Upgrading my 65 gallon Reef - Sump/fuge

[al&burke]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gemmy http:///forum/thread/383256/upgrading-my-65-gallon-reef-sump-fuge/240#post_3373025
Al, this is coming along nicely. I think you have taught me a few things in this thread that will help me when I upgrade my system.

Thanks Gemmy, that means a lot to me. I feel that I have learned more from you guys than what i know.

 

[2quills]

Plumbing is coming along nicely, Al. I forget...were you going to make some spray bars?

 

[al&burke]

Yes - The 65 tank will have 20 holes 1/4" holes and the 40 breeder will have 10 holes 1/4" holes on the vertical spray bars.

 

[al&burke]

More updates. Finished the bulkheads on the main 65 reef - in the pictures below I attached some knife gates and filled the internal overflow and piping up with water for a leak check. So far so good. Little things I learned with this build when you are glueing in your unions on a verticle section of pipe always have your piece with the little black union on the bottom so when you are reattaching the plumbing down the road the o-ring won't fall out as easy when you are putting it back together. I have about 8 unions on this whole build. Also when you are tightening them together or taking them apart wear PVC gloves it gives you a better grip. I was going to finish everything tonight but I didn't have an 1-5/8 hole saw to put the bulkhead in the fuge. More to come. Also on the last picture I used spa flex tubing for the drains it works really well.

 

[2quills]

Where did you find those strainers?
Looks good, man. What are your plans for the stand pipes...are you going to drill a hole in the caps on top?

 

[al&burke]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/383256/upgrading-my-65-gallon-reef-sump-fuge/260#post_3373249
Where did you find those strainers?
Looks good, man. What are your plans for the stand pipes...are you going to drill a hole in the caps on top?
I got them on line from a company up here. Yes right now there is a small hole in the stand pipe - I will drill it bigger if needed. Do you think I should paint all these fittings

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Al&Burke http:///forum/thread/383256/upgrading-my-65-gallon-reef-sump-fuge/260#post_3373259
I got them on line from a company up here. Yes right now there is a small hole in the stand pipe - I will drill it bigger if needed. Do you think I should paint all these fittings
Painting I guess is personal prefference. If they are going to be mostly hidden that I probably wouldn't. But if they are going to be very noticeable I think I would.
I was going to sugguest instead of drilling a hole on top (if the caps aren't already glued) another option that I've seen would be to either cut some slits on the top of the pipe or drills some holes vertically. That way you could adjust the amount of air you need by sliding the cap higher or lower over the slits or holes. But I think you'll be fine that way too.

 

[al&burke]

I didn't glue the caps on that is a great idea. Glad I am leak checking these bulkheads I had a small leak on one of them tighten the bulkhead looks good now.

 

[al&burke]

More work tonight most of plumbing is done except for the 40 breeder drains. I have to say again the spa flex line is great stuff, makes it an easy job. Hopefully tomorrow night I am going to fill the whole thing with tap water and run it to check for leaks. Also to clean everything out really good before I start aquascaping and stuff.

 

[al&burke]

Plumbing Done - doing some leak checks with just freshwater to flush everything out. Check out the spray bars. I ended up drilling 3/16" holes. 20 on the 65 reef and 10 on the 40 breeder.

 

[al&burke]

Got it filled right up running good, no leaks so far, fingers crossed. Fuge not filled yet going to fill it up as well just to check.

 

[al&burke]

Fuge is full now too, the whole thing is runnng very quietly. Very happy still no leaks. Here are a few shots of the top of the water. The highest hole on the spray bars are just at the surface or operating level of the tank. Got lucky with that.

 

[meowzer]

YAYYYYYYY...LOL....that's close haha

 

[al&burke]

Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///forum/thread/383256/upgrading-my-65-gallon-reef-sump-fuge/260#post_3373720
YAYYYYYYY...LOL....that's close haha
I like how it moves the surface, I hope i don't get any salt spray off of it - if it does i can plug it with some zilicone and drill another a little bit lower, or make a whole new one. I am going to spray paint these black eventually. It is running really quite - just a bit of a hum from the pump.

 

[meowzer]

My spray bars go across the top.....It's funny when a snail climbs on one and covers a whole....LOL....

 

[al&burke]

Here are some shots of the fuge and sump. I figured out what the hum was I have a tank in the living room with a blue lobster in it and the fluval filter on the totes was noisy with all three running it pretty loud.

 

[al&burke]

Well it has been running all night and day with FW so far so good, really quiet I can bearly here it, happy about that - tonight I will spray paint the spray bars and start emptying the FW - hopefully tomorrow I can at least set up the 65 reef again. I have 25 gallons of RO water waiting to be made into SW and I will use the SW in the totes. I am going to need some opinions tomorrow when I start aquascaping. My goal is to have it running tomorrow night. Thanks everyone.

 

[gemmy]

I really like the spray bars and the cave. It will awesome to see it up and running.

 

[al&burke]

Just painted the spray bar this afternoon, hopefully tomorrow things will move along, thanks for looking.

 

[al&burke]

Well Didn't do much on the tank today - nice day up here in Canada went for a great hike with my son and a few neighbors. Built a short box so I can drill and set up the live rock before it goes in the tank, the box is the same footprint as the tank, should help I hope. I want a lot of shelves and caves in the aquascape. Cleaned out all of the FW out of the tanks and tonight I will fill the fuge and sump with new SW.