Thinking About Taking The Plunge????

mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
ok dont laff

but here is a pic of my dummy tank
i made it go over 1/4" all the way around
i also had to throw in a pic of my DT LOL
i will try to fit it tomorrow unless i cant sleep

 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
CRAP!!!
well at least i know now but the 29 will not fit
and again i say crap!!

i will try the 20 high cutting down the dummy to size this better fit or there really isnt a point in having one is there?

 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
just barely!!!
take a look at this even with me pulling everything out of the cabinet i barely fit a 20 gallon high size in there but it will fit i had to take off some blocks also just to get it in
so should i go ahead and do this?
if so i need help on resizing everything
im not tired anymore now
just dont know what to do now


 
turningtim

turningtim

Active Member
What blocks? Not supports right?
No offense but that stand is just a bit on the weak side to begin with.
If it wre me I would build a new stand and put whatever you want under there.
IMHO, anything smaller then 20-29 (i would say 29) isn't worth the effort and expense for the benefit.
Mkae an inexpensive stand out of 2x4 and skin it with ply. Put a 40 breeder under there and you're good.
Again JMO
Tim
BTW the tank looks very nice!
 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
Originally Posted by TurningTim
What blocks? Not supports right?
No offense but that stand is just a bit on the weak side to begin with.
If it wre me I would build a new stand and put whatever you want under there.
IMHO, anything smaller then 20-29 (i would say 29) isn't worth the effort and expense for the benefit.
Mkae an inexpensive stand out of 2x4 and skin it with ply. Put a 40 breeder under there and you're good.
Again JMO
Tim
BTW the tank looks very nice!
no not supports the person i bought everything from put blocks in there because he made shelfs
i wouldn't mind making another better cabinet but i wouldnt even know where to began(not a carpenter) and i would hate to tear down my tank and put it back up again for fear of losing livestock
but still its tempting
 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member

Originally Posted by TurningTim
Particle board + water and approx 600lbs sitting on top would scare the life out of me!
now you got me scared
never thought about that crap!!
 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
here is a fill inthe blank cabinet making link
http://www.garf.org/stand.html
this is a good help as well
http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/DIY-Tank-Stand/11/
this ant a bad little walk through either
http://www.gorge.org/fish/cabinet/
or this too
http://www.knottyplans.com/index.php?page=10011
yes i am using this for myself but if anyone else needs plans here are some choices
well it looks like this thread went from a sump thread to a how to build your own cabinet thread o well i will do what i have to do then it can go back to a sump thread again

anyone else any ideas or does anyone think my cabinet will hold up if i dont add anything else to it or will a 20 gallon high sump work
but anymore plan ideas or any ideas at all im all ears
if it isnt one thing its another guess it just comes with the territory
 
legoalie31

legoalie31

Member
Originally Posted by MrineLfRlz
what does everybody think about this overflow?
i can have two instead of have just one with two pipes coming from the bottom and i can place one on each side of the tank

600 gph capacity
I have this overflow and it works just fine when the power goes out at my house
 
murph

murph

Active Member
Well I know you said you don't want to drill but if the project expands into building a new stand I would give it serious consideration at this point and also build the stand so the sump can be positioned behind the tank. Trust me when I say that when the sump is behind rather than crammed under the stand maintenance aspects will be far easier. Also keep in mind that in the case of hang on overflows and sump behind stand that they will extend down the back of the DT as much as 14 inches. Keep this in mind when building the stand.
If you have a harbour freight tool store consider buying the dremel tool I spoke of over on your other thread. This tool comes in handy for many other things so it wont be a waste even if you decide not to drill a tank.
Get a scrap piece of glass and run a slow stream of water from a hose over it as you use the dremel to cut through the scrap glass. I have a feeling when you see how easy this can be you will re think the not drilling part of your plans.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
to get my 29 in, i had to take the bottom shelf out of my stand. it was just a piece of plywood though so it was easy. my fuge sits on the floor.
 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
but am i in any real fear of stand collapse though is the big question i have at this moment
like what tim said how he would be really scared himself?
Particle board + water and approx 600lbs sitting on top would scare the life out of me!
also how long until coralline starts to die without water because im just getting the growth started on the back glass and ive been waiting for it too! i dont want to kill it as soon as its started!
for when i have to take everything out of the DT?
 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
and since im throwing ideas around what about if the stand is strong enough that is if
this is just only a thought
but could it be done?
running the tubbing from my DT down under the flooring back and up into my back room which i have pretty much turned it into a storage room anyways?
it will be a little under 7' away
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member

