Well, today I finally got to make a start with the build for new system.

Just to start off with, will throw some dimensions at you all so you know what I working with.

Display Tank - 53"L x 15"W x 24.5"T ( about 100 US Gals )
Sump - 36"L x 12"W x 15"T ( about 20 US Gals )
Tank Stand - 54"L x 20"W x 35"T
Plumbing - 1" ( UK Measurements ) through-out with a 1700 litre per hour pump for the return
Lighting - got to save a little cash for this bit. But will just be using the T8's from my old tank for the time being.

The timber i am using is all 4" x 4" untreated. I know it may be a little over kill on the structure of the frame, but I always prefer to edge on the side of caution.

Now, you attentive people may of noticed that the stand is actually wider than the what the tank is, 5" wider actually. The reason why it is like this is to allow a gap of 12" at the end to be able to slide the sump tank inside the frame from the end. Some one did say that to build the sump inside the frame as I am building it. Yes, that may be good, but, what happens if for reason it shatters...How you going to get another sump in that’s the same size? So, that is why the stand in wider than the tank.

To compensate for this, I am adding 4 extra supports around the top frame of the tank, in 4" x 4" again which will have large bolts going through them which clamp these to the outside frame. That bit will be come more apparent as this beast gets built and you will see from the photos later.

So, so far today, I have made up the basic frame installed the base floor of the stand. The base floor will be having a lip installed all around the edge which will be 2" tall and completely sealed, so, any overflow or water splashed from the sump will not seep out from the stand but be just contained inside.

Next part of the stand to be built will be installing the extra tank supports on the top frame, fitting angle brackets on all joints for extra strength, fitting the top which the stand will sit on to, and to install the mini flood barrier around the inside of the bottom and then seal the entire bottom..

That’s it for day one...its now time for a few well deserved beers I think...

Any feedback or constructive criticism is always welcome.

Niko

Another

Another

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Nearly done

Promise am nearly done

extra load bearing members

And here we are, now up to date with pictures..Next part is to make the casing for the front, left and right..

Niko

Very nice start off. I would want to see more when the tank is up and running.

Hey Reef...Good to hear from you..There will be plenty more to follow..It is harder as i dont own the digi camera, have to borrow it when i can...

The next thing i am gonna be building is the tank itself..I want to get this actually glued together so it has a good while to set before i leak test it.

Niko

Thats good to hear. A DIY tank is much cheaper then a already made one. Just make sure you glue them good together. I use silicone and it works great for my cracked tanks.

Your off to a great start. The stand looks very well made, good job. Do you know yet what you plan on using for lighting, filtration, flow, or stocking?

Keep us updated on how the project is going and if you have any questions just ask.

Hey PB...Thanks for the comments..

Your questions...

Filtration - I plan on just using live rock in the main tank with a 20 Gal sump with live rock rubble, skimmer, DSB and some macro algae..Will also have the cannister filter running for extra circulation, but with no media in it..

Flow - Am going to be sticking with my Maxi-Jet 1200's..I would like to buy a Tunze at some point, but, finances kind of dictate that one..

Lighting - Am just pondering over this one to be honest...For the time being, i shall carry on with my T8's..I will probably end up going with 2 x 250 MH's with actinic suppliment to have the day / night cycle of lighting...

Stock - Besides my current stock of clowns, cleanup and shrimps, i want to have a Regal Tang eventually, lawnmower blenny or watchman goby with a shrimp, maybe a shoal of green chromis...Dont know about the chromis yet though...My main reason for going for a larger tank is to get the tang to be honest as i would not even concider it in my 46gal..

R33f - I shall be using silicon yes..The glass is 10mm thick, so there is some heafty weight going on here....

Niko

That is good to hear.

You can run T8 with LR But if your planning on going with corals wait until you have gotten yourself a MH set. If you have some mushroom in your tank with the T8. It would take some time to acclimate them to the MH.

If your running a canister it would be good to put some media int there. You wont have to put bioballs but a canister is a good place for putting active carbon and nitrite/nitrate bags where they suck up all the bad stuff.

I would love to have a tang too. lol.

Thanks for posting the details and everything looks fine. Just make sure that you have proper water movement throughout the tank. The turnover rate will depend on what coral you plan on keeping.

It is your choice on whether or not to run media in your canister filter. Although from personal experience I would run some carbon for a few reasons:

-Helps improve water clarity which not only is good for viewing your inhabitants but your coral will receive the most light because of the clear water.

