Neptunes 125 Reef Diary.

[oceansidefish]

OK I don't want to be bursting any bubbles but you said the tank was a reptiles tank?????? If it is in fact a reptile tank you should not be putting water in it!!!

That could be a disaster...The glass is thinner in reptile tanks. If it was just used as one then a good cleaning and you should be ok. AS long as it is a normal fish tank.

 

[king_neptune]

Originally Posted by Oceansidefish
http:///forum/post/2940102
OK I don't want to be bursting any bubbles but you said the tank was a reptiles tank?????? If it is in fact a reptile tank you should not be putting water in it!!!

That could be a disaster...The glass is thinner in reptile tanks. If it was just used as one then a good cleaning and you should be ok. AS long as it is a normal fish tank.
Its a thick and solid tank. 3/8" glass. Heavy. Takes two to lift or move it. It was just used as a reptile tank. Held a python if I remember right.

 

[eric b 125]

sounds good man! cant wait to see these surprizes you have comin!

 

[str8salt]

I hope the cutting boards work out for you. I know you would think that the pressure might be equal on both sides but it really isn't. The water is flowing form a higher pressure to lower pressure. Well that isn't really the right termonology but you get the idea. Amongst our local group there has been problems with not using glass with glass. It always seems to seperate. It takes awhile but always seperates. What is your return rate on your pump? Looks like everything is coming together great.

 

[king_neptune]

Well, when that happens Ill go to lowes and buy glass for 30bucks (according to watsupdoc). and be back in business. till then...ill draw a line on the side where the baflfes should be...and if I see any kind of slipping...ill stomp out the problem immediately.
Return rate un-determined yet. I was going to do an 1800gph at 11feet. (only gonna be pushing it up 5). But with the extra stuff I want to do I'll probably find a good 2200-2400 tops. My water fall rate is 2600gph at its peak if I plumb it perfect...but most likely it will be slightly less.
I may have my brother the engineer advise me...or evin if my really lucky a professional auto cad design...although I wouldn't count on it. He's always swamped in projects. But a quick verbal session and estimation from his head should be plenty. The next system I do, I'll for sure have him design everything for me. But that will be years from now when I'm done with my pimp college degree, and can afford an upgrade in equipment quality.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[hr]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OK!! glassholes.com is a mega+1 in my book. I just got delivery conformation, less than 10 hours after the order was placed. Its been shipped already and has tracking number. First class! No extra charge!
In the comments and special instructions i wrote a silly little note to see if they really take customer service seriously:
Special Instructions:
Please send it soon!!! I am so excited about this I am bursting at the seams!! Wish me luck and please send a prayer when you do so I wont mess this up!!
PS,
three pieces of candy so I know you care^^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And this is the answer i got back a few hours later:
Lord Jesus, I come to you humbly to ask that you be with Paul and guide his
hands as he does this project. We know that we can do all things through
Christ who strengthens us. We know that you love us and are interested in
these things that bring your children joy. And may the extra candy bring
nourishment, you are a God of miracles after all!
Thank You
Mike
GLASS-HOLES.COM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am customer for life ^^ hopefully my bit will be hear by weekend.

 

[mboswell1982]

now thats just funny right there, i dont care who you are

 

[oceansidefish]

Originally Posted by King_Neptune
http:///forum/post/2940115
Its a thick and solid tank. 3/8" glass. Heavy. Takes two to lift or move it. It was just used as a reptile tank. Held a python if I remember right.
OK cool...Just don't want to see this thread go south...Good luck drilling!

 

[wattsupdoc]

You need to allow at least 11.2 gallons of available room in the 55. here's a drawing of one I did similar.

It ended up being very close to the way I drew it, but we eliminated the rubble compartment under the return pump.
I have no idea how the silicone will adhere to the cutting board. Honestly I never heard of anyone using them. I have heard of many people using acrylic with a glass tank, personally, I always use glass on glass. I have heard reports of some sumps failing after using acrylic. Occasionally resulting in a total tank crash. The problem is, when a baffle shifts that is holding back your DSB, then sulfur can be released. Likewise this make "redoing" the baffles a tedious task at best.
My recommendation would be to change these to glass. HOWEVER!

If you leave the cutting boards, you will increase your odds of them holding greatly by making VERY LARGE BEADS with the silicone, possibly even attaching a small glass cleat so to speak on both sides of the baffles. At least the ones retaining the DSB.
There is a little more to building a sump/fuge than just putting baffles in and flowing through it. Most people don't realize this, or choose to ignore it. Controlling the flow through it is very important. BTW... A mag 18 would be a very good candidate pump, IMO.

 

[king_neptune]

i was thinking about cleating as well. some kind of epoxy resin that dries hard beaded over the silicone. right now I got a solid silicone bead.

