A 15 gallon Build - Input Appreciated

[tripsied]

Well, after doing much reading (Thanks Stile2 (anyone ever tell you that you look a lot like Jeremy Irons?? ), Micki, Melev and many others) I am going to jump on the build log bandwagon. Why? I have learned a lot from reading the other build logs from here, as well as other boards and I am hoping that someone may either learn something from this or find an idea that they would like to incorporated into their own setup.

Most importantly, I hope to get some advice from those who have already done this, so I can minimize mistakes and learn something in the process!

So throughout this log, I will be going over design issues/concerns and what was done regarding them; discuss building methods used, etc.

We will start in the planning stage of the project:

Background

I have been keeping reef tanks since 2001, so that doesn't give me a whole lot of experience in designing and building a full setup from the ground up, being that I used stock tanks/lighting/filtration, etc. I decided that the first thing to do was to read some threads about other reefkeepers and their builds.

Some pertinent ones:

Stile2
Mota
Melev

These are just a few of the postings here on RC that have really inspired my efforts. There are many others, these are just the few I could think of at the moment.

The Planning Stage

I do not have the resources to do my dream system, a several million gallon tank, utilizing chopped hulls of 2 cruise liners welded together, so what I can do is a 15 gallon display tank with a sizable sump/refugium. The setting up of this system should provide enough learning experience that I can move to a larger system (i.e. 55 gallon, 75 gallon) with more confidence.

Design Issues

With all setups there are numerous design issues that must be overcome. The first being where to place the tank and what direction will the tank face. The two options I faced were:

1. Against a wall horizontal (the usual way of placing a tank)
2. Dead-end - this allows viewing on 3 sides (front, back, 1 short side)

The tank is going in my room in the basement, so wall space is at a premium, so I decided to go with option 2 and dead-end the tank.

Rationale:

1. I can place the tank next to my desk and view the tank while working.
2. People entering the room can view the tank on the opposite horizontal face (thus interrupting my work less)
3. Wall space is at a massive premium (room is 11 x 13)
4. (Most Important) I can locate all of the equipment at one end and not have the equipment intrude into the tank.

The one design issue that is really critical in this particular build is that I do not want any equipment located in the display at all, including powerheads, heaters, overflows, returns, etc. This is going to be a very "Zen/Feng Shui" kind of deal and I don't want the equipment in the way.

The issue of not having equipment visible in the tank is going to drive a lot of the decisions that I have to make regarding this setup, which will require a lot of planning (not something I am good at, yet need to master for this to work right).

Overflow Concepts
I am planning on having a sump/refugium in this setup. I have not had one before and have always felt that a sump/fuge would have made each of my setups that much better, so my intention is to design one into this system.

In order to have a sump/refugium, I have to be able to provide water to the sump. On the surface this seems simple enough yet this is a rather complex issue. Moving water over the side of the tank means 1 of 2 things: a hang on back overflow or a drilling overflows into the tank.

The HOB overflow is not an option in this build, as that would place equipment into the tank, thus leaving the option of a drilled overflow.

In keeping with the "no equipment zone" ruling, I also do not want to give up internal tank real estate either. This means that I have no other choice than to utilize some type of external overflow. The question is: How to do that?

In my research I have found that there are 2 prevalent styles of external overflows. 1. A weir type (I understand this to be a long thin slot cut into the back of the tank) or 2. Teeth cut into the tank (similar to the weir, the difference being that grooves are cut into glass allowing water to flow through the "teeth" rather than over a long slot).

In reading Stile2's 77 gallon project, he opted for the use of teeth cut into the short side of his tank. I am going to utilize that method, however, I have not yet gotten the nerve to attempt to cut the 15 tank. I will most likely do this when I get home from work this afternoon. It is a pretty scary concept for me, but I am going to bite the bullet and just do it! I will update with pics of the cutting.

In the next post, we will move onto the stand, since that is something I can start working on right away.

 

[tripsied]

The Stand

My intention is to dead-end the tank, so that means I can leave space in the rear of the tank for plumbing and wiring. The most important design feature of this particular stand is going to be the fact that I do not want any center braces. I want to be able to access the sump from either side of the tank. With a larger system this may or may not be as easy an issue to deal with, however, with a 15 gallon setup, I am looking at roughly 500 pounds maximum. I spoke with several friends of mine, who are contractors, who stated that they did not foresee any bowing issues, provided that I used 2 x 4's. The concensus (spelling???) was that the 2x4's should hold from 500 to 1,000 pounds without bowing.

