55 gal from the start

[hummer]

for christmas (wife) bought me the lights for the tank thay are

48" orbit extrems 130x4 bulbs a total of 520 watts

to day i orderd from dr. fosters :):):):)

berlin classic protien skimmer

1500 gal over flow with air lift pump

a mag 18

some plastic for water disabution 3/4" x 3" flare nozzle & 3/4"mpt connector

5 gal bucket of instant ocean salt

also have all the pvc and valves ineed

and my sump is on its way and its needs to be modifid a little , i also have a light for the sump a 100 watt day time bulb

total price === priceless:eek:


when i get it the delivery i will take pic.. of it and i just started working my water manafold

here are some pic. my sump my rock my tank just to start with more to come:D :D :D

[graphixx]

NOW THE FUN STARTS!!!

[greg97527]

woot take lots of pics i remember starting up the 55 i have now and regret not having start to finish shots.

[hummer]

no problem guys:):)

[Iconz]

Awesome bro! Good luck! I'm taggin along... as usual!

-JD

[RHAPALA]

GOOD DEAL BUD GOOD LUCK AND WE ARE ALL HERE FOR YA

[dakar]

Always love coming along for the ride as another new tank comes to life!

[hummer]

well i painted the back of the tank blue (dark) and i have half of my plumming done and there is some pic.. of some supplys i have and what i'v done:D :D and there more to come thanks for stopping in and checking it out

[greg97527]

gotta love the spray bar ;) made one on my 55 and what a difference.

couple questions though:
don't you feel bad about abusing that poor pool table?
and, i notice that the wall has fresh new white paint to accent the display tank but only painted where the tank is. wth? sounds like something i woulddo...who cares about the rest of the house as long as the tank looks good!

[hummer]

greg97527 lol. i and the wife love the qusetions we lol our but off

the room is now 3/4 painted and just so you all know all the paint on the floors in the room was already there when we tore up the carpit we were in aw... it looks like some one let a 2 yr old paint the roomwe need to still redo the wood floors ...ps. good eye

as for the pool table we have two of them the one that is in the basement it the cheep one and was not that hard to move (not that hevie)(sp) the good one is in the gargage and it weighs 1200 lbs and i havent found enough people who wanted to help move it ....hehe

the house was bought as a repo and took us 3 years to fix it right we are now working on the back yard and then the my bed room its last on the list just thought i would tell a little story lol hehe



thanks for check out my thread there will be more to come!!!!!!!!!! :):):)

[graphixx]

Bob, man its looking sweet, you are trucking right along. that thing will be wet in no time. keep us posted.

[hummer]

thanks greg realy ...it means alot coming from you!! and all the rest of you too comments are alway welcome ...even the bad one im still learning:):)

[greg97527]

;) UR WELCOME FOR THE BAD ONE HEHEHEH

[carpenterwrasse]

is there enough room in the back to get to the valves?

[hummer]

i think there is about7 inchs from the wall ...but it depens on the over flow box depth ....at least theres no water in it yet. only because theres much more work to to done. hehe ..

[Sweetpea]

Wow Bob! It looks GREAT! I know we all have a lot more to look forward to with this! :-)
(Thanks for the pics! Love the pool table! ;) )

[hummer]

well some bad news today..jojo told me the rock he made had got broken ..so the one in this thread went to rock heaven :( ......... sa-la-ve we must press on :):)

[dakar]

well some bad news today..jojo told me the rock he made had got broken ..so the one in this thread went to rock heaven :( ......... sa-la-ve we must press on :):)

Oh no...The big transformer looking dude rock? can the pieces be 'pinned' back together... try something like 3/16" acrylic rods.

[jojo22]

I was tyhinking maby epoxy???? I will make a post here later and if I can get it back together Half way decient I will ship it to Bob for just the cost of shipping!

[hummer]

jojo said it was pritty bad... ya it did look totaly cool would of loved to show cass.... it it was art work in rock form

[hummer]

i got my pipes painted black(looks cool)

and have my top off contaner (still need a float)

and here is all the pics...:):):)

in the pics are the info on the light wife got me do you all think thay would be good for all coral ,and sea anenames the tank is a 55gal the watts per gal. are 9.49 what do you all think? ....all comments welcome please!!!!

:):):)

[Iconz]

It looks really good! You're gonna beat me to getting it wet! argh!!

