37g custom acrylic "cube" full build process

[latazyo]

this will be my official tank build thread charting the progress from the beginning

 

this first post will cover the basics of my stand and planned plumbing

 

here are some renderings of the stand done by my little brother (a mechanical engineer) on pro-e and ansys

 

the first rendering is just a simple layout of the stand

 

yellow and brown = 1x6

black = 1x10

green and red = 2x4

blue = 1x4

 

 

it will be skinned on the sides with plywood and the back will be open to allow for cords/plumbing, blah blah blah

 

the front has no center brace to allow for maximum access to the sump/fuge area...since I am very bad at making doors I will have one giant sliding panel in a track

 

the top (since the tank is narrower than the stand) will have two wood boards inserted beside the tank (to cover the area between the green 2x4s and the edges) to produce a table top look with the tank sunk down 3/4" into it

 

 

 

the next rendering shows an ansys simulation in order to calculate stress on the materials...since this stand will be made out of pine, the properties of pine were inserted into the software

 

we estimated the weight of my tank at 500 pounds, so for this test we used a tank weight of 1,000 pounds to be on the safe side

 

the rendering shows areas of stress, the red does not indicate danger, it only indicates the location of maximum stress...DMX stands for "max displacement"

 

 

as you can see from the rendering with a weight of 1000 pounds on the stand the maximum displacement is .003 inches, so that is safe enough for me...hehe

 

but what about forces from the sides and front to back....running a similar test with a lateral force of 500 pounds applied, the maximum displacement in any direction was .017"

 

I am including all of this jibberish in case anyone wants to copy the design and wonders if it is safe

 

details and additional pics of the stand build process can be seen in my thread in the DIY forum located HERE

 

enough of the stand...on to the plumbing

 

in this diagram (mine aren't quite as good as the engineer's) the neon green indicates the return pump...

 

in the sump the huge middle area void is just there to indicate that I have space in case my fuge idea doesn't fit I can redesign the sump since it is large enough to do so (20 long)

 

 

a few notes about the numbered areas on the diagram

 

1. number 1 indicates a reducing elbow from 1" to 1/2"...this will then connect to a 1/2" ball valve then into 1/2 pipe then to 1/2" flex tubing, this is how I will do water changes....through a door on the side of the stand I will access the tubing, open the ball valve (after closing the other valves on the return line) and fill my buckets that way...I might even get ambitious and hook a 50' hose up to it and put it in the bathroom for draining

 

2. since I couldn't show the design any further than the top of the tank I would just like to mention that the two 3/4" lines will be Y'd into 4 loc-line flare nozzles to provide plenty of flow to the tank

 

phew..that took a long time to write

 

please leave comments and questions...I do pretty much everything DIY so hopefully my thread can help someone out there trying to do the same thing

[latazyo]

my second post will be discussing the tank itself and the lighting

 

the tank is 1/2 acrylic rimless w/ center overflow...overall tank dims are 24x18x18

 

here is a shot of the tank (empty as it still is)

 

 

the overflow has a hole drilled for a 1" bulkhead but I think I am going to enlarge the hole to accomodate a 1.25" drain

 

 

lighting:

I will be attempting 6x24 t5ho lighting, I may be cutting it back to 4 bulbs, havent decided yet

 

here is a shot of the tank with the lights on

 

for more info on my fixture and lighting plans check out my thread in the lighting forum, found HERE

 

thanks for looking, as usual, all comments and questions are welcome

[latazyo]

apparently I have a very boring tank

[supernip]

It's a lovely tank, I have something similar 18x18x18. I would be careful with the bowing on it though. Mine is smaller than yours but uses the same thickness acrylic and I still have to reinforce it. Keep me posted. I'm glad the states are starting to catch up with the rest of the world and ditching the the unsightly frames

 

 

2002 whoop it up.

[latazyo]

I am thinking that the canopy will protect against bowing hopefully

 

here in the states there is not necessarily any established tank frame policy

 

thanks for the feedback, how did you reinforce it?

[supernip]

i have a eurobracing. since it's 1/2 inch thick, u can pretty much hide the whole bracing. I'm from california btw and as far as I've seen, most commercially available tanks have a frame.

 

 

Also, on the t5, do they have individual reflectors? If not, I think you've defeated the purpose by using them. 4 is more than enough imho. You have to take into consideration the light spread. if half of it goes into the back of the tank or out the tank, uselessness abound. good luck with your project though. How are you gonna do the return lines?

 

I find that with such a clean tank, seeing any kind of wiring bugs the heck out of me. The thicker acrylic does look so much like glass doesn't it? You're just so tempted to leave the tank empty. Nothing as beautiful as a fresh fish tank =D

 

 

edit: sorry didn't know you were gonna have a canopy. But why would you want a canopy on such a pretty tank? I think you should forgo the canopy. It will help with heat and create a much more open look. It's the way to go grasshopper

[Louis T]

I like the engineering analysis of your stand, perhaps you should also do one to simulate the fluid dynamics and lighting of your tank too Would be very interesting to see.

 

If you are doing everything right, you will get much less replies. Therefore, I suggest screwing something up Say something like "I have 12w of PC and I want a BTA!!", that should get everyone started!

 

Nice tank by the way, I would love to see how this one turns out. Perhaps you can make that a display refugium while you are at it.

[reefinnewb]

^^Thats the truth lol.

[jenniebutterfly]

looks like it will be amazing, i really like the look of the tank, and i too would not put a canopy on it.

[latazyo]

thanks for the responses everyone...

