Neptunes 125 Reef Diary.

king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
OK! After much deliberation, planning, setbacks, procrastination, and who knows what else... I am going to set my first foot forward!!
This will be my first venture into the world of saltwater. Originally I was going to do a 55 reef tank, but I decided that I would go as big as I could afford. That in mind I found this sweet tank deal on Craigslist:

He traded it for a Wii that has been sitting on my shelf for over a year collecting dust, a pair of controllers and 2 crappy games. Win for me!! If Wii suddenly becomes fun...I can always buy another one for $200. Not likely, that system is a total failure for me.
The lid:

Don't know what I can do with it, Ill probably scrap it and do something else entirely. But for now its not important.
Today is a day of light shopping. This whole system will be a testament to the poor man who still wants in on this hobby. I will be as DIY as possible and as frugal as I can w/out sacrificing were it counts. Please enjoy this log as much as I will enjoy posting it. I expect to see my first fish in this tank by July or mabee August. I know that this is a long way off, but:
A. Slow and steady
B. I simply cant afford thousands of dollars up front, a little at a time as cash allows.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Todays goals are simple:
Glass drill bit.
Baffles for the sump.
Bulkheads for the holes I'm drilling.
Assorted pieces of PVC tube and joints.
Screen.
Egg crate.
Glue/Primer.
Silicone and sealant.
Cheap camera.
Well I'm off to the store!!
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Oh Boy we're having fun now. Tagged here to see what all of the posting questions has done for you planning.
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
ALRIGHTY Then! Looks like a fun build. Let me know if I can be of help. Where are you going to drill? Have you dont this before? What do you have for the sump?
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2938502
Oh Boy we're having fun now. Tagged here to see what all of the posting questions has done for you planning.
I think you guys are gonna be pleasantly surprised! I got a few ideas cooking in my head that you aren't going to expect!
Not that I'm a pioneer, but I've got some ideas that I have seen practically nobody incorporate, and I want to see if they will pan ou
^
Just you wait :)
"This town deserves a better class of criminal, and I'm gonna give it to them"
 
mboswell1982

mboswell1982

Active Member
im tagged on this one too man, an dont forget to duplicate this thread on the other board me an you are on man, so all of us there can keep up with it too :p
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
i'm pumped about this! i'm planning out the drilling and plumbing on my 125, so i can't wait to see how the drilling goes. I saw your other thread about being nervous and i dont blame you. just remember to go in at a slight angle at first. good luck!
 
str8salt

str8salt

Member
Just an observation but that tank hood has holes cout in it that correspond to one of my other loves. herpteculture. I think it was for reptiles. The two round holes are used for heat lamps the rectangle for your full spectum. Hope your drilling goes well. I always worry about tempered glass,especially on the bottom. I had a tank blow that was going to be my sump and that hole eas on the side. I can't wait to see your surprise ideas. Happy reefing.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by str8salt
http:///forum/post/2939306
Just an observation but that tank hood has holes cout in it that correspond to one of my other loves. herpteculture. I think it was for reptiles. The two round holes are used for heat lamps the rectangle for your full spectum. Hope your drilling goes well. I always worry about tempered glass,especially on the bottom. I had a tank blow that was going to be my sump and that hole eas on the side. I can't wait to see your surprise ideas. Happy reefing.
yes it was a snake tank.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by Eric B 125
http:///forum/post/2939889
whats up neptune, get anything done today?

