Doug's 250, now 300, in wall build

[Ausfish]

I think if you attempt a beautiful and massive build like this you might as well go all the way. I'm all with you X, do it right if you can somehow afford it.

 

[SCUBA-Pat]

Good luck on the build. I hope you don't mind me PMing you with a few questions from time to time, as I'm about to start my first saltwater aquarium in the coming weeks.

But you have given me a few ideas how I will be designing my fish room one day.

 

[mr_X]

of course i don't mind, and thanks everyone for the well wishes and feedback thus far.
my latest update comes without pictures unfortunately, but my boss sweet talked the scale house employee at the quarry, and it looks like i'll be getting the limestone in different sizes for free.
also, i called a local reefer buddy of mine who i haven't spoke to in a while, and he told me he still has the large amount of sand i gave him a year or so ago, and didn't use it.
now i need ideas for a sump. i've been looking for a large, used tank to pick up cheap, but that may not happen, so i was considering stock tanks.
Tractor Supply Company - Stock Tanks

i was thinking i could use one of those shallow 50 gallon tanks for a frag tank, and one of these for a sump-
Rubbermaid® Structural Foam Stock Tanks, 150 gal. Capacity - 2229919 | Tractor Supply Company
i'm wondering what would be the best way to partition it though.
as for the skimmers, i could just put them on a stand that kept them submerged only 10 or so inches, and doing water changes would be a snap. shut the pumps down, drain 50 or so gallons out, then refill with new water, and turn the pumps back on...cake.

 

[rdnelson99]

Sounds to me like you got it dialed in it is hard to beat the price of Free!!! LOl

 

[Ausfish]

I found a thread a while ago of a guy that built a 8x6deepx5high tank in his living room with massive pipes straight down to the garage. He had a couple of tubs like the one you posted for mangroves, sump and frags. They're all in one big cycle with massive home-build skimmer and calcium reactor. He claims he hasn't done a water change in 2 years since his water volume is so high that everything is stable.

Just thought I mention it

 

[kurtyboh]

Your best bet may be to coat plywood and cut to shape... Since the walls of the rubbermaid arent straight

 

[scottayy]

Curious what the point of baffles would be if not running a fuge in the same container?

 

[mr_X]

if you are putting a skimmer in there, you will want the water level to remain constant. i don't want my skimmers to function less efficiently due to a fluctuating water level (evap).

 

[SaltyH2O]

did you read the thread i posted about the 5 gallon water jug skimmer? the only real expensive part is the pump and thats tops $200 so you could basically have a skimmer rated for a few hundred gallons for about $200

If you could put a link up to the 5 gallon jug skimmer I would greatly appreciate it. I like DIY projects but I can't find the one you are talking about. Thanks

Sorry mr X, not trying to steal your thread but it was driving me crazy that I couldn't find his post. BTW I can't wait to see your fish room in action once you get everything up and running.

 

[scottayy]

Just out of curiosity if I ever build a larger system, would the water level matter if an auto-topoff was installed?

I was just thinking it would be super easy just to use a, say, 50 gallon tote lol

 

[mr_X]

well, you wouldn't want the ATO to be running off and on all day. i would think that would be hard on the pump.

 

[scottayy]

What if it was a gravity fed ATO?
Sorry about all of the questions, I am truly just curious in case I do a bigger setup. Making baffles is hard, and maybe unnecessary in a setup I would do.

 

[mr_X]

siliconing in a couple partitions seems pretty easy to me. it's a sump and does not have to be pretty, just functional.
i suppose you could use a gravity fed setup, but then you would have to have some sort of large container positioned higher than the sump.

 

[Gti_Leo]

you could always just use a float valve ATO although you might have to monitor it to make sure it doesn't get stuck

 

[mr_X]

anything can fail. i have used a maxijet pump for top off for years- the same pump. one of these days it's gonna hiccup!

 

[Gti_Leo]

whgen it does you'll just notice micro bubbles in the main display, so its not the end of the world if it does, if a float gets held open then there is soem serious flooding

 

[mr_X]

the beauty of the JBJ A.T.O. is that it will only run for 3 minutes, tops. it also has a secondary sensor that detects the high level. that is very unlikely with that unit.

 

[Gti_Leo]

but how often does it fill?

 

[mr_X]

depending on how humid the air is, i would say about once a day, on a large system.

 

[Ausfish]

X I just found an old thread where you posted pics of a 1-sump setup with multiple tanks. Are you going to do that with this build as well?