-Helps remove odors.

-Will help absorb any toxins that are released by the coral in your tank.

Well keep us updated.

Hello there people..

Just a quick little update for anybody who is following this..

Installed the 2.5" spill barrier all around the inside bottom of the base, sealed with silicon. When that has dried, the entire bottom will be painted in a UPVA glue paint to completely seal the bottom. So, any splashes or spills will get held inside the bottom rather than soaking into the wood or seeping through on to the carpet underneath the stand..Plus, it should also help towards the flood proofing for the sump..

Next job is to cut the wood that is going to be the front and 2 sides, cut out the openings for the two doors, stain it and fix in position..Am going to be using 18mm MDF for the casing of the frame, gives me plenty of thickness to playwith and should keep it sturdy..

Bye for now

Niko

Another of the spill barrier

Niko

Nice :up:

Hello there people..

Just thought i would post a quick update as to a little progress..

Today, i "Finally" got around to getting the front and sides sorted out on the stand..

Used 18mm MDF board for the casing as its a great wood to work with and stains evenly aswell...

So, front and two sides mounted, aperatured cut out and doors now cut..

The side on the right, looking from the front is the only one that is not glued and screwed, just got a few screws in it as this is my extra access panel that can be easily removed in case of an emergency. Just used quick screws on it..Two turns by hand and its off...great invention...Am going to be mounting the doors last off all as i want to get the hood build next and make a start on the plumbing work. Will order all the plumbing about middle of next week..

Enjoy..

Niko

Front aperatures cut out, ready for the doors...

NIko

Wow, your DIY is going very well. Really like how u "INVENTED" the screw off thing. :)

ha ha ha..."Invented "...i wish....

I just thought i would so it that way for ease really...Like if for some reason, i have to replace the sump tank...I can just quickly flip off the side, out with old sump, in with new, connect and clip side back on...cannot get anymore simpler than that...

Thanks for the comments, i like to get peoples thoughts on my projects...

Another update to be coming soon

Niko

The aquarium build is coming along great, and the stand looks great. Good idea with having one side that can be taken off. It will make it very easy to remove the sump if a problem does arise.

Hello people...A few picture updates now for you..Pics are not brill as i taken them on my mobile...The numbers refer to the pictures...

1) + 2) + 3) constructed the frame that is going to become the canopy..Just use 2 x 1 wood for the frame work. Covered both sides in 18mm MDF board. The front is completly removably, it just lifts up and away from the frame of the hood..You will see in a picture that i have just used a length of wood, cut at 45 degree angle and used that as the front retainer..So simple and works an absolutle dream..Fitted two wooded handles to the front piece for lifting it off..

4) Next job was to make the shelf inside the hood to house the 2 x 250w metal halides. Cut out the oblongs where the actual light will be shining through in to the tank.

5) Next i have drilled lots of air holes that will be in effect on the underside of the light unit. I did intend to strip the halides out of their casing's and mount it all on the board, but, they will go in quite nice. Just got to make a little frame around the light boxes so they dont move. The shelf that the lights sit on lifts up on hinges which makes access into the top of the tank just great. The shelf lifts up vertical if you want it to.. I have also made two different hights available to me for the shelf..Set one height at 9 inches above water level for normal running and a spare set of brackets set at 12 inches high for when new bulbs are installed, and can then be lowered down to 9 inches when run in...Just got install my actinics in the hood now and then lighting is done..

6) And here we are at the end of today...am knackered.........................As you can see in picture 6, all handles are on, doors fitted, push barrier fitted for the tank to push up against...Oh, got asked about this on a forum in the UK..Its a signed Real Madrid Football Shirt in the frame above the tank..

So...Had a good day at it today..Next little job is to use wood filler and fill in all the screw holes, wait for that to dry, sand off, then its stain and varnish time...

Niko

Another.....

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another

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last one...

Wow! How did I miss this thread! Everything looks great. :up: I really like the solidity of the frame for the cabinet. You have good attention to detail. I am very much looking forward to seeing the continuing progress. Thank you for posting all the photos and commentary. Do you have to shore up the floor to handle the weight of the cabinet, tank, rock, water, etc.?

Hey there Fishfry..

Thanks for the comments matey..