ya, lots of shopping..then I went and crashed, I just woke up so ill be spending most of the night organizing and prepping.
Basicly like I said this was a poor mans reef, and as such my goal was to do the most bang for the buck possible. Get as many corners cut, without sacrificing overall. So......
Wallmart:
Cheap $40 camera...coulda gone $20. But this one for $40 had memory card reader and was 3.5 megapixles. the other was 640x resolition. So...Ill be able to take a camera log from now one(those pictures you saw were from the previous owner)
Next i got 6 cutting boards for making baffles in my sump.
$10 each. I could have done 4. Two walls with over/under.
But I mulled it over and went with 6...so I can make 2 walls with over/under/over for the bubble trap. I don't see how this makes a difference, but for $20 extra this way I cant go wrong, since its not a massive amount more.
$100 total.
Ace hardware:
Price shopping and comparison...too much. On to next stop.
Pet store:
2 bulkheads 1.5" for $10 each. Discussed proper placement and installment of bulkheads. Showed him a diagram of what I was planning, he made a few suggestions, and I adjusted accordingly. You'll see, its a surprise..I'm doing something new that no one has ever done (as far as I can tell).
Measured the foot print of the skimmer I am getting, and water height req's.
$20 total.
On to homedepot.
Home depot:
Im really tired now, it was 10 AM and well past my bedtime.
2 hours later I had gotten almost 90% of my plumbing and other related gear. I didn't get foam, because there was some discrepancy in my mind as to what is reef safe.
Items I got...
1.5" drain lines.
1" return lines.
Assorted elbows,joints,couplers, and valves.
Plenty of egg crate.
Glue/Primer
Screws. Bands for holding pipe to the stand.
Zip ties.
Screenmesh from the gardening section.
$220 total.
Todays spending was around:
$340. I mulled over each purchase and carefully planned everything. I believe that this will handle all my plumbing needs for this system except for few small items I didn't foresee(a coupler to my water pump ect)...hence the last %10.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes,
I could have cut some corners...the sump for example. A trio of bins at wall mart and pipe to connect them would have solved that problem cheaper(probably $50-60 total), than me buying baffles and silicon. But I wanted bang for the buck. And $60 for baffles,$20 for the used 55gallon I got on CL, $10 for silicone means I will have a nice LARGE sump that is well oversized for my DT.
The plumbing, I could have really simplified what I'm planning on doing and cut corners there...probably down to around $100 for valves and pipes ect. But for the extra bit of cash I spent, I'm going to have ALOT more "Fun" in this tank.
That's the current update. Ill be heading to the shop to shoot some pictures and post them.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
OK the camera is total garbage, you get what you pay for in electronics. this is a kiddy camera :(
Ill break down and buy a middle of the run $100ish camera tomorrow. At least I can take this one back for store credit.
Hear are some pictures of the 55gallon sump, and stand. Plus some shots showing its perfect fit inside.



Also a shot of the equipment bought so far.....
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Only frustration right now is I cant get my hole drilled, evidently the local fish store wants 60 bucks, for 15 min of work. I don't own a truck, so I cant transport it anyway. The bit is not sold in town...I checked plenty hardware stores, and I am told its like a $150-200 dollar diamond bit. So I'm screwed.
SIKE!!!!! Thanks to Glassholes.***, I got my bit for $15 bucks. It should be in the mail by the end of the week. So until then, I will have to focus on sump.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Now for the sump:
First was cleaning. Just boiling water and a pair of rags. I wiped all the hard grit and dirt...the tank is still ugly but that's what you get for $20 bucks.
Then I measured and cut 3 bulkheads. One of them I messed up and had to make shorter than originally planned. No matter, I will just put it on the opposite side, the first bulkhead was proper height. I gave it a height of 12 inches. This will be the height for the return pump area as well. This will allow water to drain from the main lines and the return lines without flooding past the rim of the sump, should the power go out. The sump will operate at about 2/3 usable volume for the return and skimmer section. By leaving this 1/3 space unused...I allow for fallback in case power is cut off. If it doesn't work out I can always buy another board and raise it a few more inches. But I don't think adding another few inches will matter.
I used a table saw to do the cuts, it was a bit frustrating because the plastic was melting as you cut it and that caused the saw to bind. I remedied this by cutting form the opposite side. Instead of the smaller end between the guide and the blade...I put the larger end between the guide and the blade, ie. I moved the guide back all the way, and let the spill off fall to the outside.