 

[wattsupdoc]

I don't think the epoxy will hold to the silicon. Go to Lowe's and have them cut you a few 1in pieces of glass. It doesn't cost much and it's very thin glass but will work just fine.

 

[king_neptune]

Originally Posted by wattsupdoc
http:///forum/post/2941104
I don't think the epoxy will hold to the silicon. Go to Lowe's and have them cut you a few 1in pieces of glass. It doesn't cost much and it's very thin glass but will work just fine.
ill head to lowes tonight. an price glass. what type?

 

[eric b 125]

hey there nep, did you have to factor-in the flow rate of your skimmer when setting up your sump, or do you just use ball-valves on the drain/return plumbing to match all the flows up? i would imagine trying to get the return and skimmer flow rates as close to possible helps make the back-pressure issue less of an issue? just wondering since you are one step ahead of me... thanks broseph.

 

[king_neptune]

Originally Posted by Eric B 125
http:///forum/post/2941187
hey there nep, did you have to factor-in the flow rate of your skimmer when setting up your sump, or do you just use ball-valves on the drain/return plumbing to match all the flows up? i would imagine trying to get the return and skimmer flow rates as close to possible helps make the back-pressure issue less of an issue? just wondering since you are one step ahead of me... thanks broseph.
Yes I have ball valves to adjust the flow as needed.
____________________________________________________
on another note I went and got glass at lows.....
6 plates of glass cut for my sump.... $2.72.
She said 272 and I was like huh? she repeated two dollars and seventy two cents. I didnt skip a beat..."Oh, I thought you meant $272"
I held my breath and swiped the card. I now have all the glass I need for my sump^^
For the price of a burger....
I skipped McDonald's on the way home^^
________________________________________________
Tonight Ill rip out the cutting board and start over fresh on the sump. A little frustrated I cut 3 of the 6 peices of board...but at least I can take back the other three and put it towards a camera. Think they would notice the other three cut down to size? haha . oh well. a $30 mistake is made up forthe pimp glass I got.

 

[king_neptune]

Ok the Bulkhead held and seal was good.

I went to pull the plastic out and it picked up the whole weight of the 55 gallon...so rather than fighting it...I decided to keep it in.
I did this to experiment. Cutting it out would have taken 5 min with a razor blade. I want to prove/disprove if this will work or not. If it doesn't...then I learn a lesson and never do it again.
I added the second bulkhead a 12/16 sheet of glass. nice fit.
2 inches from the bottom. I am putting a 1 inch gap beetween each bulkhead to compensate for massive water volume.
On the other side I am doing 1/2 inch gap because I am doing a "T" junction on the return with a ball valve to adjust the water flow/pressure that feeds the Fuge.
I moved onto the other side and began the first of the three bulkheads. The glass didn't fit evenly on the bottom..the seams from the tank kept me from butting the glass to the ground. I built mound of silicon and packed it in thick. Then I pushed the glass deep into the seal. and beefed it up really good. I'm confidant that I got all the gaps filled. If I missed something Ill know tomorrow.

I am doing the Fuge section at 18inches. The return area is 12. I know people love to preach about how you need to have the fuge equal..but :
A, Im already at a 55gal sump...where 30 would be plenty for this system.
B, I will be making a DIY auto top off in the extra space under the stand.
C, water evaporates from all over the system..but its the return pump that shows it because its the last step in the whole "Waterfall" of the system.
D, I'm keeping less LR in the DT (due to my Foam wall)and therefore want more in the fuge.
____________________________________________________
I picked up the glass at Lowes. Also grabbed some magic foam, and softening salt at home depot, and sand and rock at the local fish store. About 20lbs of rock and 20 of sand was $70. the magic foam and salt was $30.
So today's bill was $100. This expense will be what I need for the the Foam wall Im doing. It will look sweet!!
I could have shaved off $40 by getting LR from a different source, IE heading out to the mountain and hitting the trails...but for $2 a lb I had it right hear and now...but one thing is for sure..I will be keen on snatching up rocks I like from now on. Tomorrow Ill take back 3 of the uncut bulkheads so Ill be able to get back some of my losses.
cant wait to see what my glass seams will turn out like.

 

[jpa0741]

Bulkheads are the plastic insert you put in after you drill your holes. Your "dividers" in your sump are baffles

. Also you want to be careful with just picking up rock from anywhere. You really don't know what is in it and what will leach.
Also if you have the glass to replace your cutting board baffle, why try to prove it will work then go with the tried and true way. It will hold at first it is always after running for a while do they fail.

