TankNStuff's Blog

TanksNStuff · 08-10-2008, 09:00 AM

Well, my sis and bro-in-law just moved from Jersey to Florida and they discovered they didn't have room in the moving truck to bring along their 150 Gal tank and stand. Needless to say, I was quite happy to take it off their hands!

Now, I am a total newbie to the hobby, but my girlfriend and I both love the ocean and sea life in general, so we decided this would be a hobby we could really get into.

We have a good location to put the tank, but we are currently waiting on new carpet in that room before we setup the tank. We figured something this big will be a pain to move or workaround when we get the severely needed new carpet... so carpet first, tank second.

So, to get this blog started, here is everything we received:

Click here

That's my whole album of pics that I have, some are attached below. Also, not shown in any pics are: Small bag of "Instant Ocean" Sea salt, some Nitrate reducing chems, a large siphon for cleaning the sand bed, a fish net, a hydrometer, two 300watt tube heaters (about 12" long each) and a long-handed scrubber to clean the tank walls.

A short description of the major equipment is as follows:
1. 150 Gal Glass tank, oak trim - 71"L x 17"W x 26.5"H (ID) / 72"L x 18"W x 28.5"H (OD)
2. "Oak" Stand - Actually says it's pine on a sticker inside, 72"L x 19"W x 28"H, 3 hinged doors
3. 20 Gal Sump tank - Shown with bio balls and the the Live Rock
4. Live Rock - Some partially cured, some that hasn't been in water for a while (pic in album, laid out on trash bag). Not sure of weight, but I have enough to probably pack tightly into a 30 Gal tank.
5. Live Sand - Also been out of water for a while though, so the "Live" is questionable. Approx. 12"x15"x5" volume... so I will need more anyway. I will buy some that is truely "live" when I set it up.
6. Power Filter - Aqua Clear 500 hang on, w/ sponge, carbon bag, and ceramic media.
7. Overflow box - Hang on w/ sponge filter on intake, flexible 1.5" hose. Intake box is only 5"L x 2"W x 5" H.
8. Return tubing (barely seen on right of last attached thumb) - Eheim 16/22mm is the label, which is slightly smaller than 3/4" ID. It has a hang on attachement with a flow direction diverter on the discharge (sorry, not sure what that is called.)
9. 48" Fluorescent Twin Tube light - 120V, 80Watt, 60Htz (40W each bulb) has "Oak" trim to match the stand/tank. It may need some work or a new bulb as only one bulb is working.
10. Two 300Watt tube heaters - Adjustable temp knob on top, about 12" long each, with suction cups to mount in tank.
11. Askoll Powerhead 301 - is currently in the 20 Gal with bio-balls and live rock, for circulation.

Now, after reading many forum posts and links to setting up a FOWLR tank (our goal) I think I need to buy some new equipment to do this properly. First and foremost, I will need a protein skimmer, and will most likely get a 50-55 Gal for the sump. Then I will use the 20 Gal as a QT for when we start getting fish. I plan on doing this right the first time, and will be looking for advice on what I need, etc. My main concern right now though is keeping the Live rock alive until we get the new carpet installed (about 2 weeks) and the tank setup.

The Live rock tank is in the garage, and I had one of the heaters in it, but when I set it to 82, the tank water got as high as 90. Not sure if it was because of the ambient temps in the garage or if the heater is not working right, but I took it out since it stays around 80 without it. I turn the garage light on for about 14 hours during the day to help with any photosynthetic needs. But, the rock is all packed in there, and I doubt it is helping much. I would put the 48" fluoro on there, but it's way bigger than the tank and the rock is above the top surface of the tank, so it won't work. Plus, I was worried that it would be too close to the rock and might damage it, or perhaps even raise the water temp too.

The next biggest issue I have now is getting the sump ready for when the tank gets going. I have seen many designs, and I don't know I will have it yet. I will be doing a custom job on a glass 55 gal most likely though. I am leaning towards the typical 3 bin style with skimmer in overflow section, bubble trap, some live rock and/or bio-balls, baffles, then a return section. Still debating if I want an external or a submersible return pump.

Once I get the sump designed/made, I will need some good plumbing designs. This will depend on my sump layout though. I know for sure though that I want some kind of Tee w/valve, probably on the overflow to sump line, to help make water changes easier. Since it's a big tank and I will have haul the water to either the kitchen or bathroom to get rid of it, I may even add a quick-connect fitting so I can just add a lenth of hose from the Tee to the bathroom, which is fairly close. Adding water will be a bit harder since I will have to carry it in buckets.

Anyway, that's the basics of my stuff. I will keep this blog updated as I figure stuff out.

TanksNStuff · 08-25-2008, 02:46 PM

Well, it's been a while since I started this thing, so it's time for a small update.

