120G DIY Stand

[Stasher]

I currently have a 48g reef tank that is coming along fine but came across a 120g drilled tank that I could not pass up. I picked up the tank on thursday and got right on task building my new stand for it.
I used 2x4 for the upper and lower box frame and then 2x4 for the legs. There are 6 2x4s screwed inside the frame and then another 10 2x4s between the the upper and lower frames to carry the main load. The top is sheeted with 3/4" plywood and the bottom is 1/2" plywood. I have skinned the outside with 1/2" birch and trimmed all my edges with oak mouldings. I have stained it with a nice red mahogany ( 1 coat so far ). I have to build the doors tommorrow, then stain and mount them as well as giving the whole bad boy 2 more coats of stain and then I think a coat of polyurethane to seal.
Here are my progress pics so far.
http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/stand1.JPG
http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/stand2.JPG
http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/stand3.JPG
http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/stand4.JPG

[Stasher]

And here are the rest of the pics. I will keep everyone up to date as I get things done.

http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/stand6.JPG

http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/stand7.JPG

http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/stand5.JPG

[fishfogg]

Well done, solid and look's great, good pic's too.


Fishfogg

[Fishy!]

Im really liking that stain. Looks Great. Keep us up to date.

[scotchy]

Looks great!! Man am I jealous.:yourock:



Scott

[orion80]

wow nice job bud, was that 120 gln drilled??

[Stasher]

wow nice job bud, was that 120 gln drilled??
Yes it is. It has an 1.5" drain in an overflow which the Calculator at RC says will yield me around 1300gph. It also has a 1" drain drilled on the otherside that does not have an overflow box. I will probably put a 4 " pvc riser on it and perforate it to utilize for my closed loop. I expect my order from JL's to arrive today that will have my Mag18 for my sump which will get me around 1100-1200gph after head loss and then I am looking for around a Mag9 for my closed loop. With these 2 combined I will have around 18x tank turnover rate which is awesome.

BTW Adie, would you reccomend your lighting system? Ever since I saw it I have been in love with it. Can you suspend it? My tank is 60" long and it would fit nicely inside my canopy that I will be making. I will be leaving the top of my tank open.

[Stasher]

Oh yeah.....Sasktel is gay today, my pictures from my webspace are not working. Hopefully they will be up later.

[Fishy!]

Since your ae building the stand your self i thought i would mention this...alot of pople ar putting a leveling device on their stand. Do you feel this would be possible from the stage you are at?

[orion80]

Yes i would totally recommend this lighting set up, but i would try to get it in a 250 wattmh, if possible and to buy the hanging kit right at the sart unfortunately for me it was not available at the time of my purchase but i have one on the way.

Just as a hint I would sart looking at high head pumps in stead of mags as soon as those mags hit a turn or curve or anytype of distance they begin to lose alot and i mean alot of their power.

At least with high head or high pressure pumps they can go 6 feet with out losing any of their power or push.

Adie

[Stasher]

Thanks for the insight Adie. I did calculate the loss the Mag would have at 5 feet head. My return goes like this...... I will have a union to a ball valve to a 3/4" x 1.5" bushing to a 1.5" poly adapter at the outlet of the Mag18. 1.5" Flex pvc to top of tank and then teed to 2 1" returns at each end of the tank.

As for the light....I did notice that hanging add-on, exactly what I need. I will also look into the 250w system.

I started plumbing the drain for the closed loop. I come from the 1" bulkhead into a union (if I need to lift tank out / wish I could fit on on the overflow as well:mad: ) then a ball valve to shut off flow as the intake for this will be near the bottom of the tank. The return for this pump will be 1.25" from hopefully from a Mag9.5. I will go the same route as the Mag18....union to ball valve to 3/4" x 1.25" adapter to 1.25" poly adapter to 1.25" poly to tank teed to 2 1" returns.

After loss......Mag18....approx 1200gph Sump Return
After loss......Mag9.5...approx 600gph Closed Loop

Here are pics of my overflow and closed loop drains so far.

http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/drain1.JPG

http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/loop1.JPG

Also, here is what my canopy will look like. This picture is of the one I built for my 48. It has 4 48" NO lights inside running off 2 Hagen glo-mats. I plan on building the 120's in an identical fashion setup for the Coralife fixture to hang inside.

http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/canopy48.JPG

[shawn lipon]

what is the white box like attachment on pic 1?

[Stasher]

what is the white box like attachment on pic 1?

That is a valve to shut off flow from my overflow drain. It is very simple to use push in closed....pull out open. It was cheaper than a ball valve and fit better into the space where it was going.

[Stasher]

I got my Mag18 yeaterday from JLs and it pumps like crazy....I filled the tank for a leak test and dropped it in. Man does it pump when there is no head loss, 1800gph tidal wave.

