220 Inwall - Plan

[Im Lon 2]

But, I figured it would help even out / level any imperfections in the stand.

That would be enough reason for me to leave it. I don't think it will mater if you do or don't, But like you said if there are any imperfections it will take care of them.

You could always paint the stand with Kilz paint or an outdoor paint to prevent it from rotting. I wish I would have done this like jarhed did. His looks great!

 

[jarhed]

Thanks Lon!

Only thing is that mine isnt completely painted. I didnt paint the very bottom and now wish I did. There is almost always water on the floor, usually because of my own stupid goofs. At least most of the time they are not saltwater.

I just used a semi-gloss interior paint. Cheapest I could find. Works beautifully on the walls and the stand.

 

[Im Lon 2]

The only time I get water on my floor is when I put my hands in the tank and it drips when I pull them out. The top off is done by a float switch.

I'm thinking about putting a "T" on the return pump back to the tank, so I can hook up a On/Off valve on both sides of the "T". On the other side of the Valve have a Garden Hose hookup so I can drain the tank quickly for water changes. Then I will not have to worry about trying to start a Siphon. Right now it makes it tuff with the sump on the basement floor to start a siphon.

 

[bheron]

[bOnly thing is that mine isnt completely painted. I didnt paint the very bottom and now wish I did."[/b]

!! Man, thats a great point. I will be sure to do this as well. I've heard alot about this KILZ stuff.

 

[bheron]

Update: 7/7

Update: 7/7

Just an update with pics.

The contractors have now been here for a week and just about the whole basement is framed.

This morning we worked out the details around the tank stand - leveling and framing (see pics below).

Essentially, as mentioned above, I removed the plywood base. We're going to try to level it with custom shims cut from pressure treated wood (I know Joseph, you recommended we cut/shave/sand the base to make it even). Anyway, this is the route we've chosen and I think it'll work out ok.

Some pics:


Setting up:

Beginning the framing (see stand in back)

Side wall in Gym (tank in way back, behind HVAC)

Is this my assistant...or boss? Either way, she doesnt do any cutting and somehow makes all the rules!

(thanks for approving THIS project, dear

This is where we (they) are as of end of today - you can see they've begun framing out the stand and tank room...

Me, the proud future owner, standing tall behind my dream system...

( the stand is 42" high)

Looking into the tank room from the side door...

A closeup of how we're (they're) framing out the soffit...

 

[bheron]

Latest pics just posted above ^^^

 

[bheron]

And, NOW, the area of much debate -- the bottom, inside of the stand.

I removed the plywood base and my contractor installed an "inner" frame of pressure treated wood that he nailed directly into the concrete floor. From there he attached that to the stand.

Thats all for now!
Will be posting my sump/fuge/filtratin designs soon.

 

[jarhed]

Lookin good!

Hey, lemme tell you this now before you start dry walling. My little fish closet seems to be ok for space, although cramped, but if I leave a closed loop pump running, the return pump running, and the skimmer pump running, along with the calcium reactor, the humidity builds up like mad. It's not hot, and the water doesnt heat up, especially with my clip on fan blowing into the sump, but the moisture is mad if I close the door.

I have a vent up top and an AC duct blowing in, but the AC doesnt usually come on at night. Thats when it gets ugly. Then and when it's a particularly hot day.

I'm considering putting the exhaust fan I have standing by in the garage into the ceiling. At least it'll draw air out of the room, which will force air to be drawn INTO the room.

Be mindful of this little issue in a small enclosed space.

 

[bheron]

Hey Jarhead, thanks for the tip (its great having you right ahead of me!)

I've been worried about the same thing -- not temp as much but humidity. Did you drywall your room with greenboard?

Anyway, been talking with my contractor about some kind of exhaust fan directly to the outside. The one wall of the room is an outside wall. he's gonna drill a hole and install a fan. Also, to allow air to come into the room, we're going to put a small vent on the other wall - to draw air into the room while its blowing out on the other end.

is this what you mean?

ive seen some good stuff on here about different fans, but havent gone looking or pricing. do you have any in mind?

 

[jarhed]

Thats exactly what I mean. Thats a good idea. Of course, I dont want my fan to run constantly, only when needed, so I'm thinking about a humidistat to turn it on and off.

