New 30gal 24x24 lagoon.

[MrZ2u]

The snowpocalypse nuked my little Fusion Lagoon.  I had been thinking of drilling it and removing all the AIO partitions to do a sump so this gave me that opportunity.  I had several projects in front of rebuilding this so I thought I would put the whole thing on Craigslist to see if someone might take it all off my hands before I got to the project.  Didnt really expect that to happen but it did so I get to start from scratch.

Already bought the new display tank, 24x24 12in deep...slightly larger than the Fusion Lagoon which suits my space a little better. 
https://sevenports.com/product/symbolic-45-degree-30-gal-aquarium-24-x-24-x-12-with-mat/

I also bought a Fiji Cube overflow box.  More flow than it needed to be but as small as I could get with a bean animal option.  I did want the wider skimmer box as well so I ended up with this one.
https://www.fijicube.com/collections/overflow-box/products/low-profile-external-overflow-box-1200pgh 

The first of probably several opinions requested...

I plan to center the overflow.  Pros and cons for two vs one return...and how close to the overflow

[Timfish]

Only thoughts I have on two returns is if there is just one return pump and someone wants to match flow from both nozzles it's kinda hit and miss.  I'm don't know how you are running the plumbing but I've seen one setup using a single return pump where the plumping for the returns was separated below the water line and a anti siphon hole was only placed on one nozzle so the other would continue to siphon.   (Personally I would go with two small return pumps and 2 return lines for redundancy.)

 

Put the returns as close to the overflow as you want.  Look up KimP's setup, the two returns are actually in the overflow.

[MrZ2u]

Well I finally picked up this project again...a year ago actually so its not like the pace has been great   But its pretty much done.  This will be long but I hope you find it interesting and love me for it because I need adoration and affirmation...look at me, look at me.  Kidding of course, I am a DIYer and I love seeing what others do because it inspires my projects a little here and a little there...sharing is caring.  Dammit, I did it again.  Okay, on with the show...in the order in which it was done.

In a previous life I had a 200 gallon tank that sat on a 14ga / 1.5in square tube stand that had a three-sided plywood wrap.  The pre-snowpocalypse tank was just wood, this one is back to the steel skeleton cause I wanted to optimize under tank space.  Honestly, this could have been a plywood box but I like to make both metal and wood dust...

This is 16ga 1in square tube except for the top ring which is 1x2 tube cause I thought that made sense...probably unnecessary.  





3/4in ply for top and bottom

 

Made a drilling template with some channels for water egress



Overflow fit perfectly!

Rarely do I find a commercially available solution to what I want to do.  The refugium/sump was no exception so I built my own version.  Tank flows into the 20gal, thru socks and into a chamber that will be the home to the Chaeto and from there to the 10gal that probably wasnt necessary in hindsight but its there and there is a chamber I could use for a variety of things but I think I will just put a bunch of "pod hotels" in there in hopes that the underside of the tank can grow enough of the little buggers to be able to keep a Mandarin up top eventually.  In front of that is a 5gal ATO reservoir that I made before deciding to relocate it to a closet behind the tank.    The space between the 10g and stand is for a "Stir Station" for a dosing pump which is still not done

As always, I like to make it so that stir station will have 4 of these and a stir pill in the bottles that will sit on the station.  I bought some little hobby motors for $1.66 each and 12v motor controllers for $2 each, plus a couple of magnets each and what I am calling "the flywheel" I printed to hold the magnets...about $4 to $5 per stir spot not considering the housing.  

I was back and forth on drawers and decided to just do one and keep it simple...light holder mounted here as well.

Got it all measured and plumbed up here.  I put large check valves on the pump and again at the tank...overkill but water flows well and better safe than sorry?

These were really cheap at Grainger...and thats not usually the cheap place 
Amazon had them at 2x the price and NOT clear...and clear is definitely better!
 

 

Since my light sat in the box and ticked away its warranty I thought I would gut it to paint it to match

 

This is the "control panel" for all the stuff...back side and front.



Rather than have a gaggle of wall-warts to deal with I went with a 12v and 24v single power supply and pigtails for each device...minimizing the amount of wire under the tank.  Plus, since there is a closet sharing the back wall with the aquarium I was able to move those power supplies and the UPS in there...getting all the voltage out of the splash zone!  I also ended up putting the ATO reservoir in there as well.

And that gets us to here...which is still a work in progress.  I have removed the black power cord and replaced it with white so it blends in.  

The stair railing and balusters are in the way...and the wife said I cant take it out...so I put a panel there (missing in this pic) that is held in place by magnets.




...there are still things to be finished so I will update those as they are done.
 

[+Grog]

Clean!   I like the drawer underneath and the white color.

And don't feel bad, you are not the only one to see a warranty tick away while something is in the box. 

Good job!

[MrZ2u]

White made the most sense...otherwise I would have had to use a finer grade of lumber and try to match the stain on the railing or floor which was probably going to be nothing better than "close"  

Its a painful realization really cause I absolutely hate painting...like I would almost rather have Mike Tyson punch me in the nads than paint.

[Timfish]

Nice!  Real clean organized layout.