+etannert Posted May 27, 2013 Author Share Posted May 27, 2013 I found a used mp10 in San Antonio, so that will be arriving this week. I settled on a design for the sump and ATO reservoir: sump will be 18x15x18, which will hold 21 gallons filled to the brim (realistically probably around 15-18 gals after I put in the skimmer, pump, and leave room for tank drainage in the event of a power,outage); and the ATO will be long and skinny, 18x4x18, which will hold 6 gallons (I'll probably stop at 5). The stand is 22" wide and long internally, so this design leaves an inch on either side of the boxes as well as a little space in between, to account for the width of the acrylic. There is also an extra inch in front and 3" in back to allow room for a reactor to hang on the back (or whatever). I'm not sure how high the inside of the stand is, but I think it's at least 30", so I'm not too worried about that. Basically my goal was to allow enough room to maneuver inside the stand while also making the sump and reservoir as large as possible. Those of you who have done this before - what am I overlooking? The stand is supposed to arrive this week, so I'll probably wait to get that in hand before I order the acrylic so I can be extra sure everything will fit like I want. Next up... figuring out plumbing. I've never had a drilled tank before and this came with nothing. Anyone have any great links to the idiot's guide to plumbing a tank?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Progress this week... Skimmer: got a Bubble Magus NC6 ($40) from Capt. Obvious - needs a new pump sand: picked up 50 lbs of aragonite ($20) from Offshore - will eventually seed it with my current live sand Return pump - leaning towards the Mag 3, but since this is my first drilled tank, I don't really know what I'm supposed to be taking into account - the Mag 3 is a reputable pump/brand, reasonably priced, and 350gph/10+ ft head pressure would seem to be more than enough for a 60g LPS dominant tank. Advice/confirmation would be lovely though! :-D With respect to the pump specifics, the max flow rate and the max head do not happen at the same time. You should look at the pump curves. As I allow for reduced pump efficiency, I would suggest Mag 7. Danner Mag pumps are work horses and are very efficient users of electricity. Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 Found this very useful plumbing link: http://www.reefaquarium.com/2012/aquarium-plumbing-basics/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 MP10 arrived - purchased used from a nice guy on MAAST. Stand isn't coming till next week, but Jake from RCA called and confirmed the stand dimensions, so I went ahead and ordered the acrylic from Regal Plastics today. The GARF tank build protocol calls for 3/8" acrylic, which seems awfully beefy to me (and to the lady who took my order), but I guess this sump will be.... rugged?... and I won't need to worry about the fact I'm not doing any bracing. Things left to do: - construct sump/ATO box - plumbing - figure out how to attach the light... currently it attaches to the back of the Solana stand, but the new stand will have an open back. I'm thinking a 2x4 may be in order, but I'm certainly open to more elegant solutions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 Can you make a light hanger that attaches to the wall behind the tank? I'm hanging mine from the ceiling which allows me to raise and lower as I like, that's another option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 Great idea! I'll check that out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Friday I ordered the acrylic for the sump and ATO reservoir from Regal Plastics. Lad was SUPER nice and it is supposed to be ready on Monday. Today I stopped by offroaddodge's house - he gave me a maxijet 1200, which I'll use to run a TLF 150 reactor, AND through in a couple bulkheads and some great plumbing advice! Nicest guy ever!! I was at Aquatek today and they had in stock the same stand I ordered from RCA. Discovered two very good things: first, there's no enclosure at all in the back (not even a little lip), so sliding the dump in will be really easy; and second, there is a nice solid strip of wood below the tank in the back, which I can use to mount my light. Finally, third, I can only stick my hand about halfway in when standing on the ground, so it's time to invest in some long grabbers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted June 12, 2013 Author Share Posted June 12, 2013 Time for a quick update... The stand came in with the wrong door (the builder changed the design, which Jake says happens all the time without notice), so since it no longer has the look I want, Jake is looking for alternatives. The custom color I asked for was perfect, but since I hate the doors that look like old cabinet furniture and had purposely ordered a modern-looking stand with a flat door, I'm going to hold out for what I want. I picked up the acrylic for the sump and ATO box last week. The price was a good bit higher than what I was expecting - lesson learned, get a quote in writing up front so you know what to expect - but it wasn't the vendor's fault, just mine for not doing sufficient research. (I could have gotten 1/4" acrylic instead of 3/8" and it would've been cheaper and just as safe.) I'm going to try to build at least the ATO box today. I have a penchant for what I like to call "scratch and dent" LPS pieces - things that have been stung or are receding and can be gotten cheap and brought back to life - but most LPS do better when being fed regularly. Feeding ailing LPS in a main tank is a pain because fish and shrimp are always so quick to grab the pellets out of the corals' mouths; you can use the inverted coke bottle trick to cover the corals while they're feeding, but I hate having to get wet above the elbow to do a little feeding. My solution is to set up an area of the sump where I can house these rescue corals while they're being nursed, and feed them without having to worry about marauding tank miscreants stealing their supper. Once the sump is done and I get all the equipment in it and see what kind of space I have to work with, I'll build a coral zone out of egg crate, which will be removable (if I want). For lighting I plan on hanging a PAR38 bulb from a Home Depot grow light fixture; I can put this light on a standard timer, or (if I get an extra PC4) I can use my RK to control it. I'm excited about this little addition