pledosophy
Active Member
I am moving my sump into my garage for several reasons, but mostly because I am getting older and I need my tanks to be easier to work on. My display is a Waterbox 220, easiest to think of as a 180g. Similiar size.
My sump cabinet will be approx 6 feet wide, 6.5 feet tall, and 30 inches deep.
Besides a sump what would you want to include in the cabinet to make your life easier to take care of a tank long term?
Here is my plan and what I have done so far.
I will drill 4 holes from the inside wall to the garage to run the two drain lines, a return line, and have a hole for the wires/outlets that will still go to the tank (two powerheads that will connect to the APEX, they are high in the tank so they need to turn off for feed mode).
I insulated most of the garage, but have not done the door (east facing). So the cabinet will be fully insulated on all sides with an exhaust fan with a humidity sensor (basically a bathroom fan) that will vent outdoors. I have also installed an exhaust fan in the eves of the garage that vent outdoors. I will build a solar heater for the garage for the day times in the winter, but our temps generally do not dip below 40, and even then only for a few weeks a year, so my hope is adding an extra heater or two will keep the temps up.
I installed a stainless steel sink with a pull down faucet right next to where the cabinet will be. I will be able to pump water change water directly to the sink and use it for cleaning. I could not do a floor drain for a few rather lame reasons (old house) but this will be second best.
I plan to use this sink to setup up AWC with an Apex DOS. I will build a small water change station on wheels to go next to the cabinet out of two Brute trash cans. I plan to keep my Water change station pretty minimal for now with a capacity around 30g.
We had an electrician run two new outlets (4 plugs) over to where the cabinet will be. I plan to mount my Apex EB8's and all ballasts etc to the outside of the cabinet and have them plug in there. The lights for the display and my vortech MP40 will not run off the Apex as they have their own apps and the Vortech can be programmed for feed mode. The Vortech is low enough in the tank it is not a problem during 20% water changes and this gives me the redundancy of a third circuit.
I plan to make the cabinet out of 2x4's and plywood. The doors will have a latch to hold them closed. I will paint the interior of the cabinet with a Marine Boat paint for moisture. The entire cabinet will be insulated with foam board insulation, including under the sump to help with temperature control. I live in a mild climate but the floor is concrete and I would like to take the precaution.
Over the sump I will have a shelf with a 2 foot cube tank that I will plumb in as a second refugium, but I will plumb it in a way that it can also be used as a QT tank, or a frag tank if needed. I do have an extra light I can put above it.
That gives me about 4 feet by 4 feet of space in the cabinet right now that will be empty. Right now my idea is to put a larger Carbon/GFO reactor there mounted to the back wall, and use the space to hold any supplements that my auto dosers can dose into the display.
If I do end up needing to run a chiller I can drill the side of the cabinet and run the chiller externally, but I am hoping with the insulation and the tank being in the airconditioned house this will not be an issue. We live close to the beach and days above 90 are uncommon, but we do have them a few times a year. I believe I can combat with the air conditioned room the tank is in and fans.
If you read all of that, THANK YOU! If you have any ideas that I can do to make this better, I would love to hear them before I buy the wood next week. Really appreciate the feedback. I do have a good size budget left for the build. My priority is really making the tank easier to work on; as I get older tank maintenance is getting painful some days, but I don't want to hire it out just yet. I also travel quite a bit so having it be stable and easy would make my dive trips more fun and less worrisome.
Thanks in advance for your input.
My sump cabinet will be approx 6 feet wide, 6.5 feet tall, and 30 inches deep.
Besides a sump what would you want to include in the cabinet to make your life easier to take care of a tank long term?
Here is my plan and what I have done so far.
I will drill 4 holes from the inside wall to the garage to run the two drain lines, a return line, and have a hole for the wires/outlets that will still go to the tank (two powerheads that will connect to the APEX, they are high in the tank so they need to turn off for feed mode).
I insulated most of the garage, but have not done the door (east facing). So the cabinet will be fully insulated on all sides with an exhaust fan with a humidity sensor (basically a bathroom fan) that will vent outdoors. I have also installed an exhaust fan in the eves of the garage that vent outdoors. I will build a solar heater for the garage for the day times in the winter, but our temps generally do not dip below 40, and even then only for a few weeks a year, so my hope is adding an extra heater or two will keep the temps up.
I installed a stainless steel sink with a pull down faucet right next to where the cabinet will be. I will be able to pump water change water directly to the sink and use it for cleaning. I could not do a floor drain for a few rather lame reasons (old house) but this will be second best.
I plan to use this sink to setup up AWC with an Apex DOS. I will build a small water change station on wheels to go next to the cabinet out of two Brute trash cans. I plan to keep my Water change station pretty minimal for now with a capacity around 30g.
We had an electrician run two new outlets (4 plugs) over to where the cabinet will be. I plan to mount my Apex EB8's and all ballasts etc to the outside of the cabinet and have them plug in there. The lights for the display and my vortech MP40 will not run off the Apex as they have their own apps and the Vortech can be programmed for feed mode. The Vortech is low enough in the tank it is not a problem during 20% water changes and this gives me the redundancy of a third circuit.
I plan to make the cabinet out of 2x4's and plywood. The doors will have a latch to hold them closed. I will paint the interior of the cabinet with a Marine Boat paint for moisture. The entire cabinet will be insulated with foam board insulation, including under the sump to help with temperature control. I live in a mild climate but the floor is concrete and I would like to take the precaution.
Over the sump I will have a shelf with a 2 foot cube tank that I will plumb in as a second refugium, but I will plumb it in a way that it can also be used as a QT tank, or a frag tank if needed. I do have an extra light I can put above it.
That gives me about 4 feet by 4 feet of space in the cabinet right now that will be empty. Right now my idea is to put a larger Carbon/GFO reactor there mounted to the back wall, and use the space to hold any supplements that my auto dosers can dose into the display.
If I do end up needing to run a chiller I can drill the side of the cabinet and run the chiller externally, but I am hoping with the insulation and the tank being in the airconditioned house this will not be an issue. We live close to the beach and days above 90 are uncommon, but we do have them a few times a year. I believe I can combat with the air conditioned room the tank is in and fans.
If you read all of that, THANK YOU! If you have any ideas that I can do to make this better, I would love to hear them before I buy the wood next week. Really appreciate the feedback. I do have a good size budget left for the build. My priority is really making the tank easier to work on; as I get older tank maintenance is getting painful some days, but I don't want to hire it out just yet. I also travel quite a bit so having it be stable and easy would make my dive trips more fun and less worrisome.
Thanks in advance for your input.