Originally Posted by MrineLfRlz
but am i in any real fear of stand collapse though is the big question i have at this moment
like what tim said how he would be really scared himself?
Particle board + water and approx 600lbs sitting on top would scare the life out of me!
also how long until coralline starts to die without water because im just getting the growth started on the back glass and ive been waiting for it too! i dont want to kill it as soon as its started!
for when i have to take everything out of the DT?
i killed off most of the coralline off a rock in less than 10 mins while fragging a coral. if you have coralline you want to save, turn off your pumps, scrape the glass, and suck as much of the coralline into a turkey baster and put it into a bowl as you can.
 
murph

murph

Active Member
You could consider reinforcing your existing stand without breaking down the tank. It looks relatively new from the picture. Can you see where its been wet? Should be obvious in the case of particle board. If the bottom of the stand is solid you could easily cut some supports to fit, slide them in the stand toe screw them in place or even use construction adhesive. Of course this means you would not be able to slide a sump under stand. So
Maybe consider a hanging kit for your light fixture which means you could hang your overflows on the end of the tank and have a "show" fuge/sump on the side of the tank and visible as part of the display. One of my first setups was like this and people spent as much time looking at the fuge as the DT.
I used a twenty gallon long and painted a black board on the ends to hide equipment. All that was visible to the casual observer was the middle part that had a DSB some macro algae and rock. You could even put some Xenia in it with the proper lighting which would pretty it up some and also is a good nutrient exporter.
In this case I would probably just opt for a single overflow feeding it and use power heads for any other flow needs. You could hard plumb with PVC and all the plumbing should be easy to hide along the back of the setup. Take into consideration head height and any 90 degree angles in the plumbing when purchasing a pump. All of these will reduce flow back to the DT. I would think a mag 9.5 would still be more than enough and if its necessary to use a ball valve it can be directed into fuge area to create some flow there which is needed anyways in the case of cheato DSB and the Xenia if you go that route.
The hang on overflow will be less obvious hung on the side of the display and give a more direct route to sump/fuge if it is on the side of the tank. Inside tank equipment and plumbing can also be spray painted to match background color. Krylon works well and given 24 hours to cure is lead free and non toxic. I have done this with a few setups without problems.
Setups like these have a way of evolving into nice secondary displays. Still functioning well as fuge but also a home for that not so reef safe fish you always wanted but did not have a home for. Food trained mandarins do really well in these "species specific" areas of a setup. You could even spend a bit of money and use a 55 gal and your existing fixtue. DSB macros rock and corals. This free up your other tank for FOWLR and the addition of any fish reef safe or not. Fishless its still a fuge/sump. Just a really nice one.
No matter what you decide I still think the last thing you should do is try to cram a sump under/in stand. Trust me; this leads to maintnence hassles and eventual neglect of the system. I bet the exact words out of your mouth will be, "I dont want to crawl under that stand today to clean this or that, I will just do it tomorrow."
As for Coraline you probably wont get to much further along in the hobby before you are scraping it off things and wondering to your self why you were ever worried about how well it was growing.
 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
great idea murph
but i was thinking of some ideas last night at work
i just wanted to throw them up in the air and see were they land
so bare with me and tell me if im even close to having any sanity
everyone ready?
 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
ok i threw around some ideas last night at work so here goes
about the last question i had about a fug in another room routed to the DT in my dinning
i know the drawings are pretty primitive but its a start
i will be able to go alot bigger this way too
possibly 40-50 gallons
maybe?


 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
and incase the pumps should fail put them just an inch or so below the water line so it could only pump so much more water out or inand to make certain the pumps dont fail while im at work or away shut pumps off when im gone and just have my power head inthe fug aimed at my chaeto and whatever will be in the fug area
and still run my skimmer and lights
and in the DT
i will still have my canister filter running 300 gph and one of my power heads 850 gph for circulation and because my LR and LS i will still have my bio filter filtering and the filtration of my canister as well
so it will still all have some type of turnover
so after this whats all your takes on my idea
sane or insane
way to go
get the straight jacket
 
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