c0mp|ex's 60g breeder build

[c0mp|ex]

So i've never really posted much on here, just lurked, but since i acquired a new tank this Christmas i decided that it would be a good time to start my own build thread.

I'm going to take my sweet time on this build but in the past few weeks i've gotten quite a bit done and I'm slowing collecting everything i need. Here's a list of everything i have so far and what i plan on getting.

60g breeder (36" x 18" x 22") w/ stand
Aqueon 20g long sump
Glass-Holes 700 gph overflow box
Glass-Holes 1/2" return with locline
Eheim 1260 (just purchased from mojo~)
SWC 150BMK skimmer
2x Hydor Koralia 1's (for now)
Current Outer Orbit 1x150w MH w/ 2x96w PC actinic
BRS GFO reactor with mj1200
Eheim Jager 200w heater
Aqua Lifter and custom top off
Reef Keeper Lite controller

I plan on getting either 2 mp10's or mp40 soon (hopefully) for flow and I'm unsure about my lighting. I've been thinking of retrofitting 2 or 4 t5's in place of the pc's or possibly doing a DIY led fixture sometime. I'm also thinking of adding a filter sock to my sump. Not sure yet.

Here's a shot of my current tank for now. 29g with a 10g sump that's been for about a year and a half since i Transfered schools. Current stock is only 1 Ocellaris clown that's been with me for 4 years and his GBTA (not pictured).

My modded Odyssea 75 that pulls out thick dark stuff

More to come! Stay tuned!
c0mp|ex

 

[c0mp|ex]

Here's a picture of the tank and how it sat at my granddad's house. It was VERY scratched up. I attempted to repair it by wet sanding the panes with 220 grit sandpaper and then buffing with cerium oxide. The project took a whole day! Most of the minor scuffs and scratches are gone but the deep ones remain. I also drilled the back for my over flow and return and painted the back black.

Cleaned! Much better but far from brand new. It was free, I'm not complaining!

Here's my 20L sump so far!

 

[iwishtofish]

Great start with the tank! It has a nice footprint. The 29g looks very nice too, and has some beautiful live rock in it. That little skimmer rocks!

I like the new skimmer, more. I'll be interested to see how it works for you, as I'll be in the market for one as soon as the funds materialize.

Subscribed.

 

[c0mp|ex]

That skimmer was totally worth the 40 bucks i spent on it about 4 years ago. It wasn't great out of the box but a few mods later and it's a champ! The neck is cone shaped so that really helps i think. I can't wait to hook up my SWC though!

 

[c0mp|ex]

Finished my sump today and it passed the leak tests! I painted the sides and bottom black for a cleaner look. I'm happy with it.

Fuge on the left, skimmer on the right, with a center return. The return line will be tee'd off to feed the fuge.

Here it is inside the stand. I need to build a different stand for my skimmer. The baffle is 10" high. I've heard that between 8 and 9 inches is best from 150bmk and 160 cone users. One reputable person said 8, but reading though the SWC 160 cone thread, people reported 9 was the best. I think I'm going to build a 1" and 2" stand and see which is better. Any ideas for the best skimmer stand possible? I know that most people use eggcrate and pvc legs.

More coming soon!

 

[shaggss]

c0mp|ex

Great start, you have really thought things through well! Congrats.

Is that a GH overflow on your 29? Did you think of using a Herbie or Bean? How quiet is the GH's?

Very good job on the sump, looks great.

Eheim Jager 200w heater

Good choice of heater. There are so many bad stories out there about heaters. This brand seems to have a very good track record. I have read that it's better to use two smaller heaters, just incase one fails "ON" then it wont have the power to cook your tank. If it fails "OFF" then the other should keep the tank warm enough until you figure out whats going on.......just a thought?

What are your stocking plans?

cheers :beer:

 

[c0mp|ex]

Thanks shaggss! It's an Eshopps external overflow box on my 29. I actually modded it by drilling another hole for an emergency drain in the external box. I run a gate valve on the main drain and very little flow goes to the emergency/second drain. It is COMPLETELY silent. I guess that would fall under Herbie. On my new tank, i will just be running the glass-holes overflow. I wish there was room in the box to drill for another bulkhead but i can't. Hopefully the GH overflow is quiet. It included a silencer plate so we will see. I'll let you know as soon as i know. If i could do it different, i would've gone with a bean animal overflow. Being a poor college student, i'll see how the GH overflow performs for now.

