My 180 Tank build Thread

Come on by!! Looks better in person. Not putting the trim on the tank is killing me.. I think the stand looks like crap but I don't want to take the chance of breaking a piece so I will wait till I'm done plumbing and tank is in the correct location.
 
I just knew I was not going to be able to keep from putting the trim on :D still have the corner piece that need to be cut, stained and put on. Starting to come together a little better.

180Gal030a.jpg
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8365587#post8365587 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JxMetal
Lonnie, don't you ever go to work?

Lonnie has a very unique situation. Laid off anit it either, After some poking around in his back yard while he was on one of his many,many,many trips to Lowes, I found a very unusual patch of ground hidden from site. It was freshly disturbed dirt, which could only lead to one conclusion...Either he's plan to plant something, or he was/has been digging something up. Just as I started to dig the top soil away Lonnie suddenly returned home but not before I had struck a hard object mere feet below the soft dirt. My investigation based on his tremendous amount of cash flow as well as the outstanding purchases of Reef related items with the fresh dirt and thud of a hard object and the FACT that he has no job nor goes to work can only conclude that he has a buried treasure chest of cash in his back yard:eek1:! This guy also calls me all day long while I'm trying' to work bothering me and seems some times to be out of breath, from all the digging I guess. I have pressured him on where his funding is coming from but to no prevail he just wont tell me.:mad2: Share that hidden treasure DUDE COM" ON!!
 
Maybe that's his old boss under there and that's why he's out of work. Ordered him around a little too much!
 
trim junkie :lol: love the color...

Hey Mike start digging you will probably find your missing power tools. :thumbsup:
 
Plumbing is done, I hope. Doing a fresh water test Thursday to see if I have the same problems as Clark. As much trouble has the plumbing gave me I would not be one bit surprised, what a PITA.

Thank goodness Stupidsreef, and Nairsak I mean Rich1972 came over tonight, or I would still be going at it.

I ended up ditching the 2" PVC flex. I never could get it to setup even after 10 mins I could still pull it apart like it was never glued, the 1 1/2" Flex did very well though.

Tomorrow I'm finishing up the stand, and adding eggcrate to the back of the canopy so I will have no more deaths due to carpet surfing fish. :rolleyes:
 
Good luck, I found my answer to my problem with a special tape for pvc, I can find the name if you need it

Looking great so far, man this takes longer than you would ever expect, huh?

Cant wait to see more
 
Yeah it takes a while.. I would get done faster if the family would stop thinking I need to go with them here and there and do this and do that... :lol: LOL Wife has actually not complained to much with this project

I will not know if I need the tape till tomorrow, where did you get it?

If no leaks I might try getting the tank setup this weekend.
 
Got it at lowes and works great, you stretch it and wrap the pipe, and it forms a seal that can withstand up to 45 psi.

Do you have water already made? I figure at least a week to fill the tank from my RO unit. Sand goes in tomorrow and filling starts then
 
Yes I have water already I just don't have Salt in all the drums yet. Will start doing that today..

I couldn't wait till tomorrow to fill the tank.. I hooked up the sump last night with the bulkhead in the end and want to make sure the sump held water.. It did so I desided to see how this Hammerhead pump was going to do.. Wow!! It put 4" of water in the tank in about 1 min if that.

So far no leaks in the return lines.. The drain pipes are the ones I'm worried about.
 
Clark, Thank you!!

Plumbing is done no more leaks that I have found anyhow.

Only problem I see at this time is the teeth in my over flow are not big enough to keep up with the water flow, its going over the top. I thought this was going to be a problem How big should I make the gaps between the teeth? Right now they are about 1/8th.

And I still need to drill a small hole in the return line(s) to stop syphon. Other than that everything is almost a go.
 
Well this morning. I have noticed 4 leaks at the treaded Ball Valves. Hopefully that is all of them and I can fix that pretty quickly.

Here is a video of the tank being filled with the hammerhead pump. the 2 center returns have the eductors on them. I think the hole needs to be a little bigger at the ends. shoots a streem from one side to the other.


Here are a few shots of the sump. I am getting NO Micro bulbs back to the tank, and the Trash can and bucket works like a charm keeping bubbles out of the sump, and a way from the pump

180Gal048a.jpg


Here is where the cold air return is in the floor where the pipes go down. With the tank in place it does not fully cover the hole so I built that little box to hide the hole.
180Gal042a.jpg

180Gal043a.jpg



My next attempt would be to work on the overflow pipe. I have never had to do anything special in the past but just the pipe sticking up. Now there is so much flow going down the pipes I'm not sure what is the best way to have the pipe. I have never done any of the mods so I don't know which one works the best with the most flow.

180Gal037a.jpg


Right now I have the pipe cut almost even with the glass overflow box, I had to remove the cover because the gaps between the teeth are to small, so I have to cut that out a little more. Anyway with Pipe cut level with the Overflow I cannot set the pump wide open. it is idled back just a little so the pipes can keep up. But if I remove the pipes I can open the pump wide open with out a problem, so does that mean I need to cut the pipes a little shorter? If so How much?
 
I don't need to run it wide open. Just would like to have the ability if I need it. I know the drain will handle it but the way I have it setup it will not. I have never done any of the mods but would like to see if I did one it could still handle the flow. Don't want the pump to be able to overfill the tank.
 
can you take a picture of the overflow with the pipes in it?

Could you fit some durso's in there ?


I think they would be a little more quiet as well
 
The last picture I took shows the overflow glass box with the pipes they all end at right there.

I'm not sure If I have room for the durso's or not. Do they restrict flow?
 
I would imagine that the difference between the pipes being there and them not being there would be a simple matter of pressure. The pipes are skimming off the top and when even with the overflow they are basically acting as their own overflow. The pipes form a second overflow within your overflow box.

When you simply have the bulkhead the overflow drains down to the bottom and starts to fill up a bit i assume. The pressure of this water might be helping to make them drain faster?

Another thought is that the pipe pobably fits inside of the bulkhead. So if the bulkheads were 2" a piece with the pipes inside of the you now have maybe 1" and 6/8 or 3/4 holes.

just another thought.
 
Also why did you change around the returns with the enductors and the t's to the extensions?

Change from the video to your pictures.
 
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