My rendition of 300

[FernandesReef]

Great work, and thanks for documenting the process the way you are, makes for a great read.
Keep it up, more....more....


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[McPuff]

Wow, that is cool!

Those seam bubbles are super tough to eliminate but I will not matter. The sump looks terrific. And it is certainly custom!

[Crusty Old Shellback]

yea, seems like when the wife is out of town, I get more work done on my truck than when she's home, even though she doesn't come out to the garage and bug me.

Good luck on drilling the glass. Fingers crossed that it's not tempered. Go slow just in case it is.

I might have to hire you out to do some laser etching on acrylic panels for my truck some day if I ever get that far along.

Speaking of which, we should be up in Tonopah Aug 16 for the race so mark you calendar if you want to come up. be sure and let me know and I'll see if I can get you on our room list.

[fishguy597]

Besides plumbing what else do you have to do?

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by FernandesReef

Great work, and thanks for documenting the process the way you are, makes for a great read.
Keep it up, more....more....


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Thank you very much, I hope to keep the updates coming, seems as late, I've been pulled in all sorts of directions preventing me from doing what I want to do.

Originally Posted by McPuff

Wow, that is cool!

Those seam bubbles are super tough to eliminate but I will not matter. The sump looks terrific. And it is certainly custom!

The more I do it the better I seem to be getting at it, I used needles this time and boy did it make for easy bubbless seams.

spacing with the needles (I believe they're 25g, the thinnest that walgreens had)



Weldon into the gaps


after about 45-60 seconds I removed the needles and clamped the joint, It oozed acrylic out on both sides


Even on the long 72" run, I had more time to clamp and no bubbles

Originally Posted by Crusty Old Shellback

yea, seems like when the wife is out of town, I get more work done on my truck than when she's home, even though she doesn't come out to the garage and bug me.

Good luck on drilling the glass. Fingers crossed that it's not tempered. Go slow just in case it is.

I might have to hire you out to do some laser etching on acrylic panels for my truck some day if I ever get that far along.

Speaking of which, we should be up in Tonopah Aug 16 for the race so mark you calendar if you want to come up. be sure and let me know and I'll see if I can get you on our room list.

Well, drilling went pretty easy, even though this was the first time cutting on a vertical surface, I had a spray bottle in one hand and the drill in the other

four plugs


and 4 holes


You'll have to keep me posted and when the event gets closer send me a text so that I can plan for it, It would be cool to see what does on behind the scenes.

Originally Posted by fishguy597

Besides plumbing what else do you have to do?

After plumbing, I can do the aquascape then start filling with water to get the cycle started. while that's taking place I will be making the light rack and getting those new gen4 pro radions on line... I'll have to start a new list for the next phase.... ahh! it's never ending... I long for the days that I can sit and look at my slice of the reef.

[Sisterlimonpot]

I've been poking around on the Bean Animal thread, reading up on new innovative ways that hobbyist have incorporated his design and I really like the ghost weir design, having a small coast to coast footprint inside the tank and have a box outside to channel the water down through the fail safe system to the sump. Seeing that you can't find the ghost weir longer than 2 feet unless you special order, I took it upon myself to make my own.

Here's the inside coast to coast, it measures 72"x2"x6.5", I made the back panel clear so that I can see if any critters are in the overflow


I had to put the bulkheads inside before gluing the pieces together




Then I made the outside box out of clear it needs to have 1.5" bulkheads coming out of the bottom so it had to be a bit wider, it's 72"x5"x7.5"





Now I need to climb in the tank to line up the inside while someone screws it all together from the outside...

1. Build and paint the platform under the tank for the sump DONE
2. Cut out the acrylic for the ghost overflow DONE
3. Glue the overflow DONE
4. Drill holes in the tank for the overflow DONE
5. Drill holes in the tank for the returns
6. Cut and glue all the plumbing for the drain and return

[SawCJack00]

Looks great Jimmy. Let me know if you need some help.

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by SawCJack00

Looks great Jimmy. Let me know if you need some help.

I know that I always say that I'm going to call you when I need help, but I'm a "right now" kind of guy, if you have to plan something, then you're not being efficient with your time!!! You would literally have to be here waiting in the wings ready to help hehe. Today for instance, I needed help securing the ghost overflow to the tank, I had to enlist my wife for help. I climbed in the tank to line up the bulkheads that are in the weir with the holes drilled in the tank, all the while my wife stood on a ladder outside the tank trying to line up the 4 holes on the outer piece. That took some trial ad error and it would've been comical if someone was recording us and that proverbial football, if you get the reference. We persevered and eventually got it.


I filled it with water to make sure that the seals held water




I should've mention that my wife works from home and it takes a lot to pull her away from the office to come down to help me. Roughly an hour after the ghost overflow was installed the black window tint came in and instead of getting frustrated and work around the ghost overflow, I decided to take it back down. I had to pull my wife from her work yet again to help!!! I thought that she was going to be upset, but she said that it would be more work to try to fit the tint with it on there. So we pulled it back down.

