Nathan's 210g Reef Tank Build

[n8n]

I extended the existing dedicated 20 amp circuit. Romex and white conduit in garage, then straight through wall to near tank. I put a cover over it to keep pesky maids and what not from mistakenly unplugging tank for vacuum. Also mounted a surge suppressor in stand along 2x6 on top of stand. The case also forces a drip loop.

 

 

[ezeke1]

Is that screen mesh top a DIY? It looks very clean and neat!

[n8n]

Is that screen mesh top a DIY? It looks very clean and neat!

Home Depot / lowes has everything but the mesh. BRS has everything needed and a video. Just cut the medal frame to size keep in mind 1 1/2" for corners. I cut all the pieces about 1/2 longer then necessary then taped them together for one final cut to get them all the exact same length.

 

The mesh and spline install is the hardest part. I used a T square to make sure it was square. I had some Dumbbells and a paint can, to hold the mesh tight over the frame while I splined it.

 

Hopefully helps you out.

 

Nathan

[n8n]

Wife picked out new trim.

 

[n8n]

Today I removed the white drains and masked off areas to paint.

 

As you can see above the white bean animal has been removed and threaded bulk heads. New slip bulkheads will replace the bulkheads and black stealth PVC.

 

The area above the overflow box on the back was not painted so I carefully masked it off to paint it. Hitting it with krylon fusion reef friendly paint in case any water splashes up that high.

 

Also painting the back of the overflow box.

 

Here is the bottom of the overflow going to paint it too.

 

Lastly here is the side of the tank facing the window. I plan to paint the window facing side because I think in the long term I'll have a ton of algae growth with its proximity to the window.

 

Wife approved painting tomorrow. Will post pics after paint too.

[n8n]

Here is the new trim layout we are going to attempt on stand.

 

[n8n]

I got to go into work late this morning, (they actually asked me to come late! LOL).  Anyways so I made some more progress on this tank build.  Pics below.

 

I went through entire tube calking inside of stand, and still have some remaining spots I want to re-calk.

 

Very carefully I masked off all the areas and drop clothes for spray-painting.

 

I stealthed the overflow in black paint

 

I also painted the back corner /side to protect it.  Here is the morning sunlight when its at the worst.

 

Another picture after painting.

 

This afternoon i'll re-evaluate and determine if i need to add additional coats of paint to tank.  Also hopefully finish preparation of inside of stand so I can get it painted, and start on surface preparation of outside of stand for trim/repaint.

 

[YHSublime]

Are you tiling in the inside of your stand? Hope you're going to keep it there!

 

I really like the ambient light through the plastic. I can't tell from the pictures if it's cheap or not, but I think that's a super neat idea. Top looks clean and well put together, this is all coming together nicely!

[ezeke1]

Home Depot / lowes has everything but the mesh. BRS has everything needed and a video. Just cut the medal frame to size keep in mind 1 1/2" for corners. I cut all the pieces about 1/2 longer then necessary then taped them together for one final cut to get them all the exact same length.

 

The mesh and spline install is the hardest part. I used a T square to make sure it was square. I had some Dumbbells and a paint can, to hold the mesh tight over the frame while I splined it.

 

Hopefully helps you out.

 

Nathan

Yep BRS and Marine Depot sells these kits with everything included.  From watching their setup videos, Marine Depot's version has the aluminum frame that sits on top of the glass while BRS suggests having pegs on the inside of the glass so that the frame can sit on.

 

I'm toying with the idea of creating one, but I just don't know how clean it will look nor how much maintenance it will take to keep it clean :D

[Rob A]

Looking good!

I have several cats and worry a lot about them getting into the tank. I went with egg crate and back when I had metal halides one of the cats would lay on the egg crate right under the light and sun bathe!

[n8n]

Are you tiling in the inside of your stand? Hope you're going to keep it there!

 

I really like the ambient light through the plastic. I can't tell from the pictures if it's cheap or not, but I think that's a super neat idea. Top looks clean and well put together, this is all coming together nicely!

The inside of the stand is already tile. Right now I'm sealing/repairing/prepping the inside while it's empty. The plywood on the back is unpainted. I plan to give everything a few fresh coats of paint. There is this product by rustolium called LeakSeal that puts down a rubber water tight coating. I was considering hitting all the surfaces of the inside of the stand with that so it would be completely water tight. ( as unattractive as it is I'm considering even putting a coat of rubber on top of the existing old tile )

 

The doors to the stand are trim in 1x2 wood, with plastic backing. It almost looks like flimsy sign backing. From the top it looks kinda like a bunch of straws side by side. The plus is its light weight ( magnets currently hold doors in place ) and ambient light going out looks cool... However it feels kinda cheap and I'm concerned with the amount of ambient light getting in. I mean people smoke the gear to prevent algae growth I don't see how more light down there is a good thing. Anyways still trying to decide.

 

I made little progress last night went to bar instead and work late tonight. Hopefully get back to it Thursday.

