The 220 Upgrade

[Mathew0]

Pile of glass dust

 

[Mathew0]

Here's a nice pic of the line where I stopped. You can still see scratches in the foggy sanded area. I still need to put more work into that spot.

 

[ReefEco]

Wow, sanding glass - that is dedication : )

 

[Mathew0]

I have finally rebuilt my 2nd rock piece. A minor ground shaking collapsed both structures. I’ll take a video of it soon.
I have now completed the 1st step in grinding out the scratches. I can now move on to polishing out the haze left by the grinding/sanding process. Things are going faster than I had originally thought.
I have a design figured out for the stand, and have been leveraging Facebook and Craig’s to get most o the lumber I’ll need for free. I have also found some new shop tools for super cheap so I’ll have better tools to work with ️
For the skin, I found a cool technique I’m going to try called cerusing. I’ll post a pic of it. It seems to work best with solid wood, and I’ll be using plywood, but it should still look cool.

 

[Mathew0]

Here’s a white cerused cabinet door I’m going to base the stand exterior on

 

[Mathew0]

In other news, I think we have finished the new rockwork. I took a video from back to front of all 3 pieces. Barring and severely negative responses, we will be mortaring and epoxying everything solid

 

[Mathew0]

Here’s the video:

 

[JonoH]

Here’s the video:

Looks amazing!

 

[Mathew0]

Moved the tank inside, gonna finish the final polish in the house where I can get good angled light.
Next step is going to be building the stand. Stay tuned....

 

[Mathew0]

Sorry for the long delay on updates. I've been turning our spare bedroom into a nursery for the new baby, coming soon. Here is a pic of the room after re-doing the ceiling and walls, and the mural on the one wall.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Sorry for the long delay on updates. I've been turning our spare bedroom into a nursery for the new baby, coming soon. Here is a pic of the room after re-doing the ceiling and walls, and the mural on the one wall.

That mural looks really good!

 

[Mathew0]

So, anyway, I have finished the polishing on the tank. I put a 2x4 in the tank so you can see how clear the glass is. Clear glass doesn't show up well on camera

It turned out really well. There is some rippling visible at the very steep angle in the 1st photo, but you don't see at all straight on in the other 2 pics.

 

[Mathew0]

with the tank mostly finished, I'm changing my focus to the sump. I have a 40 breeder that I will be using. The dims on that are 36 long, 18 front to back, 16 top to bottom. I have a bunch of scrap glass from a window replacement job that I can use to make baffles. Here is what I'm thinking for the setup:

However, as I look at this, I have been asking myself if that bubble trap is really even necessary at the return pump. Basically the entire sump is going to run at 12 inch depth, so why bother using up 5ish inches on a bubble trap? BRS has this rigid filter pad stuff that looks like sponge but doesn't fold and compress like sponge does. I'm wondering it would be the better choice for separating the skimmer and return sections and leave a little bit more space for the refugium.

So, let me hear your thoughts on this. Do you think it looks great? Would you go a completely different direction? is there something I'm missing that Trigger and other brand name builders incorporate?

Thanks!

 

[JonoH]

Sorry for the long delay on updates. I've been turning our spare bedroom into a nursery for the new baby, coming soon. Here is a pic of the room after re-doing the ceiling and walls, and the mural on the one wall.

Love this!

 

[Mathew0]

Does anyone have any advice on that sump setup?
@Troylee I know you have some experience here, thoughts?

 

[Troylee]

with the tank mostly finished, I'm changing my focus to the sump. I have a 40 breeder that I will be using. The dims on that are 36 long, 18 front to back, 16 top to bottom. I have a bunch of scrap glass from a window replacement job that I can use to make baffles. Here is what I'm thinking for the setup:

However, as I look at this, I have been asking myself if that bubble trap is really even necessary at the return pump. Basically the entire sump is going to run at 12 inch depth, so why bother using up 5ish inches on a bubble trap? BRS has this rigid filter pad stuff that looks like sponge but doesn't fold and compress like sponge does. I'm wondering it would be the better choice for separating the skimmer and return sections and leave a little bit more space for the refugium.

So, let me hear your thoughts on this. Do you think it looks great? Would you go a completely different direction? is there something I'm missing that Trigger and other brand name builders incorporate?

Thanks!

That’s enka mat and it’s used for mesh modding skimmers.. I’ve never seen it used between baffles but I’d guess it would work at catching larger particulate matter.. I’d leave the baffles at the end near the return pump “keeps micro bubbles down and constant water level” and lose the other ones around the skimmer.. normally a bubble trap only takes up about 2-1/2” since 1” between the baffles is plenty plus glass thickness…

 

[Mathew0]

Cool.
My plan is to use quilt batting for the initial mechanical filter. I've been using it in my current sump for about a yr, and it's both effective and cheap enough to throw away. I would need that 1st 6 inch section for mechanical filtration. If there's no glass between the skimmer section and the refugium section, what stops the skimmer from sucking up stuff from the fuge?

 

[Troylee]

Wasn’t sure what your plans were with that open section.. so filter floss in the first section that overflows into a fuge then the skimmer? From my experience it’s better to have a fuge after the skimmer so it collects less detrius and is less Maintence.. for that reason I’d have the floss with a baffle overflow to a skimmer section and then do a fuge near the end where your return pump is for easier Maintence and more open room in the sump if you ever changed skimmers etc.. I don’t like a fuge myself but lots of people request them when I build them so I make them removable for when they get tired of cleaning it haha! You don’t really need to section off a fuge if it’s just rock and chateo etc.. if you wanna run sand in the sump then it might be a good idea.

 

[themcnertney]

A word of caution. I had a 110 gallon tank that was used for my refugium. After a couple of years, the seam split. It was a nightmare. Came to find that the tank was a terrarium.

I get terrarium vibes from this tank. Especially in that first photo you posted with what appeared to be a metal bowl and dirt.

I think that a standard 220 Gallon Oceanic fish tank measures 72'' long x 24'' deep x 30'' high!

You sure this is meant to hold 220 gallons of water ?

 

[Mathew0]

It was used as a freshwater aquaponics tank for a few years at the school. I’m sure it’s good. Also, the glass is way thicker than any terrarium I’ve ever seen, and the seams are extra thick. No worries.
Troylee, in the diagram I have the overflow coming down on the right, I baffle from the bottom up to 14inches to flow over, hoping that’ll keep it quiet, then the 6 inch section for floss and bio balls etc., then the skimmer, then the fudge area, then the return on the far left.