Downsizing??? Really???

Drywall repair is a piece of cake... assuming I take them out.

The other option is to pull the wires up into the attic (SW Florida HOT) and drop them down the wall behind the stand and pull them out for use. It really all depends on how well the Apex works. I've been totally out of the loop on them so a friend has offered his help and he has his set up very well. So I'm hoping for the best!
 
I've started to make the 'rim' or 'lip' for the drip tray. As you can see in the photo below, the vertical braces in the stand keep the drip tray from fitting flush against the sides of the stand. The gap is only about 1" and you just know something small is going to fall in there and I'd play heck trying to get it out. There is a similar gap at the back of the stand and the tray is much taller back there so it would be even harder to get something out back there!




So I'm taking some of the scrap material and making pieces that will fit in between the vertical braces and block off the openings between the drip tray and the stand.




I also intend to drill the drip tray and stand near the bottom of the back wall for a small bulkhead. That way I can run a pipe from the drip tray out through the outside wall of the house in case there is ever a BIG leak. The hole in the outside wall is already there as well as holes for pipe that go out to and back from the 1hp chiller that sits up against the back side of the house on a north wall (shaded from the scorching Florida afternoon sun)! I intend to box these pipes in with a removable cover made from pvc boards as they will be exposed for about 2' from the end of the cabinet to the outside wall. I may even make a small shelving unit out of pvc boards on top of the box that hides the pipes. Might as well use the space for something!
 
SCARYBO said:
Love the idea and construction of the drip tray. That is something I plan on doing going forward.
Click to expand...

I had a flexible pvc shower pan liner in the stand under my 180g. When the silicone blew out, having the water run down into the liner was a life saver! Today I installed a bulkhead and will run a pipe out of the house. Makes it as close to foolproof as I can get.
 
Awesome setup Ron! I am glad to see you back after your disaster. This will be a great build thread to follow. I also got the ************ lights, mostly after following your advice on the LED thread. They are really great and grow anything. I just got a Jebao crossflow delivered also. You will like it. I have the regular Jebao wavemaker but I had to take out one of the pumps the flow was too much. When I turned on the Crossflow, I couldn't believe how much detritus was stirred up, I thought I had really good flow.

Really looking forward to following your build.
 
SCARYBO said:
Such a smart idea Ron. I guarantee some company is going to make that standard set up.
Click to expand...

Here in SW Florida the idea has been spreading around and a lot of our local club members who done new builds (or rebuilds) have done pans or drip trays. I wouldn't do a new build without one. Some use plastic drop clothes, or shower curtains, or flexible pvc. I think mine is the first pvc sheet goods tray. And it's so easy to work with.

NeilFox said:
Awesome setup Ron! I am glad to see you back after your disaster. This will be a great build thread to follow. I also got the ************ lights, mostly after following your advice on the LED thread. They are really great and grow anything. I just got a Jebao crossflow delivered also. You will like it. I have the regular Jebao wavemaker but I had to take out one of the pumps the flow was too much. When I turned on the Crossflow, I couldn't believe how much detritus was stirred up, I thought I had really good flow.

Really looking forward to following your build.
Click to expand...

Thanks Neil. I'm watching yours as well. I wish I could go faster for the sake of my fish and corals in small holding tanks for 3+ weeks now!

We can say brand names on here. I assume you mean the Reef Breeders Photon? Did you get the V2 version? I've lit mine up just to look at it and I like it a lot. But then I liked the old Photon just fine. I'll have 2 of the 32" units that are 4 years old for sale after I get everybody back in the new tank!

I've had a Crossflow running in my 25g frag tank for about 6 or 8 weeks now. I love it! I have 2 Crossflows and plan to put one at each end of the 125G. Then 2 Jebao RW8 wavemakers on the back glass. That's got to be way more flow than I'll need. But then I'll try to make them do a tide flow with some overlap as soon as I get the Apex set up.

Today I'm working on the acrylic filter sock holder (two 4" socks) and a splash guard around the top to keep water in the sump. The 1" drain is hard plumbed with a 'T' at the end and barbed hose fittings for two 1" flexible hoses to go down to the socks. I'll do some pics at the end of the day.
 
Custom plumbing in tight spaces with multiple size pipes is such a PITA! LOL!

I just finished the tank and sump plumbing. The display refugium and chiller will have to wait. I want to get the tank wet! I know what I should do... I should fill it with freshwater and make sure it all works so far. Then drain it and fill it again with saltwater. But I want so badly to skip the freshwater phase... But that would be rushing it. I'm just glad all the valves that are important are new gate valves and the are a number of unions as well, so taking it apart shouldn't be a big deal. I even prepped a 2nd pump with some pvc fittings so the old one can just disconnect at the union and a new one can slip right in it's place, reconnect the union and start the new pump!

