90Gallon First Major build, many DIY mods: Eurobracing, overflow,stand Lots of Pics!

[DouglasTiede]

Very nice job!

[Rocketboy52]

Well, I've been busy at it for the last two weekends and evenings get my stand welded up and painted. Luckily for me, at work I have access to a sweet weld shop and I was able to build my stand from 80% scavenged cut offs. It took me a couple of hours to cut the stand pieces to size:



Here is a picture of the stand on its side getting tack welded together



Here’s the stand after getting it home to my garage



After getting it home to my garage, and because I welded it, I spent an hour grinding down a couple of welds that were too proud, and then I alcohol wiped it twice and painted it by brush with Rustoleum protective enamel. I painted the stand upside down and then right side up with two coats with 24 hours waits between each coat, so the steel should be well protected. I then cut 3/4� thick AB grade exterior plywood for the table top stand inner floor. Here is a picture of the wood fit check:



I painted the plywood using Rustoleum’s Premium latex paint, and still have another coat to put on before that’s done.



Lastly, I also decided to paint the outside of the overflows, as the paint inside the overflow was lifting off the glass after letting it dry out from my leak checks a few weeks ago. Since the stand pipes are going to be seen from the front of the tank, I didn’t want them to stand out as much so I painted them with 2 coats of plastic specific spray paint. They turned out really good and now match the bulkheads which I think looks real spiffy.



Next on the list is stand assembly and Sump build!

[Falcao]

Great job! It is looking great, and it is nice that you are taking the time for detail work. The end product should be fantastic.

[Rocketboy52]

Originally posted by Falcao
Great job! It is looking great, and it is nice that you are taking the time for detail work. The end product should be fantastic.

Thanks Falco! Hopefully by working out the design details in advanced I'll avoid any really nasty gotchas during the final assembly. Now I'm back to trying to evaluate how much of the stand foot print I want to fill up with a sump, and yet still leave adequate room for future equipment potential....hmmmm.

[Falcao]

you can never have enough room

[spllbnd2]

I wonder about painting anything that will be in contact with the water as it may leach into the system.
Have you water tested the plumbing to see how it will hold up to being wet for any length of time?

Everthing looks awesome too. Cheers,
Alex

[Rocketboy52]

Originally posted by spllbnd2
I wonder about painting anything that will be in contact with the water as it may leach into the system.
Have you water tested the plumbing to see how it will hold up to being wet for any length of time?

Everthing looks awesome too. Cheers,
Alex

Thanks for the compliment, as far as the leaching, I'm not too worried as most paints that are fully cured before water exposure are free from their volitiles, right? If someone acutally "knows" different, I would be interested to know, but again, PVC cement isn't something you want to drink either, but it is acceptable for potable water in its cured state...maybe I'm trying too hard to rationize when really it comes down to, "i just thought it looked better" and know I have to worry about something

[spllbnd2]

Makes sense the way you put it. More aesthetically pleasing than anything. *lol*

Cheers,
Alex

[Ratpack]

Looks real good, tagging along to see the finished product.

[Rocketboy52]

Originally posted by Falcao
you can never have enough room

So right now, I'm thinking the sump will take up about 75% of the base of the sump stand. Are you saying from your comment that you can't ever have enough room under the stand, or you in the sump? I'm hoping to mount all the electrical stuff up high, and then have the footprint of the stand taken up with sump with integrated refugium (like Melev's site shows) a 10 gallon ATO resivior with Kalc stirrer, enought room for future calcium reator (if needed). Maybe I should down size the sump a bit? Right now the sump totally full will be ~30 gallons, but only 17 gallons when running right. Refugium will be ~9 gallons, skimmer section 3 gallons, and return area around 4 gallons with an ATO switch useing an aqualifter pump to pump from the ATO container to the sump. Hows that sound for a plan?

[Rocketboy52]

I'll see if I have enought time to post a rendering of my current design later today.

[Falcao]

Enough. I mean that we always want more space for both.

[Falcao]

It seems like a good plan. I would not downsize the sump.

[Robamus]

Very impressed. great work.

[Rocketboy52]

Alright experts, I've been saving my money and selling a bunch of Garage surplus to buy the next couple of items for my tank. My next big purchase/decision is what to do for tank circulation. I've read that I should try and aim for about 10X my display volume for a circulation goal. I'm tempted to buy one of these new Vortecs MP10 which is the smaller version of the MP20 and MP40, but at full blast it still moves 1500GPH! I plan on using a 500-600 GPH return pump, which with head will be in the 400gph range.
Here is the MP10 I was thinking about:



MP10 Marine Depot Info page

I figure I could buy 1 MP10, and if I determine that I need more flow at a future date, I can buy a second MP10. I figure, 2 MP10s could be split up into alternate corners and maybe I’ll find that I get more then enough circulation with the one. Besides, two MP10s is like $400, when one MP40 is $420!

Also on the sump return lines, I plan on using a SQUID powerless wave maker on a split return line, so with the 400 gph + 500-1500GPH of the MP10, I think I should have some decent flow.



Squid Marine Depot Info Page

To get even more flow, each end of the return lines with have will have one of these:



Flow Accelorator Page on Marine Depot

What do you all think? Think I can ever have too much flow with this plan?

[earthboy17]

I'm really liking what you're doing here! Subscribed!

[foofooree]

Great job so far!

[Shadowramy]

I love my MP10 and have a MP20, and 2 MP40w. My MP10 on a 3 foot tank will create some nice waves and a good undertow.

I really didnt think much of the MP20 and it seemed not to do that well on a 3 foot tank, I have since upgraded it to an MP40w.

I have 2 MP40w on anti-synch on my 4' tank and the two together are great. I think you will be real happy with the MP10.. best bang for the buck IMO.

[Rocketboy52]

Got a lot to report, but its late, so I’ll try to keep the word count down and the pic count up. If you are like me, you only skim the posts to get to some sweet pics. So work, family, and dieing car have all been competing for my spare time lately, but I’ve still been making steady progress on the tank, and the last two weeks in particular have finally been very rewarding, but stressful. I finished the stand by attaching the wood to the metal frame and by adding adjustable wood feet to the bottom of the metal tubes. I purposely designed the stand to leave the bottom of the tubes exposed so I could use this type of foot found at Mcmaster Carr.








Tank Floor Attach Brackets (Home Depot)


QA Team inspecting the workmanship


20 lb/ft^3 High density poly urethane foam to "cushion" bottom of the tank. At work they through away 4 x 8 sheets on a daily basis!


Tank Dry Check

[Rocketboy52]

Next on the list of things to finish was the sump. I went back and forth on how big to make it, but I finally pulled the trigger and cut some plastic on my buddies table saw. He had an aluminum cutting saw blade that he had previously used and it worked great. I scraped the cut edges with a bastard file and razor blade and used the Weld-on 3 to bond the Acrylic together. Another reefing buddy had scavanged a bunch of acrylic displays from a Bike shops garbage can, and since he had left overs my sump has tinted plastic.

Some Pics:


Bonding up the box


Keeping the corners square


Routing the Fuge Overflow Teeth


After cutting the Teeth


Bonding in the inner walls and overflows


Routing the Top

I cut the top and bottom plates .5" over size, and then the two long sides I also cut oversized .5". After they were bonded up in place, I routed the edges with a trimming bit and the edges came out really nice, I was quite pleased.


Found a leak during the first leak check. It was hard to see in the garage, but a small spot had wicked the adhesive out and left a void. When the sump was full of water it was easy to identify. After draining the sum and letting it dry, I was able to get a syringe needle into the void and shoot it full of Weldon 3.


2nd Leak check, I filled the sump with water and left it full to the brim for 3 days and checked for leaks. Victory!

[Rocketboy52]

Next I started to work on the sump plumbing and filter sock holder. I bought the filter socks for ~$4 each on McMaster Carr. I used the 200 micron bag filters with polyester ring and handle.


Mapping the hole


Hole rady to cut


Plumbing dry fit


Plumbing, Skimmer and filter dry fit


Sump Dry fit in stand, and same polyurethane foam used under the sump.


Working out the plumbing details


Not sure how big, or what type of return pump to use, I borrowed a friend's Mag 7 to set stuff up. More details on that test in a few pictures...


Time to cut flex tube lengths to size, measure twice cut once

[Rocketboy52]

2 weeks ago, the misses and the 2 kiddos where out at Grandmas for a weekend, so I decided to just pull the trigger while everyone was out of the house, and I spent 3 days and two nights with no sleep trying to get everything moved from the two smaller tanks, plus make water and fill the new tank, and trouble shoot all the issues with the new setup. I went for it, and though it was stressful working out some of these details on the fly, I'm glad I did it when everyone was gone because it made the setup much easier not having to worry about keeping it kid proof in the setup.


Final pictures before the Melt down weekend


Filling up with water... Need to figure out a better way to do this


All full up, time for some salt mixing. I let the water cure in the tank for 24 hours before hooking up the sump, I just used a bunch of old left over powerheads to stir up the salt.

Because of nuisance alge, aptasia, and manjos all over my live rock, I decided to give the rock a good scrub and reaquascape.


Organizing my rock


Scrubbing Stations

After seeing and following Ed's reef build, I wanted to try using PVC stands to keep the rock up. I hated how fragile my original 40 gallon tank aquascape was, and knowing that I will have to move this tank in the future (we renters) I wanted to be able to brake the rock work down and set it back up again with out too much drama.

Here is Ed's build thread that inspired me:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showt...hreadid=1348455


Drilling rocks and building towers. I used .5" PVC for the stands and the feel very adequate.


First of two fatalities. The more fragile branching rock was much more prone to splitting apart. At first I was really frustrated because I had successfully drilled 3 bigger rocks, and then what I had hoped to be my trophy top of the pillar rock split into three! I even purposely did that one last so that if the drilling would break the earlier rock trials, I wouldn't be soo sad. In the end it turned out ok though.


First Shots with rock in the tank


Return Detail...I need to come up with a better solution. If I had thought more about it, I would have drilled the euro braces for the return lines, but at the time I was worried about losing efficiency because of all the line turns...now I don't think it would be a big issue.

[Rocketboy52]

With the tank in place in the house, it felt MUCH bigger then what I was used to. As soon as I got everything hooked up, I ran the return mag 7 pump submerged for about 5 hours, but with no heater in the system the tank shot up to 84 degrees. I felt the Mag 7 pump and it was HOT. To make due, I attached an intake tube and sucked water up and over the sump wall and ran the pump external. The pump after an hour was so hot I couldn't touch it. To remedy this, I put the pump in an isolated trash can of water to help cool it down. In this configuration, I timed the flow rate and it came out that the returns were only getting about 200gph.

I wanted to get 300-400 at 5' head, so when it was apparent that besides the heat issue, this pump wasn't going to cut it, I ordered a new pump that night from Marine depot and it was on my doorstep two days later. Here is what I bought; a maxijet 3000. It is rated at 775, so I'm hoping that with 5' of head, and a 3/4 squid I'm still getting about half of its rated flow. That falls in line with the return pump rates that Melev talks about on his website for designing sumps.



Once I got it, I was very happy, it feels strong, runs UBER quiet, and no significant heat input that I can tell. The tank has been running at 77 degrees F. since the pump switch.


Here is my temporary stand siding, it was nice enough looking to keep my wife from being too mad, and it also doubles as kid defense.


Filter sock collection after running for 3 days


Mag 7 in its isolated warm bath


Initial sump set up


First test with lights. These lights are temporary until I get some "real" units, but I'll have to wait a few more weeks until the budget allows it. Currently the pennants are 4 65w CF 10k bulbs with a single actinic bulb. In the future I hope I can use a single one of these units to cover my whole tank 36” x 24” foot print with either a 250w or 400w MH light.



I also plan on using two VHO actinic bulbs that run along the top rails to supplement the single MH light, so right now I’m planning on a single 250 MH close to the surface of the water.



Here is the link for the kit I’m looking at, except I would use 2 actinic bulbs.

190w 36"long Dual VHO Actinic lighting Kit

[Rocketboy52]

I had to go to WI for a week last week, and was really nervous about leaving the new set up during its infancy, but the tank weathered my absence well. My wife was able to keep the top off up, and I’m excited because the tank currently only evaporates 1.5 qts a day so manually keeping up with it isn’t too bad. After running for two weeks here are the latest pics:


From the corner


Short Side


Long Side


Sump with new pump installed


Only surprise coming back from my trip was the amount of hair Algae on the flow enhancer thing, but otherwise the tank looked really good.

Tomorrow I’ll test the water again and see if the move caused a nitrate spike.

My immediate task list for the tank is:
1. Re-plumb the sump returns so that fuge feed is off the main siphon, currently its running off the back up siphon and it is hard to regulate the flow between the two sections of the sump
2. Plumbing lines support brackets; currently most of the plumbing is hanging and I want the plumbing runs to be sturdy and well supported.
3. Re-plumb the return lines, currently have small weeping leaks above the water line. Right now I do that little hole drilled in the return lines which is ghetto so, I’m going to order a check valve and use it below the squid. I also don’t want the returns to be so visually noticeable, so I want to minimize their presence. Currently to keep the lines from making sharp corners the return lines are really hanging out there.
4. Build up reef rocks to hide PVC stands (base will be buried in the sand when it is put in.
5. Setup ATO unit similar to what is shown here: http://www.melevsreef.com/plumbing/auto_topoff.html
I already have the pump and switch, just need to make time to do it, hopefully this weekend.
6. Finish washing sand, pull all small rocks out while transfering sand in(leaving only big base rocks in place)
7. Order American DJ power switch unit and tie it into the stand.
http://www.melevsreef.com/power_system.html
8. Start designing stand wood façade and light canopy design.

Long term equipment purchases and DIY projects:
1. 2nd MP10, I like the 1 I got, but I think I still need a little more circulation in the display. I know that 2 MP10 are the same price as a single MP40, but it seems to me that having multiple smaller power heads is better then one single large one because you can spread the focus area of the variable streams in different parts of the tank. Does this make sense to anyone else?
2. Remove top big rock, after reading a cool thread in the SPS forum, I want to minimize the amount of rock I start with, so that as the tank matures there is plenty of room to fill up (sweet pics on this thread here http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...5&pagenumber=1
3. Possibly modify sump to run return pump externally. Not sure if I will do this yet, but I’m thinking in the long run it might make sense? Any opinions?
4. Purchase a serious RO/DI unit including TDS sensor
5. purchase and install a Calcium reactor
6. purchase and install a Phosban reactor

[RicoJ]

WOW! I love this thread. I was thinking of buying a new rimless tank but they are expensive. I have a 100 gallon laying around here somewhere with the exactly ugly frame and middle brace. (no offense anyone with this frame). After looking at this I think it is time to revive the old 100.

Rocketboy do you have any words of wisdom before I remove my frame and brace?

When buying the glass for the euroframe how thick and wide should it be?

After drilling so many holes you should be an expert. Why didn't you drill your return line through your aquarium instead of up and over?