I have nothing to show in the way of progress, other than I have done a lot of research on what I need, what I can do, and what I want to do.

From some helpful replies to a thread in the general forums here, I have decided to drill holes in my display for an overflow drain. I may also drill some holes for a CLS for circulation, but that will depend on whether I can buy some used equipment locally from someone selling it, which includes 2 x Sea Swirl return devices. I have delayed drilling any holes until I find out about the deal in progress.

The holes will be on the small (left) side though since my tank will be visible from 3 sides. I will make an overflow box inside the tank using black acrylic. This way, there will be no piping obstructing the view of the tank. If I install the CLS, it will return over the top on the same side, and then get secured up under the 2" oak trim around the top. There are 2 cross braces across the center that will allow me to hang the piping from at least 4 spots, and I'm looking into other ways to help if this isn't enough support. Maybe some hang-on pipe supports that won't be too unsightly?

Other than that, I have been having some problems finding a used tank suitable for a sump that will fit under my stand. I'd rather not order a new one because it's just not cost efficient for a sump IMO. I was hoping to get a 55g as a sump, but I would have even settled for a 40g... but none of those available would fit under my stand. Either they were too wide, or so tall that I couldn't access them from the doors on my stand.

Now, to solve the issue with not enough room for a decent sump, and the fact that I need to hide the overflow box inside the tank from the front/back sides... I have decided to recruit my future father-in-law to help me build a new stand and canopy for this tank, along with an enclosure to hide the piping out the left side that will go down into the sump.

He is an Engineer, and restores antiques as a hobby, so he was happy to offer his assistance. Plus he has a nice workshop and has any tools we may need.

I am working on a custom design right now, but to give everyone an idea of what's going on, I got my inspiration from Here.

Particularly the canopy, which covers the overflow box section inside his tank:

Well, that's all for now. I will report back once I have a finished design for my stand, and try to take some pics to document the progress.

TanksNStuff · 09-25-2008, 11:48 AM

Wow, it's been a month since I updated my blog, but I have been updating my progress in another thread in the general forums.

Anyway, to keep things short and sweet, here is what I've done since last post:

I bought my bulkheads - Two 1.5" SCH 80 which I will use for dual drains to the sump, and one 2" SCH 80 which I will use for a CLS intake. They are all FPT on the nut side (outside the tank), Slip on the flange side (inside the tank).

I then traced the inside of the gaskets onto a piece of lawan board and cut out holes to make a template for my bulkhead hole pattern. The holes for the template and the glass were done using a dremel.

I then stood the tank up on it's side so that I could drill my holes from the inside. Here is a shot of the template set in place, right after I started the first hole:

After the first hole was completed, I removed the template to have a look. No cracks, and I was relieved to find out the side wall was definitely not tempered!

So then I put the template in and finished the other two holes. That hose attachment was a big help because it had a lock button to keep the water running without me holding it, and there are different settings to change the flow as needed, plus the I could angle the tip to change the flow to the hole or into the corner, etc. :

The crack you see on the right side is in the concrete of my garage... not the glass.

The holes aren't perfectly round as a hole saw would have done, but I was happy with them. The bulkheads fit in without any extra grinding of the sides or anything.

The pictures are showing the inside of the tank, with the two smaller holes near the bottom of the tank being where the drains will be piped down to the sump. The larger one in the center is the CLS intake feed point. The CLS returns and the sump returns will all go over the top of that same side, and the canopy and side "closet" I build will hide it all.

I didn't install the bulkheads yet because I want to get all my PVC for the inside half ready first. The inside connection is Slip, and I don't want to put pressure on the bulkhead / glass wall when I connect the standpipes to the bulkhead. I'd rather put the standpipe together, push the bottom 90 into the bulkhead securely, then install the bulkhead through the glass and tighten the nut on the outside. This will minimize the chances of me breaking the glass around the holes when attaching the standpipes. Same thing with the 90 or spool + strainer for the CLS intake (haven't decided which way I'm going with that yet.) I won't be glueing any connections to the inside of the bulkhead in case I want to pipe it differently later.

All the bulkhead connections on the outside of the tank are female pipe threads, so I will be using a slip x mpt adapter with a bead of silicone to make it watertight. This way I can glue all my piping to that, and if I ever need to change it later, then I just unscrew the adapter. The silicone won't make it a permanent connection.

So, that's it for now. My next steps will be to get my PVC for standpipes and then make the overflow wall inside the tank. I held back on this until I see how much room I need with the piping connected inside. I'm guessing 6" from the wall with the holes should be enough though.

I also held off on building the stand yet in case I broke the tank. If I did, then I would probably end up getting a new tank and most likely a different size. Now that I'm done with the holes, I'll be getting to the stand/canopy design right after I finish the pvc and overflow wall.