Filter Freaks New Tank, 54 Corner X Type

[jason the filter freak]

So I bought a new tank and I'm going to be building it pretty much from the ground up with lots of new ideas and tech. The main challanges are going to be budget and getting everything to fit in a limited foot print.

 

So the first challenge is laying out the under stand area and getting everything to fit, this includes the skimmer, sump, media reactor, return, and ATO (possibly a UV) and all the associated electronics.

 

As you can see space is very limited, that is a 20 high selected for a sump/fuge reason being is if it ever fails or need replacing its a standard size, its also going to save me money vs having a custom sump built.

 

The return will be via a Eheim 1260 which will be T-d off to a media reactor most likely. I'm going to slow flow though my fuge and don't want the pump to be a main source of circulation in the tank. I have the gap between the pump and the fuge because I'm planning on running the pump externally (for ease of service and to reduce heat dumped into the water) and plan on having a true union ball valve in that gap to allow for ease of service.

 

 

A closer shot really reiterates the small internal foot print of the stand but with careful planning everything will fit perfectly with extra room.

[jason the filter freak]

Here is one of the first problems I've come across, the 20 gal over hangs the edge of the stand by about 1/4" I'm planning on wrapping a 2-3" lip around the bottom of the stand to provide a drip catch area in the even that anything would ever leak. The entire inside of the stand will be waterproofed and caulked.

 

 

At the moment I'm at a loss of what to do, but I'll figure out something to do. My first Idea that I've come up with is to try to make the lip out of 1x3" and just notch it for the over hang of the tank. But I'm worried about two things here: How hard is it going to be to bend the 1x3" to meet the curve of the stand? And if I can get the 1x3" to meet the curve of my stand will it be possible to notch the board at the appropriate place and not have it affect the structural integrity of the lip enough to cause a weak point in the curve.

 

The other thought I had was to elevate the sump and every thing else under the stand a couple of inches so the very tip of the tank would clear the lip, but this creates 2 issues: If I elevate everything I'm going to have reduced clearance for equipment under the stand. And if I do just so happen to get a leak in the corner of the sump that overhangs the lip just a tad, then the point of the lip is lost.

[jason the filter freak]

So here you can see a basic lay out for my under the stand plans, if you can actually read it more power to you. I did not of course draw it to scale, nor is it the end all do all for my understand lay out. I'm planning to use a 10 gallon on end with a end cut out and a piece of glass glued onto where the top would be on a stock ten for a top off tank.

 

[Coral Hind]

Wow, that is going to be a challenge indeed. I'll be following this build thread to see how it all turns out.

[jason the filter freak]

 

This is the plan for my lighting system in its infancy. I did it during the LED talk (was an idea I've had kicking around in my head but was never put to paper) and showed it to the speaker from glass box design. His input was I would need heat sinks, and that my idea of having the LEDS positioned on the end of loc line was cool and unique but probably hard to do. Also that on a 54 gallon I really probably need more than 24 leds.

 

I decided that I will be running the drivers remotely under the stand, and that I will be using an acrylic sheet as a splash guard. It will have to have a rib or two (the acrylic) to prevent sagging in the long term as I'm going to go with as thin and optically clear acrylic as I can find.

[jason the filter freak]

 

I'm going to use individual heat sinks for each LED since I will be mounting them on the end of loc line. Since it hasn't be done before the out come will be unknown until completion. Some PROS I've thought of are: Of course being able to aim every LED individually will be just the BEES KNEES, with each led on an individual heat sink there won't be shared heat though the sink from neighboring leds, with the leds mounted on the end of lock line and two fans drawing air though a mostly enclosed canopy there will be a lot of room for head dissipation in the air around the leds. Some CONS: this is a completely untested idea and if it doesn't work I'll have to start all over again, the wires are going to be tricky to guide down the middle of the loc line (I'll be using 1/4" loc line, need 2 x 20 gauge wires to go though), mounting the heat sinks on the end of the lock line will probably be the biggest challenge of all.

[jason the filter freak]

 

This next design is going to be the drain design for my tank. The design is as of yet perfected (not a word I know) I have used it before to some success and I think the design is sound but I never got done testing on Tinas tank. The purpose of the riser pipes is two fold: 1 to prevent the gurgling noise of air escaping under water. 2. to decrease back pressure on the drain/stand pipe

 

The explanations are pretty much on the image but if further explanation is required/requested I will go into further details.

[jason the filter freak]

Ok you get a cookie if you can figure out this next drawing, its a sketch of my "electronics storage area" from the bottom up/underside view

 

basically that panel will fit up under this area (in between the 2 x 4's) right against the bottom edge of the tank and will be vented via a fan out of the back of the stand

 

 

 

 

 

(I should be able to fit everything on my list (see sketch)) though I might need to add some extra clearance for a DC8. The purpose being is for a clean look, ease of service, and keeping the electronics away from water. (Again if you need further explanation just ask, but since this pretty much only applies to my stand I don't think its too interesting for others)

Edited July 13, 2010 by jason the filter freak

[Dragon Eye]

I like the pencil drawings

 

Are you putting a lid on the 20H as a just in case you drop some of your electronics in there- or they release from their mountings? or is it more like a drawer?

