My 125g Build

[bigdoug]

Going to share my build as it happens, didnt take pics from the begining. Here is what i have so far. Took a shell of an old oak stand and built an new frame, sanded and painted, new hardware.

Did the same with the canopy

Complete, need to paint the trim on the bottom of the tank, did not make the trim tall enough.

 

[bigdoug]

sump, had 2 bad bulkheads in the overflow, replacments due tuesday....

 

[BobNY]

Nice job on the stand! I like the drawers in the middle. They will come in handy.
I am also doing a 125g build. I will be following along.
What are you planning for lighting, skimmer and other equipment?

 

[Palting]

Surprised you got anything done after that case from the Brown Barn brewery .

Remember that tank filled will weight about 1,250 lbs. I like the fake drawers. Those are fake, right? You'll want all that room for equipment that won't fit into a drawer.

Your sump looks almost like mine! . Are you planning to T the drain to the one sump drain, or one return to a refugium?

Check the return elbow that connects to the loc-line. The anti siphon hole there is too big, and makes a big noise hitting the inner wall of the overflow, and diverts a significant volume directly back to the drain. I replaced mine and drilled a smaller hole, 3/16 IIRC. Works well, but if I were to do it all over again, I would still replace the elbow, but this time drill the hole in the loc-line instead, close to the elbow junction after it's tightened. That way the escaping water with the pump on still goes into the main tank, while the hole is still high enough to act as an anti-siphon with the pump off.

Decided on lights, yet? Canopy looks a little low

 

[bigdoug]

Nice job on the stand! I like the drawers in the middle. They will come in handy.
I am also doing a 125g build. I will be following along.
What are you planning for lighting, skimmer and other equipment?

so far i have 12x39 t5 ho, 2 150w MH, and 48 lunar leds, corallife 125 skimmer, 2/ 250watt stealth heaters, 2 800gph return pumps, 2 powerheads (not sure what rating is, free ones)

 

[bigdoug]

Surprised you got anything done after that case from the Brown Barn brewery .

Remember that tank filled will weight about 1,250 lbs. I like the fake drawers. Those are fake, right? You'll want all that room for equipment that won't fit into a drawer.

Your sump looks almost like mine! . Are you planning to T the drain to the one sump drain, or one return to a refugium?

Check the return elbow that connects to the loc-line. The anti siphon hole there is too big, and makes a big noise hitting the inner wall of the overflow, and diverts a significant volume directly back to the drain. I replaced mine and drilled a smaller hole, 3/16 IIRC. Works well, but if I were to do it all over again, I would still replace the elbow, but this time drill the hole in the loc-line instead, close to the elbow junction after it's tightened. That way the escaping water with the pump on still goes into the main tank, while the hole is still high enough to act as an anti-siphon with the pump off.

Decided on lights, yet? Canopy looks a little low

LOL!! yes the Round Barn Brewery!! That is my first hobby, home brewing!! I was looking at one of your other posts, and commented that your "log with photos" will be helpful as mine is similar.
I will be setting a T into the sump, it was free also, needs some mods to do what i want. As far as the canopy its only 2in below the tank trim, but you might be right after looking at it , think i am going to raise it to even.
Thanks for the replies, waiting on a couple bulkheads so i can finish the plumbing and start mixing salt....

oh and yes the drawers are fake, just adds some character to the stand.

 

[PaulieReef]

Wow man looks awesome, cant wait to see that filled!

 

[rayn]

Looking good. Yeah you might be a little low for MH and the heat they put off. Any way you could mount the MH on top of the canopy and have them beam through it?

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Alright Doug,

Glad to see you started your own thread, and are taking pictures along the way.

Take a look at my 125 build maybe you can get some ideas. I'll be following along

 

[Palting]

As far as the canopy its only 2in below the tank trim, but you might be right after looking at it , think i am going to raise it to even.
Thanks for the replies, waiting on a couple bulkheads so i can finish the plumbing and start mixing salt....

oh and yes the drawers are fake, just adds some character to the stand.

Don't do anything to the canopy, yet. You'll probably need to modify it regardless, but the lights you get will play a big role in how you'll modify it. So, wait until you get the lights you want, then figure out how. You'll need to get it high enough so you can get your arm up to the shoulders into the tank to move things around as far as the bottom, but low enough so you don't lose PAR. Depending on the lights, you may also need to allow for fans, or holes and spaces.

May be a stupid question, but since it's custom DIY, the back of your canopy is open for electrical cords cords and whatever else, right?

Keep posting. I'm glad to help. No sense in you stepping into the same potholes I did! .

 

[bigdoug]

Don't do anything to the canopy, yet. You'll probably need to modify it regardless, but the lights you get will play a big role in how you'll modify it. So, wait until you get the lights you want, then figure out how. You'll need to get it high enough so you can get your arm up to the shoulders into the tank to move things around as far as the bottom, but low enough so you don't lose PAR. Depending on the lights, you may also need to allow for fans, or holes and spaces.