So with this in mind, I needed to come up with dimensions for the stand. The dimensions were going to have to meet several criteria:

1. My woodworking ability (I am not all that great)
2. Tank had to fit on the stand
3. The need for room at the rear of the tank for plumbing and wiring. Tank is 24 inches.
4. A ledge to rest arms and hands on while viewing the tank.
5. The possibility of upgradining to a larger tank in the future.

Long Side
So I decided that 36 inches would be sufficient to hold the tank and accomodate the plumbing and wiring in the rear. The interior would also allow for a pretty large sump/refugium.

Short Side
The short side worked out to 16 inches (I will have to double check this measurement). This would allow me to locate the tank in the center of the stand and have enough room to put a "handrail" around the edge of the tank to hide the black trim and have something to lean on.

Construction of the Stand
I went to Lowe's and grabbed some 2 x 4's and began construction. I forgot to take photos, which was just as well, as I had made a mistake and purchased "pretzlized" 2x4's. I told you I wasn't the greatest of craftsmen!

So I went back to Lowe's and got some new 2x4's.

Lumber Selection
One of the things that I don't see covered in a lot of the build threads is lumber selection. So I will cover one of my mistakes in selecting some bad lumber here so no one else will make the same mistake.

Let's talk a little about what happened with me. I knew I wanted select pine 2x4's. The select pine has a nice whitish color to it and I could live with that until the skinning process. What I failed to do on this run, was spend time really looking at the lumber itself. I grabbed the first few board I could see, left and started chopping. Bad move! After spending several hours cutting the lumber and putting the top and bottom boxes together, they just would not make square corners and I was not able to attach the legs due to such bad variation.

My initial assumption was the my saw was off kilter, that, however, was quite the wrong assumption. It was the lumber I had selected. It resembled more of a pretzel than actual lumber! Back to Lowe's I went, feeling pretty stupid.

The second time around, I knew what I was after, so this time around I did something different and it had a major effect on the outcome of the product produced. I actually crawled into the bin as far as I need to in order to pull out the best looking boards. after this, I acutally put the lumber on the floor and rolled it around. There were 2 employees looking at me like I was nuts. Maybe I was being rather "Adrian Monk-ish" about it but I didn't care.

I would seriously suggest that you really study each piece of lumber before you buy it. Roll it on the floor and check all 4 sides, if one bows, toss it back in the bin and yank out another. Choosing the best lumber for your project will save you some major headaches in the long run!

Cutting the Lumber
I knew that my long sides were going to be 36 inches in length, so I cut them 36 inches using a compound mitre saw. I made each cut just on the outside of the pencil line (I was using a framing speed square, you can get them from HD, Lowe's or any other hardware store). What I did was line up the pencil line to the teeth of the saw until the teeth were sitting just on the inside of the pencil line so to be as close to "on the money" as possible.

The short sides were cut to 11 1/2 and 1 line (I'm not exactly sure what that measurement works out to).

I screwed together 2 boxes and started in on attaching them together.

The boxes were not as easy as it looked like it would be and attaching them together wasn't fun until I realized that clamps make for easier work.

I placed the legs on the outside of the boxes so as to not consume any internal real estate. The internal measurement is exactly 36 inches.

Top Brace

Bottom Brace

I now had to put the brace on for the short side of the tank. I decided to do something different and it really helped out a lot. The issue I had to overcome was plaicng the tank in the center of the stand so I could place the rail around the outside. Measuring it didn't really help, but I kept placing the tank crooked or what not. So I decided to raise the brace 3/8 of an inch above the stand.

Locking Brace

This is the locking brace. There is one in front and in the back of the tank. When the tank is placed correctly, it actually drops into place and I cannot wiggle the tank left or right, or slide it front to back.

This is the tank on the locking braces. The locking braces are great for proper placement of the tank on the stand.

The Completed Frame

Finaly, after several hours of work (yes, I am slow) the frame was completed for the stand!

This was taken in the work area just after completetion. Please bear in mind, I was using 150 watt halogen work light (the incandescents in the basement just simply do not provide enough light)
The tank fit perfectly and the locking braces did their job!

I put the tank and frame where the are eventually going to end up and checked to see if this was going to work.

Sure enough, once the small table with the lamp on it and the keyboard is moved the tank will fit nicely! You can just make out my 5 gallon reef tank that is currently sitting on a rickety bookshelf (that will be moving to my desk shortly).

The next post will be about my experience in drilling the tank. I am shaking just thinking about it, yet I bet once it's done I will be wondering what the heck I was so worried about.

 

[tripsied]

I guess I forgot to post wat equipment was going to into this setup and here I thought I had everything planned out lol!

Equipment:


15 gallon Perfecto Tank (24 x 12 x 12 3/4)

CoraLife 130 PowerCompact Light (2 x 65) with blue moonlight

Return pump - Mag 7 or 9 (has not been determined)

Sump Size: I have not determined the exact size of the sump as of yet. I have a few questions for Melev (the apparent "King of Sumps" )

Interior stand dimensions are 36 x 29 x 14.5, so I can work within those parameters.

