77gallon DIY project diary

[mitsukuni]

I've alluded to this project in another thread, but since its now started, and is going to be done "on the cheap", with as much DIY as possible, I thought this would be an appropriate place to put it...

This tank is a 77 that a buddy gave me. Its going in my basement, so aesthetics aren't as important as my upstairs tanks. I plan to house South American cichlids, as well as some catfish, and maybe a few larger characins.

I'll document what I've done so far first:

Stand: "Legs" are 16 cinder blocks, piled in an "L" shape on either end. Resting on the cinder blocks are 2-2x4s with syrofoam over them, and the tank rests on this.

Lighting: 4 foot shop light (48" x2) is hanging from the ceiling, about 8" over the tank, using looped blue nylon clothesline. Bulbs are 40 watt Philips Aquarium/Plant bulbs.

Filter: I am planning a DIY wet/dry, with a homemade overflow (this tank is not drilled).

Here is my progress so far:

Overflow: "W" style, with one way valve.

"Bucket-testing" the overflow:

After this pic I put another pump in the bucket, for a total of 485 gph, but this didn't overwelm the overflow, which still has reserve. And as soon as I cut the power, the overflow would break the flow once the water level reached it (3-5 seconds). And it holds siphon!

Next step is to build my trickle-filter. I'm planning to use those plastic drawers, with a 20gallon sump.

More updates soon!

[mitsukuni]

Picked up the last bits and pieces of plumbing, egg crate, hose and a small drawer setup. Right now I'm working on the trickle filter itself. Picking up some bio-balls this afternoon hopefully. I just finished the drip-tray (well, a second attempt - first one didn't work as I wanted). Did a trial run, from under the tank and it works!

Now I need to finish off the bio media compartment... more pics coming!

[mitsukuni]

So I have the thing running! I'm attaching a few pics to show the drawers, and the drip tray...

But it works! I just need some more bio-media, and I need to move it to the back of the tank. Had it running on the front till I was satisfied that I wasn't going to create a river to the floor drain.

Here are the construction details:

Starting at the tank:

-'W' 1 /12" PVC overflow, with egg crate at the water entry point, to discourage adventure seekers from taking the "plunge"

-Output from the outside of the W goes to a threaded fitting, barbed on the other end, connected to 1 1/2" flexible sump pump hose.

-another threaded/barb fitting on the sump side goes into a 90* elbow, which goes through the top of the drawer cover, into a flange fitting, with a sink drain gasket in between.

The sump:

-uses a small drawer setup (3 drawers), sitting on a coated rack, in a 20 gallon tank.

-each drawer has the bottom cut out of it, and replaced with egg-crate.

-top drawer: the top of the bio chamber with the 90* elbow on it empties onto a drip tray: I used a plastic lid from an Ikea container we had lying around, and cut the perimeter to fit the drawer. This works well, because there is a lip all the way around, allowing the water to pool in the tray, before running through the holes I've drilled every one inch square, using a 1/8 drill. This drip tray sits on egg crate, which sits on 4 foam filters from a Fluval 404, which sits on the egg crate bottom of the drawer.

-middle drawer: plastic pot scrubbers sitting on the egg crate bottom

-bottom drawer: bio-cubes sitting on egg crate.

-The water level is at the very bottom of the lowest media drawer. There is room to put heaters down underneath.

-A pond pump and an AC402 powerhead, each with foam prefilters, pump the water back up to the tank again (I have to make a hole just under the water line of each return line, to prevent the pump hoses from back siphoning into the sump).

If the water level drops due to evap, the sump level goes down, but the tank stays the same. If the power goes out, the pumps stop, but the siphon holds in the W overflow, and the water stops flowing down the drain, as soon as the water level goes below the level of the slotted endcap guard.

A few details to finish up, and this project is done!

Phil

[CalgaryFan]

Very cool, good luck with the whole thing.

[Morhua]

Good thing CalgaryFan posted something, it looked like you were talking to yourself there for awhile :w00t:

Seriously, the system looks good, a cool, alternative approach for tanks that don't have built in overflows or any drilled holes. It'll be interesting to see how it holds up to the test of time. Now get some fish in there!

Cheers