[n8n]

Looking good!

I have several cats and worry a lot about them getting into the tank. I went with egg crate and back when I had metal halides one of the cats would lay on the egg crate right under the light and sun bathe!

Wife wants a canopy so that is on the list to tiger proof. As it stands the top of the tank is maybe 5 feet tall with the tall stand. With a canopy it will be closer to 6 feet and it depends on how I enclose canopy.

 

Right now we are considering flip open in front and also have door in front. The screen is going to provide a warm snugly blanket that the fishes won't jump out of tank

[n8n]

Yep BRS and Marine Depot sells these kits with everything included.  From watching their setup videos, Marine Depot's version has the aluminum frame that sits on top of the glass while BRS suggests having pegs on the inside of the glass so that the frame can sit on.

 

I'm toying with the idea of creating one, but I just don't know how clean it will look nor how much maintenance it will take to keep it clean :D

I think the frames are aluminum no matter where you buy them. ( BRS marine depot Home Depot lowes ...). And the corners are plastic. They all look identical.

 

cleaning wise a couple times in last 9 months I hit the frame with paper towel to get any salt creep off it from when I was sloppy with getting it wet. Stays pretty clean.

[n8n]

So my new bulkheads arrived with some other stuff, I got the high end super awesome bulk heads.  I didn't measure the holes the old bulk heads were in (i'm replacing them to go from FPT to Slip)... Anyways the new bulk heads don't fit in the holes ..... 

 

So I have to choose between 1) re-drilling the holes slightly larger (basically the start of the bulk head fits in but the threads for the cap won't fit through so its like maybe 1/4" to small?  to go with the nicer bulk heads, 2) downsize all the piping to 1/2" return and 3/4" drains (really don't like this idea) require alot of return/repurchase of plumbing parts or 3) return the bulk heads and get the schedule 40 basic ones instead of schedule 80 bulk heads 4) let the bulk heads be 1/4" smaller than piping and then put a reducer in between the bulkhead and the drain/returns.

 

Looking at flow, its 210g even if i target 600gph it should drain that with bean animal even through a 3/4" bulkhead instead of a 1" bulkhead.  On my current system (herbie) with same return pump and less head pressure i have my drain about 1/2 turned down with knob.  So i think the smaller bulkheads will probably work but i'm thinking of just going to basic bulkheads and keep all the piping the original size.  (#3 above).

 

Also trying to figure out the sump, the overflow box is 1.25" from top inner dimension which is about 9 gallons of overflow necessary for sump.  The returns however are 3.25" inner below the water line which is 23.5 gallons.  The original sump with the system was 40g, with a standard 9-10" waterline for sump, it looks like original owner used check valve(s) on the returns to prevent overflowing the sump.   I'm thinking of adding a 90" on the return bulkhead (on the inside of the tank) with 2" of pipe to get the lok-line to start at the same level as the overflow box, to get the 23.5g requirement on the sump down to only 9 gallons.

 

Most sumps are around 16" tall and the water line is around 9-10 inches for most skimmers (including mine) so they really can only accomiate the top 6 inches roughly for power outages.  trying to fit 23.5 gallons in 6" height is a really monster large sump.   (I can fit one that big but i was hoping to not have to go with such a beast of a sump and leave room in stand for other things).

 

Anyways still planning things.  Hopefully tonight i will get to finish the surface preparation of inside of the stand so it will be ready for painting, and start cutting the trim down to size.  Also this weekend hopefully run by TLF and try to see if i can find the exact right size bulkheads to fit the holes.   I mean i have bulkheads that "will" work but they are threaded and I want slip.  for bean animal I only have 4" in the overflow box, and threaded requires the MPT -> slip adapter which wastes an inch of space.  I can get that inch back with slip and things will work way better.

 

Sorry no pics this time.

 

Thanks!

 

-Nathan

[n8n]

Oh on the sump, I do plan on using check valves on the returns like the prior owner when the system was up, but I want the system built so it can handle a check valve failure.  I really dont want the 23.5-9 = 14.5 g of water on the floor if a check valve fails

 

Thank You

 

-Nathan

[n8n]

Painted inside of stand with leakseal. Everything now has a white rubber coating

 

 

 

[n8n]

I got new bulk heads today and installed them for the drains.

 

Here are the new drains with slip bulk heads. Yes I can reach the knobs with tank in position. Also yes I understand normally only the center on has a true union ball but I like having them on other drains just in case I want to turn them off for whatever reason.

 

Here is the stealth bean animal in black with black stealthed overflow. They are dry fit loosely with extra PVC that will but cut down to exact size. I totally know they are to tall.

 

 

Front view, if you compare to original picks you barely see drains now instead of the white ugly PVC grabbing attention.

[n8n]

This morning I worked on the bean animal. The overflow has 5.5 height the water should overflow in at 4.25.