 

the bulbs each have their own reflectors (they aren't the fancy SLR's but they are individual nonetheless)

 

about the fluid dynamics...everytime I ask him a water flow question he begins to get too technical, he includes friction caused by the pipes, etc etc...my main concern was that my 1" drain would not handle the flow from the q1 4000, so I sort of have the "luxury" of inefficient plumbing since I need to cut that down anyways...but IM still going to enlarge the drain to a 1.25" instead of the current 1"

 

the lights DO have the 4 legs available, but I just dont know about going w/o a canopy....doesn't ###### get in the tank when its just sitting there open? and don't fish jump out?

 

thanks again everyone

[Louis T]

about the fluid dynamics...everytime I ask him a water flow question he begins to get too technical, he includes friction caused by the pipes, etc etc...

Don't you just love them engineers? (I am one myself). At least you know you are getting your beer's worth

 

but I just dont know about going w/o a canopy....doesn't ###### get in the tank when its just sitting there open? and don't fish jump out?

Dust can get on the surface and so can flying insects. If you are skimming the surface you won't see any of that. Some fish have a higher tendancy to jump, but most stay. If you are really concerned, then you can use egg crate as the cover. Topless facilitates good gas exchange across the surface of the water and also dissipate heat faster.

[PieNinja]

about the fluid dynamics...everytime I ask him a water flow question he begins to get too technical, he includes friction caused by the pipes, etc etc...

That's why you get him a case of beer and tell him he can put together your tank's piping as you can't understand the engineer's jargon.

 

I agree with everyone else and say you should go open top. Much cleaner look to the tank, better co2/o2 gas exchange, runs cooler, ect. You could also put some sort of window screening mesh material to keep bugs and chit out.

[latazyo]

here is my main concern about open top tank...I dont care if a bug gets in because the fish will eat it in about .001 seconds

 

 

but dont the lights shine in your eyes when you try to watch TV or anything like that?

[PieNinja]

Most of the light ends up in the tank, the rest is more like ambient lighting. ime, not enough to distract from watching tv, reading, ect.

[Poker_Fish777]

this will be ur tv

[Louis T]

You only need to be concerned about that if your TV is more expensive than your tank

[Poker_Fish777]

hah

 

hey lat, what is the extra 1" pvc with a ball valve leading right? as if going back to the sump

[latazyo]

yep, you're exactly right, thats' what it is

 

the cross that goes left will always be shut off except for water changes, the cross that goes right (that you asked about) has a ball on it and will just be a return loop to the sump

 

this is so I can run the pump full blast, but still control how much makes it to the tank...without using a ball valve to restrict it directly...

 

the gate valve I am expecting to always keep wide open, if the rest of the system works properly....basically I am attempting to make sure there is an un-impeded route from pump to tank for the water, but that outlet allows some of the flow so that I dont get the full force of the quietone 4000 to the small tank that I have

 

basically I bought the wrong pump, so I have to modify my plumbing a little

[latazyo]

well Ive been working on the stand and so far all is going well...only problem is that I made the trim too short to accomodate my huge styrofoam pad, so Im gonna try to find some thinner stuff...here are a few pics of the stand so far...its not quite done yet, but you can kind of get the idea

 

here is a pic of the trim area, this is a view from the bottom up, just showing how I did it

 

adding the cross braces and test fitting the tank

 

legs and base added

 

"floor" added

 

additional tank support added on top

 

and top skin added

 

so far that is my progress after one day, hopefully I'll get it finished up tonight

 

thanks for looking/posting

[latazyo]

well the stand is finally done....full details and a bunch more pics in my DIY thread over at reefcentral http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...threadid=904230

 

here are a few pics of the finished stand

 

 

 

the stand turned out great (as far as what I was expecting) and it ended up costing me 100 bucks, twice my stand's budget, but 1x10s and 1x6s killed me...I was hoping to find crappy quality lumber thats all curved and crappy, but they only had those sizes in "premium" so I had to pay 10 bucks each for 1x10s....just the 1x10s and 1x6s alone cost me 40 bucks...destroyed my budget

 

 

 

I am now on to my next challenge...I am trying to figure out a way to suspend this light fixture that I got...I really really really really really do NOT want to hang it from the ceiling

 

here is a shot of the fixture with the legs on it (I think the legs look absolutely ridiculous)

 

IM thinking about connecting a vertical 2x4 into the back of the stand and then connecting a triangle brace or something out from that to connect the lights to...I havent ironed out the details of that yet, but I'd really like some suggestions for suspending this light fixture

 

at this time Im not interested in building a canopy

 

thanks for looking, and as always comments and questions are appreciated

[skilter]

the tank and stand looks great. but man that light is way up there! you could maybe suspend it from a bookshelf above the tank? or from the ceiling... if you have a stud above where you intend to place your tank.

[latazyo]

thanks for the feedback, as you have already noticed and responded to (thanks, by the way) I have designed a new system for my tank to hold the lights

 

it is powered by a pressurized gas "strut"

 

 

more details about this can be seen in my thread in DIY http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=95478

[scarf_ace1981]

that is a great idea. great DIY work.

[Genin]

pretty innovative. i think it will turn out to be an awesome tank.

[latazyo]

thanks for the comments guys

 

UPDATE:

 

I have finished the stand and light suspension system (for full details, check out my thread in the DIY forum about this (link in my above post #22))

 

here is a shot of the final stand w/ lights in the lowered position

 

 

here is a fully current and updated plumbing and flow plan, I have taken advice from others and decided not to drill out my drain hole, because I dont want that much flow goign through the sump anyways....also, the fuge I got was too tall and wont fit inside my stand (dumbass), so I will have to build the fuge into my sump

 

here is a pic of the diagram

 

so, this is what IM going to do, Im gonna order my savko plumbing tomorrow and get started on that as soon as it arrives

 

thanks again everyone for looking, comments and questions are appreciated