The tint went on really easy, I'm not sure if I like it yet, it definitely blocks the view enough that when the lights are off in the equipment room you can't make out much, you would have to consciously be trying to see through it, which is what I wanted. From around the back side looking in the tank I can definitely see inside, so it might work out, once I get the lights up and running, I will have a better idea.

Good news, the second time attaching the overflow went much quicker, it took no time at all.

Now the plumbing... WOOHOO!!










From left to right is the open channel, emergency standpipe and the full siphon. Open channel will drain into the left filter sock terminating under the water, the full siphon will drain in the right filter sock terminating underwater as well. I still have to laser a hole in the filter sock holder to run the emergency line through a uniseal (which will be here Friday) and I will know how big to cut the hole. I probably have to do some reconfiguring of the open channel, I think it needs to be a little higher so that the full siphon has time to purge itself at start up. I should be able to do all that once the tank is running.

Tomorrow I will be plumbing the return lines and after that happens, I can start filling the tank with RODI water.... getting closer!!!!

Thanks for sticking by while I wade through all this work!!!!

[McPuff]

So the overflows are entering the sump directly into the filter socks?

[SawCJack00]

Wow Jimmy, it's really coming together nicely! What a great setup that is going to be!

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by McPuff

So the overflows are entering the sump directly into the filter socks?

Yes sir, until you pointed that out, I forgot about what my plans were to make filter changes easy, it completely skipped my mind!!! It's a convenience factor that I overlooked. I was going to have a section to the right of the filter sock chamber that allowed the drain pipes to terminate under the water. What you see in the pictures are how I had my last tank setup (that must have been a cruise control day of planing).

[McPuff]

Originally Posted by Sisterlimonpot

Yes sir, until you pointed that out, I forgot about what my plans were to make filter changes easy, it completely skipped my mind!!! It's a convenience factor that I overlooked. I was going to have a section to the right of the filter sock chamber that allowed the drain pipes to terminate under the water. What you see in the pictures are how I had my last tank setup (that must have been a cruise control day of planing).

Having that section to the side of the sock holders is extremely nice. It makes the sock more efficient and easier to change. But it also helps to reduce or eliminate bubbles in the sump and display.

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by McPuff

Having that section to the side of the sock holders is extremely nice. It makes the sock more efficient and easier to change. But it also helps to reduce or eliminate bubbles in the sump and display.

Yeah, if in the future this proves to be a problem I can add a stand alone tank that can "hang on" to the right of the filter sock section and pour in just like it should have inn the beginning.

[Sisterlimonpot]

Since I re-aligned my laser it has been slicing through acrylic like butter. The filter sock cover is layered with 1/4" black, 3/8" clear and another 1/4" black, that's 7/8" thick piece that it had to cut through to make this hole for the uniseal.







And just like that:

1. Build and paint the platform under the tank for the sump DONE
2. Cut out the acrylic for the ghost overflow DONE
3. Glue the overflow DONE
4. Drill holes in the tank for the overflow DONE
5. Drill holes in the tank for the returns DONE
6. Cut and glue all the plumbing for the drain and return DONE



I mapped out the inside of the tank foot print



Since yesterday evening this is what my living room looks like:



I had ever intention to work on it today but we had a family day, when I got back home this evening, this is what I walked in on, hopefully tomorrow we will make progress on aquascaping.

Bill was kind enough to give me his extra bucket of E-Marco 400, It's not enough to complete the task. Last thursday, I put in an order for another bucket. In the back of my mind I thought of this as a drug dealer giving me the first one for free!!! Now that I need more.....



As of right now the plan is to make 3 islands in the tank, leaving plenty of open space for fish and coral grow out, but who knows what type of inspiration I will get along the way. Hopefully by days end tomorrow I will make some progress and get at least 1 island in the tank.

[saf1]

Nice thread, good read On your overflow / return on the Bean Animal. Are the returns actually under water? I believe they should be. At least that is how I interpreted and installed mine. The design works great and your wide weir is actually the correct way to do it. It is called coast to coast for a reason That and smooth. Of course on my tank I couldn't do that so I have slotted for now and a not so wide overflow due to a peninsula style tank.

Thanks for sharing - lot of good stuff here!

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by saf1

Nice thread, good read On your overflow / return on the Bean Animal. Are the returns actually under water? I believe they should be. At least that is how I interpreted and installed mine. The design works great and your wide weir is actually the correct way to do it. It is called coast to coast for a reason That and smooth. Of course on my tank I couldn't do that so I have slotted for now and a not so wide overflow due to a peninsula style tank.

Thanks for sharing - lot of good stuff here!

Thank You so much Saf1,

Correct me if i'm wrong, I assume that you are asking about the standpipes going into the sump as needing to be under water??? If that's the question, Yes, They will roughly be 4 inches under.

