Nothin' but DROP! - Build Thread

[Bloody.Knuckles]

"Nothin' but DROP!"
*This may take 6 months to build before cycling

Concept:
A narrow, vertical slice of reef

Background:
I'm a noob to reefing, but I go whole a** into hobbies. The generic drop-off design isn't pleasing to my eye, but I like parts of the concept. I had the idea to build a vertically skewed drop-off tank after seeing the l-shaped double drop build. I quickly realized something of that scale is years away for me.

Rough Idea:
Tall enough so I don't have to bend over to enjoy the view and narrow enough to keep the gallons under 100. I originally wanted it to go right to the floor, but to do that properly would require work under the floor; I wanted the front glass to meet the floor and the top of the sand to be near level with it. So, the bottom of the drop-off will be raised off of the floor.

Dimensions, 1st Draft:

Height(total): 7'
Height(tank): 6'
Height(drop): 5'
Width: 1'
Depth(drop): 1'
Depth(top): 2'
Volume(total): ~52.4 gallons

Tank and stand will have separately welded frames (neighbor+beer=welding)

*********
Constructive feedback welcome!
I'm open to 40-60 gallon sizes.

Edit: I was mixing math from two designs I had

 

[eliramos]

Looks pretty sweet!!!

 

[Bloody.Knuckles]

Dimensions Update:

Height(total): 6'
Height(tank): 6'
Height(drop): 4.5'
Width: 1.5'
Depth(total): 3'
Depth(drop): 1'
Depth(shelf): 2'
Volume(DT): ~100.9 gallons

Idea:
Vertically stacked tanks in line for sump/refugium that slide out about halfway on HD drawer slides, 40ish gallons total

 

[ngvu1]

How do you put frags or anything to the "dropped" section of the tank? I am a bit short so I can't imagine putting anything deeper than 5 feet without diving into the tank ;-)

 

[Bloody.Knuckles]

How do you put frags or anything to the "dropped" section of the tank? I am a bit short so I can't imagine putting anything deeper than 5 feet without diving into the tank ;-)

I'm 6'3" so I want something I'm not always hunched over to enjoy the view. I will be constructing elaborate tools to deal with the drop, lol

 

[ngvu1]

Lol. My limit is actually 1 arm length for the tank height. Actually should be less then 1 arm length because we or I at least need to avoid armpit submerging into the tank water.

 

[Bloody.Knuckles]

I think my calcs are for a 3 foot shelf and 4 foot total depth front to back

 

[Bloody.Knuckles]

A quick qubism mockup

 

[m0nkie]

I have been running a tall tank for almost a year now. I think the biggest issue you will face is nutrient export. My tank is 2x2ft and 4ft tall. about 120gal.

1) you should maintain this like an SPS tank. keep it as clean as possible. design something so filter socks or large filter rolls can catch all the detritus before going back into the tank.
2) stock up on lot of cleaning fish/ large CUC.
3) any fish you put in, consider it impossible to get out. Yes fish traps work. But that's probably your only tool available. no way to drain this tank and catch the fish
4) you need a good magnet to clean all the sides. You need a 4ft pole and a toothbrush to scrub the rocks. Scrub it often. Or use a powerhead to blow it often. Once detritus start accumulating, it is a PITA to clean. once algae starts growing, even worse... brushing a 4ft tank with a toothbrush is no fun.
5) prepare extra filtration. oversized skimmer, algae scrubbers, remote refugium, remote sand buckets.. anything to help reduce nutrient.
6) Gyre powerhead work great for these. Put it sideway and it will form a nice little tornado wave. You may need another pump for the horizontal part.
7) Tall tanks look much better with designed rocks. Don't stack the rocks. Use E Marco 400 to cement your rocks into structure. just keep the weight# in mind.. very hard to lift a 50lb rock 4ft up and lowered into the tank. Consider your roof height. My tank is 5ft tall total. Rocks are almost 3ft. So I needed 8ft room to put rocks in.

 

[Bloody.Knuckles]

I have been running a tall tank for almost a year now. I think the biggest issue you will face is nutrient export. My tank is 2x2ft and 4ft tall. about 120gal.

1) you should maintain this like an SPS tank. keep it as clean as possible. design something so filter socks or large filter rolls can catch all the detritus before going back into the tank.
2) stock up on lot of cleaning fish/ large CUC.
3) any fish you put in, consider it impossible to get out. Yes fish traps work. But that's probably your only tool available. no way to drain this tank and catch the fish
4) you need a good magnet to clean all the sides. You need a 4ft pole and a toothbrush to scrub the rocks. Scrub it often. Or use a powerhead to blow it often. Once detritus start accumulating, it is a PITA to clean. once algae starts growing, even worse... brushing a 4ft tank with a toothbrush is no fun.
5) prepare extra filtration. oversized skimmer, algae scrubbers, remote refugium, remote sand buckets.. anything to help reduce nutrient.
6) Gyre powerhead work great for these. Put it sideway and it will form a nice little tornado wave. You may need another pump for the horizontal part.
7) Tall tanks look much better with designed rocks. Don't stack the rocks. Use E Marco 400 to cement your rocks into structure. just keep the weight# in mind.. very hard to lift a 50lb rock 4ft up and lowered into the tank. Consider your roof height. My tank is 5ft tall total. Rocks are almost 3ft. So I needed 8ft room to put rocks in.

