To give you all the short story and pictorial of my recent sump and protein skimmer replacement last Friday, the entire procedure only took 5 hours with the help of my son.
I replaced my 20 year old Aqua Clear Aquatics sump and AquaC EV-180 protein skimmer with the Trigger Systems Emerald 34" sump and the Nyos Quatium 160 skimmer. Let me tell you all, both the new sump and skimmer are top of the line and the quality of the Trigger Systems sump and Nyos Quatium skimmer are built like a tank and the craftsmanship is stealer.
Since I would usually replace larger pieces of equipment from the backside on the fish tank stand, this time around, I replaced the sump and protein skimmer from the frontside, which required a little engineering on my part and careful planning. On a side note, I did drain 3/4's of the tank water and temporarily stored the water in the good old Rubbermaid 44 gallon Brute garbage containers. I also placed some of corals and live rock in my emergency backup 50 gallon tank that I have running in the garage.
I built a temporary support structure that would help carry the load bearing weight of the center of the fish tank stand, while I took off one the front panels that obviously lended to the structural integrity to the fish tank and stand as well. I also decided to reinforce the bottom area of the stand with 1/2" plywood, since the water volume of my new increased by 15 gallons, plus the fiber wood flooring has seen better days.
In all, the entire procedure took about five hours, which my fish and corals did very well during the remod. The only thing left to do, is to fill the holes on the front right panel and stain.
Since the sump and skimmer are so attractive to look at, my next project is going to built a 80/20 t slot fish tank stand for my 90 gallon reef system.
Attached are the pictures of last Fridays project.
Thanks,
Randy
I replaced my 20 year old Aqua Clear Aquatics sump and AquaC EV-180 protein skimmer with the Trigger Systems Emerald 34" sump and the Nyos Quatium 160 skimmer. Let me tell you all, both the new sump and skimmer are top of the line and the quality of the Trigger Systems sump and Nyos Quatium skimmer are built like a tank and the craftsmanship is stealer.
Since I would usually replace larger pieces of equipment from the backside on the fish tank stand, this time around, I replaced the sump and protein skimmer from the frontside, which required a little engineering on my part and careful planning. On a side note, I did drain 3/4's of the tank water and temporarily stored the water in the good old Rubbermaid 44 gallon Brute garbage containers. I also placed some of corals and live rock in my emergency backup 50 gallon tank that I have running in the garage.
I built a temporary support structure that would help carry the load bearing weight of the center of the fish tank stand, while I took off one the front panels that obviously lended to the structural integrity to the fish tank and stand as well. I also decided to reinforce the bottom area of the stand with 1/2" plywood, since the water volume of my new increased by 15 gallons, plus the fiber wood flooring has seen better days.
In all, the entire procedure took about five hours, which my fish and corals did very well during the remod. The only thing left to do, is to fill the holes on the front right panel and stain.
Since the sump and skimmer are so attractive to look at, my next project is going to built a 80/20 t slot fish tank stand for my 90 gallon reef system.
Attached are the pictures of last Fridays project.
Thanks,
Randy
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