Snewcrash's 75 gallon build!

snewcrash · 12/04/2009, 03:25 PM

Ok, I've been lurking for the past year, learning and getting equipment together. I wanted to start earlier this year, but I had to deal with a move during the summer so I had to wait. I've never ran any type of fish tank before so I'm brand new to all of this.

Here's my equipment:

75 gallon AGA tank w/ Megaflow overflow
55 gallon sump
Home built stand
Octopus NW-200 protein skimmer
Eheim 1262 return pump
Vortech MP-40W Gen 2
Aquactinics Solar Flare (6x84w T5HO, LED moonlights, 6xSLR's)
2 x Two Little Fishes 150 reactors, going to run carbon and phosban
Air, Water & Ice Typhoon III RO/DI Unit
50lbs of Marco Key Largo dry rock

So far I have the stand built and I just finished installing my baffles in the sump. I have to remove the side skin of the stand to get the sump in. That's on my list for tomorrow as well as a leak check on the sump/baffles. Once that's completed I'm going to start plumbing. I'm about to place an order online for some spaflex. Here's a couple of pictures that I have so far. All comments are welcome!

jubjub · 12/04/2009, 04:54 PM

wow those are some tall baffles.....you might wanna shrink them down to 8-10" or so. from prior experience having some extra room in your sump incase of a power outage or what not for water from the tank to go to....

just dont wanna see a flood

quote the melev
How tall should the baffles be?

Once the water depth for your skimmer has been ascertained, the baffle height can be set accordingly. If the skimmer needs shallower waters, I still recommend making the skimmer zone deep. By having more water around the skimmer, it allows the bubbles time to rise and pop, so they won’t end up in the display tank. Put the skimmer on a short stand so it still meets manufacturer’s recommendations. Make sure that the skimmer sitting on a stand will still fit within the cabinet area and permit removal of the collection cup!

Average baffle height is 9 to 10”

snewcrash · 12/04/2009, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jubjub

wow those are some tall baffles.....you might wanna shrink them down to 8-10" or so. from prior experience having some extra room in your sump incase of a power outage or what not for water from the tank to go to....

just dont wanna see a flood

Thanks! The level of water in the skimmer/return section is 15 inches and the refugium is 16 inches. I used the calculator to see how much extra space I need when the pumps are off and I have enough up to catch it above the baffles. (I hope

)

snewcrash · 12/06/2009, 06:32 AM

I didn't get a chance to put the sump in the stand, but I did finish the baffles and run a leak check. No leaks. I also painted the wall behind where the tank is going to go.

snewcrash · 12/09/2009, 09:47 PM

Since my last update I installed the sump under the display tank and did the plumbing. I went with spaflex and some clear vinyl. I will be taping all of the piping to retard algae growth. I am now leak testing it. So far no leaks in the return/reactor lines. I'm just using tap water to leak test this. I'm traveling in the beginning of January and won't be actually starting the tank until the middle of January.

Is there a specific way to fill the tank? Right now I'm just filling the sump and turning on the return pump to fill the display tank. I should eventually get to a point where the return flow starts overflowing into the overflow box. Do I fill more once I reach this point?

Here's some pictures. I'm going to have to shim the stand. The stand is actually level, but as you can see, my floor isn't. I'm on the 12th floor of a building built in 1964...

Screename_116 · 12/09/2009, 11:33 PM

Looks awesome so far.

What kind of cat is that? lol

Skinner · 12/09/2009, 11:47 PM

Yeah, was that thing hairless or something???

snewcrash · 12/10/2009, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Screename_116

Looks awesome so far.

What kind of cat is that? lol

It's a cornish rex. Almost hairless but not quite. He was climbing on top of the light fixture last night, going to have to do something about that.

I feel like there are a lot of bubbles in the tank. Is this normal when you first fill it up with water? There's a lot of dust and cat hair floating around in there... I haven't installed a filter sock yet.

Reeftanks6 · 12/10/2009, 02:16 PM

Looking really good. Keep it up. Tagging along.

Giga · 12/10/2009, 03:58 PM

make sure none of those metal clamps are in the water because it looks like the pump one is

snewcrash · 12/10/2009, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giga

make sure none of those metal clamps are in the water because it looks like the pump one is

Yeah the pump clamp is in water, I'll remove it, thanks.