Edited July 13, 2010 by Dragon Eye

[jason the filter freak]

I like the pencil drawings

 

Are you putting a lid on the 20H as a just in case you drop some of your electronics in there- or they release from their mountings?

 

I'm going to be securing the electronics very carefully for sure, but it is possible a lid may be in the future for the fuge but more along the lines of trying to create a cooling effect by venting an enclosed fuge with a duct fan.

[Coral Hind]

I've tried a similar drain and unless the flow is slow or the pipe diameter is big enough it doesn't seem to work as planned.

[jason the filter freak]

I've tried a similar drain and unless the flow is slow or the pipe diameter is big enough it doesn't seem to work as planned.

 

I plan on the flow being slow, well relatively say sub 300 gph, I'm hoping with 3-5 risers even if air doesn't stay separate in the drain, which I guess is pretty much a moot point once the drain is under the water level, it will be able to be released via the risers and not create a bubbling noise by being released under water. I may also try a similar design with one large riser say 2" riser if the drain line is 1".

 

The plan is also to divide the sump to an extent where there is an area where detritus can settle out of the the water column in a trapped area in the sump that can occasionally be vacuumed out.

[jason the filter freak]

Any ideas on how to attach the heat sinks to the loc line are greatly appreciated. At this point I think I'd try and cut a circle out of the fins (using a dremel, pliers, wire cutters?) the diameter of a loc line segment and then use thermally conductive epoxy to glue the lock line to the heat sink in hopes of allowing the loc line to act as an extension of the heat sink and to have an epoxy that I know will handle the heat. (Yes I'm aware that the plastic of the loc line will/would be a poor conductor of heat)

[Coral Hind]

You could drill several holes into the locline and tie it on with a heavy fishing line.

[ctenophore]

you could put 3 or 4 leds on one loc-line, and run an aluminum or 316ss screw up thru the center of the heatsink along with the wires. Use silicone to temporarily seal the screw & wires to the end of the loc line (you may need to build a little wooden jig to line it up straight), then backfill that knuckle of loc line with 2 part epoxy (the liquid stuff, not reef epoxy).

[ctenophore]

Better yet, embed the head of the aluminum screw (and wires) in the loc line with epoxy and leave ~1" of threads exposed out the front. Then just drill & tap the heatsink, and a second hole for the wires. Thread the heatsink to the loc line and wire it up.

[jason the filter freak]

Better yet, embed the head of the aluminum screw (and wires) in the loc line with epoxy and leave ~1" of threads exposed out the front. Then just drill & tap the heatsink, and a second hole for the wires. Thread the heatsink to the loc line and wire it up.

 

I kinda thought about that but i'm worried about 2 things. 1. If an led ever burns out if i epoxy the wirese in the loc line that loc line is trash. 2. if i have the screw coming though the back of the heat sink i risk either not having a very tight hold or cracking the star if the screw goes too far.

[ctenophore]

I kinda thought about that but i'm worried about 2 things. 1. If an led ever burns out if i epoxy the wirese in the loc line that loc line is trash. 2. if i have the screw coming though the back of the heat sink i risk either not having a very tight hold or cracking the star if the screw goes too far.

Just fill one knuckle with epoxy so only that one would be trash. The cost of the LED would be much more than a single knuckle of loc line.

 

The heat sink doesn't need to be perfectly centered. It could be rectangular with the screw on one side and the star on the other. Or you could have two stars on one loc line and the screw between them. Or use thick aluminum and don't drill the screw all the way through, and use a bottoming tap. Route wires through a secondary side hole.

[treesprite]

So much detailed planning - good luck!

[jason the filter freak]

figured out what I'm going to do about the lip, I went out and bought 18 feet of 1x6", white acrylic/epoxy paint, and black spray paint.

[jason the filter freak]

So I scraped the blue back ground off the tank (on a tank this small I never think blue looks good) and added black. Last time I did this I used a .99$ spray paint and the coverage wasn't that good, this time I splurged and spend $3.50 for a can of painters touch semi gloss.

 

For anyone thinking about painting their tank with a back ground I haven't found a paint yet that doesn't readily come right off of the glass with a $5 razor scraper.

 

 

 

Good masking with new paper and painters blue tape is essential if you're looking for a clean look when you're done, make sure you mask the front of the tank and over the top to prevent over spray and of course mask off anything else you don't want painted

 

 

[jason the filter freak]

I flipped the tank over today to see if there was room to drill for a back up drain in the event the main one gets clogged

 

and I see this sticker :( Booo

[jason the filter freak]

And today I began construction on the lip for the stand, I had to cut out multiple arcs out of 1 x 6 total of about 3 hours start to finish. I used wood glue to meld them together and then I used dry wall screws to hold the wood together while it dries.

 

According to calculations with the lip height I have now of about 2.5" the stand once water proofed will hold around 6.5 gal of water in the even of a critical leak. I'm considering making it an even 3" lip which would allow it to hold 7.5 gal. What does anyone think?

 

Edited July 18, 2010 by jason the filter freak

[jason the filter freak]

And for anyone wondering, no that slit in the back is not going to stay there

[thewire]

Here is a solution attaching your locline with heatsink...

 

Aluminum flange base for LocLine

 

http://theledguy.chainreactionweb.com/product_info.php?products_id=1010