Need help building this cool design of a 130G tank

[vundercoverdog]

:0 I didn;t think of that. I'm going with your idea. thank you!

 

[Grug]

Yeah.. i think Jsoong is on the money with this build.. maybe dont hide the heater in there.. would mean pulling the whole tank apart to replace a dead one.. but definately have circulation down there.. a pump on top of a step. (hidden by rock) blowing into the space at the bottom (which could be filled with live rock rubble) and just a few holes around the place to let the water back out the other side.. but having the pump above the step allows cleaning and replacement without pulling apart the whole landscape of your tank.

 

[kurtyboh]

To give support i think id put another pane at the back of each stair. Then youll support quite a large weight with it

 

[jsoong]

Yeah.. i think Jsoong is on the money with this build.. maybe dont hide the heater in there.. would mean pulling the whole tank apart to replace a dead one.. but definately have circulation down there.. a pump on top of a step. (hidden by rock) blowing into the space at the bottom (which could be filled with live rock rubble) and just a few holes around the place to let the water back out the other side.. but having the pump above the step allows cleaning and replacement without pulling apart the whole landscape of your tank.

Or you can just plan for it with a small door, removable section so you can still get into the "sump" without taking the tank apart. Then you can have your equipment hidden inside the compartment. You want to be able to vac out the interior of the sump from time to time anyway, so some planned easy access is a good thing.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Cool design, I like the concept of the stepped base along the front. But why not make the whole thing out of High grade acrylic? The steps would be easier, no wood rot and if done correctly the cavity underneath could house equipment like a canister filter with in line heater, air pump, etc. The bonus would be that the clear fronts/dark base edges could be welded together (it's glue, but it's kinda like welding metal) and then you wouldn't have an issue with getting the edges absolutely perfect. You could even have the 2 fronts custom cut and formed so it would be seamless at the apex.

Or you can just plan for it with a small door, removable section so you can still get into the "sump" without taking the tank apart. Then you can have your equipment hidden inside the compartment. You want to be able to vac out the interior of the sump from time to time anyway, so some planned easy access is a good thing.

Yep, only I was thinking a canister might be a better choice since it would be easy to hide every thing under the stepped base. Would a sump be a lot of work to maintain Jsoong?

 

[jsoong]

Yep, only I was thinking a canister might be a better choice since it would be easy to hide every thing under the stepped base. Would a sump be a lot of work to maintain Jsoong?

A sump can be easy or hard, depends on how you make it. I was not suggesting using a sump filter (or any suggestion of filter - that depends on the fish load & the OP's preference, but for a neat design, a canister is definitely a good idea.) I was just calling the space under the acrylic steps a sump, for lack of a better word.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

A sump can be easy or hard, depends on how you make it. I was not suggesting using a sump filter (or any suggestion of filter - that depends on the fish load & the OP's preference, but for a neat design, a canister is definitely a good idea.) I was just calling the space under the acrylic steps a sump, for lack of a better word.

Gotcha. That makes sense and I completely agree with you in making good use of that space would add to the unique/clean design the OP is envisioning.

 

[vundercoverdog]

All great ideas guys jsoong i was thinking of having an acces panel above the 1st step so when i clean i could stick a syphon down there a clean dirty water. The canister is a very good idea Mr. limphet but i havent used them before so i would have to read into it. Thanks guys! Building unfortunately will have to begin after the summer because of travel but when i do start i will deff post pictures!