I am intending on adding a PhosBan reactor and possibly a calcium reactor, that has of yet to be determined.

 

[tripsied]

So here is where I am at:

Last night I sat and stared at the tank for quite a long while and I am stuck. Here is where I am at:

The tank (across the short side) is 12 inches. I was considering plumbing 2 return manifolds and attempting to simulate the differing currents of tides changing. In order to accomplish this I would need space on either side of the overflow box. My best guess would be that 2 inches on either side would give me enough room for the plumbing. This is based on a tank measurement of 12 inches (it's actually slightly over that but not by much). So the width of 8 inches seems to be determined.

The next step is to figure out how deep the box needs to be. From what I have read thus far, in order to drill a hole in the glass, the hole needs to be 1.5 times the hole diameter from the edge of the glass (I believe that is correct, please let me know if I'm not) so for a 1.5 (the largest bulkhead) I need a 1.25 hole so I would need 2 inches on either side?? (1.25 / 2 = .75; .75 + 1.25 = 2...math is not my strong, please let me know if I am off base somewhere).

So I am guessing that the box would need to be roughly around 6 inches deep. Leaving the dimensions at 8 inches wide by 6 inches deep.

Is the height in this instance really an issue?? I am going to take a wild guess and say 4 or 5 inches should do the trick, but I am not positive. The only other thing I could come up with is make the height equal to or greater than the depth, which would put it at 6 inches or more for a total dimension of 8 x 6 x 6. That's pretty darn big isn't it??

I would really appreciate it alot if someone could check my thought process (and math lol) and see if I am on track and if I'm not, let me know where I strayed?

 

[tripsied]

I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do about the overflow as of yet.

I'll be getting a nice influx of unexpected cash tomorrow, so I will probably go and pick up a Mag 9 drive for the return. I realize that's overkill for this size of a tank, however, I'm intending to throttle it back quite a bit. This also provides an upgrade path for the future (I may decide to move up to a 30 gallon (which can fit on the same stand)

I am seriously considering cutting my 25 gallon high and using that for a display tank. I saw another thread (I have no where it was dang it) where someone had a 600 gallon tank (it was phenomenal) and made pillars out of PVC piping, drilled holes in the rock and put the rock on the pillars. It was really awesome. The height of the 25 gallon would allow me to do that and still no really alter any of my other plans. It just might make the cutting process all the much easier because it's 1/4 inch glass.

I gotta think about this one :lol:

 

[BeanAnimal]

I would opt for a flat weir instead of using teeth. The flow to the sump does not have to be that great. The lack of teeth will double the ability of the overflow to do surface skimming. The external overflow box will add strength to the slot that you cut for the overflow. The question is going to be how flat you are going to be able to cut the slot. You already have the tank so a custom from glass cages or similar is kind of out of hte question. You could always go the full DIY route and build you own acrylic tank

Bean

 

[BeanAnimal]

Ahh and you can certainly get small diamter diamond holesaws and use them and a drill press to cut your "teeth" for a perfect look and less chance of problems. Again though I would opt for a flat weir if you have the ability to do so.

 

[tripsied]

Thanks for the input Bean,

Over the past few days, I was seriously debating the teeth vs. flat weir issue. I think you are correct in that the flat weir is the best way to go. It is also the least amount of work involved, which translates to less chance for error.

I am kind of wondering how difficult it would be to build my own, given that I do not have a lot tools or space in which to work, it is definitely something to consider for the next tank!!!

 

[tripsied]

Updates

After much debate I have finalized a few things with the design of the system. One thing I haven't finalized is the decision of sticking to the original plan of the 15 gallon or using the 25 high that I have laying around. Fortunately, the plans that follow will work for both the 15 and the 25 high.

Building Plan Layouts

All of the designs/layouts were done in Visio. As far as i can tell, I have the Visio pages calibrated to 1 square = 1 inch, so things should be roughly to scale. I have firm dimensions notated.

Stand - Already built
First up is the detail of the stand design

Lumber is 2x4, the long pieces are 36 inches, the short ones are 11 1/2 (and 1 line)

Canopy - Not yet built
The lumber is 1x3. I have not figured out exact dimensions yet, as I have not built this yet and some of the stand dimensions are a little fuzzy, so I will need to remeasure, double check what I have listed here and go from there.

The canopy incorporates a "side-car" in which will be placed a custom acrylic holding tank specifically for holding water to do water changes with. I usually make a mess when doing water changes so this will have direct plumbing to the intake section of the sump. This tank will be filled via a Maxijet 1200 and will be drained via a ball valve below the 1 inch bulkhead on the bottom.

