just gonna have to wait and see: Link to comment
skeletor Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 nice work on the skimmer there EnderG60, here's my take on the whole thing... ditch the heater/carbon section (just run carbon in a bag )and throw the skimmer in there, (move the heater to the return chamber), maybe leave 1 baffle in between the 1st chamber and the fuge, so skimmer output runs into the fuge. then I'd be getting rid of the foam filter on the mag and turn it around so it's sucking from the other side (as far away from the fuge as you can).. I'm not a big fan of bio balls but they propbably use less space than having multiple baffles for a bubble trap, and space is very limited here. watch out for your baffle spacing, you may need some more room because it is so thin and with all that flow from the mag-5 bubbles may not be able to escape in the baffles/bioballs, and you may end up with a lot of microbubbles... another option, for more fuge room, would be to externaly mount the skimmer. not exactly going to give you that clean look but it does make more room. -skeletor- Link to comment
EnderG60 Posted August 22, 2004 Author Share Posted August 22, 2004 Thats a damn good idea about ditching the heater section, Im gonna make a lil box thing like shown for the carbon cuz the bag thing aint working out to well on the current tank, and this will be easyer to refill and rince. Idea's are a brewing though....I can move the fuge over and put the skimmer pump in a section along with the carbon, and have a sponge before that to block large chunks of stuff and then on to the bio balls(which i happen to like ) as for removing the spong on the mag 5, If i can sufficiantly block ditritus and crap, I wouldnt mind doing that, which would also increase space , hell if i remove the sponge I can put the skimmer pump down there and just run the output of the skimmer back over the bio balls and leave all as is....hmmm ill have to draw up some more layouts....I still gata finish the sump/fuge/skimmer stuff for my 58 so I got time to mess with this a bit longer;) Link to comment
seis66 Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 can u send the blueprints for that skimmer? looks nice Link to comment
EnderG60 Posted August 23, 2004 Author Share Posted August 23, 2004 these are the blue prints Made of a 3" acrylic tube and various PVC bits I found at home depot:) Link to comment
EnderG60 Posted August 23, 2004 Author Share Posted August 23, 2004 Ok I put the skimmer on my 10 which is holding the live rock that will be going in the fuge of my 58. Here are the problems, Im not getting any "head" bubbles, Im getting alot of bubbles back into the tank and this damn rio venturi thing sounds pretty bad. here are some pics of what i mean so what can i do here? Link to comment
badmatt Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 make a pin wheel with more pins Link to comment
EnderG60 Posted August 24, 2004 Author Share Posted August 24, 2004 Originally posted by badmatt make a pin wheel with more pins a what now? Link to comment
purple firefish Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 About the skimmer in the fuge. You want to place the skimmer before the fuge in the first compartment. If you put it after the fuge you will be removing a lot of the benefits provided by it. I think its also a very bad idea to have the skimmer pump in the actually fuge itself, I wouldn't even put it after but before the water goes into the fuge itself Link to comment
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