I'll take some pics tomorrow while I'm filling it. I'd do it now but I'm tired and dinner is just about ready... at 8:00pm!
 
Finally, photos!

Here is the plumbing in the sump. There is finish work still to do, but the main system (DT and sump) is ready to get wet. The chiller and display refugium will get finished later.

From left to right: there are 2 filter socks (so I can change them less) and the drain is split to both socks. Then the skimmer from CadLight. The green hose is the emergency overflow drain. The ball valve directly in front of that is for a hose to pump water out of the system for doing water changes or filling a 5g bucket when selling big corals. The first gate valve is for the Next Reef reactor which is already sitting in the sump. The next gate valve is the flow back to the tank from the sump. The first gate valve past the 'T' above the pump goes to the chiller and the last gate valve will go to the display refugium.

 
Here is a closer view of the left side:




Here is the right side:



Now you can really see the bulkhead in the back of the drip tray what will allow an overflow to run out of the house. I never really use to worry about that as I had WAY more than enough room in my old 180g sump/refugium. When the siphon quit I still had room for another 20g. But with this smaller sump and not only the DT but the display refugium both siphoning down to the sump... I just want to be as safe as possible.

I'm happy about waiting for Grainger to get in gate valves rather than using ball valves. I used the ball valve at the water change outlet because there is no need to 'control' the flow out of it. It needs to be open or shut so a ball valve makes sense.

I started my water test and found I had two leaks. Both were at adaptors to go from 1" pipe down to 1/2" pipe for the 2 smaller gate valves. And both were dripping at the glue joint from the 1" 'T' to the adaptor. I didn't think they were as snug as they should have been so I used extra glue and rolled them back and forth hoping to get a good melting and thus a good seal. Guess I was wrong. Now I've done a repair and will leave things to cure for a day.

Meanwhile I pull the Crossflow out of my frag tank and swap it for the Gyre and put the Crossflow in the DT. I can cut and install the trim pieces to go around the edges of the drip tray so nothing can fall in behind the tray and become nearly impossible to recover. I can start work on the 2'x2'x20" display refugium as well. I'm hoping the 36" 2 door cabinet shows up in the next week to 10 days as I'm anxious to get moving on that phase of the build.
 
The drain tubes are 'spa' pipe which is very flexible and they only go about 2" or 3" into the sock. They lift out easy for sock changes. I'm looking forward to keeping a 'cleaner' tank with water that is a little more clear than my old system.
 
Ahh I see. The only reason is ask is because I have my returns the same way however I used spa flex (not so flexible) it's a pain to ge the socks out, might have to look in to that. Any noticeable noise from those spa pipes?
 
DePinchGonze said:
Ahh I see. The only reason is ask is because I have my returns the same way however I used spa flex (not so flexible) it's a pain to ge the socks out, might have to look in to that. Any noticeable noise from those spa pipes?
Click to expand...

Not with the one I have on my 65g shallow reef. This system hasn't had enough water init yet to get water down the drain pipe. Waiting for some 3M 5200 adhesive to cure on a repair of a leaky pvc glue job... well, really a bad fitting between to pvc parts.
 
Looking like it is all coming together. I got retirement envy:lmao:, I am getting close enough that it is a reality but not quite there yet.
 
I just checked the 3M 5200 adhesive repair of the small pvc leaks and it appears to be setting up just fine. I'm going to let it cure until late this afternoon and then add water and check again for leaks. The 3M 5200 is a slow to cure adhesive, but damn does it ever hold.

Retirement envy. Ha! I understand that. I don't know how I survived when I was working 40 hour weeks. Even now I can't get everything done that I want to do. It's funny, my older brother worked full time until he was 72 because he didn't know what he would do with himself if he didn't work. My younger brother and I both retired early and still don't have enough time! And in a couple of years when my wife retires we'll start to travel more, yikes!
 
Thanks. 15 years of doing home maintenance can come in handy!

I finally had the chance to make the fittings that fill in the narrow gaps around the edges of the drip tray. I dropped one down behind the back and it took my 15 minutes to get it out!

Here you can clearly see the gap at the right end of the box.




And here it is with the new lip in place. They are all easy to remove and can't fall in behind the box as they have vertical bars that keep them from tipping down and falling.




There was the same gap along the back and it is even deeper and now it's covered.




And the left end is done as well.

 
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