 

[wattsupdoc]

A bulkhead is a fitting used to connect a piece of pipe to a hole in the glass. I don't see any bulkheads here yet? Personally, I like a fuge to have better control of the flow through it. In my drawing you see a bubble trap between the drain from DT and the fuge itself. This does two things. Stops bubbles from entering the fuge, getting trapped in the cheato and floating it. And because it has a slit in the glass, thuis directs the flow THROUGH the cheato or other macros. As opposed to the water moving just along the surface. Additionally the water dumping into the fuge compartment can and likely will stir your SB. I know many people build 'em without the first set of baffles, I wont though.... You can if you like silicone a large diameter pvc to the bottom of the 55. Drill several holes in it about 6 in. up and let the drain dump in that. It wont stop the bubbles, but will help with turbulence and direct the flow.
additionally, base rock is white and dead. Live rock is something much different it is ALIVE. You shouldn't just add rock you pick up, even if it's limestone it MAY be contaminated with crud....It doesn't look very good either. In my system I have some limestone buried under my LR. It was from a construction zone where they had blasted it out. Been there for thousands of years. It doesn't look very good but serves as a filler for the bottom layer under my good rock. However, because it was underground for eons, it was likely not contaminated. Luckily it did not naturally contain any metals.

 

[eric b 125]

+1
I agree about changing out the cutting board baffle. I dont have any experience with sumps, but if the seals fail, then that 55 will be a real pain to remove from your stand to drain, dry, and re-seal, should the cutting board give-way to constant water pressure and flow. So far your baffles look good though, nice and straight. I've never heard having the fuge and return compartments the same size. do you know why this is suggested? That's clutch that you can get LR for $2/lb! around here it starts at $6.99 and i've talked to people who have paid up to $12/lb just for fiji. next time i get LR i'll be getting it online, or just buying base rock. cant wait to see the wall!

 

[veni vidi vici]

Originally Posted by King_Neptune
http:///forum/post/2940477
Well, when that happens Ill go to lowes and buy glass for 30bucks (according to watsupdoc). and be back in business. till then...ill draw a line on the side where the baflfes should be...and if I see any kind of slipping...ill stomp out the problem immediately.
Return rate un-determined yet. I was going to do an 1800gph at 11feet. (only gonna be pushing it up 5). But with the extra stuff I want to do I'll probably find a good 2200-2400 tops. My water fall rate is 2600gph at its peak if I plumb it perfect...but most likely it will be slightly less.
I may have my brother the engineer advise me...or evin if my really lucky a professional auto cad design...although I wouldn't count on it. He's always swamped in projects. But a quick verbal session and estimation from his head should be plenty. The next system I do, I'll for sure have him design everything for me. But that will be years from now when I'm done with my pimp college degree, and can afford an upgrade in equipment quality.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[hr]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OK!! glassholes.com is a mega+1 in my book. I just got delivery conformation, less than 10 hours after the order was placed. Its been shipped already and has tracking number. First class! No extra charge!
In the comments and special instructions i wrote a silly little note to see if they really take customer service seriously:
Special Instructions:
Please send it soon!!! I am so excited about this I am bursting at the seams!! Wish me luck and please send a prayer when you do so I wont mess this up!!
PS,
three pieces of candy so I know you care^^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And this is the answer i got back a few hours later:
Lord Jesus, I come to you humbly to ask that you be with Paul and guide his
hands as he does this project. We know that we can do all things through
Christ who strengthens us. We know that you love us and are interested in
these things that bring your children joy. And may the extra candy bring
nourishment, you are a God of miracles after all!
Thank You
Mike
GLASS-HOLES.COM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am customer for life ^^ hopefully my bit will be hear by weekend.
LMAO Believe it or not Mike treats all his customers like that.Like friends, he actually replied to a question i had about how many hole i could drill with one bit in less than 2 minutes.I just sent the e-mail and i thought it was immediately returned as a bad address or something.It was a response.
I too am a customer for life, if they sell it im buying it there.

 

[drdingo21]

Originally Posted by Veni Vidi Vici
http:///forum/post/2941592
LMAO Believe it or not Mike treats all his customers like that.Like friends, he actually replied to a question i had about how many hole i could drill with one bit in less than 2 minutes.I just sent the e-mail and i thought it was immediately returned as a bad address or something.It was a response.
I too am a customer for life, if they sell it im buying it there.
I agree completely. I called and spoke to mike because I had a few questions - he was more than helpful and got my stuff sent out the same day.
I also received a few suckers and ju ju bees in my package.
The overflow box is top quality and very quite. I was waiting for silicone to cure but I'll be posting more pic in a bit.

 

[kb338]

I used acrylic baffles siliconed to a glass tank. Some of the baffles in my sump came loose after some time but I think it was more do to me accidentally hitting them while doing maintenance rather than the pressure from the water. Instead of completey draining the sump and re-doing them, I just made some frames and supports out of PVC to keep the baffles in place. Yes there's some bypass between the baffle and tank glass but they still do the job of preventing air bubbles.