just another build thread: 30x30x24 corner tank

herocero · 10/14/2013, 06:55 PM

My wife and I have done plenty of "experiments," and now it's time for the real deal. This is where the corner the tank will live in.

The wall separating the dining room from kitchen is 36" so we decided on a 30x30 tank, with a 3 inch lip on the stand and 3 inches of room from the wall on the two sides for vortech space, so it should fit nicely.

So we moved it into the general location for dry plumbing. I ordered some plumbing equipment and it should get here 10/15, so hopefully the drains will be dry plumbed that night. The wife is out of town for a few days so let's see how much work we can get done with the maximum amount of dirt and grime

In the meantime we wanted to get the canopy off the floor so we put on top of the tank until it is time to plumb the return.

Not the greatest picture of the sump, so let's put a drawing up. Water enters at the top left corner. We'll be running a herbie setup, those are 1.5" drains. Water travels over the top and into the filter sock in the next chamber, and out the bottom into the skimmer compartment. There is an ER opening at the top of the sock chamber, so if it clogs water travels over the top into the skimmer section. The bottom left portion is an ATO chamber with a float valve installed. We'll work on drilling the acrylic cover with the appropriate holes at a later date. Water travels up from the skimmer chamber through the weirs and into the return pump area.

Here's a top down view of tank design. The holes in the corners of the tank (in the eurobracing) is for the return, they are 1" and currently have some omni nozzles screwed into the bulkheads.

Equipment list:
-Radion LED Pro
-SWC 160 cone (sitting in the garage from a previous tank)
-Eheim Compact+ 5000 (I have one on an existing FO tank, I might just get another or do a swap for an Eheim 1260 sitting in the garage)
-2x Vortech MP10w (with room for MP40w if needed, which might be sooner rather than later considering the .5" glass thickness)
-I have a couple TLF reactors for carbon and GFO as needed

Plumbing will be methodical (i.e. slow) so we get it right, but I'm hoping to have the drains done this week.

There are a few issues with the canopy as far as usability is concerned but they will get ironed out (and detailed when we get closer).

Looks fun, more updates Tuesday night/Wednesday morning with any luck. Questions and comments are welcome.

reelfishy · 10/14/2013, 07:06 PM

Looking like a good start. Get to plumbing!! jk.

r-balljunkie · 10/14/2013, 07:21 PM

you should consider protecting your floors.....spills are inevitable.

GL

C

herocero · 10/14/2013, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by r-balljunkie

you should consider protecting your floors.....spills are inevitable.

GL

C

There will be a water on the floor detector and an apex controller. Spills are inevitable as we've discovered many times over

I've had much better luck with systems with sumps vs hang on equipment that loves to overflow.

herocero · 10/14/2013, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reelfishy

Looking like a good start. Get to plumbing!! jk.

Yeah the excitement is palpable! It's tough to balance wanting to start cementing PVC and being a bit more methodical. This is the biggest tank I've worked with so I'm leaning towards the side of caution. But damn it's tough!

Tomorrow I have parts for the drains and filters for restarting the RO/DI unit arriving. I'll dry plumb that and see if it's a gold idea to stick with my master plan: connecting the RO unit to the ATO section of the sump and get the appropriate level sensor.

Indymann99 · 10/15/2013, 06:10 AM

I used Pond liner and wrapped it up the sides about 2 in. It has contained the inevitable small spills (usually me getting distracted and over filling the ATO res...)

herocero · 10/15/2013, 10:44 AM

Indymann, I can't tell you how many times I've forgotten to set the timer on my phone for making water. Luckily run the line outside so it has never been catastrophic. There will definitely be a few redundancies in place for filling up that ATO section of the sump.

eclarkhb · 10/15/2013, 03:00 PM

Looks nice! I'm also planning a 30x30x24 corner tank with a corner overflow

Hoping to start mine in December or January....subscribing so I can live vicariously through your build!

danderso · 10/15/2013, 05:19 PM

Looks good!

