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My 90 Gallon Build


CzNik2

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November 12th 2017...  Put my dry rock in salt water for the curing process...  We have a pump and heater to keep the water from going bad and to grow the right bacteria I need for taking out the phosphates which have been VERY HIGH in this process... I have done several water changes and will soon do a 100% change.  

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This is what My stand (I have a canopy that matches as well) looked like for the 15 years that I have owned it... its 36" tall.  I didn't like the Oak color so I got advice from Luis about sanding it and staining it...  I am VERY Glad I did.... 

 

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I chose an "Espresso Gloss" from Minwax.   And I really liked the look of this...  Took a second coat to get it nice and smooth... I have NEVER re-finished anything before so this was my first attempt.  Lots of mistakes and a few runs but all in all it turned out nicely....

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Well, I went to Lowes and got a bunch of paint tiles and chose "DEEP BLUE OCEAN"  From Sherwin Williams.  Thought it looked nice on the paint tile...  Went back to Lowes and bought a gallon and when I seen the paint on the top of the can it was still wet looking and was VERY VERY VERY Bright...  I was VERY worried it would be the WRONG decision....  Well I dove in and painted the room and after it dried and I added white accents etc... I think It turned out nicely.... Once the Lights are on the tank and the brightness of them will help to brighten that dark Blue/Green...   Next step is to paint the back of the tank Black....  Will be picking up my 38 gallon tank for the sump tomorrow at Premium Aquatics.  I will get pics of the progress of how I will be building the sump.  I chose the 38 gallon as it was the largest tank I can put in the bottom of my Stand.   The Canopy is at Ryan Sweets house we are going to be working on getting the lights mounted and all the ventilation holes cut...  Fingers crossed It works as the ATI ballast is NOT to be used in a Canopy I will HAVE to get Plenty of ventilation to keep the bulbs from getting over heated...  

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Almost forgot... I painted the entire inside of my stand with this black Latex paint... 2 coats thick...  Its very well sealed just hope its easy to maintain and helps keep that nasty salt creep and salt water from Ruining my stand.  

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Wow Brian!  Love the stand and the way that all turned out.  That espresso is sharp for sure!

I should change out our cabinets with those hinges in our kitchen lol.  Keep posting B, can't wait to see some life in that tank!

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Saturday the 16th I was able to pick up my 38 Gallon Tank for my Sump from Premium Aquatics....  Have to put a Shout out for Premium Aquatics and Brandon... I am VERY blessed to have this connection and want everyone to know they should be going to http://www.premiumaquatics.com they are awesome!!!  But I will be using the 38 Gallon for my sump it is the largest tank I can get to put in my stand... I prefer to make my own to be able to get it exactly how I want it...  It will be something like, Water In, skimmer, Refugium with EcoSystem's Miracle Mud and Algae and finally the return with a Marine Pure Block to remove any left over nutrients that my algae did not catch...  A friend of mine told me about Suburban Glass to get my baffles.  They are very nice and pretty reasonable on their prices ...  they quoted me $ 8.00 a square foot... They are in Whiteland, In...   

Suburban Glass Services
317-535-5747

 

 

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Here is a sketch on how I want it...  But I have a few questions to anyone who can offer advice etc...  I may remove that first baffle area with the ????  in it... not sure I need it?  But does a sump have to have the 3 baffles to flow through?  And anyone have suggestions as to how deep I should run my sump... the 38 Gallon is 20 Inches tall from black rim to black base rim...  I need to account for power outages to be able to hold the displays water as well... And how much space between the baffles like 1"?  I was thinking 10-12 inch deep I will have to use egg crate for the skimmer to sit on if it cannot be that deep...  If I kept it at 10 inches which is Half the tank... that would be 19 gallons of space for power outages...  at 12" deep that would give me just over 15 gallons of space for over flow?  Please post suggestions.  and YES I want my return to be higher than the bottom of my sump... If something happened I don't want the entire volume of my sump on the floor....  

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1st question on the baffles - it is useless to have baffles before the skimmer because the skimmer itself releases air bubbles. So remove those and give urself that extra space somewhere else, like the fuge. 

Baffles- I think 3 baffles has been the norm and is probly like a guaranteed way to eliminate bubbles but I think 2 can be just as good. My Trigger sump has only two baffles that are 2.5" apart and I don' really have a huge problem with air bubbles in my display. But if u do go with 3 I think the inch apart is good.

Level of water in sump - I don' know if u plan on using check valves. If u do then u don' have to worry about back flush into ur sump. Ur water level will remain the same. But it is pricy to put a check valves on every line. I'm sure there is some sort of calculation out there on how much water empties out back into ur sump. I think ur best way to do it is to test it. Fill ur tank like a 1/3 of ur sump, measure the level of water while it' running. Shut it off and then measure again. Then u can find how much water came back. But if u don' want to through that I think 50% of the sump filled is a safe level.

Return pump level - just be careful on ur sump being above like that. My concern would be if ur ATO fails and the water level goes down it could go well below ur pump and could ruin the pump. If u have it right on the bottom if ur sump it could give u a little more time to catch this mistake. 

Hope this helps a little. Anyone else have any input?