Today, i just finished off the boxes that surround the metal halides and tinkered a little bit here and there...Still got to put in the T8 actinics..Gonna be transfering these from my existing FOWLR when i actually do the swap over...

Next job is getting it all stained and varnished really, then install power adapters onto the inside of the cabinet..

The tank and stand will be sitting directly onto concerete( on the ground floor of my house, so i no need to worry about that...Its a valid point to anybody else who is doing something similar though..

Will post some updates when its all painted etc etc..

Niko

Very nice now. Everything seems to be going to plan M8. I cant wait for updates on you tank. :)

cheers R33f...

Have come to a stumbling block though on my plumbing...not really sure how to do...Can see me trawling all over website to see if i can figure it out...

Niko

What particular problem are you having with the plumbing?

Hey PB...Well, its not so much a problem, just not so sure i understand what i need...

What i have been thinking of doing is drilling the tank on the back left for the outlet and fitting a strainer as the tanks has no weir's.... Using UK spec 40mm pipe down to the sump....return is going to be using an eheim 1260 or 1262 submergered and pipe from there over the tank wall back into the tank...

Sump layout i think will be 36"L x 12"W x 15"T with an 8" inlet area, 15" fuge and 11" return area..

How does that sound so far?

Sounds fine to me. Your doing a basic plumbing setup which should work out good. The tank with have one drain but how many returns are you thinking of having?

A couple other things I will mentioned that you probably already know. Leave enough room in the sump so that when the pump is shut off or if a power outage happens the water that drains back into the sump won't overflow. Adding a couple ball valves will help to adjust the flow if needed.

Thanks so much for the reply..

From the height i am setting my baffles too, there should be enough room for any flow back..Would you suggest a ball valve on both inlet to the sump and on the return?

I was origionally gonna use an overflow box, but have decided against it..While the tank is empty i may aswell drill it i think...

Not sure on the returns, was kind of thinking to have two...or maybe one return up to the tank, then split it into two so water gets put back into the tank is two different areas?

What would you think or suggest?

Niko

Yeah I would have one for the drain and for the return as you may need to reduce the flow of either one. It is best to have an equal amount of water movement throughout the tank. The corals need to have enough water movement and to reduce any "dead spots" which can be overrun by nuisance algae.

Are the returns going to be drilled or just go over the back of the tank? If you are planning on having only one to two returns then I would personally add more flow in the form of either powerheads or a closed loop system. The main display is around 100 gallons correct? Well depending on what coral you plan to keep you will want anywhere from 2,000(20x) -3,500(35x) gallons per hour total.

On the returns...i was thinking that while i am going to be drilling the tank for the outlet to sump, i may aswell drill the returns aswell? Plus i would imagine that it would look so much neater going straight into the tank than having pipes over the top...

With regards to powerheads...Just been doing some maths...Ok, tank is 328 litres...if i change the pump to an ocean runner 3500 ( 3500litres per hour ) 2 x existing maxijet 1200 powerheads ( 2400 litres per hour ) and buy another 2000 Litre per hour powerhead...That gives me 7900 litres per hour turn over..Which is about 24 x turn over rate for the tank....am i right on that one? or remove one maxijet 1200 and buy two 2000 litres per hour powerheads ( instead of one )?

I just dont want the tank to be a cluster of powerheads really, but, if that is un-avoidable, then so be it...

am i going to be better going for a closed loop on the return side after reading above?

have posted a pic of the tank ( quickly done in paint...so is crappy.. ) can you save it and edit it and put a couple of circles on there where you would have the return holes coming into the tank please matey....

Since you are already going to be drilling holes in the tank you might as well drill a few more holes for a closed loop. It would look much cleaner with a closed loop instead of a bunch of powerheads. You would also want to add a ball valve to each closed loop return.

I personally think 4 returns is plenty for your tank. However I would use a nozzle similar to this http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=LL1118 so you can direct to flow to where you would like it. Or possibly use a Y fitting like this http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=LL1121 which will direct one return into two seperate directions.

Okay I took your original image and edited it using Adobe Photoshop. I added the hole placement if you went if a closed loop setup. I put in descriptions for everything so it should be easy to figure out what is what. Most aquarists place their live rock up against the back wall and have their returns above the rock structure which is how I designed it. If you did a more open rock structure you could place the returns a bit lower. If you go with just the returns from the sump and use powerheads I would position the holes differently. My design will just give you an idea of how you could position the holes.

Here it is: