ASL's 40 gal build

[asl4me76]

Mag 5 will be sufficient for return on your tank. You will want to eliminate any 90 degree elbows from the plumbing. Use 45's to improve flow.

Your drain lines don't work though. With three lines you should be setting them up in the BeanAnimal fashion which you sort of are already, however all three lines should run to your skimmer section and they must be separate and ideally go straight down with no elbows or 45's in the plumbing. (I believe you can use flexible pipe to make an "S" without issue) and you'd add a gate valve at minimum on the main siphon drain line. For maintenance most seem to put valves on all three drains but I don't recall it being absolutely needed.

Thread here:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1310585

Yes,I will drop all three down. I am still inquiring on the plumbing in the BA thread. Someone had mentioned dropping two of thee rains into the skimmer section and one into the fuge area. It was also advised to switch the return and fuge areas. So instead of skimmer > fuge > return to make it skimmer > return > fuge.

As for the drawing, in reality did not plan to have any hard 90 degree turns, but all 45 if I needed them. Did not want it getting backed up, clogged or any other variation. I also knew about the ball valve. I will have one on my primary drain and then on the return.

 

[zachts]

Yes,I will drop all three down. I am still inquiring on the plumbing in the BA thread. Someone had mentioned dropping two of thee rains into the skimmer section and one into the fuge area. It was also advised to switch the return and fuge areas. So instead of skimmer > fuge > return to make it skimmer > return > fuge.

As for the drawing, in reality did not plan to have any hard 90 degree turns, but all 45 if I needed them. Did not want it getting backed up, clogged or any other variation. I also knew about the ball valve. I will have one on my primary drain and then on the return.

Ok, cool. As far as drain routing there is no reason to have any of them go anywhere but to your skimmer section. The emergency overflow will likely never see water flow but if the main drain clogs then it will be acting as the drain and you want the water to still go to your skimmer and not dump into and stir things up in your fuge section. Where your fuge section goes depends on your flow thru the sump. with only a mag 5 I'd keep the fuge in the middle to avoid needing a circulation pump there. This is how mine works using a mag 5 and flow thru the fuge is very gentle with a little extra flow from my skimmer output and from the output of my GAC reactor.

It also depends what you are using the fuge for. If growing macro for nutrient export then you definitely want you water flowing thru before the return. If it is being used truly as a "refuge" for pods and such then it would make sense to have it on the outside with return in the middle of the sump.

:beer:

 

[Mrramsey]

You'll want to feed the fuge from the return line. There will not be enough flow from the secondary drain to feed a fuge.

 

[Mrramsey]

Ah just saw your post over in the BA thread.

 

[asl4me76]

You'll want to feed the fuge from the return line. There will not be enough flow from the secondary drain to feed a fuge. Ah just saw your post over in the BA thread.

Yes, I have been over there discussing and wanting to make sure that I had a full understanding of everything to ensure I get it implemented properly. As a result, I have redrawn the diagram for my reference when it comes to actually plumb this bad boy. I'm sure it will change some from the drawing, but it is a good indication.

I plan to take the return and use PVC piping up to about the bottom of the tank and then using flex tubing for the return from a Y that splits at the top of the PVC. I will also feed the return into the fuge area as well.

Here's my result:

 

[Mrramsey]

Perfect. That's pretty much how I have mine just on a much larger scale.

 

[aggie13reef]

Subbed. I just picked up a 40B and 20L from petco this morning! Went in with my wife for cat litter and saw the dollar per gallon sale and figured now was the best time to start! Been back and forth between wanting a 90 or something smaller and pulled the plug on the 40. I figure I can do a pretty nice SPS out of it. I have been wanting to start a build for months now since my current tank was done when I knew pretty much zero about reefing. The only thing I plan on not doing myself is the stand. I'm no carpenter. I like the idea for your plumbing setup. Good luck on the build! I need to figure out how I want my overflow....

 

[asl4me76]

Subbed. I just picked up a 40B and 20L from petco this morning! Went in with my wife for cat litter and saw the dollar per gallon sale and figured now was the best time to start! Been back and forth between wanting a 90 or something smaller and pulled the plug on the 40. I figure I can do a pretty nice SPS out of it. I have been wanting to start a build for months now since my current tank was done when I knew pretty much zero about reefing. The only thing I plan on not doing myself is the stand. I'm no carpenter. I like the idea for your plumbing setup. Good luck on the build! I need to figure out how I want my overflow....

The bottom of the 40 is tempered, so no drilling there. In all honesty with a it does provide nice depth, seeing a how it is not super big then I would go with the ghost overflow like I plan on doing. Then I would do the BA method as it has the built in fail safe. I can get you the link to the guy that OS doin the overflow via eBay and get hooked up. The overflow will come with the bulkheads needed. The only other bulkheads you'll need are for the return. As for your sump, I would take the 20 back and grab a 29 gal. They have the same dimensions for length and depth, it's just taller. I say that so you have more room tonoght either it if were to ever fail. More cushion for water to go and then still sit the sump up a though it was a 20!!

I don't know if Marco is still having a kick butt sale on rock and sand. You should head over and see! You may be able to get some kick butt rock for pretty cheap!

That's my recommendation for the tank to give you more real estate for scapub and corals!!

 

[aggie13reef]

The bottom of the 40 is tempered, so no drilling there. In all honesty with a it does provide nice depth, seeing a how it is not super big then I would go with the ghost overflow like I plan on doing. Then I would do the BA method as it has the built in fail safe. I can get you the link to the guy that OS doin the overflow via eBay and get hooked up. The overflow will come with the bulkheads needed. The only other bulkheads you'll need are for the return. As for your sump, I would take the 20 back and grab a 29 gal. They have the same dimensions for length and depth, it's just taller. I say that so you have more room tonoght either it if were to ever fail. More cushion for water to go and then still sit the sump up a though it was a 20!!

I don't know if Marco is still having a kick butt sale on rock and sand. You should head over and see! You may be able to get some kick butt rock for pretty cheap!

That's my recommendation for the tank to give you more real estate for scapub and corals!!

Yeah get me that link if you could. I plan on doing the BA method. I looked at the 29's and went back and forth but I think the shorter tank will give me more room in the stand. Who knows, I might have plenty of room with a 29, I need to figure out the stand because I definitely want something that has a nice wood look to it. I have seen some sweet DIYs on this site but there is no way I could replicate.

I want Marco rock for sure, seen so many builds on here and I love it. Just waiting till I get a few more items to start an official build thread. Months of searching and reading different threads has really has paid off :dance:

Sure wish I would have had the knowledge I do now when I set up my 37...

 

[asl4me76]

Yeah get me that link if you could. I plan on doing the BA method. I looked at the 29's and went back and forth but I think the shorter tank will give me more room in the stand. Who knows, I might have plenty of room with a 29, I need to figure out the stand because I definitely want something that has a nice wood look to it. I have seen some sweet DIYs on this site but there is no way I could replicate.

I want Marco rock for sure, seen so many builds on here and I love it. Just waiting till I get a few more items to start an official build thread. Months of searching and reading different threads has really has paid off :dance:

Sure wish I would have had the knowledge I do now when I set up my 37...

I'll PM you the guy's link for the low-profile overflow. When it comes to the 29, you should have plenty of room without doubt. The only difference literally between the 20 gal and the 29 is the height. I liked the height difference for a few reasons. It is going to allow more room in the sump in the event of pipes getting clogged and water dumping into the sump. You're able to have more room to store before spillage. Something to think about, eh

Here are the dimensions of my stand:

46" L x 24" W x 36" H

I decided to make the stand longer than the stand. This way it gives me 5 inches on each side of the stand to work with. If I'm working on one side of the tank I am able to put items there and etc. My work room without having to put things somewhere else and etc. It also allows for me when I am ready to upgrade my system and order a custom take to have the exact same dimensions for width, but allows me to go longer! I choose to go 24" from front to back to allow for me to put the plumbing through the stand. My plan is to drill some holes that are big enough for the PVC piping to go through to make everything look super nice and clean. The stand height is usually around 36", but it is always customized to you of course. If you're a tall guy you may want it to be taller. I'm a short chick, so I made the decision on the height of the stand to determine where the top of the tank is going to come to me.

Have you decided on what kind of lighting that you want to go with? I'm going with LED's and I believe I am going to go with ReefBreeders Photon 32". I have been doing my own homework on the various LED's and a lot of people loves these. At some point, I will upgrade to the super nice stuff, but I want to get other items first. This provides good coverage over an SPS dominated tank, but will still allow for some softies and clams to be kept as well.

I do have some items on my wish list that I want to get; however, I figured I would get up and going first and then save up for the wish list items to get them. I'm a huge fan of no wires in the tank if it can be avoided, so in the future I will get some Vortech's. I had them before and loved them; however, the Jebao will work for now. They have excellent reviews as well. So, in order to get me up and going I decided to go the inexpensive route, otherwise this would be several months in the making.

