Babycakes' Custom Cube Project

[Babycakes]

yeah i think i'll be settling for the quite one pumps for both my CL and sump returns. let me know how you like it.

i'll raise the CL returns thanks for catching that

 

as for the CL returns, yeah i really want some good flow, IMO blastos like a good flow but not a hard flow but once the tank is set up i'll figure out where everything goes or if i should keep a nano tank for some non loving flow lps

[Pakrat]

Babycakes,

Since you have been so kind to my thread I thought I'd send some advice to yours as well.

 

I made a little diagram to help me see a little more accurately what I thought you wanted. (It's pretty much scale) I made some guesses, I hope I got it right.

 

 

In the overflow, you might want to consider using (2) 1" drains, it's easier to find the plumbing fittings and fit the stand pipes for 1" drains then 1.5" ones. Plus it's less likely that you'd get a flood if you have two drains.

 

Going 5" wide helps if you have big hands, but you could get away with 4".

 

One thing I wish if I could redo my external overflow I'd make it 9" deep instead of 6" because it's hard to fit a proper stand pipe in only 6".

 

Closed loop:

The plumbing with the OM can get a little crazy; I hope you’re up to it. Watch the depth behind the tank too because the 4way can get a little wide.

 

This plumbing setup looks like it could work in your tank.

 

One last note I'd put the closed loop intakes on one side of your tank. Keep them close, it's easier to plumb.

 

Oh and if you want the files to the diagram I can email it to you or something, just send a PM. It's in .htm format atm.

 

~Brandon

[Babycakes]

omgosh thanks brandon! you're so much help. funny how a lot of peole are making custom tanks RIGHT now with similar dimensions

wow our diagrams are pretty similar, that must mean i must be on the right track!

i think sinistard found a 1.5" fitting for his overflow

Sinistard's plumbing

so i might ask him where he got his supplies from.

 

i think Tigahboy might actually do my plumbing and design and have Socal ship it to me plumbed and ready to go *crosses fingers*

 

here's an interesting pic

it's a japanese tank, i really love the aquascaping and i'm considering doing that for my tank.

it's similar to Steve Weast's tank: http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_aquascaping.htm

[Pili]

Sinistard got all his plumbing from savko.com. They are the kings of aquarium plumbing supply.

[dchisenh]

Hey Babycakes, you found the pic of the japanese tank that got me hooked on reefing! That tank is absolutely awesome, the school of longspine cardinalfish are incredible, I could just imagine watching them swim through the central "channel" in the tank for hours on end. That's really an awesome tank to emulate.

 

I was considering a central channel for my acrylic cube as well, but because of the size (20"x20"x12") I'm leaning more towards a horseshoe shape....though it's still up in the air really. After seeing that pic again, the central channel idea is gaining points.

 

-Dan

[Babycakes]

yeah dan, that reef is amazing. makes me wish i'm going for softies rather than sps

 

okie here's a 3rd plan, lemme know what yall think (yeah it's a crappy diagram but you get the gist of it)

[calvin415]

I like it even better, but just a couple things to think about based on my experience. Will you be covering it with a canopy? If not will you mind the look of plumbing on the top of your tank. If you will have a canopy make sure the return holes are far enough in from the side for a canopy to still sit on the top of the tank. Will you only access the tank from the front? If not the plumbing could get in the way...

[Pakrat]

One thing I saw, I think your top closed loop returns are going to be in the way of your sump return plumbing. If the plumbing overlaps like that and isn't staggered left to right it will end up sticking out quite a bit.

 

Another thing, you might want your CL intakes in the middle and have two returns in the bottom where your intakes currently are. It will help keep detritus in suspension so it can be skimmed out, this is particularly effective if your going BB.

[pookstreet]

Looking good Janie. I think someone else may have mentioned it. Make sure you have good depton on the overflow box so you can do a standpipe of some sort. I am guessing around 9" or so would be good.

[Babycakes]

9" on the overflow box? what's the min. width i need on it?

i'm rethinking the sump return placement...maybe if the pipes were a pretty dark grey color or black i'd be fine with it. i'll have to see.

 

omg. i didn't know equipment can be so $$$ for some reason it's so easy for me to drop $150 on one coral than it is to invest in some equipment.

 

would a calcium reactor be too much?

i saw a setup where a guy ran his RO top off through a kalk reactor with a spectrapure litermeter3.

 

gah....omg. so i'm going to have to buy t-5's, a better protein skimmer, a calcium reactor, OM super squirt, plumbing stuff, and a custom tank for this new project.

 

I'll have to sell my ice probe w/ control and AquaCRemora w/ MJ1200, current USA orbit 2x65w fixture.

