Hey there guys and gals (and those who identify as neither I suppose as well).
It's time to start my 75 gallon build thread; I've had this plan in the back of my mind for the last 6 months or so.
Last week I donated my last African Cichlid to the LFS who I trust to take good care of him; I then proceeded to begin the process of breaking down the tank, cleaning pumps, and resealing the aquarium.
I resealed the aquarium even though it wasn't leaking because the silicone was very sloppy (far too much used) and had plenty of bubbles in it. I was able to pry the edge up with my fingernail which is a sign to me that it needs doing.
The tank is currently sitting in the garage full of water for leak testing; it's been 24 hours with no leakage as of ten minutes ago.
Pic:
I built my own acrylic modular sump. I did it in two modules for a few reasons, but primarily so that I could get the sump in and out through the front of the cabinet for cleaning without breaking down the tank. Doing two modules also allowed me to have a larger water volume in the sump than would have otherwise been possible. It occurred to me after I was done that this also gives me flexibility for future installations, for example if I ever went to a 6 foot tank I could simply build an additional sump module to go in between the two current ones rather than having to build an all new sump.
Pics:
^The left module is where the overflow will drain to, I'm thinking the main and the backup will go to this section, while the emergency I'll plumb to the second module higher up so it splashes as a warning that somethings up. The skimmer will also sit in the left module. Dimensions of the hole in the upper brace of this module are 12 inches by 13 inches. with an extra 4 inches of footprint so if a skimmer was assembled after being placed in the sump there really is plenty of room for the vast majority of skimmers I would consider.
The right module contains a settling chamber for detritus (I guess I could put a media reactor or something in there if I ever wanted, or god forbid a refugium), followed by a baffle to set the skimmer height in the previous module. After the water flows over the baffle it will flow over two egg crate shelves where I can put mechanical filtration or a bag of carbon or whatever, and then into the return pump chamber which measures 5 inches by 15 inches (plenty big for most pumps I would use as well)
I'm using two 2 inch bulkheads to bolt together the sump modules so that there isn't a bottleneck in flow between the modules. I've already assembled and leak tested the sumps together as an assembled unit.
I decided to go with the synergy reef overflow; I considered building something similar but the deciding factor was that black acrylic locally is expensive and hard to come by (negating the cost savings from DIY), I wouldn't have made as nice of a finished product, and just because it's nice to have a piece of equipment that you can show off. The overflow supposedly can flow upwards of 1500 GPH, which I won't get really anywhere near. It is extremely low profile inside the tank, and allows for a three drain set up.
Return pump is going to be a sicce syncra 4.0; I have the 3.0 in my 29 gallon tanks sump and it's been great so far.
I have my eye on a Reef Octopus classic 202-s for the skimmer, though I won't be purchasing it right away since the overflow and return pump sort of put me out for the time being.
Lighting to start will be a cobbled together mix of various fixtures I have laying around, but eventually I'll either go dual radion xr15w's or I might try out an 8 bulb ati T5HO fixture.
The lighting to start will be as follows:
Current usa satellite + pro freshwater fixture, it's 60 watts total (60 LEDS; 30 white, 30 rgb, all 1 watt) but I'll only be using the whites and blues most likely. This is a 48 inch fixture that will cover the entire length of the tank.
one side will have a fluval marine and reef 24 inch LED fixture which in my experience is decent. It's no Radion but it does a better job than most people would expect.
The other side will have a dual T5HO fixture, most likely running 1 actinic and 1 10000k bulb.
So three fixtures total, the Current will cover the entire length, the fluval and T5HO fixtures will cover half of the tank each.
So you can see what I mean by cobbled together.
The system will start out as a lightly stocked fish only set up until I can appropriate funds towards the skimmer, and then better lighting.
Long term plans are for a heavily SPS dominated Bare Bottom reef with relatively low fish stocking. :blob:
It's time to start my 75 gallon build thread; I've had this plan in the back of my mind for the last 6 months or so.
Last week I donated my last African Cichlid to the LFS who I trust to take good care of him; I then proceeded to begin the process of breaking down the tank, cleaning pumps, and resealing the aquarium.
I resealed the aquarium even though it wasn't leaking because the silicone was very sloppy (far too much used) and had plenty of bubbles in it. I was able to pry the edge up with my fingernail which is a sign to me that it needs doing.
The tank is currently sitting in the garage full of water for leak testing; it's been 24 hours with no leakage as of ten minutes ago.
Pic:
I built my own acrylic modular sump. I did it in two modules for a few reasons, but primarily so that I could get the sump in and out through the front of the cabinet for cleaning without breaking down the tank. Doing two modules also allowed me to have a larger water volume in the sump than would have otherwise been possible. It occurred to me after I was done that this also gives me flexibility for future installations, for example if I ever went to a 6 foot tank I could simply build an additional sump module to go in between the two current ones rather than having to build an all new sump.
Pics:
^The left module is where the overflow will drain to, I'm thinking the main and the backup will go to this section, while the emergency I'll plumb to the second module higher up so it splashes as a warning that somethings up. The skimmer will also sit in the left module. Dimensions of the hole in the upper brace of this module are 12 inches by 13 inches. with an extra 4 inches of footprint so if a skimmer was assembled after being placed in the sump there really is plenty of room for the vast majority of skimmers I would consider.
The right module contains a settling chamber for detritus (I guess I could put a media reactor or something in there if I ever wanted, or god forbid a refugium), followed by a baffle to set the skimmer height in the previous module. After the water flows over the baffle it will flow over two egg crate shelves where I can put mechanical filtration or a bag of carbon or whatever, and then into the return pump chamber which measures 5 inches by 15 inches (plenty big for most pumps I would use as well)
I'm using two 2 inch bulkheads to bolt together the sump modules so that there isn't a bottleneck in flow between the modules. I've already assembled and leak tested the sumps together as an assembled unit.
I decided to go with the synergy reef overflow; I considered building something similar but the deciding factor was that black acrylic locally is expensive and hard to come by (negating the cost savings from DIY), I wouldn't have made as nice of a finished product, and just because it's nice to have a piece of equipment that you can show off. The overflow supposedly can flow upwards of 1500 GPH, which I won't get really anywhere near. It is extremely low profile inside the tank, and allows for a three drain set up.
Return pump is going to be a sicce syncra 4.0; I have the 3.0 in my 29 gallon tanks sump and it's been great so far.
I have my eye on a Reef Octopus classic 202-s for the skimmer, though I won't be purchasing it right away since the overflow and return pump sort of put me out for the time being.
Lighting to start will be a cobbled together mix of various fixtures I have laying around, but eventually I'll either go dual radion xr15w's or I might try out an 8 bulb ati T5HO fixture.
The lighting to start will be as follows:
Current usa satellite + pro freshwater fixture, it's 60 watts total (60 LEDS; 30 white, 30 rgb, all 1 watt) but I'll only be using the whites and blues most likely. This is a 48 inch fixture that will cover the entire length of the tank.
one side will have a fluval marine and reef 24 inch LED fixture which in my experience is decent. It's no Radion but it does a better job than most people would expect.
The other side will have a dual T5HO fixture, most likely running 1 actinic and 1 10000k bulb.
So three fixtures total, the Current will cover the entire length, the fluval and T5HO fixtures will cover half of the tank each.
So you can see what I mean by cobbled together.
The system will start out as a lightly stocked fish only set up until I can appropriate funds towards the skimmer, and then better lighting.
Long term plans are for a heavily SPS dominated Bare Bottom reef with relatively low fish stocking. :blob:
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