I chose several brands of boards, and over all my favorite ones were the oversize ones at wall mart. The 10x12 ones proved difficult since I was only shaving off a fraction of an inch. Its better to cut 6 inches of an 18 inch wide piece. The price difference was in the pennies so it didn't matter to spend a little more. Tomorrow I am going to take back one of the boards...it said 12x16 and it was really 11 3/4ths by 16. Too narrow.
With my pieces cut I shaved off the rough using a sheet rock knife. I would use sandpaper but couldn't find any. Ill pick some up for the rest of the project.
Next I measured my first chamber. This will be the main drain chamber and will be for the skimmer. The footprint of the skimmer I chose is 8x12.
So I made this chamber 12x13.5. A little extra room in case I want to try a different skimmer down the road. Worst case scenario I cut the baffles out and re-glue them.
I drew a straight line on the outside of the tank with a sharpie.

Then I traced it with a bead of silicon and put the baffle in. This part was a lot tougher than I thought it would be...the silicone you really need to put a good squeeze on to get to come out. After I placed the baffle in I drew a bead on both sides and propped it up.

It takes 24hours to dry. 48 to set for perma use. So for now I'll move on to the other side....the refugium!!
 
dustyboy316

dustyboy316

Member
Good job man. You've done a good amount of research. Basically everyone can learn from you man.
I wish I could get a tank that cheap. I don't have room for it anyways though, but if I get my debt payed off I might get a 30 gallon with some good lighting. I should really be saving money though...
 
jpa0741

jpa0741

Member
Looking good so far. Hopefully the cutting boards will stay in place good. I know people always have problems when trying to put in acrylic baffles in a glass tank. The cutting board is probably a rougher surface so maybe it will hold better. Can't wait to see your new idea.
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
You could have gotten glass cut at Lowe's for around 30.00 for the baffles. I'm not sure how the cutting boards will work. Also, the aquarium silicone is much more expensive than regular, silicone, I cant remember if it's GE silicone 1 or 2, but whichever does not contain mildew inhibitors is reef safe. You could have gotten enough to do the whole sump, with leftovers, for less money. Do you know how to calculate backwash? I figure around 11 gallons.

The expansion foam, GREAT STUFF is safe when fully cured.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by jpa0741
http:///forum/post/2940041
Looking good so far. Hopefully the cutting boards will stay in place good. I know people always have problems when trying to put in acrylic baffles in a glass tank. The cutting board is probably a rougher surface so maybe it will hold better. Can't wait to see your new idea.
Ya, I only need to stop water flow. To prevent air bubbles from going into the return. Since its equal pressure on both sides of the baffle it should hold.
The other side is a different story, that's the live rock section, for that I may try something different. Mabee an egg crate tray to keep the rocks from falling on the baffles.
Jpa, I want to give you full credit for telling me to do my sump backwards like that. I never considered it. But now I will take it a step further, you'll see later tonight when I put up the pics.
Also, for talking me into triple baffles. I still don't see how over/under/over will be and different than over/under....but none the less....I'll do it.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by wattsupdoc
http:///forum/post/2940084
You could have gotten glass cut at Lowe's for around 30.00 for the baffles. I'm not sure how the cutting boards will work. Also, the aquarium silicone is much more expensive than regular, silicone, I cant remember if it's GE silicone 1 or 2, but whichever does not contain mildew inhibitors is reef safe. You could have gotten enough to do the whole sump, with leftovers, for less money. Do you know how to calculate backwash? I figure around 11 gallons.

The expansion foam, GREAT STUFF is safe when fully cured.

I can always rip out the baffles and do glass. It was the glass shop who wanted to charge me an arm and a leg to cut glass.
Its a 60 dollar mistake, if it doesn't pan out right. And people can learn from my mistakes. If it works out...people can still learn that Lowes sells baffles cheap.
As for backwash? No. please explain before I go any further.
 
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