Plumbing Layout

This is a rough diagram of how the plumbing is going to be laid out. I am going to be using spa-flex tubing where possible. I beleive there are flex tubes available for 1.5 and 1 inch drains. This will ease my setup time, as well make the system easy to pull apart and clean.

Please note that this layout does not include the plumbing from the holding tank in the side-car. Again, flex tubes will be used.

Sump

The sump is going to incorporate 3 zones: Intake, Return and Refugium. My intention is to use the EPDM method of inserting the baffles until I feel confident enough of the design that I can silicone them inplace.

The return is going to be a MAG 7 or 9, as I intend to plumb a return manifold, though I have seen a link for the WavySea

http://www.wavysea.com

and may go with one of these, centered in the tank using the 360 degree rotation of the unit. This affords me the ability of having variable flow in the tank, but mostly having only 1 unit visible in the tank. I think in light of the constraints I have put on this project, though pricey, this might be the thing I have been looking.

Does anyone know of a less expensive alternative to this??? Can you provide a link???

Thanks for stopping by!


Tom

 

[tripsied]

Got some progress done on the build. I went and picked up the 29 gallon Perfecto sump. Its dimensions are actually 30 x 12 x 18. So I had my measurements wrong in the previous post. :mad2: Although it's not in the photo, I added a 15 x 36 sheet of Aspen board for the sump to sit on. I am pretty happy with that. I still have to plan the skin job for the tank, but that will be for later.

Here is the tank and sump

I also got the top trim of the display tank cut. Using a Dremel sanding bit, I cut through the top of the trim. (NOTE: Wear safety glasses if you are going to do this, I got plastic shrapnel in my eye (no damage) because I didn't think about it.) Then using a thin cutting wheel, I cut the side off.

Here is the Dremel bit

Here is the trim finally cut

and a close up

The progress is good so far. The next item on my list is to get the Krylon Fusion and paint that whole wall black. I am going to take Bean up on his suggestion of a flat weir, as opposed to teeth. It cuts down on possible error. I am also going to DIY the external overflow box. I have few questions about the box, so I am going to post it in the DIY forum. I will post a link when it is posted

 

[tripsied]

Here is the link to the overflow questions:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1049596

 

[tripsied]

The Weir is cut!!!

The Weir is Finally Cut Thread

Yes, I know I am being totally retarded over this simple little thing, but I kinda can't help it. I am really proud of myself for getting this done! I can't say it wasn't scary and there still my be issues with the cut but the fact is, I did it! I know you have heard it before but it is really applicable here - if I can do it, you can too! So if you have been considering doing something like this, you really can do it, it is not that bad at all, it just takes some planning.

More importantly, I could not have done it without the help of people here at RC. Reading and rereading thread after thread finally gave me the confidence to do it.

What I Did

I went to Lowe's today and bought the RotoZip. I wasn't really positive on the Dremel, I know people have done cuts with the Dremel, I just felt more comfortable with the RotoZip.

I used the TC1 tile cutting bit that everyone has been suggesting. It is a great suggestion as it worked pretty well for me.

I used blue masking tape to mark my cut lines using a Sharpie marker. I also had a bottle of distilled water handy.

I squirted the tank with some water, took a deep breath, turned the RotoZip on, clenched my teeth and started cutting.

At first things didn't really go so well. The RZ seemed like it was sticking and I was having trouble squirting the blade with water but I finally got it down. I decided that I should cut some "wings" into the sides of the weir. I have read other threads where people did not cut wings into the weir and their tank cracked. Usually the cracking came roughly 48 to 72 hours after the cut IIRC. Iam going to "wet-in" the tank for 72 hours and hope that a crack does not develop. These were supposed to be semi-rounded, like a chamfer, but due to my inexperience they came out more straight than round.

The hardest part of the cut was the inital cut-in. I had left the top portion of the black plastic trim on and to cut through that. The burning plastic smells nasty and spits hot shrapnel (really not fun when you're leaning in close to see what you're doing and get smacked in the forehead with hot plastic). Once the inital cut in was done, the straight line wasn't too bad.

I would suggest that you orient the tank so you are pulling the RotoZip toward you or away from you, rather than cross-wise (I cut crosswise and got a nasty wavy line.


The Result

One heck of an ugly cut, but it works (so far)

A better view of the water line

Here is a close up of my first cut ever, yup, it's downright ugly but it was my first ever (on a tank).

The final view of the weir

The side cuts cannot be seen from below the waterline. If worse comes to worse I can always put some black acrylic or glass in there to clean it up a bit. All in all I am pretty happy with it.

Tom