Hishman Posted January 6, 2018 Share Posted January 6, 2018 Goal of this build was to build a nano 9 gallon with an AIO and sump that houses a refugium all while maintaining a very clean look. I selected a pretty big pump to avoid any power heads in the tank. I'm unsure the functionality of a fuge in such a small tank. If anything its for fun! Tank: Aquamaxx 9.1 gallon low cuboid Lights: Marine Orbit LED 24" Refugium lighting: LED grow light strip Pump: Sicce Syncra Silent 1.5 357gph Skimmer: TBD Media Reactor: TBD Heater: Lifegard Aquatics Pre-Set Quartz Heater - 50 Watt AOI: DIY Acrylic SUMP: DIY Acrylic Livestock: TBD First renders of idea Basic plumbing diagram. First AIO is around 8.5"x10". It will be sitting on top of refugium that will be around 7"x15". The area where plumbing goes does not contain water and will house the air pump for possible future skimmer. Might T off the plumbing and run a reactor. Also will house power bricks for lights. Rough draft determining room and drain and return placement Aquascape Never too early to start the biological filtration on your tank. Adding dry sand in a couple days to also start growing bacteria. Used dry rock and dry sand and seeded with biospira. Next step is drilling the holes for plumbing. I have a 3/4 drain but might be upping that to a 1". My question is do i really need a bulkhead. If you look at the above the bulkhead wont actually support anything besides its own weight. It will just overflow into the AIO. The bulkhead requires a much larger hole than necessary since its not supporting plumbing. Ill be putting the drain 1/2 to 3/4' from the top. Does this sound okay since its 5mm glass and no hardline or even soft lines connected. Still required: - DIY acrylic aio and sump - Refugium light - Plumbing - Permanent oak stand Let me know questions, concerns and compliments 2 Quote Link to comment
Hishman Posted January 30, 2018 Author Share Posted January 30, 2018 Display is up and running with a temporary sump. I'mdisapointed in the finish of the stand so ill be wrapping in carbon vinyl. My tools limited me to needing screws on the front on one side. I need to build an weir as the waterline runs almost to the top of the bulkhead. 1 1/8" of water line is too much for the small sump to hold when I turn the pump off. Still tossing around different ideas for the sump design. I have ideas for an algae scrubber and will update with that. Update 6/22/18 Sump and some corals. Minor rescape for more coral room 4 Quote Link to comment
Raindog3030 Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 I've been looking at one of these for my new office as well, looks amazing so far...following! May I ask what plumbing parts you used? Thanks! Quote Link to comment
Hishman Posted February 1, 2018 Author Share Posted February 1, 2018 4 hours ago, Raindog3030 said: I've been looking at one of these for my new office as well, looks amazing so far...following! May I ask what plumbing parts you used? Thanks! For the overflow its a standard schedule 40 3/4" bulkhead. By itself it would absolutely not be big enough for the 350gph pump. I bored it out with a 1 1/8" hole saw and and barely big enough. The water line is about even with the top of the bulkhead. The two outlets coming from the pump are just 1/2" lock line fittings. I put the lock line in the hole, put a rubber seal on, then put on a 1/2" elbow to barb fitting on that. The gasket sits between the glass and the elbow perfectly. No issues leaking. Raindog I'm actually throwing around the idea of making this design in an aquamaxx 22 since i just bought a RODI system and water changes can be easier. So potentially i'd be interested in selling this complete system at cost. Won't be charging for tools/labor just material. I'd have to add everything up. LMK Quote Link to comment
Raindog3030 Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 6 minutes ago, Hishman said: For the overflow its a standard schedule 40 3/4" bulkhead. By itself it would absolutely not be big enough for the 350gph pump. I bored it out with a 1 1/8" hole saw and and barely big enough. The water line is about even with the top of the bulkhead. The two outlets coming from the pump are just 1/2" lock line fittings. I put the lock line in the hole, put a rubber seal on, then put on a 1/2" elbow to barb fitting on that. The gasket sits between the glass and the elbow perfectly. No issues leaking. Raindog I'm actually throwing around the idea of making this design in an aquamaxx 22 since i just bought a RODI system and water changes can be easier. So potentially i'd be interested in selling this complete system at cost. Won't be charging for tools/labor just material. I'd have to add everything up. LMK Indubitably, I am still waiting on whoever it is that is buying the furniture for our new space before I pull the trigger...good to know about the 3/4" bulk head not being sufficient for drainage...from the flow guides I gathered that diameter should be able to handle around 660 gph with just gravity, guess not? I'm toying with the idea of going with an Eshopps Eclipse S overflow/surface skimmer for the drain, although a $3 bulkhead is much more attractive... Either way, let me know if you decide to let it go and what your price is, I may be interested, thanks for the reply! Quote Link to comment
Hishman Posted February 1, 2018 Author Share Posted February 1, 2018 18 minutes ago, Raindog3030 said: Indubitably, I am still waiting on whoever it is that is buying the furniture for our new space before I pull the trigger...good to know about the 3/4" bulk head not being sufficient for drainage...from the flow guides I gathered that diameter should be able to handle around 660 gph with just gravity, guess not? I'm toying with the idea of going with an Eshopps Eclipse S overflow/surface skimmer for the drain, although a $3 bulkhead is much more attractive... Either way, let me know if you decide to let it go and what your price is, I may be interested, thanks for the reply! 660gph in a 3/4" bulkhead is under a couple or more inches of water. Not a big deal if you place the overflow box down for enough but that takes up more realestate and looks less clean. If you have the money the overflow boxes are nice. For $5 in acrylic and 10$ in plumbing parts I'll just be making my own I'll definitely let you know on pricing. Right now im buying and either not being able to use or throwing away wasted material for experimentation so I don't have an idea in my head of what the tank costs vs what i've bought just to mess around with. Tank wont be fully complete in probably 2-3 weeks anyway. If you're looking for something similar but different also let me know. I would be happy to work with you to design and build a custom tank for your needs. Quote Link to comment
