140g super low budget build...

gotpancit

gotpancit

Member
Alright, here we go! I just picked up the 140g last night and now have a long battle to get this baby going. I'm going to try and do this with the lowest budget possible using various parts sourced from clist and other forsale sites, oh and of course swf.com.
I'm starting off with a 140g all glass tank with canopy and stand. The canopy is lightless and is prewired for fans.
Hopefully you guys can help me out with the build because I've never had anything this big before. the 65g I had before was fairly easy to maintain, so I'm hoping to make this 140g just as maintainable.
First off, what should I do with that bulkhead in the side? It's a 1-1/4". It looks too low for an overflow, but a fairly good place for a return. If I do use that for a return, then I'm planning on drilling for a 1.5" bulkhead return on the opposite side. I'm hoping to get all my flow from my pump...which by the way I'm looking at a quiet one 5000 (1330gph @ 0') or 6000 (1506gph @ 0').
here we go...

*oh yeah I'm also going to try and model everything in either sketchup or solidworks or pro/e depending on whats at my fingertips at the moment. :)
 
hlcroghan

hlcroghan

Active Member
Wow, sounds like a good start!!! i wish I could have gotten a hold of something like this for cheap.....:)
 
sean48183

sean48183

Member
Nice setup. I wonder what the purpose of one hole drilled in the side was. Maybe to connect a tank. Either way looks like it should be a nice setup.
 
ca161406

ca161406

Member
Originally Posted by sean48183
http:///forum/post/2959818
Nice setup. I wonder what the purpose of one hole drilled in the side was. Maybe to connect a tank. Either way looks like it should be a nice setup.
i think thats a magnetic algae scraper

should of read the post blah
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
A man after my own heart....follow my 125 build. I'm in the same ballpark as you. I'm going as cheap as I can w/out sacrificing quality.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=349033
I made a few mistakes along the way, where I thought I was cutting corners and ended up spending a little more in the long run. Just learn from my misfortune^^
Overall I have a total budget saver tank under construction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As for your drain lines...nope. looks fine to me. It looks like it was meant for a deep/narrow overflow box. The wider the better(best to skimm junk off a wide thin surface, think of an oils slick you want to remove from the top of the water), but you aren't in a pickle. Your overflow will most likely be a narrow deep one. Or you could do a custom...wide at the top...and pipe it down to the outlets.
The other option...and my personal choice...keep the existing hole as a return line. And do a 1.5" drain(that will net you about 1300GPH peak.) Keep the smaller hole for the return. Or go larger on the drain if you feel you want to increase the water flow(I am).
Just Google a water flow chart and you'll get an idea what size you want.
 
gotpancit

gotpancit

Member
King...I've totally been checking out your build and its given me a bunch of ideas.
I totally agree with having that side bulkhead as a return. Do a 1.5" on the other side on the back for overflow.
So far I haven't been able to touch the tank much, but at work I've been modeling up the tank and bulkhead. If I get some time today I'll measure the stand and canopy and gen those up real quick.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
A single 1300GPH overflow should be plenty for a tank that size.
But with overflows...you can always go bigger...and then have a flow valve later on down to slow it up a bit. I'm doing 2 because I'm doing something off the beaten path. It could totally blow up in my face and be the worst idea ever. But it could be a pioneering thing that people will mimick. Then again...It might have already been done...and was such a dismal failure that no one ever tried it again.^^
Time will tell. Ill have my stand built sometime next week. And then the plumbing a few days later. Thats when Ill unveil my super idea!!
And then possibly...actually very likely stand lots of ridicule lol.
 
redsea

redsea

Active Member
Originally Posted by gotpancit
http:///forum/post/2959081
Alright, here we go! I just picked up the 140g last night and now have a long battle to get this baby going. I'm going to try and do this with the lowest budget possible using various parts sourced from clist and other forsale sites, oh and of course swf.com.
I'm starting off with a 140g all glass tank with canopy and stand. The canopy is lightless and is prewired for fans.
Hopefully you guys can help me out with the build because I've never had anything this big before. the 65g I had before was fairly easy to maintain, so I'm hoping to make this 140g just as maintainable.
First off, what should I do with that bulkhead in the side? It's a 1-1/4". It looks too low for an overflow, but a fairly good place for a return. If I do use that for a return, then I'm planning on drilling for a 1.5" bulkhead return on the opposite side. I'm hoping to get all my flow from my pump...which by the way I'm looking at a quiet one 5000 (1330gph @ 0') or 6000 (1506gph @ 0').
here we go...

*oh yeah I'm also going to try and model everything in either sketchup or solidworks or pro/e depending on whats at my fingertips at the moment. :)

looks awesome!
cant wait to see it stocked
 
mantisman51

mantisman51

Active Member
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! No! Seal it from the inside. Aquarium silicone is non-toxic. That won't hold. I know from experience. The pressure of the water is pushing out. It will leak again. You need a positive seal, not a negative seal. You need to be working with the water pressure, not against it.
 
mantisman51

mantisman51

Active Member
Oops, got a little excited. I did that with sealing the outside and it seemed ok for about a week then started leaking again.
 
gotpancit

gotpancit

Member
yeah i totally drained all the water, removed the old silicon, cleaned and reapplied on the inside.
I was looking at the DAP stuff and they come in such small tubes! It would take me about 5 of those tubes to do my whole tank. Instead I found this 100% silicon with no anti bacterial stuff made by ???? I'll have to go look at the bottle.
Anyways it came out alright. Sunday maybe I'll fill it up again to see if there are any other leaks.
I'll try to add the pictures tonight.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
remember it takes 7 days to fully harden. they say 48....but if you can stand to wait a few days more that might be a good idea
 
gotpancit

gotpancit

Member
pictures of my day. I was wondering if I should do the whole tank over, but decided to only do the bottom front and front right seams. They were the only ones that looked suspect..but you never know.



 
mantisman51

mantisman51

Active Member
Now I'm embarassed. I didn't think to use tape to give a cleaner, professional finish. I just slopped a big, ugly line across the bottom and used my index finger to try to straighten it out a little. That's good thinking. Mind if I borrow the idea the next time it happens? I live in a mobile home, er, modular home and I'm sure as the floors settle, it'll happen again.
 
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