My DIY project, Steel stand, sump, overflows and tank reseal.

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beanman

Amphipod
#1
#1
I have a 180g setup and running now but like most it is my first setup and there are a lot of things I wanted to do different. I started by building a new steel stand. The stand is 2x2 steel and I will be making doors out of beetle kill pine. I will also be making a top out of steel with wood doors. I then built an acrylic sump/refugium. I had fort collins plastics cut and bend all of my pieces I needed and then put it together myself. The sump is 46"x18"x22" tall. I then found another used 180 gallon tank on Craigslist. I cleaned up the new tank and removed all of the silicone from it and re siliconed the tank. I drilled the back of the tank for bulkheads and installed a box on the top rear of the tank to build a "Bean Animal Overflow".

I am still in the process of getting things together and getting it ready to swap out with the old tank and stand soon.

Here is a link to all of the pics of my build so far.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/113589457354761787117/albums/5861249259438417521
 
RuRoo

RuRoo

Butterfly Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#5
#5
My DIY project, Steel stand, sump, overflows and tank reseal.

Awesome. Great build man.
 
09bumblebee

09bumblebee

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#6
#6
This build looks very familiar. There is a tank on rc that looks just like this one. Is that where you got your ideas from? If so well done cause that system is awesome.
 
B

beanman

Amphipod
#10
#10
Thanks guys, I also have my build on Reefcentral. The surface skimming is supposed to work well. The object is to skim a thin top layer so no finger grooves are needed.

Here is a pic of what the current setup looks like. I am also getting rid of most of the lace rock (something i did not know the difference about when I got started) and adding a lot more live rock.

[attachment=64243:name]
 
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beanman

Amphipod
#12
#12
09bumblebee;240133 said:
How do u keep your sand bed so clean?
Click to expand...
The only way I can keep it clean is to use a shallow sand bed and have lots of flow. Sometimes it gets to looking dirty but I think it does that when I overfeed.

I am really hoping with the new setup it will be easier to keep clean....
 
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beanman

Amphipod
#13
#13
I finished the plumbing today and installed the new Reeflo Dart return pump. Filled the tank with water and tested her out. The overflows work great and are super quiet. The new pump is also very quiet.
I shut the pump off several times and the overflows restarted every time without issue.

[attachment=64247:name]

[attachment=64248:name]
 
B

beanman

Amphipod
#15
#15
powdermonkey;241444 said:
Do you feel like you get a lot better surface movement/skim from the C2C?
Click to expand...

I have only done a test run to check for leaks so far. The thing I noticed is the whole surface of the water is moving, I will be swapping in this tank this weekend so I will see for sure then.
 
B

beanman

Amphipod
#16
#16
I got a lot of work done on this project this weekend. I tore down the old tank setup and put all of my fish and coral in a rubbermaid container.
Moved the new setup into place.

[attachment=64314:name]

Hooked up all of the plumbing and started filling the tank.

[attachment=64315:name]

Put all of the fish back in and got the coral in place.

[attachment=64316:name]

Started building the doors for the stand. I still need to find the hardware for the doors that I want so I test fit the doors in place.

[attachment=64317:name]

I am pretty happy with the way things are turning out. I can't wait to get the top enclosure done.

[attachment=64318:name]
 
B

beanman

Amphipod
#17
#17
The new overflow and pump setup is super quiet. All I hear now is the fans from the lights. Once I get the top enclosure done I will be upgrading that stuff as well.
 
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