nay,kid's 150 in progress

[nay,kid]

I've finally made some progress, so its time to start my own thread. this is my 4'x2'x30" tank, I built the stand my self.



the frame is steel and the skin is aluminum thats held on with magnets.

Here is my manifold and overflow box which I also built myself.


The overflow box is 34" x 6"x6" it has four 1" drains that go downstairs to my sump.

[nay,kid]

My 55 gallon refugium and 100 gallon sump


I'm still in the process of plumbing so some things I might change. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

[poppin_fresh]

Matt,
Are you planning on dumping one of the overflow drains to the 'fuge? I used to have mine plumbed that way, but I was always getting a ton of detritus piling up in there. I now have it plumbed off the return and all the raw water goes to the skimmer first.

You may also want to give yourself a port and valve so you can stub off and add accessories like a phosban reactor off the return pump. This will eliminate having to add more little pumps down the road.

[PhotoJohn]

nice project!

[poppin_fresh]

ohhh...forgot to mention, nice job so far! Like the stand design, cant wait to see what you come up with for a hood/canopy.

[nay,kid]

thanks guys! poppin I was going to feed one drain into the fuge I thought it would feed things more, but what you said makes sense. As for the hood I was going to match the stand with aluminum but for now I'm going to use wood painted black to save money for lights. I can always skin it later down the road.

[nay,kid]

should my fuge drain into the return section or the skimmer section? and how far down should they go?

[poppin_fresh]

I would dump the output to the return section regardless of how you plumb the input. You wont want to skim out any plankton, pods, etc. that may flow out of the 'fuge.

Not sure what you mean by how far down... can you elaborate pleeze?

[nay,kid]

I mean how far down to the water level for the fuge drain lines

[lReef lKeeper]

just below the level of the water will keep noise down and have minimal back pressure on the flow

[poppin_fresh]

Plus... splashing = more evaporation and potential salt creep issues.

[PhotoJohn]

is there a reason you went with a long box like overflow instead of the tower style overflows?

[veriann]

yea-ha! up & racing bud!

good to see another of us have the b@lls to use metal! Nice work, the skin looks great! Solid 3 side removable one peice?

[nay,kid]

thanks V its three separate sides I didn't want the hassle of making doors and I like the clean look.
I like the horizontal overflow because it takes up less real estate inside the tank, its also supposed to be more efficient at skimming the surface.44 inches of linear surface.

[veriann]

yeah, coast to coast as you call it, can indeed increase skimming, although its depends on its entry construction. If its total length is used as an overflow, chances are due to surface tension & "Lip" condition it will still have distictive flow points. depending on total flow, it can also be ether quieter, or louder than classical form. Kudos to you anyways bud, especially cause its DIY.

One question, on your pump pipes at the back - is the terminator caps at the top - are the sealed or breathable?

[nay,kid]

Those are the drain caps and right now there not sealed I'll probably drill a hole in them and put some tubing in to control noise. Also their above the water line.

[nay,kid]

I got my sand in 5.5" and most of my rock in, I still need to get a few live pieces to seed the base rock.

[lReef lKeeper]

that is some sweet rock work. sorry i have not been able to come by, but you know what i have been doing all weekend !!