DIY tank and sump

taznut

taznut

Active Member
I am planning on building my own tank and sump... I started a thead in the 'new' forums but thought this would be a better place for it... I think I am going to model after jackri's frag tank and build a 4'X3'X18" out of 3/8" acrylic... I know glass has some advantages over acrylic but it also costs about twice as much... i had a few questions about the sump and the overflows... this will be my first time trying something like this so any and all help is welcomed...
I think the tank will be about 150g so I was planning on the sump being about 65g... I want the tank to beable to handle any type of corals I want later...
What pump would be best from the sump to the tank?? How big do the holes need to be from the overflows??? I am planning on doing 2 corner overflows unless that is a bad idea...
also about the lr and ls... i live in iowa and both are really expensive
... it would cost about $1000 for the lr alone and was hoping i could use something else to add bulk and only buy a little lr to start the cycle, is this possible? and I think i remember hearing you could do the same with the ls... use some other type of sand and add a little from an established tank to make it ls... is this true?? if so what proportions should I use and what type of rock and sand work best for this...
 
taznut

taznut

Active Member
i tried to diagram the top on paint to get some opions on that as well, hop this works... I would like to do it with one piece but if it costs too much to have cut that way i will probably do the same by piecing it...
 
taznut

taznut

Active Member
feel like im talking to myself
... i have found a lot of information on making lr from portland concrete... the best is a video I watched explaining how to do it... it says to use 1 part concrete, 2 parts sand (coral sand) and 3 parts agragate [sorry about spelling]... for the agragate they used crushed coral, i know that ur not suppose to use that in place of sand so is it okay to make rock out of??? on this site i have seen lots of people say to use oyster shells, is this in place of the cc???
still havent found anything about the sand... i know there is something I can use in place to ls, or at least so i dont have to buy so much of it, but dont know what... and should i use that GARP stuff to seed the tank if i make most of the rock and use the other type of sand???
 
jdl

jdl

Member
Originally Posted by taznut
http:///forum/post/2993345
I am planning on building my own tank and sump... I started a thead in the 'new' forums but thought this would be a better place for it... I think I am going to model after jackri's frag tank and build a 4'X3'X18" out of 3/8" acrylic... I know glass has some advantages over acrylic but it also costs about twice as much... i had a few questions about the sump and the overflows... this will be my first time trying something like this so any and all help is welcomed...
I think the tank will be about 150g so I was planning on the sump being about 65g... I want the tank to beable to handle any type of corals I want later...
What pump would be best from the sump to the tank?? How big do the holes need to be from the overflows??? I am planning on doing 2 corner overflows unless that is a bad idea...
also about the lr and ls... i live in iowa and both are really expensive
... it would cost about $1000 for the lr alone and was hoping i could use something else to add bulk and only buy a little lr to start the cycle, is this possible? and I think i remember hearing you could do the same with the ls... use some other type of sand and add a little from an established tank to make it ls... is this true?? if so what proportions should I use and what type of rock and sand work best for this...
My 120 oceanic uses 1" bulkheads for drains and .75 bulkheads for returns.
for live sand, just buy sand. for live rock, just buy base rock. petc0 sells caribsea sand 40lb bags cheap and shipping is $6 for the entire order.
you can also find base rock for $1.10 / lb from petsolutions
than just buy a few pieces of cured live rock and your base rock and dry sand will become live over time
 
taznut

taznut

Active Member
does anyone have anything against this caribsea sand??? if not that sounds a lot better than the $40 of 15lbs of ls in a bag... as for the base rock, if i make my own i can make my own shapes, plus, it sounds fun to try and will be cheaper in the long run... this will be about a 200gal set up overall so i want around 250-300lbs of live rock, so even the $1.10/lbs would get expensive... thank you for the imput...
 
jdl

jdl

Member
it is petsmart, not petc0
CaribSea Aragonite Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand
$27 for 40lbs. $6 shipping / order of $60+
i use it in all my tanks
 
jdl

jdl

Member
Originally Posted by taznut
http:///forum/post/2993456
does anyone have anything against this caribsea sand??? if not that sounds a lot better than the $40 of 15lbs of ls in a bag... as for the base rock, if i make my own i can make my own shapes, plus, it sounds fun to try and will be cheaper in the long run... this will be about a 200gal set up overall so i want around 250-300lbs of live rock, so even the $1.10/lbs would get expensive... thank you for the imput...

i was going to make my own rock but then i just wimped out and bought the base rock. Seemed cheaper vs. time involved. Make sure you read all about making your own rock. I've read parts about certain concretes not being good to use.
But making your own rock will be fun. You should even look into making a foam/rock wall. Some people just do this and dont use any live rock.
 
woody189

woody189

Member
Originally Posted by JDL
http:///forum/post/2993490
But making your own rock will be fun. You should even look into making a foam/rock wall. Some people just do this and dont use any live rock.
I love the way that looks. you should look into it.
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
I use a 1 inch return and 1 1/2 inch drain -- you want to make sure you can drain more than you can pump in. I also wouldn't use 2 overflows -- wasted space IMO.
I use a maxi-jet 4500 return pump -- rated for 1240 gph but was way too turbulent and noisy in my frag tank and throttled it back to a good flow rate. Wasn't worried so much of the gph but the way it worked/sounded and flowed as I have other powerheads for ciculation -- just don't need the chaos of the max power of it.
Benefits of glass are you can use silicone where acrylic you can't. Acrylic scratches easier but overal makes a stronger bond using weld on -- shouldn't have to worry about busting a seam as the acrylic "bonds" to itself.
Hope this helps some
 
taznut

taznut

Active Member
Originally Posted by JDL
http:///forum/post/2993490
foam/rock wall.
what is this??? a wall made out of foam, or just making a wall one piece???
thank you guys for all your help... was beginning to think this was going to be too expensive and if i can get away cheaper on the rock and the sand its possible...
 
