From: ron@minnow.sp.unisys.com (Ron Burns)
Subject: [M][R]   New tank setup description.  Kinda long.
Followup-To: rec.aquaria
Summary: do it once, redo the stuff that didn't work too well.
Reply-To: ron@minnow.UUCP (Ron Burns)
Organization: Unisys Corporation
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 18:51:46 GMT

Hi folks!

As I write this, my live rock order is in Detroit waiting for a connecting
flight to St Paul.  It is 6  45-50 lb boxes collected this weekend 5 miles
off the Florida keys.  I thought that I would take this time to let those
who are interested know how I finally decided to set things up.  I may 
follow up with articles describing the various components that I made 
myself.

The tank is a used 100 gallon metaframe or Perfecto or similar all glass 
construction tank. 

Filtration:
	Mechanical:
		an 8"x13" woven filter pad about 3/4" thick dry.
			(think of a Magnum cartidge sleeve laid out flat)
	Chemical:
		a four and a half foot tall foam fractionator DIY
		sump has 2 'bays' for carbon, sponges, whatever.  not used yet

Lighting:
	3 72" VHO 50/50 actinic day  180 degree reflectored lamps
	1 72" VHO 50/50 Super Actinic 03
	IceCap 660 ballast - heat sinked.
	1 pair of acrylic lamp racks to hold the tubes
	Hood/enclosure still to be constructed.

Substrate:
	None.  The floor of the tank is covered by 90 - 100 PVC rings
	The rings are spaced about 3" - 4" apart.  The rings are cut
	from 1" PVC and are about 3/4" long.  all of the rings are 
	glued in place with a drop of silicon rubber, and are layed
	on their 'sides' so as you look from the front of the tank,
	you look through the rings to the back.  The live rock will
	be placed on top of these rings, allowing free flow of water 
	under the reef.  I have two sheets of eggcrate waiting to be cut
	up and placed on the rings in case this doesn't work out, but I
	have tried it with a few pieces of lava rock, and it seems to be
	a winner.

Pump:
	Quiet One.  I appreciate the comments about heat generation
	but this is Minnesota here, winter is coming, the air conditioning 
	is on on the hotter days, and I avoided the Metal Halides 'cause 
	of heat so I won't have them heating the tank also.  Since I will
	need to heat the tank most of the year, I would just as soon have
	the pump help heat, and run the heaters less.  I gotta pay for the
	power too!

Sump return:
	The Quiet one has 3/4" fittings.  To minimize the flow 'impedence'
	I used 1" PVC pipe for my pump to tank return line.  Besides, it
	was on sale for 99 cents a ten foot length.  The return has a 
	union at the pump, and a ball valve near the end of the tank stand
	to adjust the flow rate.  The return goes into the tank and is run
	down to the floor of the aquarium.  An elbow turns the corner and
	the pipe runs the length of the tank, along back wall/floor corner.
	The end is capped.  There are 1/8" holes drilled every 2" along 
	pipe, pointing towards the front of the tank, and slightly down.
	The water from these holes flows along the floor, from back to
	front, under the reef and through the PVC ring supports.
	In addition, there are holes every six inches or so pointing 
	straight up the back of the tank.

Sump:
	My sump is an acrylic box (DIY) with a capacity just short of 
	twenty-one gallons.  It is made of 1/4" sheet Plexiglass glued
	with the methylene chloride solvent/cement suggested by the net
	and the plastics supplier.  I got my pieces cut to size for the
	box, and it went together slick and easy.  Call around for best
	prices, I got quotes for $66 to $34  for the same material.
	The Sump has an elevated tray of egg crate that the prefilter
	pad lays on.  The mechanically filtered water then falls down
	to the water level.  The water then flows through two filter 
	bays and into an open area that drains into the sump pump.
	The protein skimmer powerhead sits in this area.

  ################################################################
  #                                              #  water enters #
  #                                              #     here      #
  #                                              #fffffffffffffff#
  #                                              #===============#
  #        open area                             ##             ##
  #   powerheads, heaters,      # bay   #  bay   #               #
  #    rubber duckie, etc.      #  2    #   1    #   flows here  #
  #ss                           #       #        #       |       #
  DDs                 <-----    = <--   =  <--   =    <--'       #
  #ss                           =       =        =               #
  ################################################################

# -> 1/4" Plexiglass Acrylic
= -> egg crate
f -> filter pad
D -> PVC fittings for the drain to the sump pump.
s -> open cell foam to strain any large chunks from going into the pump.

	There are overflow/bypass holes drilled into the tall internal wall
	to allow water to bypas the filter pad if it clogs, and to allow water 
	bypass the first filter bay if it clogs.  from there it can just
	spill over the low walls to the open area.

Skimmer Box:
	I chickened out.  I really wanted to drill the tank, but without 
	knowing for sure about the tank, I didn't.  I did fashion an over-
	flow siphon from 2" PVC fittings, and it did work, but it was
	big,ugly, awkward, had less capacity than I wanted, and so I
	built a new version.  A friend of mine (Hi Gene!) built one 
	out of sheet plastic, and it turned out pretty awfull.  After my
	amazing success with the sump box, combined with the fact that
	my plastic supplier GAVE me some scrap 1/8" acrylic sheet to try
	it out, I went ahead and made one.  It came out GREAT!  This may
	be the subject for a future post.

The tank was 'pre-cycled' a bit with a few mollies and a pair of damsels.
This was done over a couple of weeks since I needed water in the tank 
anyway to get the plumbing working.  I don't know if it will help
the cycle time any, but it was fun to see the fish in the big empty
tank anyway.  All fish have been removed for the live rock cycle.


Well, thats it for now.  Specifics on the protein skimmer and overflow
siphon box may follow.  A report on the live rock will follow, too.

-Ron
-- 
Ron Burns                                               ...!rosevax!minnow!ron
Unisys Corporation, CIM Dept.                 minnow%ron@rosevax.rosemount.com
Phone:(612)635-6927           or possibly     minnow!ron@rosevax.rosemount.com
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria