bornwithboth
New Member
alota pics but i have been working on this for a month or so now. its a 40g breeder with a 20 long sump. sump holds right at 10g atm. with power off i have 2 inches left in the sump of water level. so when the skimmer comes in(6ish months) i will adjust the baffle for it and set the return nozzle to a water height to allow for overflow.
im sure im forgetting some detail/pics(rando order), and im sure some of the things i did was not necessary but with the googling i have done i went with what i liked for ideas and what would fit my needs size wise.
unsure of stocking/lights/skimmer/heaters atm.
plan to move my 2 clowns there CUC and such to this tank and shut down the 29g bio cube they are in. would like to get a mandarin and unsure of what else to put in. not sure of frags n such. as i have been FOWLR for the past 4 years since moving as the coral i had didnt survive the 2 moves.
for light i am most likely gonna get a black box 300w. and hang it 8-10 inch above the tank. the one i am looking at has dimensions of 28"x8.5"x2.4" "WILLS Full Spectrum Aquarium Light" is the one i am thinking of budget wise... got a max of 200 i could spare for lighting.
it currently is running a 600gph pump. i plan on adding 2 wave makers and some more rocks with some magnetic rocks for the back wall and right wall. i know gluing the drain box to the glass doesnt "hold" but i have a tank i did this with that is going on 12 years and it is still working just fine.
made my own overflow sump baffles and such on a s1 40w. baffles are made oiut of 1/4 acrylic. the screen in the cheato area right before the bubble trap was a after thought and unsure if it was even needed. but its 1/8 acrylic. the plates on top that hold the drains is 2 1/8 plates stacked. went with 2 3/4 drains and a 3/4 emergency drain. with 1 3/4 return. i drilled this tank a few years ago then moved 2 times and never got to set it up. i did drill it with plans for a build at the house i use to be at for fitting in a nook that was there. so i designed the parts to fit around the prev drilled holes... purchased the stand on sale for 1/2 off last month. added a plywood shelf and a plywood top/sides. laminated the one side with this orangeish laminate i had laying around. painted and sealed the inside black. the 2 side pieces are 1/4 inch thick the top and shelf are both 7/8. added 8 l brackets for the bottom shelf. for the 3/4 pipes i designed and 3d printed some standoffs to hole the pipes for a quick removal without having to unscrew it.
the sump has a 4x8 filter area(not a fan of filter socks but could easy change the floss for 2 socks...). thinking about adding a lip for the filter area so it drops the water more in the center but would make it harder to change the filter out. with a shelf under the filter for chemi pure n such but i can possibly place cheato under the filter before the skimmer(dont know if it would work there never tried cheato before)... then goes into a chamber that is 10 wide and has a adjustable water height of 6 inch to 10 inch. gonna be set around 8 inch(what some of the skimmers i am looking at getting suggests). going to house the heaters in this area with the skimmer. then in to a 9 inch area i plan to place cheato in with a light and maybe some more media stones. the area for the bubble trap i placed a 35ppi filter. also have a area i can place the chemipure under that filter if needed. depending on how i end up in use. debating on making more of a lid for the sump for water evap. but that will be made in time after the skimmer and has been run for a while to decide. might make a mount for the return pump to put a bulkhead there like i did for the drains.
i have not made my ATO tank yet. but i left room behind the sump for it. going to make an acrylic tank that is roughly 2.5 g of water for it. and a $40 ato system from amazon. plan to add a small diy funnel so i can easy fill it from behind. with a led on a float switch to let me know when it gets down to .5g left in the ato tank.
i have not drilled/ notched the glass lids yet as i plan to do that this weekend. gonna add a notch in the back for the power wires for the 2 wave makers and a hole in each for the feeder rings i 3d printed.
i know ball screw valves are better for fine tuning but i have used this style for so long i am use to them. i did not place a check valve on the return as it drains and dos not overflow the sump.
im sure im forgetting some detail/pics(rando order), and im sure some of the things i did was not necessary but with the googling i have done i went with what i liked for ideas and what would fit my needs size wise.
unsure of stocking/lights/skimmer/heaters atm.
plan to move my 2 clowns there CUC and such to this tank and shut down the 29g bio cube they are in. would like to get a mandarin and unsure of what else to put in. not sure of frags n such. as i have been FOWLR for the past 4 years since moving as the coral i had didnt survive the 2 moves.
for light i am most likely gonna get a black box 300w. and hang it 8-10 inch above the tank. the one i am looking at has dimensions of 28"x8.5"x2.4" "WILLS Full Spectrum Aquarium Light" is the one i am thinking of budget wise... got a max of 200 i could spare for lighting.
it currently is running a 600gph pump. i plan on adding 2 wave makers and some more rocks with some magnetic rocks for the back wall and right wall. i know gluing the drain box to the glass doesnt "hold" but i have a tank i did this with that is going on 12 years and it is still working just fine.
made my own overflow sump baffles and such on a s1 40w. baffles are made oiut of 1/4 acrylic. the screen in the cheato area right before the bubble trap was a after thought and unsure if it was even needed. but its 1/8 acrylic. the plates on top that hold the drains is 2 1/8 plates stacked. went with 2 3/4 drains and a 3/4 emergency drain. with 1 3/4 return. i drilled this tank a few years ago then moved 2 times and never got to set it up. i did drill it with plans for a build at the house i use to be at for fitting in a nook that was there. so i designed the parts to fit around the prev drilled holes... purchased the stand on sale for 1/2 off last month. added a plywood shelf and a plywood top/sides. laminated the one side with this orangeish laminate i had laying around. painted and sealed the inside black. the 2 side pieces are 1/4 inch thick the top and shelf are both 7/8. added 8 l brackets for the bottom shelf. for the 3/4 pipes i designed and 3d printed some standoffs to hole the pipes for a quick removal without having to unscrew it.
the sump has a 4x8 filter area(not a fan of filter socks but could easy change the floss for 2 socks...). thinking about adding a lip for the filter area so it drops the water more in the center but would make it harder to change the filter out. with a shelf under the filter for chemi pure n such but i can possibly place cheato under the filter before the skimmer(dont know if it would work there never tried cheato before)... then goes into a chamber that is 10 wide and has a adjustable water height of 6 inch to 10 inch. gonna be set around 8 inch(what some of the skimmers i am looking at getting suggests). going to house the heaters in this area with the skimmer. then in to a 9 inch area i plan to place cheato in with a light and maybe some more media stones. the area for the bubble trap i placed a 35ppi filter. also have a area i can place the chemipure under that filter if needed. depending on how i end up in use. debating on making more of a lid for the sump for water evap. but that will be made in time after the skimmer and has been run for a while to decide. might make a mount for the return pump to put a bulkhead there like i did for the drains.
i have not made my ATO tank yet. but i left room behind the sump for it. going to make an acrylic tank that is roughly 2.5 g of water for it. and a $40 ato system from amazon. plan to add a small diy funnel so i can easy fill it from behind. with a led on a float switch to let me know when it gets down to .5g left in the ato tank.
i have not drilled/ notched the glass lids yet as i plan to do that this weekend. gonna add a notch in the back for the power wires for the 2 wave makers and a hole in each for the feeder rings i 3d printed.
i know ball screw valves are better for fine tuning but i have used this style for so long i am use to them. i did not place a check valve on the return as it drains and dos not overflow the sump.
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