10/14/2013, 06:55 PM	#1
herocero Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 36	just another build thread: 30x30x24 corner tank My wife and I have done plenty of "experiments," and now it's time for the real deal. This is where the corner the tank will live in. The wall separating the dining room from kitchen is 36" so we decided on a 30x30 tank, with a 3 inch lip on the stand and 3 inches of room from the wall on the two sides for vortech space, so it should fit nicely. So we moved it into the general location for dry plumbing. I ordered some plumbing equipment and it should get here 10/15, so hopefully the drains will be dry plumbed that night. The wife is out of town for a few days so let's see how much work we can get done with the maximum amount of dirt and grime In the meantime we wanted to get the canopy off the floor so we put on top of the tank until it is time to plumb the return. Not the greatest picture of the sump, so let's put a drawing up. Water enters at the top left corner. We'll be running a herbie setup, those are 1.5" drains. Water travels over the top and into the filter sock in the next chamber, and out the bottom into the skimmer compartment. There is an ER opening at the top of the sock chamber, so if it clogs water travels over the top into the skimmer section. The bottom left portion is an ATO chamber with a float valve installed. We'll work on drilling the acrylic cover with the appropriate holes at a later date. Water travels up from the skimmer chamber through the weirs and into the return pump area. Here's a top down view of tank design. The holes in the corners of the tank (in the eurobracing) is for the return, they are 1" and currently have some omni nozzles screwed into the bulkheads. Equipment list: -Radion LED Pro -SWC 160 cone (sitting in the garage from a previous tank) -Eheim Compact+ 5000 (I have one on an existing FO tank, I might just get another or do a swap for an Eheim 1260 sitting in the garage) -2x Vortech MP10w (with room for MP40w if needed, which might be sooner rather than later considering the .5" glass thickness) -I have a couple TLF reactors for carbon and GFO as needed Plumbing will be methodical (i.e. slow) so we get it right, but I'm hoping to have the drains done this week. There are a few issues with the canopy as far as usability is concerned but they will get ironed out (and detailed when we get closer). Looks fun, more updates Tuesday night/Wednesday morning with any luck. Questions and comments are welcome. __________________ - FLUVAL 13.5g zoa nano Current Tank Info: FLUVAL 13.5 zoa nano Last edited by herocero; 10/14/2013 at 06:59 PM. Reason: grammar, typos

10/14/2013, 07:06 PM	#2
reelfishy reelin and dealin Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Korea Town, Cali Posts: 1,440	Looking like a good start. Get to plumbing!! jk. __________________ Punch you in your forehead! Imma make all my ching chongs sing songs!

10/14/2013, 07:21 PM	#3
r-balljunkie Registered Reefer Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Doha, Qatar Posts: 2,059	you should consider protecting your floors.....spills are inevitable. GL C __________________ ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ 58G Oceanic Illuminata rimless with GH overflow , Mazarra LED x 3, Tunze 6095 x 2, Eheim 1260, BM-180 skimmer, TLF reactors, Apex LT .

10/15/2013, 06:10 AM	#6
Indymann99 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 2,447	I used Pond liner and wrapped it up the sides about 2 in. It has contained the inevitable small spills (usually me getting distracted and over filling the ATO res...) __________________ 120g DT 100lbs LR / 200 lbs LS, 45g fuge, VectraM1 Return, Herbie drain, 4x RW-8, 2x AI Hydra 26 w AWM, ASM G2, Apex controller, Apex BoB w floats ATO

10/15/2013, 10:44 AM	#7
herocero Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 36	Indymann, I can't tell you how many times I've forgotten to set the timer on my phone for making water. Luckily run the line outside so it has never been catastrophic. There will definitely be a few redundancies in place for filling up that ATO section of the sump. __________________ - FLUVAL 13.5g zoa nano Current Tank Info: FLUVAL 13.5 zoa nano

10/15/2013, 03:00 PM	#8
eclarkhb Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Huntington Beach, CA Posts: 35	Looks nice! I'm also planning a 30x30x24 corner tank with a corner overflow Hoping to start mine in December or January....subscribing so I can live vicariously through your build!

10/15/2013, 05:19 PM	#9
danderso Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Melbourne, FL Posts: 396	Looks good! __________________ It's always sunny in my reef tank Current tank info- 7 gal nano with AI Prime