55 All in One Part 1: The Plan

[Spiffyguy]

I was planning on upgrading from my 24 nano cube to a 37 gallon cube from Oceanic. I was going to make a custom "Sump" area in back similar to the all in one tanks that are being made by all the manufatures now. I have learned that Oceanic is no longer making the 37s and a 30 will be just too small for what I am planning. So I have a 55 gallon AGA with a stand that I think I am going to mod off one end to incorporate my all in one design. I know a sump would probably work a bit better but the tank is tempered and I won't use an external overflow. Plus it gives me something to build and mod.

I am looking to take 6 inches at the end of the 55 and convert that into my sump area. I will have a center overflow area that will house the pump for a hang on skimmer, probably a Remora. I also would like to set up return nozzles on either side of this panel. The idea is not to have any powerheads in the display portion of the tank. It may be a good spot to use modded Maxi Jets. I need some suggestions on the lay out of this back area. I am looking into using a 48 inch T5 setup from Sunlight Supply, I am unsure what number of bulbs I will use, probably a 4 bulb setup since it is 11 inches wide and the tank is 12 inches. I will use acrylic covers sprayed black to keep the light out of any of the "sump" areas where I don't want light to enter.

The area I have to lay out will be 12 wide 6 long and roughly 18.75 high, basicly whatever the water line is. Not sure where exactly to measure but I went about .75 of an inch below the top plastic. I could expand this out to 8 inches long if I needed to. I also have to decide if I am going to spray paint the area black to keep it hidden. The tank may possibly be used at a later date a few years down the road as a sump on a 180 I am also drooling over. The 180 is not possible any time soon due to cash and no good location in my current house.

So this is the simplest idea I have come up with so far. It would be nice to incorporate a small refugium in this with a little palm light but I am not sure how to get it in there and still make it easy enough to move things around if I need to. The powerheads would either be 900s or 1200s and Y off to both outlets, unless I use a MJ mod in there. Then I could maybe just have the bottom outlets and permenant attach the modded MJs to the divider baffle, if that makes sense. Let me know what ideas you guys may have.

 

[MayoBoy]

Have you thought about taking a foot of the tank going longways instead? That would give you enough room for a 'fuge and you could make a sideways "U" shaped stand/hood combo to hide everything.

 

[Spiffyguy]

I am not sure what you mean. the tank is 48 inches long. I was planning on useing the left hand side for the sump area. FIgured 6 inches or so would be enough and leave me with 42 inches of display area. I would try to do something like a false back wall but the tank being 12 inches wide wouldn't be useful. Since I will have a hang on skimmer I was thinking about adding a small cabniet type attachment to the stand and work that up to the hood. Give me a small place to hide food and such on the bottom and the skimmer would be enclosed.

 

[Spiffyguy]

this is a simple sketch of what I have in mind.

The 1st pic would be looking long ways down the tank.

 

[MayoBoy]

OK, for some reason I thought you were taking the space out of the back. You could go with 12" or so and have plenty of room for a fuge. It would also help to balance the look with a 36" x 18" viewing area (not exactly the golden mean but pleasing none the less).

A few ideas that come to mind:

A double offset layer of black eggcrate for your "divider" between the tank and sump/fuge. This would allow free water flow while still keeping the guts hidden.

A closed loop with a submerged Mag 7 or 9.5. Bring the pipes up and run them around the perimeter of the tank. Even better, a SCWD or Oceans Motion 2 way for a "surge".

I still like the idea of a sideways U stand and canopy. It will hide the sump/fuge, skimmer, etc as well as any piping. Bad ASCII:

_______________________
| |
| | Hood
| __________________|
| |
| |
| S/F | Tank
| |
| |_________________
| |
| |
| |
| Stand |
| |
| |
|_____________________|

EDIT, well crap, it looked fine in the create pane. I'll be doing some AutoCAD work later and post it then.

 

[Spiffyguy]

The mag 7 may be a bit much as far a price and wattage. I am trying to do it sort cheaply. That is why I was thinking doing the mJ mods. people seem to like them and say they do a great job. If I used a total of 4 MJ 900s, 2 of which I already have the total wattage would be 34 watts for all water movement. I could make some mounts on the false wall to mount them too. Either on top or on bottom depending on how the placement would work best. Then output from the sump area with the other 2 mj900s. Just a thought.

I will be using the existing stand which is not the greatest but I may paint it. I could make some minor additions to it but I am not sure I would want to undertake any major revamping. At that point would probably just build a new stand. Main reason I am thinking this is I want out of my nanocube, and the 37s don't appear to be around. USe what you got sort of mentatlity.

Also would the false wall need to be glass or would you think acrylic would work. I know that it won't bond to the glass with silicone but I would think it would hold in place for this application.

 

[Spiffyguy]

I was looking into things and MJ 900s are 230 gph. If I ran two, one on each side as the lower outlets that would give my 460 gph at around 8x turnover for the tank. I could then take 2 mj 900s do the MJ mod on them and mount them along the false wall where I would need them. Could be permanent or use a magnet. Do you think this would be enough turnover and flow for softies and a few LPS? With a 4 bulb T5 I doubt I could get many SPS. Think it comes out to 216 watts.

Also in the first pic I have baffles set up to help keep micro bubbles out. Do you think these would be needed? If so what is good spacing? I had figured I think 1/2 inch.

 

[Nanook]

Are those reef-safe fish in them pictures???

 

[Spiffyguy]

yeah they are shadowy reef fish.

 

[hagfish]

Just a thought, but what is this sump area getting you? I see very little benefit honestly. I guess it will hide your powerheads. But it's at the expense of blocking off a perfectly good, viewable area of the tank. Why not just hide your powerheads among the rock work somehow?

 

[Spiffyguy]

well it will hid all the equipment, heate, powerheads and the skimmer. I disliek viewing all the wires and such. Also if I can configure it right I can put a small area that can be lit with cheato. That is why I posted up to try to get input on the configuration. Also since the false wall will have an overflow it will help to aerate the water as well. Any carbon of phosban can be put back here and out of the way. It is also a project to work on too.

I would love to have a sump and a reef ready tank but I am basicly using what I have available already, with the exception of skimmer and lights.