to the plan. Finally, a little twist got added when my students found a kitten outside the school during our band camp last week. Why is this a twist, you ask? Because she's mine now! Yamaha (yes, the musical instrument company, go ahead and laugh but the kids suggested the name and it stuck) is the cutest kitten ever, but to avoid any situations in which Yamaha the drumline mascot eats Ms. Tannert's favorite Helfrichi firefish and has to go live with a band family for a few days, a lid is going to be necessary. Marineland offers one for about $30 so it's a relatively easy solution. I'll figure that out once I get back from traveling. I was hoping to be able to post pics of the tank on the stand this week, but oh well. All in good time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted June 13, 2013 Author Share Posted June 13, 2013 Is that for the kitten or for the incorrect tank stand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted June 13, 2013 Author Share Posted June 13, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Kitten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted June 14, 2013 Author Share Posted June 14, 2013 Stand arrived today! Jake (@ RCA) is the BEST and managed to get Planet Aquariums to send the correct door, and the crew at RCA swapped them out for me. They delivered the stand tonight and Octavio helped me put the new tank on the stand - he even took all the stand and tank wrappings with him (I had no small bills and felt bad about not tipping him). Here's some eye candy (sorry for the iPhone pic): 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted June 14, 2013 Author Share Posted June 14, 2013 Stocking list Current tank inhabitants: Orange skunk clown Guttata (orange spot prawn) goby Pajama cardinal Tribal blenny Helfrichi firefish Atlantic blue tang Porcelain crab Fire shrimp Golden coral banded shrimp Sea cucumber Want to add: Banggai cardinal Target mandarin Candy hogfish McCosker's flasher wrasse Chevron tang Harlequin shrimp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 looks very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted October 1, 2013 Author Share Posted October 1, 2013 Time to update.... A few weeks ago I got inspired and constructed the custom sump and ATO reservoir. At first I was really nervous about doing my own acrylic construction, but after doing it, it wasn't that hard at all and everything looks beautiful. I haven't water tested anything yet but one can check the seams just by eye (you will see spaces where there are air bubbles or the acrylic did not weld) and everything looks good. First, the schematic: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 I constructed the ATO reservoir first. Smaller, and therefore a little easier to manage. First I just laid everything out to make sure I knew what was getting welded to what and how. Then I started welding, and... voila! Finished product! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 Then I went to work on the sump. Same process: lay out... weld... and done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 The next thing to do was to get going on the plumbing. Here I ran into a bit of an issue because the tank and the stand were purchased separately; the trim of the stand was blocking the bulkhead for the return. Solution: small cheap hack-saw from Lowe's and cutting a small notch out of the trim. I don't think this will have hurt the structural integrity of the stand, and it made the perfect amount of room for the bulkhead. First I traced out the space I needed to notch out. I did this by standing on a chair, reaching down the drain, and literally tracing through the drilled return hole. Then I started out sawing along the angle I'd need. Finished product! Fits perfectly. Waitaminute, that doesn't belong... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 The other little thing I had to do was add a handle to the stand. I didn't like the standard hardware, so Jake got the company to ship it with no hardware. I picked up a handle I liked much better at IKEA for about $5. Jake warned me to measure many times before drilling since once you go through the wood, there's no making it look good again, and the last thing you want is a crooked handle gracing your custom stained stand! I think it came out okay... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 That's all the progress I've made for now. I've got to replace the pump in the skimmer, a BM NAC6A, and I've run into a touch of trouble getting a PVC plug off part of the old pump; haven't had much time to work on it (this being the time of year I regularly pull 70-80+ hr weeks at school), but neither hot water nor good old-fashioned tugging have gotten the job done. I'm open to suggestions. Maybe I'll post pics later. We don't have a contest this weekend, so my goal is to get all the hardware and plumbing installed and mocked up this Saturday. I'm a little nervous about putting water in it until after contest season is over (Oct. 26) since I'm not home much these days and if there was a leak or some other problem, it might be later in the evening before I'd discover it. But since this build has taken many months so far, I guess there's no reason to be in a hurry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Looks great Emily ! As for your pump, my vote is bench vise and pipe or crescent wrench. Any photos of the problem fitting ? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 Well, you inspired me, Ian, so I took another look, decided I was smarter than some PVC, and managed to get it all fixed. Basically the needle wheel cover (inside the skimmer body) is attached to some kind of nozzle/cover/something or other (outside the skimmer body) that wasn't coming off. Since I was swapping the dead pump for the same variety, I decided to try to just put the old needle wheel cover on the new pump. I'd tried this before and failed, but this time I managed to get it on and put the rest of the skimmer back together without too many false starts or extra parts. Thanks for the inspiration, Ian! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Repeat after me: You are smarter than the PVC. YOU are smarter than the PVC. Good job! Glad I could inspire you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Looks great. I'm sure the cat will get out as soon as you start adding water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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