I only used green board right above the tank. The rest of the inside wall (to your back and right side behind the skimmer if your looking at the back of the tank) is pre-existing drywall. Lots of holes and so on from deconstruction so I painted it with two coats of semi-gloss.

 

[bheron]

Sounds good. Yea, some people have theirs on a "humistadt", but I wouldnt know how to install one. I'm starting out with a "variable control" so I can adjust it at least. but it sounds like if a humistadt can detect when it "should" go on, that would be best!

 

[bheron]

Here's what I'm thinking for my back room plumbing setup. First phases of design and I cant do mcuh for another 3 weeks or so. So... I PLAN...

Here's what I'm thinking, viewing from the back:

1) Display Tank
2) 75g Fuge/Sump
3) 18g Fuge
4) 15g QT


And now, same picture, with the plumbing configuration:

I'm going to make all of this from my current 75g glass tank. Will have glass custom cut and will glue myself into compartments (I did this on my 20g fuge and it worked great!)

FROM TANK (Green Lines)

1) Water flows in through the 2 Megaflows (MF1, MF2) ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ Yes, I wil have Dursos or Stockmans installed. I believe the holes are either 1ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ or 1.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚

2) Water from overflow travels to the Sump/Fuge via the green lines. MF1 splits between the fuge and the sump, with a ball valve to control flow to Fuge. MF2 goes straight into Skimmer area.

3) Water from MF2 hits isolated compartment for the Skimmer. This area is sealed off to make sure the output from the skimmer goes directly into the next chamber, allowing the skimmer to be fed only raw flow from the display. It will also overflow any extra flow into the baffle section

4) Water enters baffles. Not sure if 3 baffles will be enough here. I really want to maximze my ability to remove all microbubbles. Will more baffles eliminate more bubbles?
Water from fuge will overflow into the return area. Might put some baffles here to? Thoughts?

RETURN TO TANK (Orange Lines)

1) Mag18 will drive the return.

2) Two returns via the MF1 and MF2 with Loc-Lines on the end

3) A third return will go up and feed the Macro and Pods fuge.
The Macro/Pods fuge will probably be an 18 Gallon rubbermaid that will gravity feed the pods to the display, and also to a separate 15g Glass QT tank.

- I got the 15g Glass QT tank on sale at a local LFS ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ it was predrilled with one 1ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ hole. So I plan to keep this inline with the tank flow for two purposes: a) for extra volume and storage of LR, Heaters, Macro, Pods and b) for a secondary quarantine tank.

4) After Quarantining my fish in a separate 20 gallon I would like to have a separate area to allow them to get accustomed to the water as well as eating. I feel this will be a good ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œmiddle stopââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ for them on the way to my Display Tank.

Please come back with critique/comments/thoughts. I'm hoping to incorporate as much as I can before I build too much!

 

[bheron]

Its so quiet on this thread, sometimes I think its just me and you Jarhead.

Since no response or feedback on my sump/fuge/plumbing design, I'll post the latest update pics.

The plumbing for the sink went into today.

A simple 2' x 2' plastic sink:

I'm so excited since I think this will be one of the greatest single benefits I can add to the tank room. I have a feeling this is going to come in very handy.

B/c I'm in the basement, the sink will drain into a sump with a pump:

I had one of these in my prior home so I'm pretty familiar with it.

And here's a look at the whole setup as it stands today.

Well, thats all for now.

I guess bring back the tumbleweeds and wind sound effects for this thread.

 

[Stile2]

Actually I am following with great interest!'
I am planning my on new setup with a custom 77 gallon, small house equals small tank.

I just don't have that many comments since I've only being doing this about 9 months, although my 29 gallon is doing great.

Wish I had a basement to work with.

Keith

 

[bheron]

Hey Keith, thanks for the reply! I just came from a 75 gallon. Hang around - this things being done real-time but there will hopefully be some helpful stuff!

 

[NexDog]

I'm just so jealous of that basement and all that room! I do have a small room to hold my in-wall but 250g is the biggest I can go. If I had a basement, I'do 400-500 gallons.

 

[melev]

Bryan, let me help break up the silence a tad.

Over all, it looks well thought out to me. Since you have so much space, you might consider using a different external pump instead of the submersible Mag 18. The Mag will add heat to the water as long as the pump is running, which would be 24/7. A Sequence pump would be good. Make sure whatever you choose has the power to push the water vertically.