NigerBang · 12/10/2009, 07:33 PM

Lookin Good..

iwishtofish · 12/11/2009, 10:24 AM

This will be fun to follow! Interesting how you daisy-chained the reactors. Is that common practice?

Why is it cats always show such interest in fish tanks?

jhawkor · 12/11/2009, 11:01 AM

Looking good.

bryman · 12/11/2009, 12:38 PM

Looks good! Like the others said, you might want to replace all the stainless steel clamps with click-lock plastic clamps. Even the ones out of water will rust out after a few years with the salty air and salt creep.

The bubbles are normal for a new tank - will go away after a week or two.

snewcrash · 12/11/2009, 12:46 PM

Thanks, I'll look for the plastic clips at home depot. I just put more pvc cement on the connections on the return line to see if that helps with the bubbles. This is just test water so I'm probably going to empty it here in a couple of days.

bryman · 12/11/2009, 01:17 PM

Unless the bubbles are coming in from your return pipes, they are not caused by the plumbing. Just part of the normal tank break-in process. You probably won't find the clips at HD, but they are pretty cheap from DFS, Premium Aquatics, or Marine Depot. Why not just keep the water in? It takes a long time to make that much RODI!

snewcrash · 12/11/2009, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bryman

Unless the bubbles are coming in from your return pipes, they are not caused by the plumbing. Just part of the normal tank break-in process. You probably won't find the clips at HD, but they are pretty cheap from DFS, Premium Aquatics, or Marine Depot. Why not just keep the water in? It takes a long time to make that much RODI!

Thanks for the advice about the clips. The water I have in there now is just tap water otherwise I'd leave it in. I'm not going to be home from Dec 27 - Jan 14, so I was wary about keeping water in the tank. I was thinking about starting the cycle while I was gone, but I want to be around during the initial stages and I want to make sure that I don't flood out 120 gallons of water into the people that live below me. =)

So for now I'm just using the tap water to leak test and get familiarized with water levels and everything. Plus, I need to shim my stand since my floor is not level.

snewcrash · 12/13/2009, 10:51 AM

So I've been running the system with just tap water in it for the past couple of days and I've ran into these issues that I need to fix:

1) Shim the tank to make it level.
2) Get a filter sock to reduce the bubbles caused by the drain line in the skimmer section.
3) Create another baffle between the skimmer and return section to reduce the bubbles getting created by flowing over the last baffle into the skimmer section (Look at 0:18 of the video)

I'm going to drain the tank, fix those things, order my sand and start doing my aquascaping with my marcorock. Can i just get a filter sock that clips onto the end of my drainline? I know there are filter sock holders out there, but I don't have enough room for that.

Also, does anyone have any idea for a better solution for keeping bubbles out of the return section? I usually only see 3 piece bubble traps, how do you guys not get bubbles from the drop into the return section?

bryman · 12/13/2009, 10:58 PM

Nice video. I am looking for some kind of filter sock I can just put over my drains as well.

As for your bubbles in the return section, if you just run your water level higher in that section your bubbles should be minimized and probably won't reach the pump on the bottom. However, make sure you have enough room left for backflow when the power is out.

jimmycent · 12/14/2009, 06:03 AM

Any way of controlling the flow to your two reactors? If not, they could end up with to much. I think they only are recommended to have a certain amount of flow through them and its not much. Might be something to think about. Pretty impressive the thought you've put in considering your first ever tank. Something a lot neglect on the first time round, I know I did. Look forward to watching it progress

snewcrash · 12/15/2009, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bryman

As for your bubbles in the return section, if you just run your water level higher in that section your bubbles should be minimized and probably won't reach the pump on the bottom. However, make sure you have enough room left for backflow when the power is out.

The water will usually be higher, but I don't want the bubbles after a couple of days of evap. I only want to refill the water level every 3 days or so and I'd rather not have bubbles during that period. I bought a 1/8 piece of glass today, it was only $5, should solve the problem for when the return level is low.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmycent

Any way of controlling the flow to your two reactors? If not, they could end up with to much. I think they only are recommended to have a certain amount of flow through them and its not much. Might be something to think about. Pretty impressive the thought you've put in considering your first ever tank. Something a lot neglect on the first time round, I know I did. Look forward to watching it progress

Thanks for the compliment. I have a ball valve on the TLF reactors so I can regulate the flow to them.

snewcrash · 12/15/2009, 11:58 AM

Ok, so I purchased another piece of glass to stop the bubbles in the return section. As for the unlevel floor, I bought shims from home depot, but they were the 6 inch ones. If you look at the picture below you can see that I need a solid inch raise on the right side of the tank. I can do that with these small shims, but I'm concerned about the area of the stand that isn't touching the floor now.

Will that gap cause my bottom 2x4's to crack when I fill up the tank? Home depot has 12 inch shims, but I'm thinking it might be better to custom build some type of shim/wedge that fills all of the gap. Any ideas? I think some gap might be alright, my floor is concrete so I'm not concerned about the pressure being generated at that front right corner right now...

boxer385 · 12/15/2009, 01:43 PM

what are the measurement of your tank i like it very much.

snewcrash · 12/15/2009, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boxer385

what are the measurement of your tank i like it very much.

The tank is just a standard AGA 75 gallon. 48L x 18W x 20D

12/04/2009, 03:25 PM	#1
snewcrash Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Hartford, CT Posts: 349	Snewcrash's 75 gallon build! Ok, I've been lurking for the past year, learning and getting equipment together. I wanted to start earlier this year, but I had to deal with a move during the summer so I had to wait. I've never ran any type of fish tank before so I'm brand new to all of this. Here's my equipment: 75 gallon AGA tank w/ Megaflow overflow 55 gallon sump Home built stand Octopus NW-200 protein skimmer Eheim 1262 return pump Vortech MP-40W Gen 2 Aquactinics Solar Flare (6x84w T5HO, LED moonlights, 6xSLR's) 2 x Two Little Fishes 150 reactors, going to run carbon and phosban Air, Water & Ice Typhoon III RO/DI Unit 50lbs of Marco Key Largo dry rock So far I have the stand built and I just finished installing my baffles in the sump. I have to remove the side skin of the stand to get the sump in. That's on my list for tomorrow as well as a leak check on the sump/baffles. Once that's completed I'm going to start plumbing. I'm about to place an order online for some spaflex. Here's a couple of pictures that I have so far. All comments are welcome!

12/04/2009, 04:54 PM	#2
jubjub Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: vacaville, cali Posts: 2,698	wow those are some tall baffles.....you might wanna shrink them down to 8-10" or so. from prior experience having some extra room in your sump incase of a power outage or what not for water from the tank to go to.... just dont wanna see a flood quote the melev How tall should the baffles be? Once the water depth for your skimmer has been ascertained, the baffle height can be set accordingly. If the skimmer needs shallower waters, I still recommend making the skimmer zone deep. By having more water around the skimmer, it allows the bubbles time to rise and pop, so they won’t end up in the display tank. Put the skimmer on a short stand so it still meets manufacturer’s recommendations. Make sure that the skimmer sitting on a stand will still fit within the cabinet area and permit removal of the collection cup! Average baffle height is 9 to 10” __________________ "The world holds two classes of men - intelligent men without religion, and religious men without intelligence." - Abu Ala Al-Maari

12/10/2009, 02:16 PM	#9
Reeftanks6 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: PA Posts: 3,857	Looking really good. Keep it up. Tagging along. __________________ 110g Reef build in progress Current Tank Info: 110 Gallon Reef

12/10/2009, 03:58 PM	#10
Giga Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Virginia beach, VA Posts: 1,709	make sure none of those metal clamps are in the water because it looks like the pump one is __________________ "You said it didn't bite!"......."Well"......"It didn't bite me." Current Tank Info: cool

12/11/2009, 11:01 AM	#14
jhawkor Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kansas Posts: 939	Looking good. __________________ -Landon-

12/06/2009, 06:32 AM	#4
snewcrash Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Hartford, CT Posts: 349	I didn't get a chance to put the sump in the stand, but I did finish the baffles and run a leak check. No leaks. I also painted the wall behind where the tank is going to go.

12/09/2009, 09:47 PM	#5
snewcrash Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Hartford, CT Posts: 349	Since my last update I installed the sump under the display tank and did the plumbing. I went with spaflex and some clear vinyl. I will be taping all of the piping to retard algae growth. I am now leak testing it. So far no leaks in the return/reactor lines. I'm just using tap water to leak test this. I'm traveling in the beginning of January and won't be actually starting the tank until the middle of January. Is there a specific way to fill the tank? Right now I'm just filling the sump and turning on the return pump to fill the display tank. I should eventually get to a point where the return flow starts overflowing into the overflow box. Do I fill more once I reach this point? Here's some pictures. I'm going to have to shim the stand. The stand is actually level, but as you can see, my floor isn't. I'm on the 12th floor of a building built in 1964...

12/09/2009, 11:33 PM	#6
Screename_116 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Mansfield, Ohio Posts: 111	Looks awesome so far. What kind of cat is that? lol

12/09/2009, 11:47 PM	#7
Skinner Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 73	Yeah, was that thing hairless or something???

12/10/2009, 07:33 PM	#12
NigerBang Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Dallas, GA Posts: 54	Lookin Good..

12/11/2009, 10:24 AM	#13
iwishtofish Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Southern Maryland Posts: 4,949	This will be fun to follow! Interesting how you daisy-chained the reactors. Is that common practice? Why is it cats always show such interest in fish tanks?

12/11/2009, 12:38 PM	#15
bryman Aquascape Destroyer Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Carol Stream, IL Posts: 1,104	Looks good! Like the others said, you might want to replace all the stainless steel clamps with click-lock plastic clamps. Even the ones out of water will rust out after a few years with the salty air and salt creep. The bubbles are normal for a new tank - will go away after a week or two. __________________ PVITAWA! Current Tank Info: 90G Tech

12/11/2009, 12:46 PM	#16
snewcrash Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Hartford, CT Posts: 349	Thanks, I'll look for the plastic clips at home depot. I just put more pvc cement on the connections on the return line to see if that helps with the bubbles. This is just test water so I'm probably going to empty it here in a couple of days.

12/11/2009, 01:17 PM	#17
bryman Aquascape Destroyer Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Carol Stream, IL Posts: 1,104	Unless the bubbles are coming in from your return pipes, they are not caused by the plumbing. Just part of the normal tank break-in process. You probably won't find the clips at HD, but they are pretty cheap from DFS, Premium Aquatics, or Marine Depot. Why not just keep the water in? It takes a long time to make that much RODI! __________________ PVITAWA! Current Tank Info: 90G Tech

12/13/2009, 10:51 AM	#19
snewcrash Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Hartford, CT Posts: 349	So I've been running the system with just tap water in it for the past couple of days and I've ran into these issues that I need to fix: 1) Shim the tank to make it level. 2) Get a filter sock to reduce the bubbles caused by the drain line in the skimmer section. 3) Create another baffle between the skimmer and return section to reduce the bubbles getting created by flowing over the last baffle into the skimmer section (Look at 0:18 of the video) I'm going to drain the tank, fix those things, order my sand and start doing my aquascaping with my marcorock. Can i just get a filter sock that clips onto the end of my drainline? I know there are filter sock holders out there, but I don't have enough room for that. Also, does anyone have any idea for a better solution for keeping bubbles out of the return section? I usually only see 3 piece bubble traps, how do you guys not get bubbles from the drop into the return section?

12/13/2009, 10:58 PM	#20
bryman Aquascape Destroyer Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Carol Stream, IL Posts: 1,104	Nice video. I am looking for some kind of filter sock I can just put over my drains as well. As for your bubbles in the return section, if you just run your water level higher in that section your bubbles should be minimized and probably won't reach the pump on the bottom. However, make sure you have enough room left for backflow when the power is out. __________________ PVITAWA! Current Tank Info: 90G Tech

12/14/2009, 06:03 AM	#21
jimmycent Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 45	Any way of controlling the flow to your two reactors? If not, they could end up with to much. I think they only are recommended to have a certain amount of flow through them and its not much. Might be something to think about. Pretty impressive the thought you've put in considering your first ever tank. Something a lot neglect on the first time round, I know I did. Look forward to watching it progress

12/15/2009, 11:58 AM	#23
snewcrash Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Hartford, CT Posts: 349	Ok, so I purchased another piece of glass to stop the bubbles in the return section. As for the unlevel floor, I bought shims from home depot, but they were the 6 inch ones. If you look at the picture below you can see that I need a solid inch raise on the right side of the tank. I can do that with these small shims, but I'm concerned about the area of the stand that isn't touching the floor now. Will that gap cause my bottom 2x4's to crack when I fill up the tank? Home depot has 12 inch shims, but I'm thinking it might be better to custom build some type of shim/wedge that fills all of the gap. Any ideas? I think some gap might be alright, my floor is concrete so I'm not concerned about the pressure being generated at that front right corner right now...

12/15/2009, 01:43 PM	#24
boxer385 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: University Park, illinois Posts: 1,718	what are the measurement of your tank i like it very much.