Benjamin's 55g Malawi Cichlid Build

[mrbee2828]

Here is a weekend update. I made some haste Friday because the hurricane was coming on quick. I'm in the middle of it right now and was working in the garage painting. No damage to the house thus far. I did a dry fit in the office as well to make sure everything fits and looks good. There is a picture of how I'm doing the larger trim at the bottom. I'm not a carpenter so I'm just showing how I did it.

BTW, the photo of the end shot showing how the lower trim is being attached makes it looks like the inside is not as wide as the inner trim. This is some kind of illusion because of the angle of the camera. The end is closer to the camera. It's a flush 2"x2" fit.

 

[mrbee2828]

 

[Oscarr19]

Looking really good so far!

 

[mrbee2828]

Today I got a 2nd coat of paint on, the inside painted with Killz (I had some leftover from our recent bathroom remodel) the front panel done (not shown painted), the leveler feet (rated at 600lbs each) and I got start on the overflow.

 

[mrbee2828]

First build problem http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/background-problem-167145.html#post1518612

 

[mrbee2828]

So I solved the background issue and got the overflow in. It's filled with water and hasn't leaked yet. w00t! As you can see I didn't paint it. I have the plastic Krylon paint and have heard good things but I figured you will never see this so why risk it? So I'm just going to paint the overflow which is all glued together and drying.

On the background, I used a drywall saw and thin jigsaw blade so I could make tight curves. I cut it on an angle upward from front to back under the rocks to help hide the cuts. I'm planning on gluing this in tonight or tomorrow. I'm going to drill a 3/4" hole in the bottom left and hook up a powerhead that will draw water from the front and push it upward behind the background to help keep things moving around.

 

[mrbee2828]

Last night I glued the PVC overflow together pictured earlier in this thread. I did an initial run at lunch today. The biggest problem with this test is not having a ball valve to tweak the input but this was just to make sure the syphon and pump worked out of the box. It's really loud right now because the water is falling so far from the tank and the return is doing the same. I learned a lot already about this and filling up the tubes was a mess. I'm going to have to be careful when I get this going on the office

I can't wait to get the dividers in the 10 gallon!!!!

Initial PVC Overflow Test - YouTube

 

[mrbee2828]

BAH (&*%*$^% I just noticed my overflow "box" has leaked about 1/2 it's water today. I guess I'm going to have to remove the entire thing, clean up and reseal. Does anyone think I can just add more silicone to the outside without removing it all and try again??

 

[Mogurako]

Sadly I think you will have to take it apart because new silicone won't adhere to the old.

 

[mrbee2828]

hhmmm.... I figured as much. I found the leak in the bottom right portion of the side. The silicone was a bit shallow there. It shouldn't be to difficult to cut off and clean up tonight. I just hope it seals well again.

 

[mrbee2828]

Re-sealed the overflow. I'm going to give it a good 24hrs+ before testing this time. I also starting painting the overflow this morning since it worked well all night.

 

[Mogurako]

Sounds good keep us posted.

 

[mrbee2828]

Overflow update: I let it dry for 24hrs and it's been filled for about 4 now with no leaks. Fingers crossed!

Today I started working on the return spray bar and the sump. I'm not sure what I'm doing with the return end. I don't think I want to cap it off and possibly restrict flow too much but with the elbow it probably won't spray out of the holes much. I'm planning on just hooking this up unglued and seeing how it does a few different ways. Also, I've never worked with acrylic before. I used a fine jigsaw blade and it seemed to do the trick going slow and steady.

 

[Mogurako]

Id just take off the elbow and cap it, also you can drill smaller holes farther apart to get the desired flow. You may have to beef up the pump you use.

 

[mrbee2828]

Cool... I'll play around with it once it's all together... still a bit early. Oh... and 24hrs and no leaks on the overflow box

 

[Wy Renegade]

Looking pretty good! On the return spray bar, I would increase the length after the elbow so it sits lower in the tank. If you don't and you go on vacation or something and your tank level drops, it will start sparying the water out of the tank and onto the floor. Just a suggestion.

 

[mrbee2828]

@Wy Renegade - That sounds like a good Idea but I think I screwed myself. The teeth for the overflow are 3/4" from the top edge. This will already be sitting the the water basically. The only thing I can try and do is saw out the teeth to lower the intake level more. Thoughts?

Also, maybe I'm not thinking about this the right way, but with this being fixed in position, a glass cover and canopy over that, how will this spary anywhere but in the tank?

 

[mrbee2828]

So tonight I finished up the sump dividers and the raised portion for the overflow spray bar and "dry" portion of the filter with the bubble trap next to it leading to the middle where the return pump will be. On the far end is a taller portion for the refugium.

I cut a hole with a circular saw bit used for door knobs. The overflow will come down and bend 90° and the come out and cap off. I'm going to drill a bunch of medium sized holes to spray water over the mechanical media. The filter will slide over it with the tray I built the other week. It might not make sense but it will when you see it completed.

 

[Wy Renegade]

@Wy Renegade - That sounds like a good Idea but I think I screwed myself. The teeth for the overflow are 3/4" from the top edge. This will already be sitting the the water basically. The only thing I can try and do is saw out the teeth to lower the intake level more. Thoughts?

Also, maybe I'm not thinking about this the right way, but with this being fixed in position, a glass cover and canopy over that, how will this spary anywhere but in the tank?

No sure about the overflow portion, as I can't really see how that is going to work in conjunction with the spray bar - unless you're putting the spray bar over the top of the overflows somehow.

As for the cover, that will minimize any outspray (wasn't sure if you were going to run with a glass cover as many people do not), however it won't prevent 100% and you'll end up with water on the inside of your canopy, which over time will cause the canopy to deteriorate unless you sand it down and refinish it about once a year.

 

[mrbee2828]

Here are some tray holders for the egg crate trays. I just cut a 2" strip of scrap acrylic and marked some triangles out and then cut them up and stuck them on with silicone.