 

Currently I have the emergency drain set as high as possible so it's top is just below overflowing on the floor. I have a strainer in the main drain but that means it only has maybe 3 to 4 inches between the top of the strainer and the waterline. The the middle drain was not as long as I expected and is sitting pretty close to waterline. I've got the parts to make a taller one but if I do it probably only needs 1/2".

 

I'm not sure I'm liking the strainer for the main drain only 3 to 4 inches submerged. I'm thinking it will make a swirling water thing and maybe make a little noise. I suspect that might be why original bean animal had the elbows pointing down main drain. Now the bulkheads are slip I can easily return to the elbowed drain instead of open drain and have an inch or two hight between the drains if I want.

 

Here are the existing drains I built

 

The stealth black on black makes it hard to see plumbing .... Awesome

[n8n]

Today I was going to sand down all the imperfections us wood filler and start putting the new crown molding on.. However..

 

I decided it would be easier to remove all the plywood originally used and replaced it with 1x6 and 1x7 hard wood.

 

Here it is being broken down and new going on.

 

Here is where I ended at. I need small pieces to put under the doors. I left the last piece taped instead of nailed like the rest so I could slide the tank diagonally and get it all painted or stained. The piece coming off can be do on its own and nailed back on.

[surf&turf]

Looks awesome!!

[n8n]

Thx bro, Tonight I got the remaining hardwood purchased, cut, and installed on the stand. We also decided to go with a stain instead of white paint. Tomorrow I have a masters class, my plan is to have trim on before the macna this weekend. I have approval to stain it prior to the show in morning so house can air out while we are in DC looking at all the new toys.

 

Also have strong disapproval on ghetto sump and am being pushed towards a trigger systems sump. I'm also looking at lifereef but there is a large lead time.

 

 

 

Currently we are leaning towards the cherry.

Edited September 1, 2015 by n8n

[menglish]

Can you post some better pics of your bean animal? I have the same system on my tank, but I am not sure I did it correctly. Once I turn on back the pumps, the air bubbles never stop. I have to take the tubing out of the water for a seconds, then submerge it again. Is that how it is supposed to work?

 

thanks

[n8n]

Can you post some better pics of your bean animal? I have the same system on my tank, but I am not sure I did it correctly. Once I turn on back the pumps, the air bubbles never stop. I have to take the tubing out of the water for a seconds, then submerge it again. Is that how it is supposed to work?

 

thanks

There is a huge thread at reef central, what you are describing is common. My tank is not up yet so all I can really do is paraphrase what I read.

 

The original bean animal had all the pipes at the same level. For a lot it took 30 minutes for the main drain to go to full siphon. For some it never went full siphon. The two fixes I read was to 1) place the main drain 1/2 inch or so lower than the second drain or 2) drill a few holes in part of the second drain right above the water line. Both solutions apparently fix the bean animal not going full syphon and bubbling.

 

It'll probably be a month before mine is up and I'm sure I'll be tuning it up so I can take pictures but don't use mine as a reference.

 

The reason the drains are upside down U shaped is to prevent water from swirling like a toilet. My tank that is up is Herbie style ( straight pipe ) and the main drain is about 6 inches below the waterline to prevent. If the drain inlet is less than 6 inches you might get swirl and need to point it down. I'm not sure if I'm going to need to do that mine is about 5" from waterline. I have my plumbing dry fit in drain to experiment and tune it up.

 

The other thing is the middle drain with the air valve, make sure the air tube is above the waterline (barely). The purpose is to force main drain to be full syphon and turn second drain to air line. If main drain gets clogged the waterline should raise and submerge the little air tube. That will convert the second drain to full siphon once air purges.

 

The other thing to keep in mind is you probably need to close valve some on main drain till you get it tuned. That's the same as my Herbie system. You turn it till you get the waterline basically between the first and second drains. The main drain will be full syphon ( partially closed off ) the second drain will occasionally take a few drips that should be nearly enaudiable. The third pipe should remain dry.

 

Hopefully that helps out.

 

Nathan

Edited September 2, 2015 by n8n

[zygote2k]

FWIW, gate valves are a much better option for adjusting flow/drain, plus they don't generate any torque on the surrounding pipes especially near bulkheads.

Edited September 2, 2015 by zygote2k

[n8n]

I was just curious, what specifically makes a gate valve better than a ball valve?  The tank was setup by the previous owner with a ball, and my existing tank (herbie) has ball also.  I honestly default all my valves to true union ball so I can both uses them as a valve and also take them apart when needed.  The only real difference in the valves on this tank and my last tank, is they are schedule 40 instead of schedule 80.

 

When you say torque, do you mean the weight of the valve pulling down on the pipes and bulkhead?  I'm not trying to be picky, but the weight of the water in the pipe is probably significantly higher than the difference between a gate and a ball valve.  Plus if I had a gate valve, I would have to have atleast one union which would probably offset the weight difference.  Either way before I run the system I'm going to bolt/strap everything down instead of just having stuff "hanging" and pulling excessively down on things. 

 

Thanks!

 

-Nathan