[Sweetpea]

Looks sharp!!!

[Dirt4dinner]

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THAT POOL TABLE!!! OH DEAR GOD!!!! Clean it off.....show it some love...and buy a DAMN workbench for heavens sake! Oh the humanity....

[hummer]

icons i still have to builh my sump buddy and get live sand and rocks.. your going to be wet befor me


bobbo wanted to play pool so he got the pool table clean (for now)hahaha
untill round 2 hehehehe

[hummer]

thank you allfor checkingout my thread more to come :)

[hummer]

well on my fish journey iv already had some set backs but ill work thew them and will tell ya later about it .time for bed for now

[hummer]

well ups busted up my sump so im building one now .i think it will hold about 20 gal useable. max will be 30gal. it is a odd shape but will work good. already layed it out and cut half of the peises have some pics. will post them after i get up it was late when we stoped cutting ..to day my helper bobbo and me made a real mess on the pool table this time plastic all over from the saw .....lol.. dirt4dinner is gunna flip

[hummer]

i cut the stand too the acrilc that is on my stand is the bottom of my sump

[RHAPALA]

HEY BUD JUST WANTED TO DROP A LINE AD SAY WOW YER REALLY COMMING ALONG WELL LOOKING GREAT!!

[graphixx]

DDDAAANNNNGGGG you are crusing right along. man that is gonna be a nice tank when it gets wet. I cannot bieleve the way you have dove into this. that is fantastic. keep us posted.

[hummer]

this is the sump just after i cut all the peices .there just leaning on eachother i was just making sure all the peices are there ...aw one short need one more the box one top of the 2x4 is my refugeit will sit almost 5 inches of the bottom i need to sand the saw marks and then glue here some pics..

[hummer]

just so you all know one of the baffals is up side down it sayed in place easer for the pics and the other ones aint in place right eather there all sitting on the bottom

[graphixx]

that is great, looks like you got the whole family involved, that is awesome buddy

[jojo22]

How dare you make your kids build you a sump!!! LOL.... Looks good buddy

[dakar]

You notice there are no clamps in the pics? What do you think is holding the acrylic together? :razz:

[mutts]

looking good can't wait till it gets water in it!

[hummer]

ok whole sump cut out . we had a heck of a time of getting the plastic rapoff of some of the plastic(its older stuff free :)) .sanded all eages and i also flamed all ends of each peice .in my test glueing it worked better (glued) imo. it took lots of thinking on how i was going to do this the weldom 4 work almost too easy .....i hope that was a good thing :0 to be onist i did mess up on the short baffals cut them just 2mm to nerrow and one other peics but there useable will haf to rig them a little but its just a sump not a show peice. i also made a float brace. there are a total of 14 peics that make up the sump 3 bad cut is pritty good i think imo. well theres the pics. it is almost half glued .i have to thank bobbo so much for helping me and my little girl and all who gave me help thank you again :angel2:

[dakar]

Looking like a monster sump getting ready to come to life :) One question, why did you form it with a big 'notch' missing in the front? I'm sure there is a reason, but I must have missed it along the way.

[hummer]

tanks for asking , i for got to mention it thats the iner wall for the refuge it will be about 8 gal.. and will sit 4"3/4 off the bottom of the sump .thats a bigger return area thats why its sits higher than the rest off the sump and the return will be a stand pipe going through the bottom of the sump
i figured sump will be working with about 26 gal. of water at max about 35 gal. ithink.. the meserments are 36"long and 18" deep and 15 " tall except where the reffuge is its its hard too cal. the amount of water because its u shape and the missing part is 6"x8" its there because of the brace for the stand. :):):):) lets all hope this puppy holds water

sorry i didnot post any drawing of it would of been hard too do

[melev]

Are you only gluing horizontal seams, rotating your project as you go? It is very important that you do so. If you are gluing this sump vertically, the seams won't get an even amount of solvent.

[melev]

I think your layout will be interesting, that's for sure. Looking forward to the finished product.

[hummer]

yes marc im only glueing horizontallines at a time . then rotating.. thanks for the in put execaly(sp) from a expert like you !!! when you say interesting is that in a good way or bad ? please tell your the sump king :yourock:


and i have only a few things left to do then i can test

[hummer]

well sump is glued still need to do a few things like finish refuge add a stand pipe for it and add possable braceing too it

dose it look like i may need top braceing any were?

what do you all think of it ?
please give any feed back i am a newbee

the over flow pipes that are in the sump how should thay be for best flow and less noise?


here is a pic of some base rock i got

[greg97527]

i would recommend bracing the top always. looks great though keep it up.