About the microbubbles you are worried about. Check out this thread. You don't have to do exactly as I suggest, but something along these lines will help greatly. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=626771

I see 3 lines draining into the area of the skimmer, but it looks like only one feeds the skimmer directly. Is there a reason for this?

Your transition acclimation tank is a nice feature. You should rename it before someone tells you how unwise it is to incorporate a QT tank into your system.

 

[bheron]

"I'm just so jealous of that basement and all that room! I do have a small room to hold my in-wall but 250g is the biggest I can go. If I had a basement, I'do 400-500 gallons."

- Nextog: thanks. yea, I'm going from absolutely NO space in my old setup to this huge room. i even downsized it a bit, from 10'x8' to 8x8 and it still looks big! Its going to make a workd of difference from before.
PS - I would love to go bigger but 210 was my limit. and trust me - its plenty big!

 

[bheron]

"Since you have so much space, you might consider using a different external pump instead of the submersible Mag 18. The Mag will add heat to the water as long as the pump is running, which would be 24/7. A Sequence pump would be good. Make sure whatever you choose has the power to push the water vertically."

- Marc, good point. Ive thought about this b/c I know it adds alot. One of the reasons I havent been sold on it is the fact that I'll have to drill for an external pump, right? I'm pretty sure my 75g glass AGA tank I'm going to use for my sump cant be drilled. I was thinking, however, that I could seal off a portion of the inside of the sump with glass thats drilled for the external pump. So, essence, the pump would be in a dry partition of the sump, and still be external.

With that said, I wouldnt know which to go with. You say a Sequence would be good? I'm looking for just enough flow to move 3-5x volume since I'll have 2 Tunze Streams in the tank for flow. I used the Mag18 on my 75g and it moved the water easily. Over 1000gph. I'll check out prices on the Sequence.


"About the microbubbles you are worried about. Check out this thread. You don't have to do exactly as I suggest, but something along these lines will help greatly. "

- Thats really good stuff! I love that idea. I'll incorporate it somehow into my glass sump. Maybe even use the PVC idea you mentioned.

"I see 3 lines draining into the area of the skimmer, but it looks like only one feeds the skimmer directly. Is there a reason for this?"

- Yes! Good catch. Dont know why I did that. They should all go into the skimmer and then just overflow. I read a good post from A. Calfo on optimizing your skimmer. Thats why I want to build that compartment and seal off the output from the skimmer.

"Your transition acclimation tank is a nice feature. You should rename it before someone tells you how unwise it is to incorporate a QT tank into your system."

- Ha. Yes, youre right. I'll have a seperate 20g qt in the room, not inline. I'll have to think up a better name for it.


Thanks for the input. I wouldnt think of designing a sump without your input. I'm going to design it and have the glass pieces cut custom for me by a place that did it when I built my 20g sump. It worked well.

Oh, also, will more baffles (more than 3) result in less microbubbles?

 

[melev]

If you trap the microbubbles in a bubble tower (you might need to use 4" PVC to hold all of those lines), it won't be an issue especially with reasonable flow. Make sure it is at least 5" taller than the water level in that section, to avoid salt spray/spatter/creep. The triple baffles will be fine if you run the sump flow at 3x to 5x the display. You might put them 2" apart, instead of 1" apart. I did that with my huge sump, and have zero-microbubbles.

Now about drilling your sump: Take a look at this thread. http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=538

If you are uncomfortable or unwilling to do that, you can make a J-hook to suck water out of the sump over the wall and into the pump. You'll have to prime it the first time, but never again until the pump is removed for cleaning. You can turn it on and off as much as you like, and it will always restart until the pump is 100% water-less.

The Sequence pump uses less power than the Mag pump. Huge selling point. The Dart would do the job. And by now, the newest version is the Uno, which I've only read about briefly. It might be a good one for your needs, I'm not sure.

Your transitional acclimation tank will be awesome for floating new arrivals that are trustworthy. Like frags of corals. They can float to get to the right temperature, but not touch your lighting, corals or be bothered by fish. Pumps won't affect it either. And if you put a small eggcrate stand in there, you could put your new coral on it, and put a piece of meaty food in the corner. Leave it alone and see if any hitchhikers crawl out of the coral to get to the food. What a nice way to remove pests.