120 Gal build! DIY stand and sump

[P-bpat]

Hey R2R friends!
I bought back into the hobby after a few years off and decided Id better go big.

I had recently moved, and there was a big open space in the front hallway that

was just itching to be filled. I will try to document the process as best as I

can, but in know I missed a few photo opportunities with the excitement of a new

build.
First, I found a decent deal on a tank, light, chiller, and stand (which I

couldn't take) locally on kijiji.
The previous owner was a touch silicone happy, so a thorough scrape, clean, and

re seal was in order.

The holes were already drilled in the back of the tank, and has been roughly

plumbed but I have questions regarding this later.
Here are some pictures of the DIY stand. It is fabricated from 2x2x1/8 steel

square tubing legs with 1x2x1/8 crossers and 1x1x1/8 braces. There are 1" nuts

fully welded into the bottom of each leg that a 1" bolt screws into to level

everything. There is now a piece of 3/4 plywood on the top and lower sump shelf.

I am simply going to use a curtain with velcro stapled to the wood to finish it

and for easy sump access. All of this I fabricated myself. If the stand goes to

hell, I'll have one person to blame!



Here it is on the stand with my best bud Henry supervising from the corner.

 

[P-bpat]

Here are some pictures of my planned plumbing. Hopefully I can get some pointers

on this, as I don't want Niagara Falls type of noise right outside the bedrooms.

The two bulkheads join in a tee, drop down to a ball valve, then union. After

that it drops down to the double drop tubes in my DIY sump.



The sump is made out of two 20 gallon glass tanks joined at one end with a pipe.

I already owned one sump tank from my old system, so I decided to just keep

building.
The return pump is a Jecod DCT 12000 that I will be plumbing in with 1" clear

reinforced vinyl hose. Are full stainless hose clamps (worm type) Ok to use in a

reef? I don't want to introduce any bad stuff or damaging metallics especially

this early on.
The return will be in the back half of the sump, and the two sump tanks are

joined with a 1" pipe (with union) on the far end. The outer sump tank can be

used as a fuge and the inner one for a skimmer. Both will have bubble baffles. I

hope that the outer one can supply the needed water to the other side to keep up

with the pump, but I will not know until the wet test is complete.

Finally here is a FTS as it sits right now. Today I plan on installing the rest

of my baffle walls and plumbing the connecting line between the two sump tanks.
More pictures and updates will follow. This build may take a while to get going,

but I hope that I can have it running by early next year.


Thanks for reading. hopefully someone will chime in with some answers I need.
Pat.

 

[P-bpat]

I'm pretty sure that I will have to build some sort of filter sock holder under the hole that it's sitting in so the water doesn't bypass the sock. The flat pane is acrylic, so It should be easy to drill and mount something.

 

[Nomadic1]

I am pretty certain that the third hole directly in the back wasn't intended to be used as a return line. More likely, it is a closed loop or even a chiller input, and returns were intended to go over the back of the tank.

 

[P-bpat]

The tank was supplied with the loc line return that is pictured. I figured that the center would be the the return due to what was supplied

 

[Nomadic1]

Was the person you bought it from the original owner? Just seems kind of strange to plumb a return line halfway down the tank.

 

[P-bpat]

No. The person I bought it from was at least a secondary owner. With what I was supplied it made sense, but if I should think otherwise, please let me know.
My old tank sump/ return was a nightmare...

 

[P-bpat]

Nothing is glued other than my drop tubes. Everything pictured is just dry fitted at the moment.