May be a stupid question, but since it's custom DIY, the back of your canopy is open for electrical cords cords and whatever else, right?

Keep posting. I'm glad to help. No sense in you stepping into the same potholes I did! .

Currently more than 3/4 of the top is open to allow for different lighting set-ups, the front portion has 2 feeding doors.

 

[Palting]

Ok. On my tank, I have cords for the 4 Koralia Evos and the digital thermometer coming in through the back. At one time, I also toyed with making a large skimmer HOB. More frequently than once in a while, I take the canopy off so I can REALLY move things around in the tank. It is convenient that most of the back of the canopy is open, and I don't disturb the cords, or the one short time HOB skimmer, when I take the canopy off.

 

[bigdoug]

Ok. On my tank, I have cords for the 4 Koralia Evos and the digital thermometer coming in through the back. At one time, I also toyed with making a large skimmer HOB. More frequently than once in a while, I take the canopy off so I can REALLY move things around in the tank. It is convenient that most of the back of the canopy is open, and I don't disturb the cords, or the one short time HOB skimmer, when I take the canopy off.

did you hard plumb or use flex tubing? i am in a bind as which to do, started to do it all pvc, but looks like some angles i do not like. With the protein skimmer in the sump, things are tight. do you have a pic of yours? i know you have a similar sump.

 

[bigdoug]

views of the space, lines will be close to the Skimmer. any suggestions?

 

[bigdoug]

Palting, i noticed you are running one return pump, when origionally you had 2, was 2 too much? i was wanting to run dual in case one fails.

 

[Palting]

Yeah, space allotment can be difficult. That's why I started with nylon tubing first so I can easily re-route if needed, and was planning on hard plumbing later once I got everything set-up. But, I keep thinking I might change again, so I'm stii using nylon tubing.

The twin overflows and the sump have a rated max capacity of 1400 gph, and my pumps are rated at 1400 at 1 foot head and 700 at 4 foot head. So I started with 2 pumps. But, the sump towers were overflowing and noisy as Niagara falls at full open on both pumps. I had to throttle back both pumps to more than 50% each to get the noise down. So, I think the 700 @ 4 is underated, probably closer to 900-1100, so I just went with the one pump full open.

Your twin overflows can handle a total of 1400 gph. Not so sure about your sump, though. It looks like an older version of the marineland model 2, max gph 700: http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=19052 . You may want to consider only one drain to the sump, and a separate drain to the refugium if that is the case.

I have the Marineland skimmer for 300 gals. I used it for the small footprint, and one of the few that can skim at a water depth of 5", the constant depth of my skimmer area.

Anyhow, here is a pic of my cabinet:

 

[bigdoug]

Thanks, after looking at things a little more, i am going to take your approach, start with soft plumbing to see how things work. my return pumps are rated 780 each, so i should be able to use both. as far as the sump you are correct it is the older model 2, i have modified it, but dont think i will get the 1400gph. also my overflows are the older style that use a stand pipe, with the float, the baffels have an inlet at 4in from bottom and 2in from top at both rear corners. workin now so have to wait till tomorrow to do some more experimenting.

 

[bigdog0598]

How do you like the marineland sump?

Yeah, space allotment can be difficult. That's why I started with nylon tubing first so I can easily re-route if needed, and was planning on hard plumbing later once I got everything set-up. But, I keep thinking I might change again, so I'm stii using nylon tubing.

The twin overflows and the sump have a rated max capacity of 1400 gph, and my pumps are rated at 1400 at 1 foot head and 700 at 4 foot head. So I started with 2 pumps. But, the sump towers were overflowing and noisy as Niagara falls at full open on both pumps. I had to throttle back both pumps to more than 50% each to get the noise down. So, I think the 700 @ 4 is underated, probably closer to 900-1100, so I just went with the one pump full open.

Your twin overflows can handle a total of 1400 gph. Not so sure about your sump, though. It looks like an older version of the marineland model 2, max gph 700: http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=19052 . You may want to consider only one drain to the sump, and a separate drain to the refugium if that is the case.

I have the Marineland skimmer for 300 gals. I used it for the small footprint, and one of the few that can skim at a water depth of 5", the constant depth of my skimmer area.

Anyhow, here is a pic of my cabinet:

 

[Palting]

How do you like the marineland sump?

I like it. Like I said, I bought it because of it's small footprint, but mostly because it is one of the few in-sump skimmers that can effectively skim at a water depth of 5". All skimmers are very sensitive to water levels, but this one is especially so. But, once I got it dialed in at the skimmer section of the sump's constant depth of 5", it produces an absolutely foul smelling skimate that's dark like strong coffee, which I empty out twice a week. You can see it in the pic. The only negative thing I can think of is that the top of the cup is hard to remove.

 

[bigdog0598]

so its a marine land skimmer as well, how does it react to water level going up or down from that 5" line....would you recommend this sump or just buy a basic one?