I picked up all my other necessary fittings while I was up in Regina getting my fish and pump at the airport. Rona has an awesome selection of fittings, everything I needed.

I hope to move the tank to its final resting spot later this week. I got about 80lbs dead base rock with it and about 90lbs crushed fine coral too.

My sump will be done tommorrow, a friend works at a glass shop and is building it for me. I currently have no refugium planned so all 20gallons goes to sump use. It is 24Lx16Hx12W with the overflow section being about 11" wide then your standard over under over bubble trap to the return. I went with the outer baffles at 9" H with 1.5" spacing. Middle baffle sits at 12" H with 1" clearance on the bottom. I'll take pics after I get it back.

[Stasher]

Ok....I moved my tank out into my basement where it will be calling home. I have built my durso overflow and made an eggcrate screen around the top of the overflow. My plumbing for the sump is complete except for the temporary extension on the end of the drain. The return is 1.5" with a union on the mag18 for easy removal and a ball valve to control flow or shut off flow back from tank when shut off for any reason. I also put small siphon break holes in the return just below the water line so my tank doesn't drain back through my pump during a power failure or other surprise condition. Here is a picture of the sump as it sits today. I only have a drain and return section in the sump. As said earlier it is approxiamtely 20gallons full. I will worry about a refugium at a later date.
http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/sump1.JPG

I hope to have the tank totally filled by the end of tonight but my RO unit can only produce so much at a time, seems like forever :)

[Stasher]

The RO unit finally made enough :)

I got the last few gallons of water proccessed and into the tank. I added my 80lbs of base rock and crushed coral/sand base. I tweaked the durso standpipe I made so that it maintains a perfect level about 1-2 inches below my overflow. I over estimated the amount of water my drain would flow and have had to pinch back the Mag18 a little, but better too little than not enough I guess. The only thing I did expect was the sound from the water in the sump, my drain pipe extends about 2 inches below the surface of the water and I get a decent amount of bubbling but then again I've never ran a sump before so I don't know what to expect. I also do not have my doors installed yet so that will help with noise. I plan to do a water change on my 48 tomorrow and put the waste water from the 48 into the 120 to help with the cycle.

[Stasher]

Here is a picture from tonight.....still a little cloudy from the sand/rocks being put in.


http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/firstrun.JPG

[scary gary]

Looks great. Sump dose'nt overflow when power to pump is off? Just asking to see if you have tried it. Hate to see that happen.

[Stasher]

Looks great. Sump dose'nt overflow when power to pump is off? Just asking to see if you have tried it. Hate to see that happen.

First thing I checked for :) I also drilled siphon break holes in my return lines!The tank drains down to about 4 inches from the top of the sump. Thanks for the reminder Gary and the compliment. I really have no one down here in Estevan to talk to about my tank and what approaches and insights to go with. I have basically learned everything on my own and have read till early in the morning on Reef Central to figure out what I wanted to do.

Some more pictures....

http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/firstrun2a.JPG
http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/firstrun3a.JPG
http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/durso1a.JPG

[orion80]

hey stash, its looking great, hope the wife and kid and puppies r doing well.

If u still find it is a bit noisy u could try some sound mat, other have used it to dampen sound and it wrks great. Just curoius but why did u not make the sump any larger?? Another thing to try to quiet it down in the sump is to get some sponge and put it in that first chanber. and then a bit of filter floss in the bubble trap to catch any debris/sediment.

Adie

[Stasher]

The most noise is coming from the sump and the bubbles escaping/gargling from under the water after it exits the drain. The sump size is I intended to be a little longer but when I built the stand I forgot to allow for this, therefore I was left with a 24" opening to slide the sump through...something for the next one I guess :) I also expect the sound to be alot less once I put the doors on and install my canopy. Thanks for the input Adie...appreciate all the feedback.

[Stasher]

Finally have the doors on the stand, they need a second coat of stain and then I need to seal the stand with a polyurethane yet. I plan on starting to build the canopy tommorrow, I will have the framework done for sure. The sump is working really well now, just needed some more tweaking on the durso and messing with the output of the pump. I am still messing with the nozzles on the return and how many to have, hope to have that figured out soon.

[Stasher]

Ok, the 48gallon is officially gone. I moved over everything yesterday to the new tank. Everyone appears happy and doing fine :) I installed the doors on the stand and need to mount the knobs yet. I pulled the ballasts and tubes out of the old canopy and temporarily mounted them above the tank while I finish the new one. Here is an in progress pic of the canopy and 2 pics of the tank...one with flash and one w/o. I think I have changed my lighting plans, I am now looking at retrofit kits....any experiences or reccomendations?
Thanks;
Chris
http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/canopy1a.JPG
http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/aftermove1a.JPG
http://ist234.sasktelwebsite.net/aftermove2a.JPG