My 180 build.

[Jp978]

Awesome job looks good!!

 

[Company101]

Can't wait till it's finally done. It's taken way to long.

 

[Company101]

Back of tank plumbing. Done !!

 

[Company101]

Will be plumbing this baby with two mag drive 9.5.

 

[kgk]

Will be plumbing this baby with two mag drive 9.5.

I'd put some valves between the pumps & the return outlets. You may want to dial back the flow going down into the sump for noise reasons, and that would let you.

Also from experience - consider plumbing a manifold outlet or three per return as well. This will save you power & pumps in the sump if you want to run reactors and things like that.

 

[Company101]

I have ball valves down near the pumps. They are just not in that pic. And I am going with two return pumps. Shouldnt need a manifold.

 

[kgk]

I have ball valves down near the pumps. They are just not in that pic. And I am going with two return pumps. Shouldnt need a manifold.

Good call.
The manifold wouldn't be for the return pumps. It would be to drive other stuff in your sump - a carbon reactor, a recirculating skimmer, biopellet reactor - whatever is under there that needs water flow. There's a certain appeal to having 5 different MJ1200's in your sump, I guess - one fails, they don't all fail.

 

[Company101]

You know I tried that before. Once I get done here in about 30 minutes I will take a pic of my return pumps. And you can see I will have a ton of room in my sumo. Plus. I just converted my entire house to run off LED light bulbs. So I hope to save a ton with that.

 

[kgk]

What was the issue with using a manifold when you tried it before?
I use mine for water changes, carbon/skimmer/calcium reactor ... it's been great. Takes some fiddling to get it dialed in though, as far as flow rates through everything & back to the tank go. It's not just saving energy, it's saving heat that goes into the tank - which is nice if you want to try to run with no chiller (although the bank o' MJ1200's don't add any heat compared to MH bulbs so lighting matters way, way more).

The build looks great, by the way. I've always hated working with acrylic & you make it look easy. Kudos.

 

[Company101]

Ok here is the finished plumbing.

The problem I had before was not enough flow. Once I split it.

Here is a pic of my last attempt at a manifold.

 

[Company101]

Lots of swimming room. And lots of caves. It's only 90lbs of rock. I am debating on another 50lbs. Just not sure where I would put it now.

But it's only the beginning.

 

[Company101]

More

 

[Company101]

 

[TUSI]

Love the rock work but I would remove the crate . It will cause problems later. Detritus built up and possible gas built up

 

[Company101]

I use it for stability of the rock. In the event anything want to dig under the rocks themselves. Keeps them from toppling over. I plan on 160lbs of sand. To completely cover

 

[Pepcrylic]

Great build.
I think you might need a bit more rock though.
Seems you are quite handy. Your stand is very nice, and well thought out.
I have read in the past that it is not good practice to go over your seams with #16 for the fact that it shrinks during the cure time which in turn could cause crazing. With a solid bubble free seam there should be no reason for the #16 .
Did you cut a template for your sides and front, then use a trim bit on the router to size the matching pieces ??
Weldon 3 4 or 5 ??
What size return pump are you running?

 

[Company101]

I cut everything on a table saw. And used a scraper to finish the edges. At the time i didn't have the ability to cut a pattern and use a router. I seamed everything with 4 and yeah went back over the seams with 15.

The over flow however i did use pattern and a router.

I have 2 9.5 return pumps.

 

[Robink]

Following... can't wait to see it done!

 

[Company101]

SAND. HOLY CRAP I GOT SAND. it's a shame this is making feel like Christmas.

I have filtered saltwater coming directly from the ocean on sat morning. Can not wait to start this cycle.

 

[Company101]

Today the miracle mud was added and a heater.

Canopy and lights is all that is left. And this puppy is done.