Nathan's 93g Tank Build

[n8n]

I have been wanting to do a reef tank for 10+ years and finally have decided to start one.  I have my tank and stand already setup (empty), and quite a few other parts on the way from Marine Depot. 

 

I wanted a tank that wasn't to terribly big but also didn't want one that was nano/hard to manage.  Was kinda thinking around 90-150 gallon range.  I saw the tank (30x30x24 cube) originally at Vienna (leesburg pet store) but it wasn't pre-drilled and sorta fell in love with it.  Then Juan at PetLand Fairfax put the exact same model with corner flo up on dc craigslist (new in store) and well... now its in my living room and i'm starting all the pre-steps to build it up. 

 

Tank: 93 gallon 30x30x24 (Rimless) Marineland tank, pre-drilled (cornerflow).

Stand: Marineland (Venture)

 

 

Things that i've ordered:

 

Sump: Custom 35g (28" x 18" x 16") three compartment sump from Advanced Acrylics, with water height dialed in for AquaMaxx ConeS CO-2 Skimmer . 

 

Question: how many other people have 28" / 35G tanks? the stand won't fit a 30" !

 

Skimmer: AquaMaxx ConeS CO-2 

** also want a red octopus waste collector to add to this once I know if hoses are same size.

 

Controller: Neptune Apex w/ Lab pH, & Temp, also AWM (AquaIllumiation) module on order.

** also plan to purchase WXM (Vortech controller)

 

Flow: ** will be ordering vortech most likely in a few days.

 

Return: Eheim 1262

 

Lighting: AquaIllumination Hyda Fifty Two (Controlled by Apex AWM)

Also have EXT Tank Mount and stand

 

RO/DI: SpectraPlus (gotta have water!)

 

ATO: have not ordered one, want to get tank up and running first 

 

Plumbing: I've got a bunch of black schedule 40 pvc on order, plan on going silent running with herbie.  (going to have return outside of tank, and use corner flow for drain only).

 

Dosing: Interested in Neptune DoS but want to read reviews after release

 

I've got alot of pre-tasks to complete:  

1) repaint wall behind tank (no better time then before i fill it with water)

2) I discovered walk jack went to entertainment system, garage door, and numerous bedrooms upstairs.....  Needless to say going to have master electrician friend help me get a 20amp dedicated circuit for just my future tank hopefully in next week or two.  (in time for all the parts to arrive)

3) Need to get RO/DI setup and making water.

 

What I have done so far:

 

Hard to tell, but I installed a very small LED above the door inside the stand.  I'm sure when I get the back sealed up to the stand and the tank filled with water with sand it'll be super dark down in the stand, and a controllable light will make working down there alot easier.

 

I also installed some rubber padding to the stand (lowes, designed to go in the base of cabinets).  Hopefully that might reduce some vibration and noise.

 

Anyways I don't know many local reef folks, so I decided to join wamas, and post my tank build.  Probably take a month+ before its full on running but i'll post my updates as I get parts in and start getting it built up.  If anyone has any tips or advice i'm all ears.

 

Thanks!

 

-Nathan

[DuffyGeos]

Welcome to WAMAS!

 

Looks like you have a good head start! 

[YHSublime]

Welcome! I love that tank! Looks like you're off to a good start! Thanks for starting a build, it's always inspiring to see what other members are doing!

[n8n]

Thank you, for the warm welcome.

 

Latest pieces to the pre-tank..  

 

 

Ethernet cable, and a switch so I can extend my network to get a hard line into the Apex Tank Controller (hard to believe my aquarium needs internet lol).   Also I've read to many bad reviews of hooking an Apex up with a wifi Game Adapter.  I do not know exactly how Apex Fusion works, but i imagine if all the configurations for the tank are up in the cloud its pretty important that it has a good internet connection, so i'm going to hard-wire this one.  

 

You can also see a can of paint down in my stand, with all the spackling going on to get the wall perfect behind it for repainting.

 

The tank & stand are sitting on a blanket so i can push it around the room as necessary while we are setting up and waiting on all the equipment.

 

-Nathan

[braden]

Looking good!

 

I have one of these tanks that I'm just getting started as a seagrass/mangrove aquarium.

 

I'm just using a 20-gallon high tank as a sump.