taznut

taznut

Active Member
so here is what I would like to for the sump... it will be 2 feet wide (not shown in pic)... i think this comes to about 60-65gal for the sump...
section 1: has the overflow empty into it, the protein skimmer input and output, heater?
section 2: protein skimmer, lr, algae
section 3: return pump
is this ok??? what do i need to change???
again, thank you Jackri, this is modeled off your tank
edit: this will be done with 1/4" acrylic
 
taznut

taznut

Active Member
any comments on my pictures of the sump and top or are they okay???
I would like to get the stuff to make the LR today since it takes soooo long to cure... I can build the stand, sump and tank while the LR is in the fresh water curing...
I know to use Portland #3 cement... I will also mix in the rock salt to make it lighter...
should I go with the crushed coral or osyter shells??
and for the sand, should I use the same stuff I am going to put in the tank (CaribSea Aragonite Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand)???
and if i use play sand for the mold, wont that stick to the piece I am making??? is this ok???
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
If you're doing a 65 gallon sump I would seriously think about using 3/8" acrylic. I made a 26gallon sump out of 1/4" which worked fine but you're talking another 40 gallons. You would "probably" be ok with 1/4" but not sure that's a corner you want to cut here.
The last thing you want is 70 gallons of water on your floor because of my model ;)
Also unless your sump is REALLY wide the 36" sump thats 16" high won't produce 65 gallons of room. It would have to be 25 + inches wide.
Also remember you want enough room left in your sump so when the power cuts out your back fill doesn't over flow the sump -- and you need a pressure relief hole somewhere in your return like that will break suction as water will back flow until it finds it's own break in suction (same principle as siphoning water for a water change).
Everything else looks good -- the holes you drill... go with a 1/4" bit and drill lots of them.
My first sump I used a #10 bit (5/32nds if I remember my numbers right) and I have a problem with bubble algae/gunk clogging them restricting flow and it's a pain to wrench my hand in there around the skimmer to clean it (did it last night).
The new sump and the way I made the stand makes it much easier to clean the sump and more accessible than the one under my main tank. That's just a mess in there with cords, power strips etc but it's all enclosed unlike my frag tank.
 
taznut

taznut

Active Member
Originally Posted by jackri
http:///forum/post/2994273
If you're doing a 65 gallon sump I would seriously think about using 3/8" acrylic. I made a 26gallon sump out of 1/4" which worked fine but you're talking another 40 gallons. You would "probably" be ok with 1/4" but not sure that's a corner you want to cut here.
The last thing you want is 70 gallons of water on your floor because of my model ;)
Also unless your sump is REALLY wide the 36" sump thats 16" high won't produce 65 gallons of room. It would have to be 25 + inches wide.
Also remember you want enough room left in your sump so when the power cuts out your back fill doesn't over flow the sump -- and you need a pressure relief hole somewhere in your return like that will break suction as water will back flow until it finds it's own break in suction (same principle as siphoning water for a water change).
Everything else looks good -- the holes you drill... go with a 1/4" bit and drill lots of them.
My first sump I used a #10 bit (5/32nds if I remember my numbers right) and I have a problem with bubble algae/gunk clogging them restricting flow and it's a pain to wrench my hand in there around the skimmer to clean it (did it last night).
The new sump and the way I made the stand makes it much easier to clean the sump and more accessible than the one under my main tank. That's just a mess in there with cords, power strips etc but it's all enclosed unlike my frag tank.
ok I will go with the 3/8" for the sump as well
the sump is 2' wide so it should be close to 60gal
and where does the 'pressure relief hole go??? in the hose? acrylic?
thanks for saying something about this because that would suck... im posting soooo much right now because I really dont know what I am doing and would like to have an idea by the time i try this...
thanks again for the help...
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
You want everything to work in THEORY before you dump water in and plug it in :D
That first time the return pump goes is scary lol
I have a relief hole .... hmmm let me see if I can find a pic ... ok right at the water level in the red circle. It actually pushes a bit of water out above the surface line. As long as you have it where water is "pushing" you won't get a sucking noise from it (you'll know what I'm talking about if you did it wrong, you'll hear a sucking/gurgle sound as it's trying to suck air and push water at the same time).
When power is cut.. that air hole immediately breaks suction and I get maybe 2 gallons of back fill back into the sump. With out it, the water would drain until it was low enough to break suction on the pvc fitting end 10 gallons later (or however low in the water it is).
Let me know if this doesn't make sense
(works and makes sense in my mind)
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
Wasn't much of a cirle I drew but I'm tired and shaky from drinking a Monster. I found more close up pictures of the return pipe but the hole is just barely above the water line (water doesn't actually fall but "glides" into the tank water) and doesn't show at all in the other pics.
 
taznut

taznut

Active Member
so I got the stuff for making the lr. I have to work till 10 but will start when I get home. only 1 problem. I couldn't find type 2 or 3 so I got portland cement for posts. it is fast setting, uses little water and doesn't say anything about containing silica like the type 1 does so I hope this is ok. if its not let me know.
 
taznut

taznut

Active Member
ok so i did the first batches of the rock tonight...
supplies:
Portland cement (the post setting kind because I couldnt find type III)
caribsea aragonite sand
caribsea mix with shells and CC
CC
rock salt
2 cement mixing tubs
plastic spatula and fork
play sand


 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top