[melev]

The 2x4 is going to have to come out of there, that's for sure.

If you fill it up with water to the top, you'll see how the sump bows. Be sure you put the sump on something like pink foam or an insulite pad (like used in camping under a sleeping bag) to make sure you don't crack the sump on a sharp pebble. Watch for leaks.

I think you'll need a top flange to keep it straight and true.

How does the water exit those two pipes? That will be the tough spot if you have a top flange since they are so close to the edge/wall of the sump.

[hummer]

ok thanks guys i will see what i can do thanks again for the feed back

[JustDavidP]

Yo Bob....Man oh man that's a busy box :)

I agree with Marc, fill it and test it. You'll know pretty quickly, where, if anywhere, it will be bowing.

It seems that there are a lot of chambers and those walls, in themselves, will help brace the unit together in the lower and center are of the "boxes".

I'd be more worried about the top most sections, but again, I don't know what your differing water levels will be.

"Eurobracing" the boxes can't do any harm, that's for sure. If the pipes are in the way, you may have to make largish corners and drill for the pipes, much like you did for the pipe brackets themselves.

Dave

[jojo22]

Lookin good bob!!!!!! Keep it up.

[RHAPALA]

HEY MAN JUST WANTED TO LET YA KNOW I'M REALLY IMPRESSED WITH THE LVL IN WHICH YOU ARE BUILDING YOUR DOING A **** OF A GOOD JOB BUD KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK MAN

[hummer]

thanks all for all the info you all helped me sooooooooomuck thanks again

[Iconz]

Its lookin great bob! Keep it up!

[hummer]

i have the bottom so the refuge glued in just have to cut and glue the bracing hopefully i can test this week end the sump that is

how long should i wait to let the glue realy get cured befor i test it?????

[Fatman]

Usually that glue takes only 24 hours for a wet test, 48 and you should be fine. Let me say incredible work you do!

[JustDavidP]

I say 48 to 72 hours. AND... don't keep it in a cold spot while curing. Room temp my friend.

It may be too late, but I've got a little clip, a snippet of a video in progress that shows the application of the weld-on.

Click here to watch Weld-On-Application (http://media.putfile.com/Weld-On-Application)



Let's see if that worked.

Dave

[pass1over]

is the spray bar on the side and the 2 returns in the middle going to be the only circulation sources in your tank setup?
Or are you planning on using a couple powerheads as well inside the display?

[hummer]

all the pipeing in the tank are feed lines from the manifold whitch will come from the mag 18 ..... my overthe back overflow will feed the sump 1500 gal an hr and hopfully there will be no... power heads if any thing i will add a clm

why no you ask do you forsee a problem?



thanks justdavid
and thanks fatman this is my first one i ever did hopfully it works theres anough glue on it to build 5 sumps....lol lol

[pass1over]

i dont forsee any problems, but then again, ive never done that.
I was just curious if you were planning on anything else.

I was thinking about putting 2 spray bars, horizontally like yours but running along the back of the tank. I think im gonna face half the exit holes straight down and half angled forward.
I have powerheads in the corners, but plan on building a closed lo0p sometime in the near future, and have them in the corners, to get rid of the powerheads.

When do you plan on getting it wet? Lo0ks go0d, but I agree ... po0r po0l table, 80(

[Fatman]

thanks justdavid
and thanks fatman this is my first one i ever did hopfully it works theres anough glue on it to build 5 sumps....lol lol

Congrats you've taken all the right steps for your first time. I'll admit I had no patience and now I see things I wish I would have done better (like bigger/custom sump and pump) but live and learn =P.

Awsome, I repeat awsome job.

PS: Your daughter in one of those pics doesn't seem to eager to be helping :)
http://www.captivereefing.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3539&stc=1&d=1168831135

[hummer]

she was the main brace for the whole thing it took a little while too set it up and shoot the pics..lol lol


pass1over hopfully this week end water test and then set up next week im off work my spray bars are angled to the in side of the tank

[jojo22]

You still plan on getting that thing wet this weekend???

