600 Gallon Upgrade Build

Oh man you got me worried about my sump not fitting in my new stand now. So was it too wide, too long....?

Combination of both. They built it for the calculation of sump flow for my tank and this sump was the suggested size. If I move it to where it is flushed in the corner of the stand, I probably could fit everything I need to make it work and not hopefully look crowded. :deadhorse1::deadhorse1::deadhorse1:
 
Got it Chris, thanks buddy!!
Hey Wayne were you going with the skimmer you showed me earlier I believe it was an octopus? Or have you changed?
Corey
 
Got it Chris, thanks buddy!!
Hey Wayne were you going with the skimmer you showed me earlier I believe it was an octopus? Or have you changed?
Corey

It looks like it will have to change. I am looking at various internal protein skimmers as we speak.
 
not sure what the budget is Wayne but I really like my ATB skimmer. Easy to take apart and clean, no issues with pump failure and pulls the nastiest stuff I have ever seen.
 
not sure what the budget is Wayne but I really like my ATB skimmer. Easy to take apart and clean, no issues with pump failure and pulls the nastiest stuff I have ever seen.

The ATBs now have the DC pumps too which I really like. Energy efficient and have a feeling they'll have a really long life with the way in which they are designed. Just sent Waveline an e-mail asking whether they could be used on a closed loop or not.
 
not sure what the budget is Wayne but I really like my ATB skimmer. Easy to take apart and clean, no issues with pump failure and pulls the nastiest stuff I have ever seen.

Not really a budget. I can basically just save to get what is necessary in a perfect world. It just extends the build. I am cool with that knowing that it will work out in the end and I will be happy.


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The ATBs now have the DC pumps too which I really like. Energy efficient and have a feeling they'll have a really long life with the way in which they are designed. Just sent Waveline an e-mail asking whether they could be used on a closed loop or not.

This is true. The main reason I am using them as my return.


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Placed the sump under the stand. My calculations are seriously off. Might have to go with an internal skimmer. Planned on having a refugium and auto top off tank in addition to the sump. Looks like more custom work to be done. Very poor planning on my part.

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The sump looks great in there! From my angle here it looks like you will have plenty of room for the perfect filtration system for your sweet tank!
 
The sump looks great in there! From my angle here it looks like you will have plenty of room for the perfect filtration system for your sweet tank!

I don't know dca. My measurements were off. This is another perspective I was trying to do.

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And this is the space I have left. I might have to do more custom work.
 
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Wayne, it looks like it should still fit. How wide is your skimmer?

I think you have a couple options... You could possible shave a little off the side supports and reinforce them the stand in the corners.

Worse case, you could remake your refugium and not replace your skimmer.
 
Wayne, it looks like it should still fit. How wide is your skimmer?

I think you have a couple options... You could possible shave a little off the side supports and reinforce them the stand in the corners.

Worse case, you could remake your refugium and not replace your skimmer.

The skimmer is 19" wide. If I run the sump parallel to the long side and place it on one side I should be ok. I will have about 20" to play with so I will run a tank side the sump for the refugium and get like a 40 gallon fall and use that as the top off tank.


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The skimmer is 19" wide. If I run the sump parallel to the long side and place it on one side I should be ok. I will have about 20" to play with so I will run a tank side the sump for the refugium and get like a 40 gallon fall and use that as the top off tank.


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That should work well. The beauty of your tank placement and the way you constructed your stand, you will have access to both the front and back of your sump. Will you be able to access from the sides too? How are you planning the finish on your stand. Will you be paneling the sides? Cabinetry?
 
I am not 100% sure one how you can lay this out, but one thing that may help is automating your RODI directly off a water line to have it refill your top off tank. By doing this your top off tank is always full and you can go with a much smaller one. You can get a small 5 gallon tank. Your tank doesn't evaporate 5 gallons all at once so you will always have enough water. The easiest way to do it is just put a solenoid on a float switch that will be in your top off tank. You can go to autotopoff dot com and get the solenoid and float switch, If you want to get a little fancier Buckeye filed Supply has a high low switch that is designed to have the RODI make the water all at once. I am not sure how big your sump or refugium are but if you can steal some space in the design just glue in a partition and make the top off water in there leaving you with more room under the stand.
 
I am not 100% sure one how you can lay this out, but one thing that may help is automating your RODI directly off a water line to have it refill your top off tank. By doing this your top off tank is always full and you can go with a much smaller one. You can get a small 5 gallon tank. Your tank doesn't evaporate 5 gallons all at once so you will always have enough water. The easiest way to do it is just put a solenoid on a float switch that will be in your top off tank. You can go to autotopoff dot com and get the solenoid and float switch, If you want to get a little fancier Buckeye filed Supply has a high low switch that is designed to have the RODI make the water all at once. I am not sure how big your sump or refugium are but if you can steal some space in the design just glue in a partition and make the top off water in there leaving you with more room under the stand.

The problem with this approach is you burn through di a lot faster because ro/di units are much more efficient when making batches of water and not small amounts.
 
That should work well. The beauty of your tank placement and the way you constructed your stand, you will have access to both the front and back of your sump. Will you be able to access from the sides too? How are you planning the finish on your stand. Will you be paneling the sides? Cabinetry?

No access from the sides. Well maybe.
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I will be surrounding the tank with foam. This is an example of what I want to do except maybe a more modern look.
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It will be in two pieces and wheels will be installed on the bottom so when it comes to maintenance all I have to do is pull apart and move to the side. And when I'm finished roll it back into place.


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I am not 100% sure one how you can lay this out, but one thing that may help is automating your RODI directly off a water line to have it refill your top off tank. By doing this your top off tank is always full and you can go with a much smaller one. You can get a small 5 gallon tank. Your tank doesn't evaporate 5 gallons all at once so you will always have enough water. The easiest way to do it is just put a solenoid on a float switch that will be in your top off tank. You can go to autotopoff dot com and get the solenoid and float switch, If you want to get a little fancier Buckeye filed Supply has a high low switch that is designed to have the RODI make the water all at once. I am not sure how big your sump or refugium are but if you can steal some space in the design just glue in a partition and make the top off water in there leaving you with more room under the stand.

Considering how the tank is placed I would have to run that line through my attic and I'm afraid of the attic literally. I have a hose coming off my fresh water tank so I have no problems filling the top off tank. I will be going to the site you referenced to get their water top off kit. Thank you for your idea.


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The problem with this approach is you burn through di a lot faster because ro/di units are much more efficient when making batches of water and not small amounts.

Well that's a fact I knew nothing about. Thanks for the new knowledge.


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What was the skimmer you were using first?
I too am curious how those new DC pump skimmers work....right now I have a custom built geo skimmer that rocks out!!
Corey
 
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