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I think you do need your first baffle in order to support your egg crate and filter floss. Second and third baffles I would get rid of. I would cut a long slit in the forth baffle a couple of inches above the mud line so water flows through your chaeto rather than over top of it. Fifth and sixth baffle are good but the seventh and final baffle is counterproductive water will spill over and create bubbles in your return chamber. Just how I would do it :D

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Thank you Reefaddict12 & Gonzo620....  I will remove the 1st 2 baffles and the last one...  I don't know if I will do mechanical filtration at the time being?  So I wont need a floss or Filter sock area but will put enough room to add one later if I think I need one...  I do like the idea of the slit for the water to move through the Chaeto vs. over it...  Yea and the return pump level I have pondered this for a LONG time... and I am sooo nervous of water all over my floor... and like you said the pump burning up if my ATO fails etc...  But I think with a double redundant over flow I highly doubt that the sump's total volume would end up in the main display and then on the floor as what are the odds of BOTH my over flow getting stopped up?  Has anyone ever had both over flows clog up and had their sump emptied like that?  

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I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Christmas...  I know I did and enjoyed my time with Friends and Family...  I was able to get a lot more Cash and Uncle Bills gift cards than I was expecting...  I am so thankful that a few people love me... HAHAHAHAHA...  Now I am SO much closer to putting WATER IN MY TANK!!!   Christmas evening I started to paint the back of my 90 Gallon and the back 3 sides of my 38 Gallon Sump.  3 coats on each did the job nicely... (These pics are not the finished Product but you get the idea lol.)

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DO NOT JUDGE me for how bad this turned out.. lol...  But I got a dremel and cut out this horrid looking square for the overflow...  I was laying on my back under the tank and tried to cut it straight, and no I was not wearing goggles (shame on me) I could hardly see what I was doing all the sawdust was every where, especially in my eyes... but once sand and rock are in you wont be able to see it.. hahah...  

I bought this black plastic mesh stuff at JoAnne Fabrics I want to put this on the baffle that is next the the fuge to hold in the Chaeto/Algae from going into the return chamber and then into my display.  I seen this on someone's youtube channel and thought it was pretty neat... have a few cut to size and replace them as needed to make sure water flow is good.  You can see in the last pic how it could be done.  I think this will keep everything that shouldn't be in the return out... and still big enough for pods to slip past.

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I measured the width of my sump at 11 3/4 inches...  Talking with Luis (Gonzo620) he is going to help me out and cut my baffles for me...  Thank you so much Luis I appreciate that a lot...  This Saturday I will be heading down to Premium Aquatics and getting my sand and miracle mud and at least 1 Heater...  I have one that works just fine and will use 2 as a double redundancy in case one fails...  Depending on the cost of all that, and what I have left over I will get a Sicce Power head or 2 and if I don't have the funds to get them and at the time of putting water in I have not gotten them yet... Ryan has graciously offered to loan me one of his spare power heads till I can get my Sicce set.   I am in a RUSH to get water in my tank and the Cycle started ASAP to be ready for the March 17th Frag Swap!!!  

Joining INDMAS has been one of the BEST things I have done...  I believe I have gained life-long friends and I am looking fwd to many years of Reef keeping and being able to "Pay It Forward" when the time comes to help someone else like you all have wonderfully helped me out... Again, Thank You to every one for your help and advise and support it means a lot to me...  

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nice updates Birdman!!  that is a good idea for the overflow and not allowing macro into your display.  wreaked havoc in my sps tank last year....

I am sure you will have plenty of time to pay it forward, as we all have.  I have learned a ton from the members here and have received and given plenty of help to the reefers around the circle.  Hope we can all pay it forward to all of the new members we gain each year to help them better succeed!

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18 hours ago, CzNik2 said:

I was laying on my back under the tank and tried to cut it straight, and no I was not wearing goggles (shame on me) I could hardly see what I was doing all the sawdust was every where, especially in my eyes...

 

Engage safety squints!   Haha . Thanks for sharing both the good and the bad!

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14 minutes ago, Been Mired said:

Engage safety squints!   Haha . Thanks for sharing both the good and the bad!

No one can really learn if all we post is the good...  We all have bad  moments and not everything turns out perfect but what would a Build Thread be with out some humor and truth... ahahaha ...   Oh and Ben I need a calendar... I doubt I ll be able to make it to the next months meeting...  Give it to Brandon and I ll pick it up from him???  And how much is that Star Board you got for the raffle when we were at Luis House?  Thanks...  :-) 

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I haven't used the starboard yet, so you are welcome to it for no cost.  Come see my new setup in Flat Rock sometime and it's yours! :)

I've got Calendars, and there are a few at PA if you (or anyone else) wants to pick one up.  Shoot me a PM and I can mail you one too.

 

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9 minutes ago, Been Mired said:

I haven't used the starboard yet, so you are welcome to it for no cost.  Come see my new setup in Flat Rock sometime and it's yours! :)

I've got Calendars, and there are a few at PA if you (or anyone else) wants to pick one up.  Shoot me a PM and I can mail you one too.

 

Well I’m down for a visit anytime you wanna have me over :-).  I love seeing people’s tanks helps to figure out my own aqua scape!!!    And I’ll be at PA Saturday and I’ll get my calendar then and if your free maybe come see your set up?  And I would def wanna give you something for that Starboard??? 

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