 

A few words about the Ventura stand… The plywood in the base of mine, at least, is rather thin (probably ¼" thick) and not suited for the weight of a sump. I found it necessary to reinforce it with some boards underneath. I also found the finish on the interior—particularly the plywood—to be lacking. I sanded it a bit and applied a black-tinted polyurethane.

 

The LED to light the stand interior is an idea that I wish I had before I put water in the tank. Oh, well. I ordered an LED strip Friday and I imagine I'll be installing it this week.

[n8n]

Looking good!

 

I have one of these tanks that I'm just getting started as a seagrass/mangrove aquarium.

 

I'm just using a 20-gallon high tank as a sump.

 

A few words about the Ventura stand… The plywood in the base of mine, at least, is rather thin (probably ¼" thick) and not suited for the weight of a sump. I found it necessary to reinforce it with some boards underneath. I also found the finish on the interior—particularly the plywood—to be lacking. I sanded it a bit and applied a black-tinted polyurethane.

 

The LED to light the stand interior is an idea that I wish I had before I put water in the tank. Oh, well. I ordered an LED strip Friday and I imagine I'll be installing it this week.

 

Those are some really good points on the stand.  I'm going to take your advice and get paint the inside up and also reinforce under the sump.

 

Thank You!

 

-Nathan

[n8n]

Last night I got my new switch for the tank mounted in the garage.  The RO/DI unit will be going next to it.  The adjoining wall is a small bathroom with the plumbing right there, and the water heater is actually directly under that location on the floor below.

[n8n]

The sump, skimmer, and a box of black pvc arrived today.  I unpacked the sump, and it fits perfectly in the stand like a glove.  I can put it in two orientations.  The current one allows me to easily get anywhere in the stand with a little work through the door.  The horizontal orientation allows me easy access to the drain and return, but i can't reach the base of the refrug/center section so i'm thinking thats no good.  If i do the horizontal orientation however I can slide the tank out through the front door, leaving it in the original orientation I will leave the front door on the side of the tank, and the back on the other side (and build a black piece of plyewood/cover/door) so i can still get the sump out should i need to without taking down the tank.

 

The skimmer fits in both directions, I think i actually like it in the opposite direction then pictured, but I need to get a better idea of how the down pipes will be fitting in back in the drain before I am sure which way i want the skimmer fitting.  I can easily get the top off the skimmer, and with a small amount of effort remove the skimmer without moving the sump or the tank, which is a good thing.

 

Mid-Term at George Mason tomorrow, otherwise i'd start plumbing.  That will have to wait till the weekend depending on how many assignments I have.

 

Also still need to ............ paint wall, paint inside stand, re-enforce stand, paint back of tank (black), finish running ethernet to tank, run new electrical circuit to tank, install RO/DI/Make Water,.... lots of things to keep me busy.

 

Lots of pictures of custom 35g (28" x 18" x 16") sump.

[DuffyGeos]

Sweet looking set up!

[n8n]

So I had to open the box... Anyways here a few shots of the PVC that I have to build out herbie (ignore the dorsos next to the black pvc) and plumbing.  Its hard to tell but there is two five feet segments of 3/4" schedule 40 and two five feet segments of 1" schedule 40 along with a lot of black fittings.

 

Thanks!

 

-Nathan

[matt]

Nice, where did you order from?

[n8n]

Nice, where did you order from?

 

The PVC is mostly from SAVKO, www.savko.com.  They do pond equipment but sell black PVC in 5 foot lengths as well as a ton of black fittings.  There were a few select pieces I ordered from marinedepot.com that i did not see on savko.

 

 

Here is the basic idea on the plumbing, the two one inch will be cut so one is about 1/2" below the water line, the other will be more like 8" below water line.  The return will go from the return section obviously to roughly where the pipe is resting then up and over the outside of the tank herbie style.

 

If anyone has any recommendations on the plumbing i'm all ears, but pretty sure solid black pvc on outside, and either hard or soft on inside of stand.

 

Thanks!

 

-Nathan

[DuffyGeos]

So I had to open the box... Anyways here a few shots of the PVC that I have to build out herbie (ignore the dorsos next to the black pvc) and plumbing.  Its hard to tell but there is two five feet segments of 3/4" schedule 40 and two five feet segments of 1" schedule 40 along with a lot of black fittings.

 

Thanks!

 

-Nathan

 

 

Stop playing around and get back to your studies young man!!!!