OUTSTANDING RESPONSE!!!

Thank you so much! I was really hoping to find someone with experience maintaining the obviously more difficult section of this tank. Great suggestions; some I had been debating that you confirmed make since like the great.

Please continue to chime in.

Rock: Since it's a drop off, I was planning on a rock wall of sorts against the drop which my neighbor and I ought to be able to tilt it in. Definitely something that will require meticulous planning.

What is your glass thickness?

 

[m0nkie]

it's 3/4 acrylic. I got the tank used for $100 so decided to have some fun and doubling my current tank's volume. kinda scary to use glass on a tall tank.

have fun with the tank! it's definitely unique. Be mindfull on stocking choice. As i said, very hard to take them out. They dash down on first sign of trouble. you don't get the luxury of "i'll sell it when it gets too big"

-fish like Banggai Cardinal just float there all day and very fun to watch on the drop section.
-wrasse are good fish to keep too.
-dwarf angels, hawkfish hovers on rock surfaces, often times vertically

you will be tempted to get tangs and other beautiful large fish. but some are just impossible to catch.. if they don't go in the trap, they don't get out of this tank. and they will wreck all your other fish

 

[Bloody.Knuckles]

Good suggestions. I was definitely planning on going very few and small fish, mostly corals.

 

[Bloody.Knuckles]

I spent a little time working on a 1x2" square steel tubing frame and the heavy duty slide out sump/refugium

 

[Bloody.Knuckles]

Sump draft. I won't get too exact on these because the program is too basic to justify spending the time to get more precise.

 

[bobman]

Couple things to consider first to save some money if you are going to build a steel stand why no skip the slide out and just add doors to both side for easy access to the filtration. Next you might want to move the skimmer into the second chamber of the sump. Not sure what your plans are for that 2nd chamber but if it is a refugium you will end up skimmer your pods as they travel to the return pump. If you are using it for reactors that's great but let the skimmer do its job first then the reactors clean up whats left or add whatever back into the system. Also you might want to consider a closed loop system of some sort to blow detritus off the bottom and back up to the top. 6' is going to be hard to do with power heads alone. Next would be lighting my tank is 30" deep and lighting was very tricky. Not sure what to recommend there besides a huge powerful metal halide. Looks like a cool build though. I will be following good luck to you.

 

[Bloody.Knuckles]

Couple things to consider first to save some money if you are going to build a steel stand why no skip the slide out and just add doors to both side for easy access to the filtration. Next you might want to move the skimmer into the second chamber of the sump. Not sure what your plans are for that 2nd chamber but if it is a refugium you will end up skimmer your pods as they travel to the return pump. If you are using it for reactors that's great but let the skimmer do its job first then the reactors clean up whats left or add whatever back into the system. Also you might want to consider a closed loop system of some sort to blow detritus off the bottom and back up to the top. 6' is going to be hard to do with power heads alone. Next would be lighting my tank is 30" deep and lighting was very tricky. Not sure what to recommend there besides a huge powerful metal halide. Looks like a cool build though. I will be following good luck to you.

Placeholder to reply tomorrow

 

[Bloody.Knuckles]

If I don't spend the money on $75 drawer slides, I'll just spend it elsewhere; this is not a cheap hobby, lol.

I had planned the sump order in the way you suggest, but I was watching the BRS 52 weeks video on their customers made sump and it was set up in this order. It's not set in stone, so I'll keep researching pros and cons while I build the frame... unless reef a palooza NY bankruptcy me, lol.

I do have plans for a closed loop system in the style of that 1200 gallon double drop, but haven't settled on the design nor do I want to put it in the 3d model (android app).

Lighting is also up in the air, somewhat, because I have a setup in my head that I haven't seen done and need to think it through more. I am also willing to accept that this depth is something found in nature and may not be suited to a 5 foot wall of corals, but that just means I won't be putting corals down that far.

Thanks for the advice and I may "go quiet" until after reefapalooza when I hope to start frame construction.

 

[eliramos]

This will be epic!

 

[Bloody.Knuckles]

I was looking at the 3D model again and realized I didn't pay attention to the cube count and I made it 2 feet wide and 1.5 feet deep at the bottom of the drop-off. Here it is with the intended 12x18 and about 104 gallons minus the sump.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Crazy!