Raindog3030 Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 7 minutes ago, Hishman said: 660gph in a 3/4" bulkhead is under a couple or more inches of water. Not a big deal if you place the overflow box down for enough but that takes up more realestate and looks less clean. If you have the money the overflow boxes are nice. For $5 in acrylic and 10$ in plumbing parts I'll just be making my own I'll definitely let you know on pricing. Right now im buying and either not being able to use or throwing away wasted material for experimentation so I don't have an idea in my head of what the tank costs vs what i've bought just to mess around with. Tank wont be fully complete in probably 2-3 weeks anyway. If you're looking for something similar but different also let me know. I would be happy to work with you to design and build a custom tank for your needs. There is an idea, I didn't even think of making my own! Couldn't be that complicated, lol. I appreciate the offer, but I too am a DIY kind of fella, any excuse to pull the tools out and hack at something Also, being an engineer...designing is most of the fun! Still let me know if you decide to let the drilled tank go, that'll save me the $15 in hole saw bits that I need...but don't need! Quote Link to comment
JBM Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 19 hours ago, Raindog3030 said: that'll save me the $15 in hole saw bits that I need...but don't need! Lies!!!!!! There are 4 universal things every man needs more of. Quality time, alcohol, tools, and corals. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
cassianoyoung Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Looking good! I like the floating design. I used to have a small 6g tank like that. Any picture updates? I haven been good about posting updates on my thread. I will get a video going of my 22g. These aquamaxx tanks are incredibly clear. I love mine. Check out my build from scratch when you get a moment. Nice to see another DYIer getting a project off the ground. Keep it up. I will follow! Cheers! Quote Link to comment
Hishman Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share Posted June 22, 2018 Some updates. Completed the sump, built the LED grow light. Threw a ball of chaeto in. I've since changes the design and am using two pumps one on each side. I had to move all the way up to a 2" bulkhead. Temporary overflow screen since I lost two clowns overnight when I went to using two pumps. Still finalizing the sumps filtration. Probably going to just do a coarse foam to grab the large solids. I changed the dimensions of the sump and need to build a new stand. I went lower with the stand by a half inch and I feel the tank looks like its hovering more. Added a bunch of corals the other day as well. Livestock is a green manderin and a valentini puffer. Buying pods currently as im unsure if the tank is large enough to support a large pod population for the dragon 2 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 What a unique system design, that sump is really something! The floating effect is so cool too. Great work on this @Hishman! Is it difficult to remove the wood facia to get a look into the lower sump section, in case anything gets caught down there? Quote Link to comment
FlytheWMark Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 I'd love your thoughts on the Orbit 24" light. I'm eventually setting up a 2nd tank (probably 20 gallon) and have that light on my watch list. I currently have a 10 gallon with a Kessil and love it but with a 20 I'd probably need two and am trying to shave off some cost on this project. Quote Link to comment
Hishman Posted July 2, 2018 Author Share Posted July 2, 2018 On 6/27/2018 at 9:32 AM, Christopher Marks said: What a unique system design, that sump is really something! The floating effect is so cool too. Great work on this @Hishman! Is it difficult to remove the wood facia to get a look into the lower sump section, in case anything gets caught down there? Actually its very easy. Just need to turn the pump off. Unhook the hose and slide the tank out from the wall. From there the sump just slides right out the back. On 6/27/2018 at 11:11 AM, Mark L. said: I'd love your thoughts on the Orbit 24" light. I'm eventually setting up a 2nd tank (probably 20 gallon) and have that light on my watch list. I currently have a 10 gallon with a Kessil and love it but with a 20 I'd probably need two and am trying to shave off some cost on this project. Another member here uses the same light in a 12 gallon long. IMO you would need two unless you are stocking with lower light corals. u Quote Link to comment
Hishman Posted July 2, 2018 Author Share Posted July 2, 2018 Update 7/2/18: I just got a Milwaukee salinity tester. My water has been around 1.029ppt since I started the tank. My hydrometer wasn't even close . Good lesson for me. My new acro turned brown and my stylo seems to have lost some flesh at the tips. Some of the hardier corals look great after bringing it down to the 1.024-25 range. Hopefully they recover. I changed my water change cycle at the advice from Josh at world wide corals. I now do a couple 1gal (~10-20%) wc twice weekly vs a single 5 gallon to keep parameters more stable My newest addition to the tank brought ick. I got it out after two days and put it in a quarantine tank. Hopefully the rest of the fish fight it off. 1 Quote Link to comment
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