[hummer]

ya jojo i have one more suport too in stall in the morning then test on saturday hopfuly the tank in 12 days will be set up water,sand and pumps running

should i run the skimmer right a way ? or wait for the sand too settle

[jojo22]

Wait till your cycle is over. The skimmer will pull out all the crud that is used to feed the bacteria.

[hummer]

ok thanks

[Fatman]

You may want to run a fine filter to clean the tiny sand that tends to float and never settle. When I first set up my tank I did this for a good 3 days (cleaning the filter every 6 hours) and finally got all the fine particle sand out.

Lets see a wet test!! Keep an eye out for leaks!

[hummer]

ok thanks fat man



here is the sump all done its not too pritty but it should not leek there weldon 4 in the seems and a total of amost 5 tubes of weldon 16 on all the seems inside and out test will be on saturday!!!!!!!! here are some pics :):):):)




and heres a pic of the hose 1" that im useing for the overflow too supply the sump water it sillicone

[jojo22]

Lookin good my man. I can't wait to see this thing wet!!

[graphixx]

Dang look at you little junior acrylic guy!!!! that is fantastic. NOW GET THE DARN THING WET!!!!!

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

And I hard time putting 6 baffles in a glass aquarium for my first sump...........not fair, lol.
Nice job. It looks good.

Angie

[hummer]

thanks all you been a insperation and great help ....


kudos toooooo all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hummer]

well i dry fitted the sump in the stand and it looks great and tight the only thing i did wrong was it a 1/4 "too tall so i cant use 1/2"pink foam insted i got from work 1/4"soft rubbersheet 36x20 i will cut too fit . im going too use this will give me the clearanse i need to get skimmer in and out.

i also put in another ordera fosters too day it is

6 bags of fugie pink live sand
a digital thermonitor
a refractor
a 5 gal bucket of salt
a heater 300 watt
a long feed tube bulb too feed a anenims ,or coral with
and a float switch for my 5 gal water crock...water top off system
and a water test kit

it all should be here next week somtime will post pics when it comes took some pis of the stand with sump in it will post them tomarrow its late good night.....

[hummer]

here is dry run of the sump in the stand.. and the soft rubber matt
(gasket rubber 1/4") i will be using fist pic sump is sitting on it getting cut


tomarow is test day for the sump will get more pics...let us all hope for the best :):):)

[hummer]

ok here it is a wet sump finaly done oooooyaaaa and it hase no leeks its deen holding for about 5 hr with 40gal in it ok heres the specs on the sump

30gal working sump whitch includes a 8.5 gal refuge

and a max of 41 gal it will hold

here are the pics


and here we go!!!!!

the third pic is at working volume.. the last is at max volume..

[Sweetpea]

You've done a great job!!!

[Fatman]

HIGH FIVE!!! *In Borat*

[dakar]

No water hitting the floor.. Looks great!

[jojo22]

SWEET!!! Now to get it all hooked up!!

[hummer]

im heading to dads house to make the base for the sump thit will sit on behind the stand

then when i get back i will bring it up and finsh the pluming then rout the cords and then wait for ups to deliver my stuff from fosters hopfully ups dont mess this up there are 6 bags of live sand in the order

then head to town for 75 gal of r/o water and fill it up

i was going to use egg creating under the sand so it rases a stable base for the LR to sit on dose any one see a problem with this???????




dont worry il take pics ...i love them too....

[jojo22]

I would just put it under the rocks. If you put it over the entire tank your pods and worms will not be able to move out of that little area very easily.

[melev]

Looks good! Make sure you support the extension in the back completely. Not just some legs, but full on support for every square inch of it.

[hummer]

for how much time i spent on it to day i thought i be ferther ..o-well


ok jojo my be i wont use it at then..

melev yes i reinforced the stand under neath and the tail end of the sump that sticks out is well suported ....i just wish i could of been perfect

[Iconz]

Lookin great bob! I too will be getting mine wet this week!!!

[hummer]

yahoooooo..!!!!!!! TANK ALL DONE.......


well i was try to learn how to post pics with a caption by it but i dont know how .. well it been long and hard but worth it i could not even tell you how much time i have in this set up besides A LOT...

pluming looks awsome but only one flaw .. its soooo tight against the tank i cant remove it to test in the tub i did put in a union but its so i can remove the pump easyer ..lol lol owell i dont plan on ever taking it down....

went to get r/o water the place had frozzen pipes yesterday too come back later but its ok im still wating for a shipment from foster & smith hope it comes today and ........... i can get this sucker wet !!!!!!!!!!!!

well here are the pics..