 

[asl4me76]

I have been slowly adding a few more things to the build to ensure that I have everything I will need. As you can imagine, it will continue to be this way for awhile. I knew that I wanted to run some carbon, so I went out on a hunt so to speak to see which way I wanted to go with it. Previously I had the dual reactor from BRS for carbon and gfo. I figured for my little 40 gal breeder that this was overkill, so I was trying to figure out which way to go that is not going to be super overkill. BRS now has a Mini-Reactor 5" that is a single canister which would be good for my size system. If my system was roughly > 75 gals then hands down I would have gone with the dual reactor. It sucks that they do not make the mini's as a dual a well. It would be nice to have! So, I found myself spending some more money!

I placed an order for :

• Mini-Reactor 5
• ROX 0.8 Carbon
• Maxi-Jet 400

I decided to power the mini with the 400. I didn't want something that would be too powering. I may hook up some manifolds in the plumbing for the reactors, but I have never done that. So, I would have to do some research on how to set that up. I will be purchasing some gfo later on that is high-capacity, but didn't think I would need it right away. It is something that I can hold off on when it comes to using as I still need to cycle the tank. When I do need to use the gfo, I have thought about doing a 2:1 ratio mix to use a single canister; however, I may end up getting a second one. I just have not made up my mind and only time will tell.

I believe that I have made a decision on the light that I am going to go with. I will be doing the LED system for lighting. I have continued with my research for the lighting. I believe that I will be going through Reef Breeders. I reached out to them and they recommended for my size tank to go with either the Photon 24 if I were going to keep softies on the outside of the tank with the SPS in the center or to cover all of my bases to go with the Photon 32.

There has been some progress made on the stand. It's getting closer to being done and ready for me to pick up, but a few things still need to be done for it. The plan is to prime the stand. This way it will allow for me to use whatever wood type medium that I wish to use. I will be adding shelves to one side of the stand inside, but not sure what side that the shelves will be put on just yet. It is all going to depend on the plumbing and how I end up positioning the sump.

Here is where we are at currently:

Front/Angle Views:

Side View :

On a side note this is the discussion that I had with my wife tonight about my tank:

Wife : "Hey, come here, I want to show you something."
Me : "Yes, what is it you want to show me?"
Wife (on iPad - browsing the DFW group on FB) : "Where'd it go, let me find it." A few seconds later. "These, I do not want you to get these "stick things". They're ugly and they do not do anything. They hurt the fish too. They can run into them."
Me : "You do realize that fish don't have legs, therefore they cannot "run" into them. Secondly, I will make sure that you have some nice little zoa's and some LPS in there."
Wife : "No stick things."
Me : "They're called SPS and I love them, so there will be some."
Wife : "You have to get an anemone for the clown fish. OH, did I say no stick things?"
Me : "Fine, if you want one of those moving things, I'll get an anemone; however, the clown can host in frogspawn and hammers."

End of discussion. The silly things wife's can say, eh?

 

[zachts]

Nice looking stand! Just a suggestion but you might want to reinforce the opening with a 1x2 or something on the back side at the joints of the two verticals looks like they bow out a little and may twist more over time if not jointed together some how.

 

[asl4me76]

Nice looking stand! Just a suggestion but you might want to reinforce the opening with a 1x2 or something on the back side at the joints of the two verticals looks like they bow out a little and may twist more over time if not jointed together some how.

Where are you referring to? I don't see what you see.

 

[zachts]

Where are you referring to? I don't see what you see.

These two spots. might be an illusion in the pic, but if not mechanically fastened I'd worry they may warp over time and separate in or out noticeably.

 

[asl4me76]

Got word from the stand builder that it will be ready today or tomorrow. I will head down next weekend to get it. As a result, I have some work to get done this week to start preparing for the tank and getting the cycle started.

Game plan for the week:

• Head to Lowes and get some glass cut for the baffles and silicon them into the sump.
• Build a skimmer stand out of PVC pipe.
• Grab all the plumbing needed. 98 % DONE
• Grab the stuff needed for the stand to get it painted and primed. DONE
• Get some spray paint to paint the back of the tank black. DONE
• Order the overflow this week. DONE
• Pick up the salt from WUW on Monday or Tuesday.
• Mix salt and let it turn for a few days to make sure there is a good mix.
• Shelve brackets from Lowes.