Eheim Jager, yup! The only problem is that i had no idea it was a 15" heater. i have to angle it to fit it into my sump haha. I also have another 150w heater thats been running on my 29. I'll be using both heaters on my 60 with my Reef Keeper set at 78/79. I also have an alarmed programed to turn off the heaters when temperature reaches 82. I think with the internal thermostats plus my RKL, i'll have enough protection. The 150w barely seems to be able to keep up with my 29g btw, it might be getting too old (3-4 yr old off brand heater i got at the lfs)

I haven't even really thought about stocking yet! Ha, I'm broke, and for the past 4 years, I've only had one clown in my 29. My girlfriend got me a GBTA last year so he has some company, and i plan on getting another clown to pair them. I'm thinking either an onyx or ORA Black Ice.
I also hope to get an ORA mandarin and some sort of dwarf angel. Hope to keep mainly SPS and maybe 1 or 2 LPS.

I think i'm going to be going with an islands aquascape too. Possibly 2 main islands + a smaller one for my GBA.

 

[RotaryGeek]

Hey man looking good. Im only about an hour away from you. In copperas cove. Have you checked out Myscct.com yet? Its a central texas saltwater club. More local to you than austin reef club.

 

[c0mp|ex]

Oh, I only went to school in Waco. I live in San Antonio now. I'll check it out, thanks!

 

[shaggss]

I wish there was room in the box to drill for another bulkhead but i can't. Hopefully the GH overflow is quiet. It included a silencer plate so we will see. I'll let you know as soon as i know. If i could do it different, i would've gone with a bean animal overflow.

Yes beans is a great design. I used to have a GH's but was noisy and produced a lot of bubbles. Though I think I wasn't using it properly and a lot of other people have had great success with them.

Being a poor college student, i'll see how the GH overflow performs for now.

Hahaha, yes I remember those days. I used to get paid fortnightly and the second week all I could afford to eat was rice! (Beer at that time was far more important than eating!).

I haven't even really thought about stocking yet! Ha, I'm broke, and for the past 4 years, I've only had one clown in my 29. My girlfriend got me a GBTA last year so he has some company, and i plan on getting another clown to pair them. I'm thinking either an onyx or ORA Black Ice.
I also hope to get an ORA mandarin and some sort of dwarf angel. Hope to keep mainly SPS and maybe 1 or 2 LPS.

I think i'm going to be going with an islands aquascape too. Possibly 2 main islands + a smaller one for my GBA.

Sounds good. What about joining a local club? You might be able to get things a lot cheaper.

Anyways, good luck, I'll be watching your thread for sure......

cheers :beer:

 

[c0mp|ex]

shaggss, hopefully mine doesn't create noise! My tank is in my bedroom so silence is a must, especially when I'm the lightest sleeper! If it's loud, i guess i'll drill 2 more holes and implement a bean style overflow with a glass coast to coast overflow box.

RotaryGeek just pointed me in the direction of some clubs! I'll look into it!

 

[c0mp|ex]

I moved the tank into my room today! It's going to sit where my 29g is currently sitting, so this placement is temporary. Hopefully I'll get some of the plumbing done on it this week!

I threw together a quick sketch-up model to help me plan for the plumbing designs. I originally wanted to use hard plumbing, but after some research, others said that glass-holes overflows would be loud with 90 degree turns in the drain. I might use 2 45 degrees instead or i might use spa flex. Any ideas and opinions? I'm gonna sketch in the sump and start with plumping ideas!

 

[iwishtofish]

Well, there's already a 90 degree turn on the drain, thanks to the elbow that glass holes provides to screw into the bulkhead. I did what you are thinking, though, on the hard pipe down to the sump. Two 45 degree couplings.

Everything's looking great. You'll surely beat me to water, at your pace!

