Leyth's 280

Leyth · Dec 18, 2020

Hey everyone, I've been waiting for this day for a long time. My custom 280 has finally arrived! The dimensions of it are 72x30x30 and it's eurobraced on a steel stand. 6x drilled returns.

I am going to document all milestones in this thread.

Also, if I don't respond to this thread after tonight, it's because my wife killed me. She hasn't come home from work yet and she has no idea how big of a tank I bought.

Leyth · Dec 18, 2020

Next steps are to order a CL60 sump from Synergy.

Billldg · Dec 18, 2020

Lets hope your wife doesn't kill you, although it is big enough for her to bury you in it, LOL!!! ;Hilarious ;Hilarious ;Hilarious

Can't wait to see this tank come together. In the process of building a 72x30x24 tank myself.;Woot

ShepherdReefer · Dec 18, 2020

Super nice, thanks for sharing, and I cant wait to see the final project.

Mikedawg · Dec 18, 2020

Leyth said:
Hey everyone, I've been waiting for this day for a long time. My custom 280 has finally arrived! The dimensions of it are 72x30x30 and it's eurobraced on a steel stand. 6x drilled returns.

I am going to document all milestones in this thread.

Also, if I don't respond to this thread after tonight, it's because my wife killed me. She hasn't come home from work yet and she has no idea how big of a tank I bought.

Don't worry, as my wife of 45 years once said (and I've never forgotten), "If you're happy, I'm happy!

Leyth · Dec 18, 2020

I’m still alive! Let’s do this!!

Leyth · Dec 18, 2020

So I’m trying to figure out which return bulkheads I need. The return holes are 1.5”. I’d want slip bulkheads right?

Leyth · Dec 21, 2020

Making water all weekend and this is as far as I’ve gotten. Slowly working on my aquascape at the same time.

I’m considering beginning the cycle as I wait for the sump to arrive. Not sure if there is a negative impact of adding 70 gallons of water volume to a cycled tank. I won’t be adding any livestock until I’m confident their is ample denitrifying bacteria in the tank either way.

Leyth · Dec 29, 2020

Anyone have any input on sump sizes? I want to be able to have a refugium/frag area along with a return chamber that can house 2 varios 6's. I can't decide between 48" or 60" sump for this size aquarium.

Wen · Jan 1, 2021

Leyth said:
Anyone have any input on sump sizes? I want to be able to have a refugium/frag area along with a return chamber that can house 2 varios 6's. I can't decide between 48" or 60" sump for this size aquarium.

In regards to sump size, what other equipment are you planning to use? Where will you house future additions to your system...under, beside tank or in another room?
Personally, I’d go largest possible.

count krunk · Jan 1, 2021

Yes go largest possible for the sump.

Melevs reef makes custom sumps that are pretty sweet.

So you have 6x 1.5" bulkheads in this tank? Where are they located?

A tank this size i strongly recommend the bean animal.

What lights etc are you going to use?

count krunk · Jan 1, 2021

Oh and you can use slip or threaded bulkheads, doesn't matter. Slip is one time use, threaded you can reuse.

Leyth · Jan 3, 2021

Wen said:
In regards to sump size, what other equipment are you planning to use? Where will you house future additions to your system...under, beside tank or in another room?
Personally, I’d go largest possible.

Yea after some research I’ve decided larger makes more sense. I’ve ordered a synergy cl60.

count krunk said:
Yes go largest possible for the sump.

Melevs reef makes custom sumps that are pretty sweet.

So you have 6x 1.5" bulkheads in this tank? Where are they located?

A tank this size i strongly recommend the bean animal.

What lights etc are you going to use?

I misspoke. The return holes are drilled at 1.5” so 3/4” pvc abs is what I will need for them if I understand correctly. They are located across the back wall. Yes bean animal is what I was going to use.

count krunk said:
Oh and you can use slip or threaded bulkheads, doesn't matter. Slip is one time use, threaded you can reuse.

Thanks, yea I think I’m going to do slip for everything except threaded for the interior side bulkheads for the locline fittings. Is that a good idea?

count krunk · Jan 3, 2021

You only use locline on the return. I have a threaded bulkhead for my return for that reason.

So the hole is 1.5"? I'm pretty sure on brs website you can see what size hole an X" bulkhead needs

Skynyrd Fish · Jan 3, 2021

This is going to be awesome! I like the dimensions.

Leyth · Jan 4, 2021

count krunk said:
You only use locline on the return. I have a threaded bulkhead for my return for that reason.

So the hole is 1.5"? I'm pretty sure on brs website you can see what size hole an X" bulkhead needs

Yea BRS is what I was using. It says for a 1.5” hole it would be a 3/4” bulkhead. Which I was planning to run 1 or 2 varios6(I already have one) to drive the 6 returns. The output of the varios6 is 1.25” so I was going to run that until I need to split. With my overflow having 3x 1” drains, if I were to use bean animal style, should I even bother getting a second varios6? The max output for varios6 is 1700gph while the max drain of a 1” is approx 1000gph. 1 varios6 should be adequate considering the bottleneck by my overflow right? This would give me approx 3x turnover through my sump unless I’m overlooking something.

Skynyrd Fish said:
This is going to be awesome! I like the dimensions.

Thank you! It is really perfect minus not being able to reach the back wall very well without a big ladder haha. My raised stand height makes it hard to work on this tank without a ladder.

Mike1970 · Jan 4, 2021

Subscribed

count krunk · Jan 4, 2021

6 returns sounds like the tank could use a closed loop system.

Leyth · Jan 4, 2021

count krunk said:
6 returns sounds like the tank could use a closed loop system.

The holes are already drilled above the overflow holes though.

count krunk · Jan 4, 2021

Could you either draw or share a picture of just the back glass that shows where the holes are? Would give us a better idea of optimal plumbing options