I'm curious as to how far yours are terminated under water? I suspect that the full siphon would have an easier time flushing itself at start up if the depth was minimized. I'm sure there is a sweet spot that most people strive for.

[saf1]

They are more or less the same. I probably didn't ask the question properly and I couldn't tell from the picture(s) how far under. Sorry about that. But yes, mine are more or less in the 3 - 4" range under. I don't have filter socks though because, well - I hate to admit this, but I'm pretty lazy and wouldn't properly maintain or clean them

I really like the overflow though. Previous 100 gallon I had I used the Duroso(sp) design and my wife said to me the other day - wow, this is silent compared to your previous tank I do wish I went with a overflow like yours - mistake on my part for sure but it works has is so I can't complain I guess. Next time!

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by saf1

They are more or less the same. I probably didn't ask the question properly and I couldn't tell from the picture(s) how far under. Sorry about that. But yes, mine are more or less in the 3 - 4" range under. I don't have filter socks though because, well - I hate to admit this, but I'm pretty lazy and wouldn't properly maintain or clean them

I really like the overflow though. Previous 100 gallon I had I used the Duroso(sp) design and my wife said to me the other day - wow, this is silent compared to your previous tank I do wish I went with a overflow like yours - mistake on my part for sure but it works has is so I can't complain I guess. Next time!

I'm still on the fence about filter socks, they seem to trap a lot of good (pods) as well as the bad. The way I have it plumbed might be a blessing. I can have either the full siphon filtered and the open channel unfiltered (or vise versa) and be able to allow some water to make its way through.

My last tank had 2 duroso overflow as well and it gurgled and flushed all the time, I'm eager to see how this one is compared to that one.

And we all make mistakes, i'm glad i'm not the only one, the lesson is to be resilient and press on.... or fix it with your next upgrade!! hehe

[JimON]

Water is close, Jimmy! Fantastic!

[dwolson2]

Originally Posted by Sisterlimonpot

Thank You so much Saf1,

Correct me if i'm wrong, I assume that you are asking about the standpipes going into the sump as needing to be under water??? If that's the question, Yes, They will roughly be 4 inches under.

I'm curious as to how far yours are terminated under water? I suspect that the full siphon would have an easier time flushing itself at start up if the depth was minimized. I'm sure there is a sweet spot that most people strive for.

Jimmy, the pipes shouldn't be more than an inch below the water line. They will have problems if they are. Ask me how I know..... Also, being above isn't a bad thing, only for noise. I think I told you about how my emergency is above the water line so when it goes....u hear it


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[Sisterlimonpot]

Over the memorial day holiday I was able to work on gluing the rock together, I was surprised at how long it took. This was the first time using a mortar to make rock structure. I set up a base, mortared it together and let it cure for a few hours, then my wife and I would discuss what to put on next, mortar it... rinse wash and repeat.

From past experience, this event would only take a few hours in which I was hovering over the tank while my wife would tell me how to balance a rock on top of another and we'd be done in the matter of an hour give or take.

As stated previous, I wanted 3 islands:



using what ever was near to prop up for the next mortar event:



Once the structures were complete, I attached some scrap acrylic cut 0.75" long and attached them to the bottom so that the bottom portion of the rock doesn't get covered with sand. the acrylic pieces should be covered by the sand leaving only the rock in view. they're a bit hard to see them in the photo:



Here you can see them being reinforced with mortar:



I didn't take any pictures of the islands completed, I was just going to show them when they were placed in the tank. That proved to be a bad idea because I needed documentation on how each rock went into place and what the final structure looked like. Instead of waiting for help lifting the structures up I decided to get the ladder out and do it myself... BAD IDEA!!!

About 5' in the air the rock I was lifting from decided to pull apart and crash to the ground, destroyed!



That was to be the wedge shaped island on the far right of the tank, I don't know about you, but when this happened I was flooded with all kinds of emotions. I didn't know if I should be angry, mad, sad or just simply just cry. I quickly realized that my 12 year old daughter was watching, so I just suppressed my reaction and simply said, "whelp! looks like I have to rebuild that one."

[Sisterlimonpot]

"Rebuilt it" is what I did. of course it wasn't anything as good as the original, (it never is) but it will have to suffice. It took 2 days to build this one. I rushed it a bit.

It's hard to snap photos when there's such a glare on the glass, but here's what the final product looks like.









It's hard to portray depth in a 2d photo. From left to right, a bonsai inspired island, a concaved cove, and a wedge that is shallow enough that I can peer from inside the room and see across the entire 8' of the tank.

...and now we start the slow process of filling the tank with water. I saved up 55 gallons about a month ago with the intention to make another 55 for this day. Well, I never got around to it...



Should've put the sand in first....



today is day 4 of filling the tank, another day or 2 and it should be full and I can start adding salt and the cycle begins!!!

[dwolson2]

At least it didn't drop while you were over the tank!


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[halmus]

My compliments on the rock work and your self control after the rock work fell apart. You’re a better man than I am.

[rpjaws74]

very nice set-up...