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Bishop's Long slow custom tank build


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Figured I'd post this here so I have a log of my build that has currently taken me over a year to get together. A while ago I saw UaruJoey's 540g build out of a pair of 6' 125s, this got me thinking of doing a smaller one out of a pair of 75's, but never came to fruition. Looking around, I realized that I had multiple 30L's sitting around that I wasn't using. So the plan became to make a 36" shallow cube, and I got the OK from the boss (wife). The problem with this tank is, a 36" cube isn't a standard size, so almost everything has been custom, or cobbled together to make it work. Forgive the mess of a basement where I'm building all this.

 

Here's the original sketchup design: 3x3x17_zps8924976a.jpg

 

Which originally had a pair of 20L's under it for a sump and a reservoir, but decided that a single 20L sump wasn't going to be enough room to do everything I wanted for filtration, so it became a 29g and a 20L plumbed together as such:

3x3x17eurosumps_zps97c33c1b.jpg

 

Which gives me room for the filter socks, skimmer, chaeto chamber, a small area for rubble, return chamber and either a RDSB or a small frag area.

 

So first order of business was building the stand, and I decided that I wanted a floating canopy above this tank:

1506394_748270131863815_1498768995_n_zps

 

and I wanted an area for the electronics away from the sumps, a divider board was put in, and painted red for my youngest son:

20140505_113042_zpsqz75fryu.jpg

 

filter sock holder, as I didn't want the standard hang on side ones, after lots of thought and looking at other people's designs, this was done:

20140408_122624_zpspibeloob.jpg

 

Thought is that water from the tank will come down as 2x 1" pipes that will fit into the 3" pipe which is capped off and water flows back up onto the holder then flows down through the duda-diesel socks, if they back up and water rises water will flow through the 2x 1" pipes into the skimmer chamber.

 

then sumps were built out of a 29g with 2 1" bulkheads on the side and a 20L:

1979556_747728998584595_1380075910_n_zps

 

Canopy was skinned with plywood with batting and marine vinyl on it. This same process will be repeated on the stand to give it a unique look that will also hold up to spills. (wires were a temp thing and have since been replaced with beefier cable). Canopy will house a single 250w cayman sun fixture and a square of actinic leds for lighting

20140430_210040_zpsmpy7jvor.jpg

 

Still working on the tank itself and getting the stand finished. The tank I'm not completely sure how I want to do the overflow, but I'm pretty sure it'll be coast to coast with a Bean overflow

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Here's the current thought on the overflow system. The false wall between the tank and the rear chamber/overflow will be made out of black 1/4" acrylic with weir teeth (turned clear in pic for easier viewing):

 

overflow%20with%20res_zpsnwbnteec.jpg

 

My thought is this allows me to use the dead space under the mostly coast to coast overflow to house a roughly 7 gallon reservoir of ro/di that can easily be pumped out of the chamber and into my overflow for top offs.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks guys. I should be getting the new base sometime this coming week. Still trying to decide how I want to do the false wall. Dont know if a piece of acrylic siliconed to sides and bottom would hold up long term or not. Plus trying to decide if I want weir with teeth, a smooth weir, or just to router a 30"x1/4" slot in the back. Obviously slot or teeth require acrylic.

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There was a member on here a couple of years ago that took egg crate with a backing, and used a reef safe spray adhesive - then they took crushed live rock, and made it fit in between and around the egg crate. It looked really realistic - i want to say their name "larry"...maybe you can send them a PM?

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I thought about an external overflow, but I really don't want the tank very far from the wall, plus I'm digging the idea on the internal reservoir. Currently working on mounting the light in the canopy and changing the hooks in the rafters for stronger ones. I should be picking up the acrylic for the false wall early next week and then I can get started building the tank. Here is what I have decided on for the back wall, I will also be putting a lid on the overflow chamber:

 

notch%20weir_zpsej0urwoz.jpg

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Picked up the acrylic to do the false wall yesterday, and started siliconing glass together, so far ive got the 4 sides and one piece of the "eurobrace" attached. Need to wait for silicone to dry before putting the next piece on.

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  • 5 weeks later...

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