 

reefing is expensive.

[pookstreet]

My overflow is 5" wide, including the acrylic. Plenty of room to work in.

 

I personally think a Ca reactor is overkill on a small system. Ca and alk can be easily kept at optimal levels with either a kalk reactor or just dripping kalk. I have a dosing pump coming soon that I'll be dripping kalk 24/7 for all of my top-off water. You can easily spend $600+ for a complete Ca reactor setup, versus ~$250 for a kalk reactor or just $150 for a dosing pump.

[Sushi]

reefing is expensive.

lol... look what you've gotten yourself into now!

 

if it's too expensive, you shouldn't do it. that's just my opinion. go with something more affordable. good luck w/ur project!

[Babycakes]

so 12" wide and 9" deep for the overflow box? sounds good! means i more room on the sides to figure out the plumbing. what pump are you using, kenny to drip your kalk/top off water? could i drip kalk/RO on my 10g right now?

i got an aqualifter for my dosing right now, will that be fine?

 

yeah daniel! hi! yeah, it's a new project for me and i haven't even been reefing for a year yet! i must be crazy.

[pookstreet]

When you say 12" wide, you mean length wise along the back of the tank right? So the final overflow box dimensions would be something like 12"Lx9"Hx5"W.

 

I just purchased a dosing pump on Ebay and it should be here next week. It's the Nautilus 3 on here: www.reefdosingpumps.com. You can definitely drip kalk on your 10g. Is that where you are keeping your SPS right now? If it's only LPS and softies, you may not need to drip kalk at all due to the lower Ca and alk needs. Dosing 2 parters manually is probably easier.

[bogart]

Japanese style aquascape in a cube? That will be nice, but its definatly easier said then done.

[Maeda]

why attach a box to the back instead of just getting a tank made to accomadate a falsewall styled overflow?

[calvin]

because you don't want to waste the space inside the tank if you don't have to.

[Pakrat]

Calvin, I totally agree. Getting acrylic tanks we already pay a premium for every square inch of tank space, particularly in Nanos. If I put a 4x4 overflow or a false wall in my 20g I would have significantly less space to aquascape. That and I wouldn't have been able to fit the irregular and large rocks that I used in it.

 

Besides overflows and plumbing inside the tank takes focus away from your live stock. I like the "clean" look of a power head/overflow free tank.

 

~Brandon

[mecgeorgeneo]

because you don't want to waste the space inside the tank if you don't have to.

 

But isnt Babycake's building a custom tank? Just make more room.

[Pakrat]

But isnt Babycake's building a custom tank? Just make more room.

 

I don't know about Babycakes but I'm restricted to a 20 gallon tank (apartment 2nd floor LL rules). I built a stand THIS LINK for it, a standard 20 gallon high. Regardless I didn't want to have to maintain anything larger then 20 gallons anyway because of the time and cost (over time) investment. This way I get the greatest amount of usable space with the least amount of obstruction for the area that I allow.

 

Other then that I just like the cleaner look of an external overflow. Anyhow people who make nanos usually do so because of a particular reason. Nano aquariums cost more per gallon to make then the standard +50g reef tanks, so given that most have a particular reason for staying small, this is mine but to each his or her own.

 

~Brandon

[pookstreet]

Hey Janie. I finally installed the QO4000 on my CL this weekend. It's working ok so far for me, not great tho. I would have like more flow. I think for your CL with the OM, you should look into a more powerful pump. You'll probably get more out of the OM, since they aren't cheap to begin with.

[kinetic]

so 12" wide and 9" deep for the overflow box? sounds good! means i more room on the sides to figure out the plumbing. what pump are you using, kenny to drip your kalk/top off water? could i drip kalk/RO on my 10g right now?

i got an aqualifter for my dosing right now, will that be fine?

 

yeah daniel! hi! yeah, it's a new project for me and i haven't even been reefing for a year yet! i must be crazy.

 

I just found your thread again! Thanks for posting on my custom cube plans too! I think we're doing a very similar tank just like the others above.

 

I think 12" span of teeth for the overflow box is really good for surface skimming properties, jus tmake sure the overflow box is deep enough so you get surface skimming (like a waterfall down into the box) which is a really good thing to do.

 

All your plumbing looks fantastic! It's similar to what I'm going to be doing. I have a suggestion which is slight, but might be cool. Instead of two sump returns, you could have one return with a spray bar spanning the entire back wall. HIding it behind LR and painting it the same color as the backwall would help hide it. This will evenly replace water in the tank, removing more dead spots. This is a very good way of evening out the flow from the return. Then you'll save on one more return bulkhead etc =P less piping =) But two returns still sound good.

 

keep us updated!!