If there is one thing that I have, it is plumbing for sure! When I was at Lowe's I grabbed 1 1/4" x 1" bushings instead of the 1 1/2" x 1" bushings. As a result, I will be heading back and swapping them out. I forgot a few items ( :sad2: ), 1/4" John Guest tubing, 1/14" Tube x 3/7" NPT John Guest fitting, or the 1.5" True Union Ball Valve for the main drain. When I go back up to exchange out the bushings, I will get the remaining few items that I need. I will only get one of the 1.5" True Union Ball Valve's, as I will have 1.5" unions on the other two drains if I ever need access to them. I will also have a 1" union on the return line, for that just in case moment if ever needed.

I also grabbed some cabinet handles that I thought would look nice on the stand. And no, the PVC elbow is not part of the aesthetics!

Here's the hardware for the hinges on the doors :

The stand itself is in its finished stage from him :

I will have some things to do on the stand once I pick it up. I will be filling in all the nail holes with puddy and filling in any gaps (like on the top rop right side by the door) for example. Small gap, not much but it will be filled in with some woody puddy and sanded smooth prior to panting. My idea was to paint the overall stand a dark color and then the trim a little bit of a lighter color for some contrast vs. having it all one color. The dark color is suppose to be called "Cracked Pepper" and the sample looked black, but apparently it seems to be a super dark blue color. I got the gray color to use for the trims and the darker for the rest of the stand. Granted this photo was taken with the paint still a little wet (cause it is cold as hell outside) it's taking longer than usual to dry. I will update once I have a photo with it completely dry. I threw some paint onto a piece of scrap wood I had here at the house and this is what it is looking like.

While I was at Lowe's, I aimed to get some glass cut for the baffles in the sump; however, the dude either didn't know what the hell he was doing or their cutting tool was jacked from the floor up! Every piece of glass he attempted to cut either broke and cracked all the way across the panel or it was really crooked. Well, I can't have no crooked glass going on! Gotta be streamline! As a result, I think I am going to have some acrylic baffles made for the sump. I am also thinking of using a filter sock for this setup and if I do that it will be used on the main drain. Would one do it?

 

[asl4me76]

These two spots. might be an illusion in the pic, but if not mechanically fastened I'd worry they may warp over time and separate in or out noticeably.

Ahh, I see what you are talking about. Please keep in mind what you're looking at is the "skin" of the stand. It has no bearing at all on the strength of the stand itself. The one on the right is not where it sticks out, just a slight gap that can be filled with puddy, which I plan on doing. As you can see in my most recent post, the one on the left is no longer there.

In order for the wood to bow, it would require for quite a bit of water to get on it. The skin is made out of a 3/4" sheet of plywood. That's pretty damn thick if you ask me!

 

[zachts]

Go to a window store or a proper hardware shop for the glass. If you use acrylic make sure to cut it short leaving a decent gap as it will expand as it absorbs water so if it fits too tight it could crack the sump....

 

[asl4me76]

Go to a window store or a proper hardware shop for the glass. If you use acrylic make sure to cut it short leaving a decent gap as it will expand as it absorbs water so if it fits too tight it could crack the sump....

That I can do! I will probably go with glass to make sure it is nice and snug. I will be calling around tomorrow to put in a few inquiries on this.

The paint dried and it was brought into the house to get a good idea of how it would look indoors vs. outside. I am thinking that the lighter color is a bit too much and may go with more of a charcoal gray color.

Whatcha ya'll think?

 

[asl4me76]

It has been a very long 24 hours to say the least. I haven't gotten much sleep, but that's alright! I can get sleep later. I was advised that the stand was ready to go! I made the arrangements and drove down to the DFW metroplex to get my wonderful stand. I knew that it would be sturdy, but my GOD that thing is heavy! Let's just say I a few curse words could have came out as we were lifting this thing up and out. After we got it into the house and the kid to bed, it was time to get some stuff done. I threw up some wood filler in all the spots that needed then made sure it was nice and smooth. I then put silicone in all areas of the stand where the frame met the base and etc. This includes the top of the stand where the tank is going to sit and underneath. I wanted to make sure that I have taken every possible measure to ensure that we do not have spillage onto the floor! Up went the tape on where I was going to paint the trim a different color than the base of the stand. Gotta make it nice and pretty, don'tcha know? Got some painting done, not all of it. Still have to finish up the trim and etc. I also did one coat of the kilz 2; however, I'll be doing probably two more coats by the time it is said and over with.

