SCA 112 gallon w/basement sump, built in tank

Stephensx04

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After about a 7 year break from hobby I'm finally jumping back into the water. Yea bad pun. Little back story. My entire life I have always been into fish and keeping aquariums. Got it from my grandpa over 30 years ago. 7 years ago moved and had to break down both my salt and freshwater tanks. Not being in a permanent spot I never started back up. Well after being in my current home for the last 5 years I've finally reached a point in my life that I can do it again. The idea of where to put tank was my fiance idea. But wasn't allowed to start it till house was done being remodeled. Anyone who has done a whole house remodel while living in it knows it takes some time. Well the time has finally come.

The last part of house that is u touched is where tank will go. Was an ugly built in cabinet that its real only purpose was to collect booze and garbage in drawers.
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This was ripped out to make room for the 112 gallon SC Aquariums tank. 5ft wide 18" deep 2ft tall tank. Purchased tank over a year ago and has been sitting waiting.

All ripped out.


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After it was ripped out there was some drywall that needed to be repaired due to it being built in on site. So I repaired all holes and damaged corners. Painted and ready for stand.
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Stephensx04

Stephensx04

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After walls were fixed I built the stand. Not many pics of stand as I built it but it's a stand. Nothing too fancy.

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This was setting up and getting it level prior to installing all upright supports. My floor in this area is not very level so I got it as close to level as I could before installing uprights to minimize shims under stand.

Removed from opening and installed all uprights and installed allot of screws.
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Installed stand in final resting place. Some slight shimming needed where floor isn't flat. All screwed to floor and to adjacent walls.
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Stephensx04

Stephensx04

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Next step was getting power to tank. I ran a dedicated line from main fuse panel to 8 plugs over tank. Not sure how many I'll need but figured more is better than not enough. Other task was running power under tank near stand. That outlet required a bit more work. The outlet is split into 2 separate circuits. Bottom outlet will be for the beverage cooler that will be on the far right. This is why the stand is cut different on that side. The top plug in lower outlet I had to tie into the under cabinet lighting circuit. This will he used to light up a built in wine rack in center section for the better half. And lastly to the far left will be a cabinet to store soda/beer/fish food.
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Not big on computer drawings so I drew a rough sketch of what it will look like.
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This is where I'm at now. Hoping to have tank up on stand in next week and start building stand for sump and planning out plumbing.
 

Sean Clark

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Next step was getting power to tank. I ran a dedicated line from main fuse panel to 8 plugs over tank. Not sure how many I'll need but figured more is better than not enough. Other task was running power under tank near stand. That outlet required a bit more work. The outlet is split into 2 separate circuits. Bottom outlet will be for the beverage cooler that will be on the far right. This is why the stand is cut different on that side. The top plug in lower outlet I had to tie into the under cabinet lighting circuit. This will he used to light up a built in wine rack in center section for the better half. And lastly to the far left will be a cabinet to store soda/beer/fish food.
20220118_205019.jpg


Not big on computer drawings so I drew a rough sketch of what it will look like.
20220105_210111.jpg


This is where I'm at now. Hoping to have tank up on stand in next week and start building stand for sump and planning out plumbing.
That is what I would call a fully stocked tank...
 

Daniel@R2R

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Nice!
 
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Stephensx04

Stephensx04

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Last night got the holes located and drilled for the ventilation for the tank. 2 3 inch holes drilled. One will allow fresh air to be drawn in from basement while other will be ducted outside through an old dryer vent. I moved laundry to first floor so no longer need it. The exhaust side will have a 3 inch inline fan installed to draw air from above tank.
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Stephensx04

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Tonight got the rest of the tank area cooling ducts installed. Left side will have the inline blower mounted in basement and ducted to outside. The right side will allow cool air from basement to be drawn back in. If needed I will add another fan pushing air through the right pipe into tank area. The top of the tank will be pretty well sealed off so air should have no choice but to he sucked in from basement.
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Stephensx04

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Nothing much to update. Have some family coming over this weekend so not much build will happen. Other than recruiting some help to get tank up onto stand. But this just showed up on front door step. So some excitement.
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Stephensx04

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Not too much happening. Went to the store to buy supplies to build sump stand this weekend. Also picked up 90ft of pvc pipe to plan out 2 drains and return. Kinda up in the air if 2 inch is too big. The bulk heads are all 1 inch on this tank. So need to step up to 2 inch. The run from the tank to sump is pretty long. About 9 ft total verticle but there will be about 20 ft of horizontal runs to get to tank. Figured 2 inch would be better for return line as pump states run largest size line you can. But is 2 inch drain over kill? My thought process is in the event of a full siphon failure I want the emergency drain to be able to handle the flow. Does this sound right?
 
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Stephensx04

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Got some time to work on the tank this weekend. Future Mother in laws boyfriend wanted to help so we built a stand for the sump in the basement.
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Picked up a counter top from local hardware store in the discount section. Made stand to match height of utility sink next to stand.
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Added peg board wall to mount controllers to and for future holder for equipment if needed. Going to add a small shelf above peg board for storage. Also will add bottom to stand where I think i will come up with water storage and mixing station below tank.


Future sump set on stand. Still need to put all baffles in. Will try and accomplish that this week.
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Stephensx04

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Tonight got to work on a little plumbing. Got the 3 lines from the bulk heads run into the basement. Just need to glue to bulkheads but not doing that till I verify how much needs hang into basement. I know most people put unions in in this area. But with this area being pretty much unaccessable once cabinet is in I didn't want any other places to leak. If I have an issue down the road I'll just have to cut it out and replace.
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Stephensx04

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Little update on tank. Started working on upper shelf and laying out plumbing some more. 3 main lines are run from tank to basement and 1st long run made before the turn. Got my plumbing from sump up to shelf are mocked up. Tomorrow should have rest of plumbing put together. And hopefully glued up. Have some electrical to run to sump area. Installed a LED light above sump for good light while servicing.
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Stephensx04

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Not much got done today. Ran some electrical and got the return side plumbing together and glued up up to the check valve. The T area will be plumbed to the sink. Allowing me to close off to tank and open to drain sump for water changes. Union put in to allow section of pipe to be removed in the event i need to clean or replace return pump.
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Stephensx04

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Got a little time to do some more plumbing last night. Got the return line all mocked up and glued together. Still need to add hangers to support one of the long horizontal runs. Pretty happy with the fit of it all. No 90's used at all. All turns were made with 45's to help with flow.
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Tonight I'll work on finish plumbing the return and emergency return lines.
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 38 48.1%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 41 51.9%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 16 20.3%
  • None.

    Votes: 21 26.6%
  • Other.

    Votes: 8 10.1%
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