Fish Tank Room

[143MPCo]

Overflow and mounting... Big thanks to SaltySammy for the hole saw idea!

Clear coated...

Mounted and leveled.

Time to layout the plumbing

 

[143MPCo]

Moving along...

Fill test, waiting on BRS order today for plumbing parts, lets go FedEx!

 

[143MPCo]

Parts have arrived....

Being that this is a semi-finished basement and I don't want mold issues, I'm venting the room to the outside.
Additionally, this will help with expelling some of the CO2 being blown off the DT and out of the room, thus helping to keep my PH as normal as possible.

I have two fans one for Heat APEX controlled, if any (basement normally cooler than house)... other for humidity.

Time to get busy...

 

[143MPCo]

Stuff keeps coming...

 

[143MPCo]

Mixing station done!

This was the last piece of the pie.... might seem silly but when the wall plugs are behind the containers, just being able to flip the switch, and turn on the mixing pump is a great thing to have. That switch also locks out for servicing, might never need to but it's a feature.

The mag 7 used to mix the salt... that's what the switch was for...

The custom heater holder inside the container... keeps that water right at the same temp as the DT and sump... and for when you have an unforeseen emergency and need premixed saltwater at the ready.

One more thing crossed off the never ending list...

 

[143MPCo]

100 gallon sump

...it's been a little bit of a busy day, had to do a complete brake job on my Dad's truck, than a co-worker called about replacing a turn signal switch, and was finally able to finish a few thing in the room...

Return pumps laid out and mounted.

Added these rubber feet as part of the isolation, will add 4 Sound Dampening Pad from BRS under plywood also.

Connected... used 45 degree coupling as much as I could...

Had to use the heat gun on the PVC from the bulkhead as the stock tank is at a bit of a angle.

will add a slotted piece of PVC to pull right from the bottom.

only one pump will run at a time, other is a cold standby.

 

[143MPCo]

Not much done this weekend

I had plans but, other things creeped up...

clutch of eggs..

Looks like coral releasing sperm?? Can someone confirm this??

Normally looks like this...

And really the only thing i work on Sunday...

 

[143MPCo]

painted... easy access is what I was shooting for, this achieved it as it's mounted at chest height and drains right into the sump sock.

 

[BfishLpond78]

I noticed on the stand that you have two supports in the bottom left and right side of the stand, any reason why there is only two of these vs all four on the bottom? Also why are they upfront vs putting them in the back?

 

[143MPCo]

Good question...

I make all of my stands from 3/16" iron fortified structure mild steel... The end are 45 on all 4 corners, not box end to end and plate covered, this means the top and bottom are one continuance piece and can support a greater load requiring less metal be used. However sense we like to make waves in our tanks (no pun intended) and 90% of the time they run side to side, I placed 6 triangulated gussets two 24" long on the back and four 10" long on the front. yes it's a little over kill with metal that's that thick but, again piece of mind is what I shoot for with something like this.

Look at Melev's reef steel stand build and you can see his design didn't have them, not that it even needed it.

Thanks for noticing and asking me, I'm not opposed to adding additional triangulated gussets just know its not needed for something like this.

Thanks Again,
A--

 

[143MPCo]

Additional info to above post.

Wanted to add this to the above post... hope this might help explain what I mean a little better, red lines are weld area.

You can see that on the triangulated ends you are welding all eight sides, box only four to one side.

 

[143MPCo]

1st Lowe's trip...

2nd Lowe's trip...

Hows that saying go... 3 trip to make it right...

 

[143MPCo]

 

[143MPCo]

Still need to cut in all 3 ball valves...

 

[choff]

My bean animal has trouble restarting with a horizontal run. Hopefully you don't have the same issue.

 

[143MPCo]

My bean animal has trouble restarting with a horizontal run. Hopefully you don't have the same issue.

Yeah read the same thing about that, I tested it with a 20 gallon tank (sump and pump) under it, it seemed ok, I have them on a slight 5 degree down angle to help it out, and only used 45s to the manifold.

 

[Blitzie]

My bean animal has trouble restarting with a horizontal run. Hopefully you don't have the same issue.

How far underwater in the sump is it terminated

 

[143MPCo]

How far underwater in the sump is it terminated

Thinking back pressure issue?

 

[Blitzie]

yes
I ended up cutting my pipe going into the sump at a 45° angle. The short end of the angle in 3/8" below surface.

 

[choff]

yes
I ended up cutting my pipe going into the sump at a 45° angle. The short end of the angle in 3/8" below surface.

Excellent suggestion. I'll try that.

Mine are also not perfectly horizontal, but at slight slope as well. It did with better when pipe was closer to the surface. It would take time, but it would eventually catch . since then I put the pipe deeper because the blow back from restarts was blowing a lot of water on the floor. My water level is very high in that section of my diy sump (lesson learned for next time). In going to glue in a shield when I try the angle cut.