MGP
New member
Starting this thread to document some of the changes I'm making to my setup. I have completed most of the work, but there still is much to do.
Upgrades include:
- New stand
- New Filtration
- New lighting
To begin, I decided to give my stand a face lift. I am transferring all of my livestock from a 20 Long to a 20 High. I had a simple frame build out of 2x4's already laying around, so I decided to augment it with some side panels and a front door. The frame is a glossy black paint made out of pine. The side panels and front door are red oak that I have used a walnut stain on. The canopy is some cheap pine painted black to match the frame.
For the filtration I decided it was time to put my big-boy pants on and install a sump. I originally wanted to drill a bean animal style overflow into the back wall, but i decided to just use an Eshopps overflow box I had in storage. When I first tested the box I realized how loud it was with all of the air associated noise. I figured the only way to keep it silent was to make it full siphon.
This presented the tricky situation of balancing a ball valve with the return of the sump pump. Impossible under everyday circumstances due to how unreliable it is. Not one to give up, I decided to drill a second bulkhead into the top side of the overflow box and run an open drain down to the sump. This allowed me to run the siphon where it was closed off a little too much, allowing the water to rise and fall down the open drain. Much like a Bean animal system, but looks different.
This new design made a world of difference. The overflow is reliable and virtually silent. For the return pump I am using an Eheim compact 1000, Which I am now feeling is a little too under powered for this application. I might have to upgrade it, which will be easy to do, as my siphon can handle much more water movement.
Water falls into the first chamber which has two 4-inch PVC encasing mechanical filtration and seachem matrix. My mechanical filtration is cut out of coarse mesh material, intermediate mesh material, and finally a layer of polishing pad. Below that is the matrix. The mesh is very easy to take out for cleaning.
The second chamber is still up for debate. I am thinking of getting a new protein skimmer. I have my eye on the "Reef Octopus BH-50 Multi-Mount Protein Skimmer", any other suggestions?
Next I am going to work on the light. I am using 3-up LED stars from Steves LED, which I am modeling the color blend closely to the nano box.
More to come, if there are any questions please ask, and thank you for reading
Upgrades include:
- New stand
- New Filtration
- New lighting
To begin, I decided to give my stand a face lift. I am transferring all of my livestock from a 20 Long to a 20 High. I had a simple frame build out of 2x4's already laying around, so I decided to augment it with some side panels and a front door. The frame is a glossy black paint made out of pine. The side panels and front door are red oak that I have used a walnut stain on. The canopy is some cheap pine painted black to match the frame.
For the filtration I decided it was time to put my big-boy pants on and install a sump. I originally wanted to drill a bean animal style overflow into the back wall, but i decided to just use an Eshopps overflow box I had in storage. When I first tested the box I realized how loud it was with all of the air associated noise. I figured the only way to keep it silent was to make it full siphon.
This presented the tricky situation of balancing a ball valve with the return of the sump pump. Impossible under everyday circumstances due to how unreliable it is. Not one to give up, I decided to drill a second bulkhead into the top side of the overflow box and run an open drain down to the sump. This allowed me to run the siphon where it was closed off a little too much, allowing the water to rise and fall down the open drain. Much like a Bean animal system, but looks different.
This new design made a world of difference. The overflow is reliable and virtually silent. For the return pump I am using an Eheim compact 1000, Which I am now feeling is a little too under powered for this application. I might have to upgrade it, which will be easy to do, as my siphon can handle much more water movement.
Water falls into the first chamber which has two 4-inch PVC encasing mechanical filtration and seachem matrix. My mechanical filtration is cut out of coarse mesh material, intermediate mesh material, and finally a layer of polishing pad. Below that is the matrix. The mesh is very easy to take out for cleaning.
The second chamber is still up for debate. I am thinking of getting a new protein skimmer. I have my eye on the "Reef Octopus BH-50 Multi-Mount Protein Skimmer", any other suggestions?
Next I am going to work on the light. I am using 3-up LED stars from Steves LED, which I am modeling the color blend closely to the nano box.
More to come, if there are any questions please ask, and thank you for reading