 

looks good

[pizzaguy]

Very nice

[n8n]

I got back from my last midterm, and had another delivery.  Return Pump arrives (eheim 1262) as well as the bulk heads and a few more fittings.

 

Tonight in the limited time I obviously got my return pump in my sump.  I also went through and cut enough 1" pvc to get my return pipes laid out.  (I have not glued them together yet).  (see attached).  The sump side are measured to be 3" under water, (the goal was 2" but I wanted an extra inch to be safe, I can always cut the extra off.)  The tank side i measured to be perfect on the emergency side but I honestly think its probably 1/4" or 1/2" to long.  (once again to allow for fine tuning).  The main drain pipe is 6" shorter.  All the documentation i've read on herbie says it should be a minimum of 6" below the surface to insure silent running.  Once again I can cut it shorter if necessary, and yes my sump can easily handle the water in the overflow compartment, that's why I had one custom made

 

I still need to work all the wrinkles out of my return piping I'm thinking about ordering another 3/4" ball valve along with a T, and T'ing off the return to some tubing, to make water changes super easy with return pump.

 

I'm up for any suggestions if anyone has any on the return side.

 

Oh, and yes I totally know people do not "normally" put a valve on their emergency pipe in herbie but I personally want the valve there so I can turn them both off and remove/replace the sump should something really bad happen.

 

Thanks!

 

-Nathan

 

[n8n]

Tonight I got most of pvc cut up for the return and drains for herbie setup.  (sorry didn't take a picture when I had it laid out I thought I had).  Tonight I also started cementing together the pieces in stages ( I did take a picture of that ).  Hopefully by the weekend i'll have the nearly complete. i'm not mounting the bulk heads or anything semi permanent until I get a chance to verify/reinforce stand for sump weight (apparently there is only 1/4" plywood between the sump and the floor which is kinda scary, thank you for tip!) also want to throw some paint on the inside of the stand.   I'm going to let the cement cure (3+ hours) on the first phase that i've put together before I start cementing pieces onto the pieces I just connected.  If i read the paint correctly it said 7 days to cure so most likely i'll try to get it painted saturday morning so by next saturday it'll be good for the final setup in the stand mounting the electronics and sump and such.

 

Thank you for everyone's suggestions and I will keep you abreast of my build.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations on a hospital/quarantine tank?  My display is 93g, probably 120g in total circulation.  Most likely will have fish mostly in the 3" range, but there is the off chance I might have a 5" fish (but doubt it).   I was sorta guessing around 20g would be solid for 3" fish, with basic hang on back (freshwater style) filter, and its own heater.

 

Thanks!

 

-Nathan

 

 

 

 

[DuffyGeos]

looks good- Dry fit the entire thing before you start gluing, might save you some do over work.

 

i am going to use 20gL tanks for my QT, maybe a 50g also but that would be for larger fish.

[n8n]

I was looking at a $30: 20g breeder, and was trying to figure out where i could hide it in basement or somewhere.  Took wife to the local petco to look around, and she was immediately attracted to some of the slightly larger ones on stands as a QT, and even suggested it could be right next to the display tank while using it... 

 

#1 rule -- keep the wife happy.

 

As it stands i'm looking into possibly a 27g cube 20w x 18d x 20h tank from marineland stand/led light/glass canopy combo.  Not sure how long people QT i've heard anywhere from like 2 weeks to 30 days.  The plan on the tank (depending on fish size) is anywhere from 6 to 12 fish so if its 30 days the QT could easily be going for a year +/- time it takes to actually find the fish i want.   [i kinda imagine the way it will turn out is I will get a fish, put it in QT, then around 20 days start really scoping out next fish, then by the time i'm 100% sure the fish is safe then move to display when i bring new fish home.

 

Question --> do people QT corals or do they only dip and put in display?  I was sorta confused on that.

 

BTW thanks for tip on softfit. I don't have to many complex joints so i'm pretty good.

 

Joint wise that come to mind...

 

2 drains above bulk head are pretty much straight.  just cut them to correct length if they are to long  (they wont be too short i cut them about right size or barly long)

 

drain part below bulk head.. ball value and then straight to sump... same thing just cut if to long  (they won't be to short i cut them a little long)

 

the part around pump is simply a 45 on inlet to pump (i read somewhere that helps pump draw water from base of sump rather than just anywehre in sump.  I saw someone do a 90 like that and I felt a little less aggressive with a 45 degree.  Head pressure should not be a problem if anything i have to large of a pump.   