Please keep in mind that the stand is not finished in the photos, but a good start on it! I put on the gray trim to get an idea of what it would look like and I'm not liking it. I think I am going to go white for the trim! Throw on a nice coat of it and off to the races we go!

The overflow is being ordered this morning, I need to grab some glass from one of the local stores here in Ft. Smith either today or tomorrow to start working on making my baffles. I am hoping to get the overflow in relatively quickly, this way I can get some stuff done on my days off next week! Such as - drilling the tank! I also finally made the decision on the lights that I am going to go with. I ordered the Maxspect Razor R420r LED. I decided to go with this as it comes with both a hanging kit and mounting kit. I do plan to get a canopy at some point, but not quite sure when. So, this is a good option. I also choose it as it means I only need one LED fixture over my tank vs. the possibility of two. I went with the 27" 16000k fixture.

Game plan for the week:

• Head to Lowes and get some glass cut for the baffles and silicon them into the sump. Lowes sucks, so I called a place in Ft. Smith to cut me some glass panels that are 1/8" thick for the baffles. Just need to pick them up.
• Build a skimmer stand out of PVC pipe. Debating as to if I should build one?
• Grab all the plumbing needed. 98 % DONE
• Grab the stuff needed for the stand to get it painted and primed. DONE
• Get some spray paint to paint the back of the tank black. DONE
• Order the overflow this week. DONE
• Pick up the salt from WUW on Monday or Tuesday. Wrong salt was delivered, figuring out what I will do here.
• Mix salt and let it turn for a few days to make sure there is a good mix. Looking like this won't be until next week.
• Shelve brackets from Lowes.

To Do List:

• Paint the stand. DONE
• Paint the trim.
• Paint the interior of the stand with Kilz x 2 or 3 coats. 1/2 DONE
• Drill holes for the plumbing and electrical outlets.
• Switch out the outlet to be GFCI.
• Mount DJ Panel.
• Mount shelves.
• Get the sump baffles put in.
• Get the tank drilled once the overflow is in.
• Paint the back of the stand.
• Dry fit all the plumbing.
• Perm fit all the plumbing.
• Add water and rocks.
• Start the cycling!

 

[asl4me76]

Alright, so I have been busy today. The wife didn't want to do white trim on the stand. She's crazy, but you know what they say. Happy wife equals happy life. I had to do something to pacify her in order to get her to quit complaining about how big the stand was. As a result, I decide to paint the entire stand the cracked pepper color. It's a super dark dark blue color and if you are color blind or didn't know better you would think it is black. Unless you catch it with the sun or the light just right.

Sorry for the crap photos, I didn't pull out the good camera, just the iPhone. When I get things really going, I'll grab the DSLR and grab some good shots to really show it off.

Front View :

Hardware :

Under belly :

Side View :

I also figured that since I had today off that I would change out the GFCI outlet. Yea, let's just say I think that the outlet that I have is a dud. It doesn't matter how it is that I have this damn thing wired, it does not want to work for nothing. The indicator light comes on, but that is it. I have switched the bottom wires to the top to make sure that they were not mixed up. I'll be getting another outlet today or tomorrow and trying again. I'll get a line tester tool to confirm everything is set up properly. I really do not wish to spend $75 to have an electrician come out and wire it for me.

GFCI Outlet :

I still have yet to go grab the glass panels from the glass company in Fort Smith for the baffles. I will get to it sometime this week. I did go ahead and throw the rock into some RODI water and have it my Jabeo and MJ 400 in a tub for circulation. I know that the Jabeo would be enough, but wanted to make sure. Wanting to make sure that the rock is getting out as much of the phosphates as possible prior to cycling, considering it was deader than dead! This is also going to be the same container that I use to mix salt water in for water changes. I did get the RODI unit moved into the laundry room. We decided not to mount it on the wall at all because it is heavy as hell. Instead, it is sitting on the floor between the wall and the washer. Nice and hidden. I just need to get a split off of the adapter for connecting it to the washer connection.

Update on my list of things to do.

• Paint the stand. DONE
• Paint the trim. DONE
• Paint the interior of the stand with Kilz x 2 or 3 coats. DONE
• Drill holes for the plumbing and electrical outlets.
• Switch out the outlet to be GFCI. Pain in the rear - see above why I hate this stupid thing.
• Mount DJ Panel.
• Mount shelves.
• Get the sump baffles put in.
• Get the tank drilled once the overflow is in.
• Paint the back of the stand. DONE
• Dry fit all the plumbing.
• Perm fit all the plumbing.
• Add water and rocks.
• Start the cycling!