180 custom reef build started 8/15/13 !

Man you aren't kidding on the new equipment. I'll be glad when that's over!

I still haven't figured out my sump yet. The 75 under the stand is tight, I only have 6" between the bottom of the front of the stand and the top of the 75

Inside the stand I have plenty of room

I been thinking of building my own acrylic sump, or just buying one, but height would drop down to 16" from 21" tall, same length, 4'

Or keeping what I have and just plumb it in

The positive note is, with the 75 , I can make the baffles taller, maybe 16-17" tall vs, they would have to be 13" tall with a smaller sump
 
I bought a internal Aquamaxx coneS -CO3 skimmer last night

A brand new reef octopus 200 external skimmer just came on the forms a hour ago here for $300 bucks

Not sure about the sump, if I want to have the refugium after the skimmer, then return, or put the return in the middle, and use a gate valve over to the refugium to control the flow

Last time on my 120 with dual over flows, I had a heck of a time using " Herbie " style plumbing. To get the system to balance out with the refugium on the opposite side

When I cut power, to feed, I would have to re balance the whole set up again for 30 minutes

Return pump is going to be external

I bought the glass hole bit from Amazon to drill the 75 for $6.00 shipped for a 1" bulk head !
 
Yeah. I won't lie I am a 5gallon bucket refugium kind of guy lol. I will probably do a externally plumped Skimmer, 5 gallon bucket of chaeto with Reflector light, Filter socks, and a couple small things in a 40B. But thats just me.
 
I had a 40B under my 120. They make great sumps. I wish I could fit two of them under my stand, I would do it in a heart beat, and make one chamber for my ATO top off
 
Big day today! Removed the 75 as a sump, and bought a 40 Breeder , now going to be the sump. The 75 was way to high, and took up all the room beneath the stand

The tank on the right, is a 20 Gallon high, fits perfect in the corner of the stand for ATO
Top Off water

40B fits perfect also, and is 16" tall.

Got both on sale at Petco's $1.00 per gallon sale ! Both tanks came out to $65 bucks!

Live sand is in the 180 !!

Aquascaping done !

Tomorrow I pick up the baffles for the 40 Breeder, and silicone them in tomorrow night, and plumb it in over the weekend !!

Were getting somewhere now!



 
Yeh, I could have made it work, but wanted room for the ATO tank, reactors, etc

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk
 
haha. i'll let you have the busy weekend. i'll knock a couple of beers back waiting for the cycle to be over. the only thing i need to do really is make the three doors. and buy a couple of things but funds aren't there for that. lol
 
Ok, changed things up again !

The 20High tank will be on a small stand inside the stand this weekend

It will be the Refugium, which I'll drill ( 2 ) 1" bulk heads into, and it will gravity drain into the 40B sump

The 40B sump now, will be split in half, which will house the Aquamaxx ConeS-CO3 skimmer, and return section last on the run

The Refugium will drain into the baffles going into the return area

Here's a quick sketch of what I have to start this weekend :

 
how does the water get Into the refugium?, I would have either one of the drains Into the refugium or the less desirable have the pump y going one Into the refugium and one Into the refugium. I would just do the drain Into the refugium though.
kevin
 
No, You don't want drains lines into the Refugium, because then you end up with
Detritus in your Refugium

Also when doing a " Herbie " Full siphon, you don't want a gate valve to control the flow on the drain line going over to the Refugium, it will be a constant fight to balance the dual over flows

The 2 drain lines that are running full siphon " Herbie " will be independent line's draining into the skimmer section, each having a " Gate Valve " to adjust the flow. If you use Ball valve on a " Herbie " They are very hard to balance also

The Refugium will be set up just like on my 120.

It will come off the return pump, which will TEE off to the Refugium, with a 3/4 line
 
Some pics from today's dual sump build. 20 Gallon high drilled for ( 2 ) 1" drains. I was worried about one clogging, so I drilled a 2nd just incase

I don't see any dis-advantage to having a 2nd gravity drain, so 20 minutes later,
( 2 ) holes are drilled for 1" bulk heads, and the bit was ony $6.00 shipped!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I put plumbers putty around the circle where the hole was going to be drilled out

Left a garden hose on low, so the bit would have constant cooling while drilling

10 minutes each hole, they came out perfect, no imperfections on the back side, a clean cut straight through !







 
Next, time to build the sump with the 40 Gallon Breeder!

Alittle clean up after the RTV 108 Silicone dries, and wait a few days for it to cure, and it's done!

Baffles are 1/4" thick, with " seemed" edges, which the glass shop does free of charge so you don't cut yourself. They came out to $37.00 for 4 of them, I only needed 3 of them at the moment

All baffles were cut 17-3/8" wide by 12" high except for one, which I made 10" high

Baffles are 2" apart for easier cleaning later on, and 2" high in the center

Last baffle to the return section is 10" high, the idea is water will flow to the lower point of gravity through the sump. By having the 1st section in the sump 12", my skimmer will be on a stand, which need's 9.5" of water, and the output, will be ran to the first baffle, so it doesn't keep skimming it's own water

I'm splitting the 40B in half, sharing the skimmer and return section, as I want the return section to be large enough to maintain water for a few days, so if my ATO crap's out, the return pump doesn't run dry if were away for a few days

The Refugium is on a 4" stand, so it will gravity feed over to the return section

Feeding the Refugium will be a Eheim 1062 External return pump, which is the main pump to feed the display, but I'll TEE off the return pump with a 3/4" line, with a gate valve to control the flow over to the refugium







 
Very clean looking set up and stand. I'm interested in how that skimmer works for you. I've had my eye on it for my future 180 build
 
Thank you!! I may re-do my aqua scaping, kinda takes the whole tank up

I may do 3 mountians instead of all these caves. Water cleared up ! Don't mind my sand dune's, I have the power heads on full blast to clear the water up, lol

 
Wow! I don't check this for a few days, and you've made HUGE progress! I was planning on doing EXACTLY what you've done for a refugium, so I'm glad to see it's working out for you!
 
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