Acrylic 60 cube build... basement sump

Shad Quill

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This is my first build in 6 years.
My family was growing and renting a home was becoming more expensive due to the size of the rental we needed and it was time for us to buy our first home.
After a lot of shopping we found a 2500 square foot house built in 1900 that would more than accommodate us and have that old-school build quality to stand up to 5 children.

Fast forward 6 years and it's time to start another reef.

I chose a spot in the living room between two windows that is a great focal point. This obviously restricted the length of the display and also my filtration options. After a lot of back and for the with pros and cons, I decided on a 60 gallon cube and basement sump. I soon realized that most manufacturers anticipate a cube to be used in a corner and have the over flows set to rear left or right corner. This wasn't going to work so I had one built out of acrylic. Acrylic wasn't my first choice.. again I have 5 kids here and we all know how easily acrylic scratches.. but from day one I established the yellow line sort of speak around the DT.

Next I needed a room directly under the tank in the basement for my sump. This quickly turned into a large fish room with room to grow. I also needed my service panel upgraded to 200 amps and a few circuits pulled over and a sink installed.

Once the room was done I started installing and building my sump. I used a lot of miscellaneous equipment I had and over the years and bought what I didn't have in pieces... from start to the point I'm at now has been about a year and a half.

Here's a video of the build about a month ago and it gives you an idea of what's going on in the sump room. ... I have changed a few things since the video but over all it's the same.

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A couple more pics
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Swapped out the leaky pump tonight. Reeflo is one of the best companies when it comes to warranty and customer service.

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Wow that’s a huge sump for a 60 cube, I would wish I had a bigger tank with that kind of set up!
 
Getting the plumbing set for the chiller. It should be here monday.... I can't wait! I'm locating it on the other side of the wall.
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That’s the best basement fish-room I’ve seen in quite a while.
 
Very nice set up. I'm doing the exact thing right now and couldn't remember the name of the stuff I wanted till I watched your video, DYNOMAT! I have the same pump so I'm also trying to get less vibration.. Very nice. Here's mine I've been doing for about the last month
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Very nice set up. I'm doing the exact thing right now and couldn't remember the name of the stuff I wanted till I watched your video, DYNOMAT! I have the same pump so I'm also trying to get less vibration.. Very nice. Here's mine I've been doing for about the last month
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Looks awesome! That dynomat is key!
 
Made a good dent in the plumbing today. I drilled the 40 and plumbed it up. Also brought the lines through to the other side of the wall for the chiller.
I'll be finishing it up tomorrow.
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All finished up. Giving the silicone and refrigerant in the chiller a couple days to settle.
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Looks great man!

Question for you though, are you a plumber by trade? This is all very impressive to me.
 
Looks great man!

Question for you though, are you a plumber by trade? This is all very impressive to me.
I'm not. This is actually the first time I've tried my hand at plumbing.
 
So simple, and problem solved.

 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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