fishytime Posted March 23, 2008 Report Share Posted March 23, 2008 (edited) Its happened again. My reef tank is growing. I started my salty life with a wee 20g, that only took about 7 months for me to upgrade to a 68g. And now the 68g will soon be upgraded to a 110g(72"lx20"tx18"d). This build will be almost entirely a diy project. The tanks I will be using were built and the equipment will and has been purchased, but the rest of the build I will do my self. The 110g I have had for three years running as a fresh water setup. First with cichlids then as a big community tank. Heres what I have and am planning to do. 110g display with a 55g sump/ refugium. The 110 was not drilled and did not have an overflow. The display will have dual corner overflows with 1" herbie style standpipes drilled through the bottom. The returns are 2, 3/4" drilled through the back, fueled by a Quietone 6000. This journal will be pic intensive, so here is a few shots of the "birth" of my new baby. Sorry if some of them are a bit blurry, but I was still shakin from drilling the tank myself (with Zylumn/Kevins help and encouragement...thanks again Kev btw).First time drilling glass. Edited May 31, 2008 by fishytime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NatureNut Posted March 23, 2008 Report Share Posted March 23, 2008 Wow! That's really exciting! I hear what you're saying about shaking doing something like that. I'm always afraid I'll mess it up, and I probably cause more problems with my nerves. hehehe I can't wait to see it filled! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parachromis1 Posted March 23, 2008 Report Share Posted March 23, 2008 good job i bet its gonna look good when its done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rED O Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 looks great. i would like to see some pictures when its running :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishytime Posted March 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 Thanks for the kind words of encouragement everyone. I am doing the sump as I type this. Will post some shots when I git er done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doo Posted March 27, 2008 Report Share Posted March 27, 2008 Looks great - how hard was it to drill??? what tools do you need??? Keep the pics coming - Can't wait to see it after it is all done Thanks for the kind words of encouragement everyone. I am doing the sump as I type this. Will post some shots when I git er done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slough Shark Posted March 27, 2008 Report Share Posted March 27, 2008 I'm also looking forward to seeing that done. Looks great so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishytime Posted March 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Looks great - how hard was it to drill??? what tools do you need??? Keep the pics coming - Can't wait to see it after it is all done Doo, it wasn't that hard. You need a diamond encrusted hole saw( similar to one you would use for wood),you can get them from china on ebay. A drill and water...lots of water(to cool the drill bit as you are drilling). Thats about it...oh ya and a friend to help you carry the tank outside lol. The tank was/is a beast. I thought the glass was all 3/8 thick, but the bottom is 5/8. And from what I've been told the thicker the glass the easier it is to drill. The hardest part was; the bulkhead size for the bottom is 1" interior diameter, with a 1 3/4" outside diameter. My buddy only had a 1 1/2" bit, so we had to ream the holes out to fit the bulkheads....not fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishytime Posted March 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 (edited) I got the sump finished tonight. Well... I finished it yesterday , but I leak tested the baffles tonight and....IT HOLDS WATER :smokey: . Cutting the glass for the baffles actually proved to be way harder than drilling the tank. I just could'nt get the glass to break cleanly on my scribe. So I broke out the trusty beltsander to grind down the wonky cuts.The following pics show the sump and a couple of the goodies to go in it. The layout is; skimmer/drain section on the left, return pump section in the middle, and drain/refugium section on the right.If you guys see any issues with this design PLEASE let me know. This is my first sump and I wanna get it right. The return pump is a quiet one 6000, and the skimmer is a euro-reef rs135.I need to do the overflow box inside the tank, but I think I will leave the cutting of that glass to the experts. 3/16" glass was hard enough, never mind the 3/8" glass I will need for the overflow. Then after that is the plumbing. I am a carpenter by trade so wood is really my thing. But I am learning lots and I think I have a handle on how the plumbing needs to be. Edited March 28, 2008 by fishytime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FLIP Posted April 15, 2008 Report Share Posted April 15, 2008 Any updates? I love seeing how your tanks progresses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishytime Posted April 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 Any updates? I love seeing how your tanks progresses. Here's the update for ya Flip...and everyone else that may be tagging along. Its been kinda slow going lately as I am in the process of moving at the end of the month. I've been sneaking away from my packing duties every once in a awhile to get my plumbing parts together. I think I've finally got what I need. I ordered a few things from B.C. because a buddy was making a huge plumbing order and said I could piggy back on his order to save shipping. I got the stuff from him last week and figured out right away that I needed to go back( again) to the plumbing store. I am still waiting on the gate valves from a different order(picking them up tomorrow). But I thought I would share what I did today. Here is what the stack of parts for the return look like. Before. After. The return goes from the 1" output of the pump to a ball valve by 1" flexible tubing. Then is reduced to 3/4" hard pvc . First a check valve, then a "T", then a ball valve for each return, and finally through the locline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishytime Posted April 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 More pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parachromis1 Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 looks awesome. keep up the good work. might need to hire you to drill my tank lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slough Shark Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 Good stuff, it's gonna be awesome in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishytime Posted May 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2008 Big updates. I moved last week and managed to get the tank ready so I could just move the contents of the 68g directly into the 110g. Its been running for a week now with NO glitches. The move went well and I didnt lose anything. Will post some pics of the rest of the build now and will post some of the tank with the livestock in it after I tweek a few things and clean the glass this w/e. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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