 

the return after pump is pretty much fittings to fit to pump to a ball valvue to a connect to soft tubing.  pretty much straight and simple hard to mess up.

 

The return that goes from soft tubing up and over edge of display (outside not drilled) is really the only complex point in the aquarium.    i've only done a few small pieces of it and left it uncut so when i hook it up (last) i can really do the fine tune measure 10 times and cut once hopefully before i glue it and call it done.  thats kinda strategy on most of the pieces if possible.  leave them slightly long if they end with a bare end and then when i tighten everything down do measurements and cut them exact.

 

Thanks!

 

-Nathan

[n8n]

This weekend was very productive on my Tank build.

 

#1 I purchased & setup my Quarantine Tank (QT).  I plan to QT every fish that comes in one by one so might be setup for 1+ years depending on frequency of oncoming fish.   Anyways wife wanted a nice stand and to pretty it up.  

 

Happy wife = happy life.

 

I wanted something 20-30 gallons w/ stand.  Picked up a 27g on sale, and also found a canister filter half price for QT tank.  I figure if i dump the water in the canister once a week that alone should be enough water changes to keep up with nearly no biofilter in QT.  (pics below of QT, and yes wife wanted the bubble sticks, so it was added for wife )  I just added salt to it tonight, and hopefully will have it ready for its first fish by next weekend we will see how that goes.  My hopes are to have the fish in that little tank for 30 day prior to adding to the main tank build. (pics attached)

 

#2 Reverse Osmosis / De-Ionizer is now installed and making water.  I installed it behind my washer and drier, and ran the hose out to the garage.  Garage gets pretty cold in winter so I put the 1/4" hose in 1/2" pvc, and then wrapped the pvc.  Hopefully i won't freeze.   (pics attached)

 

#3 I got my walls painted where i'm putting tanks (that was a requirement by wife before perma-tank install)  cheer!

 

#4 I got my surface mounts done for the ethernet for apex, and also for the new gfci /dedicated circuit.  Just need to poke hole in other side of wall (into garage) and run the wires to the switch in garage and power box.

 

#5 I reinforced my stand -- thank you for suggestion.  I measured the gap below 1/4" plywood and ground, and then I went to home depot and picked up enough plywood (and cut it down) that essentially the sump is now sitting on plywood from the sump down to the floor 100% solid.

 

#6 I also put a coat of polyurethane on inside of stand and its nice and smooth now, marineland didn't really do much to protect the inside of the stand.

 

#7 most of my plumbing is completed.  two pieces on return need to be glued (waiting on one in mail i was short one black fitting),   the rest just need to be tighted up.  Can't add water till i get the ethernet and power setup because they are behind the tank.

 

#8 light came in (AI fifty two + mounting bracket and arms and stuff to mount it).  Hopefully I can get that done this week.

 

#9 apex is in, i turned it on and get it registered with fusion, but until i have water in the tank there is really little it can do for me at this point.

 

School wife, I have finals around first two weeks of December, and then winter break till late January.  Hoping to get QT started on first fish so I can have my main tank online with its first fish right after finals so I can stare at him over break, and get my second fish in the qt tank.

 

 

 

[DuffyGeos]

A lot more progress then I made this weekend!

 

Way to keep going! Looks great.

[Shoelace]

Nice build!  You're gonna love the herbie.  I know it's a little late in the game, but I was wondering if it would be aesthetically more pleasing if the overflow was next to the couch.  It looks like much of the viewing angle is going to be from the side opposite the couch.

[smallreef]

Welcome and congrats!

[n8n]

Nice build!  You're gonna love the herbie.  I know it's a little late in the game, but I was wondering if it would be aesthetically more pleasing if the overflow was next to the couch.  It looks like much of the viewing angle is going to be from the side opposite the couch.

So one side I a wall, the other is the couch ( where I am mostly), the front is the living room front door, and the last side which adjoins back is directed towards hallway, but its recessed about 3 feet. Normally we have a Christmas tree there. It's also the inlet for the heating cooling about 6 feet for tank.

 

Originally I was going to put the overflow on couch side but wife convinced me that since I'm main viewer then the overflow shold face away from living room where we and or guests would sit and watch fishies.

[Shoelace]

Makes total sense. Wasn't trying to be a pain, lol. Better to think now than after plumbing and water!

[n8n]

Thanks!  great to meet the locals.