40 breeder with DIY stand.

[Legal Reefer]

Looks great. Very nice work. I have the same setup for a frag tank. The problem I have and you may have also. Is the loc line allows water to drain back down into the sump causing it to overflow if the electricity is out too long. Be sure to check that.

Thanks for the heads up. I was thinking about drilling a hole in it on top so the siphon would be broken. Hoping that will work.

 

[dieselkeeper]

Thanks for the heads up. I was thinking about drilling a hole in it on top so the siphon would be broken. Hoping that will work.

The tip on mine is completely out of the water. Water seeps in at the joints of the loc line. Drilling a hole will let the water level in the tank go down to that point faster. So the water level with the pump on, to the hole in the loc line, is how much water will siphon down to the sump. Thinking out loud here hoping a solution will come to mind for you and me. Only thing comes to mind is a solid piece bringing the pipe end close to the surface.

 

[Legal Reefer]

The tip on mine is completely out of the water. Water seeps in at the joints of the loc line. Drilling a hole will let the water level in the tank go down to that point faster. So the water level with the pump on, to the hole in the loc line, is how much water will siphon down to the sump. Thinking out loud here hoping a solution will come to mind for you and me. Only thing comes to mind is a solid piece bringing the pipe end close to the surface.

Yes, I was also thinking about that, less volume to deal with. I had also thought about going with a 29 gallon sump with lower baffles to deal with more volume siphoned down during a power outage. I might lose the lock line and go with a duck bill or even make my own return line. I really didn't want to keep the water level too low in my sump, but better safe than sorry.

 

[Legal Reefer]

The tip on mine is completely out of the water. Water seeps in at the joints of the loc line. Drilling a hole will let the water level in the tank go down to that point faster. So the water level with the pump on, to the hole in the loc line, is how much water will siphon down to the sump. Thinking out loud here hoping a solution will come to mind for you and me. Only thing comes to mind is a solid piece bringing the pipe end close to the surface.

I'm going to test mine to find the safe fill line level in my sump as soon as I get it running.

 

[Legal Reefer]

Latest update. Still figuring out the details of how I'm going to do a few things before I'm ready to add mixed water. I have leak tested everything, tested the return pump and refugium fill level to avoid any flooding. Mostly organizing and hiding wiring now. Hope to finish everything this week.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Great looking setup! If I may ask, did you create the plans for your stand or did you get them from somewhere. I'd love to get my hands on them

 

[seattlefishboy]

I have a very similar system. I'm also using an eshopps eclipse overflow and a dcp 3000 running my system. I have also been having issues with love nutrients an have completely removed my macro and am just running a skimmer and some filter pads

 

[Legal Reefer]

Great looking setup! If I may ask, did you create the plans for your stand or did you get them from somewhere. I'd love to get my hands on them

I just followed a basic 2×4 frame build I saw on YouTube. I increased the height and width to what I wanted, skinned the outside with red oak 3/4" plywood, painted the inside flat white, stained the outside charcoal, then poly coated it. The door has no hinges so I just built a frame on the back of it to slide into the opening. Tried to keep everything low cost, but the plywood was $52.00 for a full sheet. Making the door like this enabled me to do the whole stand with one sheet.

 

[Legal Reefer]

Great looking setup! If I may ask, did you create the plans for your stand or did you get them from somewhere. I'd love to get my hands on them

The main thing I was looking for was how to position the framing to hold weight and take stress. With that basic layout you can use any size lumber you want for your stand frame. After the frame everything else is just astethics. Hopefully one day I'll be able to afford the wood working tools and materials to put together something really nice...lol.

 

[Legal Reefer]

Took everything out of my 7.5 gallon nano a week or so ago and moved it into a 20 gallon long that will be my quarantine tank when I get the 40 breeder finished. I don't have enough lighting to cover the length of the 20 gallon tank, but it will be enough for a quarantine tank. From 7.5 gallon to 20 then to forty, hopefully my next will be over 100 gallons...lol.

 

[915MANG]

Your DIY Skills are on point! I love the 40B &20G Long too. I have a 20g long running for now as a frag tank.

 

[TaylorPilot]

The main thing I was looking for was how to position the framing to hold weight and take stress. With that basic layout you can use any size lumber you want for your stand frame. After the frame everything else is just astethics. Hopefully one day I'll be able to afford the wood working tools and materials to put together something really nice...lol.

I have always had good luck using a kreg jig and the knot-less pine 1X4 or 1X6" boards. Trim it out in 1X2 around the top and bottom and you're good to go. There are sites online that will build you doors to spec. I've never bought one though. Once you have a router and a decent table (store bought or DIY), you can turn out basic shaker doors in just a few minutes. These images are of a canopy, but the stand was built identically, just taller! Plus, I like to screw a piece of plywood to the bottom. Use the factory edge on two sides so you know it is perfectly square. They are insanely strong.

 

[TaylorPilot]

Found some of a stand.

 

[Legal Reefer]

Found some of a stand.

I would love to have a kraig jig, router, table saw, miter saw and maybe even a band saw some day. Right now I only have the basic tools...skill saw, drill, hammer, level, cheap plastic speed square. Still slowly trying to regroup and aquire new tools when possible. My wife and I lost all of our material possessions except for one vehicle in hurricane Matthew a little over a year ago. Thankfully we didn't lose any family (human or pet). We had to start over pretty much. We rebuilt our house and have since then been replacing what we can when we can, like clothes and household necessities. It's strange to be doing something and start looking for a tool or even a certain baking dish and then remember that you don't actually have it anymore...lol. For now I'm only able to budget so much toward our hobby, but eventually that will change. I feel it's more than just a hobby because of the therapeutic effect of the build and the finished product, that is actually never truly finished. I'm really happy to be able to get back into it, and enjoy seeing others DIY projects and tank builds.

 

[Legal Reefer]

Added my rock and sand, waited for diatoms then added some tiny hermits and snails. The Pukani rock was cured for a couple months before adding it to the tank. First fish added was the Banggai Cardinal, then three very small chromis. I also added a banded coral shrimp when the Banggai Cardinal went in. I have several frags and two Wyoming White clowns in my 20 gallon long quarantine tank that will be going in eventually. Chaetomorphia will be in for the sump this week.

 

[Legal Reefer]

I wasn't sure if I had enough rock, but as it turns out 25 lbs of dry Pukani goes a long way. I have 15 lbs of ARC Reef live rock that I have had for a long time that will be going in the sump with the cheato to help handle the added bio load when I add my two Wyoming white clowns. My next projects will be DIY protein skimmer and ATO.

 

[RUGDOG]

Looks great, update?

 

[RUGDOG]

Looks great, updates?

 

[Deiblerj]

What did you use for substrate?

 

[dMiles]

I have a very similar system. I'm also using an eshopps eclipse overflow and a dcp 3000 running my system. I have also been having issues with love nutrients an have completely removed my macro and am just running a skimmer and some filter pads

Did you have to modify the trim to get the eshopp overflow to fit up high enough so the waterline won't be seen?