[w7afm]

Sorry to hear about the rock Hummer, but I think the biggest problem here is that JoJo has been testing water to much and the poo has gone to his head, LOL, I am sure JoJo can fix the rock if there is away, JoJo will find it for you, of course Big Dakar will never let JoJo live this one down, LOL

Bob

[jojo22]

It could be epoxied but after what we are going thru with ups I'm not sure I would want to risk shipping it.

[hummer]

you can say that again jojo.. every time i order some thing now im sooo worryed is going to come all broken ew... bad dreams


so what do you all think of it (tank lay out be honest) ?????????????????

[jojo22]

Well if you really want the truth, then I have to tell you that I really think it looks great. Expecially for a first tank.

[w7afm]

Looks great, I see even I all the pictures you were very careful with the PVC primer, see no primer or glue passed the joints in any of your pictures, very good. Just keep taking your time, it's when you push yourself or get in a hurry that is when all **** will break loose, things will just not go together or you will make a wrong measurement.

Bob

[hummer]

thanks jojo

w7afm you are right also when your tired too...lol
about the glue and primrer ..i used the clear primer and when i was putting the pipe totether i wiped off the extra glue and i did take my time mesuard twice cut once .....well most of the time ... hehe

[graphixx]

Hummer, that is really a top notch job. it really shows when someone puts heart and thought into a project and this really shows through. your going to have a fantastic reef that is for sure. it has been a pleasure to follow along this thread.

[Sweetpea]

Bob, the time and effort you have put into your project really shows... FANTASTIC JOB!!! :-D

[mutts]

looks really nice! can't wait to see how great it is going to look once you have it filled and stocked

[hummer]

thanks all for your help and info every one....
this is the best place on the net!!!!!!


i have more pics but im going it start a new thead 55gal all wet

[dakar]

All the time, research, and patience you've invested will pay off big time in the end....
Now it's time to get that puppy wet!!!

[jojo22]

I have a cup of sand waiting for a warm day to send to you for your patience and dedication!!!

[Fatman]

Incredible set up !

[hummer]

thanks fatman

[hummer]

here are the last pics for this thread look for the other thread called
55gal all wet


every went well thank god.......
i still have not tested the manafold yet or turn the pump on you will see why

[jojo22]

SAND STORM!!!! I bet you're loveing every minuite of it.

[hummer]

ya... do you think i should put more water in it then than take out some water when i add rocks to try to keep the sand storm down untill theback filter clears it up

[jojo22]

NAAH I'd just let it clear.

[Fatman]

Yea just let the filter clear it up in 24 to 48 hours should be pretty clear. Get a finer filter (and clean it hourly) and you'll get it cleaner faster.

[Iconz]

Bob! That looks incredible! I love the organization of the plumbing! It is very, very nice! I'm lookin forward to seeing it stocked!!!

Job well done!!!

-JD

[w7afm]

What I have done in the past is to run the filters without any of the rocks or anything else in the tank to get the real fine sand filtered out and get my water levels correct in the tank and the sump witch will take about 2 days of stopping everything cleaning out the filter pads and doing it all over again. You really don't want that real fine sand in the tank anyway, cause if you put any type of sand bowering animals, snails etc in the tank they will make another sand storm for you. That is just my way of doing things, I am sure some of the other individuals all have their own way of doing things for starting out a new tank, good luck things are looking great.

Bob

[iVgOnMaD]

Very awesome setup!!! I like the way you made your sump, it looks very clean and perfect.

[hummer]

will do and thanks for the complaments

[Sweetpea]

Now I'm waiting for the next stage- rock, and then on to bigger and better goodies!!! ;)

[melev]

The sand storm will clear up once you add LIVE rock to the tank.

What is the blue tubing made of specifically? I've not seen it before.

Metal hose clamps are okay out of water, but even they can rust and drip that metal into the water. It would be best if you could order the right size plastic hose clamps and install those instead.

It really looks good. :)

[hummer]

marc.... the blue hose is a high presher silicone hose the clamps are stainless steel there only where you seen them at and ......not in the water

thanks merc i realy means alot coming from you thanks for your help too..