 

[c0mp|ex]

Ha i doubt I will! After more research, I'm thinking that i might implement an external overflow box with a beananimal style drain. I would still use the glass-holes internal box but instead of flowing straight into the sump, it would flow into a small box fabricated out of 4 pieces of glass. The bottom of that box will have 3x 1" holes with one drain that will fully siphon, one open channel pipe, and an emergency drain. The extra cost shouldn't be too much - just the cost of glass (~$20-$30), 3 more bulkheads, and a few more pvc fittings. Along with that comes silence and piece of mind while i sleep at night. Better to do it now than to figure how to fix the noise in the future i guess (assuming the worst. For all i know, it could already be silent the way it is).

I'm going to try to model it in sketch-up, although I'm not exactly sure on how to implement PVC fittings. Anyone want to help?

As for the time until i get water into this tank, it'll be a while. Being a college student juggling school, a girlfriend, a volunteer job at the hospital, prepping to take the MCAT all while not having any income doesn't speed things up any.

All i need is to finish the drain and return plumbing though! I hope to get an an mp10 or two soon! Maybe even an mp40!

 

[c0mp|ex]

Decided to sell my Glass-Holes overflow box for anyone who is interested.
I'm going to fabricate an internal glass overflow with a beananimal drain instead. I was going to do an external but the though of stripping the paint and repainting sounded like too much.

Here's the for sale thread. Someone please buy it and help fund my build!
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1966242

 

[iwishtofish]

I'm glad that glass*holes is letting you exchange the overflow. Was it just a return, or are you getting something else from them?

You know, my 700gph kit came with that internal baffle, but not the overflow lid. Perhaps because I bought it a good while back - like a year ago. Well, if it's important, I could always fashion one from acrylic.

Boy, you're going to be mad if I tell you my overflow is silent as a whisper!

 

[c0mp|ex]

Haha i know! But then again, the overflow I'm building will take up much less space in the tank, but so much more work. I thought i was almost ready to add water and now I'm going to have to order glass, scrape off some of the paint of the back, silicone stuff together, and spend gas on multiple trips to the hardware store. It's the challenge that makes this hobby fun though!

I'm actually getting a refund but I'll be ordering a few bulkheads and maybe another 1/2" return. My internal overflow box is going to run almost coast to coast and have a width of only 1" from the back of the tank! From there, the water will flow into the existing hole that i have drilled (plus possibly 1 or 2 more) and flow into the external box behind my tank. In that box i'll have the bean animal type standpipes.

The overflow lid was an add of for $10. I liked the idea and i'll miss having an acrylic overflow with teeth since mine will be glass. Hopefully nothing jumps into that 1" space! I'll have to fabricate a cover for it somehow. I think i have an idea.

 

[iwishtofish]

Updates? Still moving forward?

 

[c0mp|ex]

iwishtofish, yup!

Well, after a long two weeks filled with tests, i finally have time for some updates, although they aren't much.

My plumbing parts came in. I decided to go with all gate valves and add unions where they could possibly need servicing. The 1" gate valve will be for controlling the flow of the full siphon stand pipe for my beananimal style over flow. The 3/4" gate valves will control pump output, flow to a fuge from a tee off of the return, and a future carbon reactor tee'd off of the return. I may need a bigger return in the future, but i think my Eheim 1260 will be fine if its just one carbon reactor.

Since i'm doing an external overflow, i went ahead and made a mockup for the bottom of the external box so i would know how long i would need the box and how far apart i would need to drill the holes. I made some measurements and threw down some lines, then cut out the holes with an Xacto. Everything looks good so i should be ordering the glass sometime this weekend. I'm thinking of using 1/4" glass with a 3/8" bottom. Does that sound ok?

The heights of the standpipes aren't yet final, but i do plan to have the open channel a little bit higher up than the full siphon. The emergency will be about an inch higher than the open channel. Now the only thing i need to figure out is how deep to make the external box. I want to make it as shallow as possible so that i can get the tank as close to the wall as possible. Any suggestions?

Oh, i also got two float switches in and i'll be making my own DIY auto topoff. It's based off the same design i use on my 29g and will cost ~$50 (if not less) total to make. I'll save that for another post.
Tad

 

[shaggss]

G'Day complex,

Good stuff! Can you face the drains the same way? Just angle them slightly then you could make the overflow box smaller. As for the depth, you need it to be deep enough so the main drain will not create a vortex. there is a few posts about this on the bean thread, sorry no links, that thread is HUGE!!!!!!

Pending how big your box will be, 3/8 on the bottom will definitely be ok.

HTH

cheers :beer: