415 Gallon Plywood Tank Build

luvmyreef

luvmyreef

Active Member
Appeciate the offer. Right now, I am still bugging him about taking me, and I don't know my work schedule yet , so even if he says yes, I am not sure I can go to this one.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Sounds good....Right now there's 3 of us riding down together. Plenty of room....I've already compiled quite a healthy list......
 
slice

slice

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/376802/415-gallon-plywood-tank-build/1280#post_3446771
A quick walk around video....Excuse the mess inside the fish room....I had to throw everything in the room to tidy up for the holidays....Now it'll only take me weeks to figure out where I stashed everything!!!!!

That vid creeped me out a bit. I could have done the voice over and neither one of us would be able to tell the difference. As I played it, the wife thought I was talking to her.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Ok Seth still waiting on some concepts/designs for a scrubber for the system. Still up in the air if I'm going to run an internal or external skimmer
The space I have available to work with is where I was going to place my in sump skimmer, but leaning towards moving to an external skimmer, since it's not effected by water depth and height issues. The space available is 19"x19".....Lets here what you got......
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Not a whole lot of progress today......Did get the sump pulled from underneath the stand finally. I've been dreading pulling it, but I wanted to get the bubble tower and filter sock holders glued into place. Wanted to get this done before I did the water test coming up.....The water test will start in between the master bedroom makeover!!!!!
You gotta have something to do while paint is drying.....
I started thinking about my frag/quarantine setup. I wanted to have a dedicated tank for both. Not sure how I'm going to manage the space under the cabinet as far as space for independent sumps. With some research and reading, I've concluded that they must/should be on totally independent systems. From what I see it's apparent that pests are a major issue, and having a dedicated place where I can really scrutinize newly acquired pieces seems to be the best option. So....While wasting time between union meetings and stuff today I happened to wonder into ***** and they were having the $1 per gallon sale, and picked up a 40 gallon breeder for my dedicated frag tank. I had originally planned to build the frag and quarantine tanks from acrylic, but price comparison was a no brainer. I could have never built 1 for the price of the tank. I get the tank home and downstairs, and realize that the frag tank won't go through the door opening, because of how the stand sticks out into the door way.....So another plus to pulling the sump was I can slide it back through the tank stand to the back of the fish room......
I am planning on drilling the back of the tank. I did do a little searching and the Aqueon 40 breeders aren't tempered anywhere so I could actually drill the bottom, but leaning towards drilling the back wall and and internal overfow box. Any thoughts or ideas.....
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/376802/415-gallon-plywood-tank-build/1300#post_3446888
Ok Seth still waiting on some concepts/designs for a scrubber for the system. Still up in the air if I'm going to run an internal or external skimmer
The space I have available to work with is where I was going to place my in sump skimmer, but leaning towards moving to an external skimmer, since it's not effected by water depth and height issues. The space available is 19"x19".....Lets here what you got......
19x19 eh? And it's over the sump? Are you completely opposed to using a separate container / tank? Salt creep is horrible with algae scrubbers - I don't think I will ever build another scrubber unless it's built inside a glass box of some sort. With the $1/g sale, you could pick up a 20g long and build a really nice sized scrubber in it. And it would be very safe and not an electrical hazard. lol.
My idea is to drill the tank four times on one side. Two at the top middle and two at the bottom. Then, baffle it with four pieces of glass, creating two wet compartments and three dry compartments. The dry compartments would be fitted with 23w CFLs and the wet compartments would be fitted with the scrubber PVC and screens... the bottom two bulkheads would be drains. A 20g long is 30" long... and 12" tall... that would give you enough filtering power for a ~600g tank... (30x10x2) You could paint the glass with silver reflective paint and then coat it with flat black, and put a (painted/poly'd) wooden top on the tank to hold the lighting system. Silicone in all of the lights into the sockets... I'm making mine out of a 10g tank soon - maybe you could follow my algae scrubber build and get some ideas.
If you do want to fit it in that area still - We'll have to do some more creative thinking.
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/376802/415-gallon-plywood-tank-build/1300#post_3447026
I am planning on drilling the back of the tank. I did do a little searching and the Aqueon 40 breeders aren't tempered anywhere so I could actually drill the bottom, but leaning towards drilling the back wall and and internal overfow box. Any thoughts or ideas.....

Cool! I like that idea a lot... Have you looked into Glass Holes overflow kits? They're cheap but they work really well... Not as silent as a bean animal design, but good enough for your application...
I would say that a frag tank can be connected to the main system, as long as the only frags that go into the frag tank are from your system only.
A quarantine tank should ALWAYS be separate from the main system - and be as close to your main systems parameters as possible.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/376802/415-gallon-plywood-tank-build/1300#post_3447037
19x19 eh? And it's over the sump? Are you completely opposed to using a separate container / tank? Salt creep is horrible with algae scrubbers - I don't think I will ever build another scrubber unless it's built inside a glass box of some sort. With the $1/g sale, you could pick up a 20g long and build a really nice sized scrubber in it. And it would be very safe and not an electrical hazard. lol Yes the space available is 19"x19". Yes opposed using a separate container....I don't want a bunch of crap sitting around my fish room. I've already had to compromise on going from internal to external skimmer......
My idea is to drill the tank four times on one side. Two at the top middle and two at the bottom. Then, baffle it with four pieces of glass, creating two wet compartments and three dry compartments. The dry compartments would be fitted with 23w CFLs and the wet compartments would be fitted with the scrubber PVC and screens... the bottom two bulkheads would be drains. A 20g long is 30" long... and 12" tall... that would give you enough filtering power for a ~600g tank... (30x10x2) You could paint the glass with silver reflective paint and then coat it with flat black, and put a (painted/poly'd) wooden top on the tank to hold the lighting system. Silicone in all of the lights into the sockets... I'm making mine out of a 10g tank soon - maybe you could follow my algae scrubber build and get some ideas.
If you do want to fit it in that area still - We'll have to do some more creative thinking. I will have to post some pics of the sump since I dug it out from under the stand....
Cool! I like that idea a lot... Have you looked into Glass Holes overflow kits? They're cheap but they work really well... Not as silent as a bean animal design, but good enough for your application.Looking for quiet, but will have to check them out......Not really needing their bits, since I've been drilling tanks with my rotozip, but will check them out.
I would say that a frag tank can be connected to the main system, as long as the only frags that go into the frag tank are from your system only. Curious as to what happens if you connect your frag system to your DT and you encounter Red Bugs or Flat Worms....They will ultimately make it to your DT. Not a chance I really want to take.
A quarantine tank should ALWAYS be separate from the main system - and be as close to your main systems parameters as possible. Agree!!!!!
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Ok....Some shots of the sump outside the stand.....

Looking at the backside of the sump....The black acrylic is actually the wall for the bubble tower.....

Side shot looking in from the proposed skimmer/scrubber area. Can also see the teeth on the bottom of the bubble tower.....

A quick shot of the sump with the filter sock holder glued into place.....I fabricated a dual filter sock holder.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
More pics.....

Ok Seth.....When the sump was first built I was going to use this area for a dedicated fuge w/DSB.....That way I could easily isolate the fuge/DSB if the need arose. Actually you can see in the pic the cross support, which I'm thinking of removing from the sump. I had then thought of using this area for the scrubber since it will be located and easily accessible from the fish room for the scrubber area. The only problem is the cross bracing is right in the center of the area. This area measures 30"x15"......

The area to the left of the black panel of the bubble tower was designed for my skimmer area.....Well after mocking up all the plumbing and adjusting positions for plumbing, the center of this area lines up directly underneath a cross support for the stand. That being said the Octopus skimmer of my choice has a water level of roughly 6-6.5" of water level, and that baffles are set at 10" which means I would have to elevate the skimmer up 4-5". Really cutting into the clearance for skimmer cup removal. That is why I'm considering going with the external version of the Octopus skimmer.

This pic shows the dual filter sock holder, and also show a little better view of the other proposed area for the scrubber. Seth this area in front of the black panel measures 19"x19".
So....Looking for everyones input as far as which area would be better suited for the scrubber.....Opinions on going internal vs external skimmer.....External skimmer has no issues with water depth inside the sump or changing water levels as well. Thoughts on removing the center cross bracing......I could always laminate another piece over the top and extend the euro bracing along the top if needed, but don't really see an issue with deflection since the water depth is top 11"....Everyones thoughts........
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
What do you guys think about this light setup for over the frag tank.......Was also considering doing a LED setup for the frag setup as well,
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
To be absolutely and completely honest Shawn, even though you could modify that area to hold a scrubber - I believe you would be better off with a shallow sand bed and some macroalgae... and just use it as a refugium as you originally planned. A scrubber does go a long way towards filtering water and keeping parameters stable etc. But so does a macro fuge. With a large skimmer and water changes like what you have been talking about - I don't see the need or risk of modifying your sump to accommodate a scrubber, especially in such a tight space. If you still feel the need to add a scrubber - we'll work on a design that will fit but to be completely honest - I think you will be perfectly fine with using macroalgae.
If you still want a scrubber - you will definitely have to have splash guards. In that tight of a space, you may even want to consider LED's like Corey.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
I like Tek lights - but the bulbs would have to be replaced with ATI brand... Blue + and Aquablue Specials.... Maybe even throw in a purple or Fiji Pink bulb for better growth
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/376802/415-gallon-plywood-tank-build/1300#post_3447079
To be absolutely and completely honest Shawn, even though you could modify that area to hold a scrubber - I believe you would be better off with a shallow sand bed and some macroalgae... and just use it as a refugium as you originally planned. A scrubber does go a long way towards filtering water and keeping parameters stable etc. But so does a macro fuge. With a large skimmer and water changes like what you have been talking about - I don't see the need or risk of modifying your sump to accommodate a scrubber, especially in such a tight space. If you still feel the need to add a scrubber - we'll work on a design that will fit but to be completely honest - I think you will be perfectly fine with using macroalgae.
If you still want a scrubber - you will definitely have to have splash guards. In that tight of a space, you may even want to consider LED's like Corey.
I was curious as to how deep the scrubber would have to sit.....The scrubber would be contained inside the sump....Again trying to get some info/knowledge. Wouldn't be an issue with using LEDs. Modifications would be simple/painless, simple 2 swipes tops 6" tops for the cuts to remove the cross bracing....
 
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