ReeferRuk's 57g Oceanic Illuminata Build Thread

RandyO said:
Hey Matt.
If you are using a glass holes 700 overflow for this tank, you probably don't need to use 1.5" plumbing from the pump. You can't put a ton of flow through those, and they can be a little noisy if you do. A blue line 55 should be plenty big enough to give you 700 gph in the main tank.
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Thx Randy, especially with the MP40 I was going to have in the display, flow shouldn't be a problem. I'll have more than enough turn over into the sump with the Blue Line as is... I'll probably end up dialing it down a little... I'm more concerned with the noise from the overflow. If I needed more flow later, it's not a difficult change. (I must have changed the return on my 150 four times.)
 
Regarding the noise from the overflow...

I had been REALLY disappointed with the noise from my box. A silencer on the "vent" tube helped slightly, but most of the noise was coming from water flowing into the box, NOT from water draining down to the sump.

The other night I was cleaning algae off the inner plate and accidently bumped it out of place. Noise was SIGNIFICANTLY reduced, and is now on par with the soft hum from my skimmer.

It's hard to explain how the plate is positioned now, so I'll try to get a couple of pics next time I'm in there poking around.
 
jacksonpt said:
It's hard to explain how the plate is positioned now, so I'll try to get a couple of pics next time I'm in there poking around.
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That would be great. I'm sure I'll play with it for a while. Have you slowed down/choked the overflow with a gate or valve on the way to the sump or do you just let it go?
 
No, I have not choked the drain line... IMO, that's asking for trouble. A restricted drain line just makes me nervous. I have played with the return flow rate, which in effect does the same thing. I don't know my actual flow rate, but before I bumped the plate I had to keep the flow disappointingly slow to keep it quiet. Sorry I can't be any more specific/helpful with the amount of flow I was running.
 
jacksonpt said:
No, I have not choked the drain line... IMO, that's asking for trouble. A restricted drain line just makes me nervous. I have played with the return flow rate, which in effect does the same thing. I don't know my actual flow rate, but before I bumped the plate I had to keep the flow disappointingly slow to keep it quiet. Sorry I can't be any more specific/helpful with the amount of flow I was running.
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Thx Jackson, I'll hold you to those pictures when you have time.
 
Great build. Very clean work on the drilling and painting. I really like those Illuminata tanks. Anxiously awaiting the sight of your new stand.
 
how did I miss this build.....very nice,very clean..I agree with Randy ,those gl@ssholes overflows are really clean looking,but do not give you a ton of flow..
 
Just picked up the stand from my dad... It isn't painted yet, holes still need to be drilled for the plumbing (and fan on the back panel), but I'm going to post some pics now because I'm pretty stoked. The wife doesn't see the vision yet... She will.

The idea was to do something a little differant. May dad has made us a couple pieces of furniture, picture frames, etc, which we started painting this dark brown (black bean) that we really like. He also got into working with spalted maple he picked up. "Spalting is any form of wood coloration caused by fungi. Although primarily found in dead trees, spalting can also occur under stressed tree conditions or even in living trees. Although spalting can cause weight loss and strength loss in the wood, the unique coloration and patterns of spalted wood are sought after by woodworkers."

I think the combination of the dark brown really makes the light spalted maple pop and really stand out. At the same time, I wanted to leave the spalted top a little rustic by pulling out the corners... Here is an example of the black bean on with a spalted top (not as much character as the spalted we used on the stand).

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Made the stand a little oversized to house the existing lighting and have a little room to play.

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Return and overflow pipes will go straight through into the stand.
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On the inside, I will probably use a coat or two of Kilz and then I was going to try some white rustoleum appliance epoxy, if it will stick to the wood. This is where I usually rush it and slop it up... Going to take my time and paint it right.
 
I did clean up the sump area while I was waiting for the stand. The only thing that will change is the plumbing and returns will move around. The tank will sit right above the sump. The return pump will slide as close to the sump and I can leaving a ball valve and union, and I'll add a gate valve above the return.
 
Got a chance to clean up the sump area including some of the electric. Only real change will be moving the return pump closer to the sump, adding a gate valve, and relocating the overflow pipes to line up with the new build.

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I really like the stand. Definitely has a lot of character. Almost a shame to paint it. Would look really nice stained. If you replace the ball valve and union with a true union then you can move the return pump even closer.
 
IronMan72 said:
I really like the stand. Definitely has a lot of character. Almost a shame to paint it. Would look really nice stained. If you replace the ball valve and union with a true union then you can move the return pump even closer.
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Thx Dave, I had actually thought about staining it (or some of it) to see how it looked before I painted it our traditional color. I would still stain it dark to bring out the spalted top. I don't know if I will or not. I'm kind of partial to the black bean paint.
 
Had a hard time dealing with the light and water flow and everything else, so sorry for the bad pic. (algae scrubber is a custom mod, lol)

box.jpg


The plate that covers the center section of the box... I slid that over slightly towards the outside of the box, then angled it down slightly towards the bulkhead. There is still a small amount of water that flows down along the sides of the box (as intended/designed), but most of the flow goes down the plate and into the center section where the bulkhead is. For my setup, the flow is much smoother (virtually no splashing) and much quieter.
 
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