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BadPenny

My Saltwater Transition

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by
BadPenny
, 05-15-2013 at 09:04 PM (2476 Views)
I've been working on this project for around a month. The planning has been going on for more than a year. With that being said, i'm a newb when it comes to this.
For many years, I have kept freshwater tanks. After a recent move, I got rid of everything except the tank itself, and I decided to change over to a saltwater tank. I sure that I am ready for the challenge and am interested in learning the new techniques for this new part of the hobby.
Heres the area before. unfortunately i could only fit a 30g. in the spot.


My first biggest challenge was that of deciding where to place the overflow. This tank being on the small side i decided to place the overflow bulkheads in the center. From my research i went with the most fail safe design i could find. The three overflow system i found at Bean Animal's website.



With that decision i decided to place a return on either side of the return
heres what i ended up with.


i didn't think that drilling the tank was too difficult. That was until i did a wet test. the end of the cut left small chips on two of the holes.










I couldn't get the leak to stop by tightening so i had to resort to silicone. I just hope that this fix wont cause problems down the road but it does not leak anymore.



Since the tank seemed to be in good order time to work on the sump. Sine i'm working on a budget i'm going the Rubbermaid path. This is what i came up with






I couldn't find anything that could adhere to the sterylite material. So instead of trying to get something to stick to the sides which bow anyway, i made a modular baffle cage for my return pump. I left it with no bottom because during testing i found that it had a tendency to float under some situations. Because of this some water does come from underneath the sides. I don think that this is a problem though.


Having the tank and sump mostly finished it was time to make the stand.
Heres the stand finished and in place






With the stand in completed and in place time it was time to finish the plumbing.



















That's that it for the build. Now the waiting begins.
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Updated 05-18-2013 at 02:25 AM by melev

Categories
‎ Tank - Full Summary , ‎ DIY projects

Comments

  1. melev's Avatar
    You've been really busy. Thanks for sharing. ( I edited your entry so the images would show up)

    Have you tried to simulate a power outage to make sure it doesn't drain more than the sump can hold? I like the baffles system you came up with, and the fact that you used the lid to make sure the sump retained its proper shape.
  2. Articfox32's Avatar
    Your build is looking good. As you mentioned you went with the bean animal drain set up. On the second syphon drain there should be a fitting on top of the cap with a small air tube to allow for air suction. Bend the tube into the overflow box just above the water level. If first syphon ever fails then once the water level hits the air tube it will turn that drain I to a full syphon. I also used this setup on my 60 gallon cube.
  3. BadPenny's Avatar
    Thanks. Yea, i tested for all the fail situations i could think of. I also am using a ratchet strap around the middle of the tote to help it keep the shape.

    Yea so far i have forgone the extra siphon on the backup because i didn't have an easy idea of how to keep the airline at water level. but i can always add to it later.

    What i'm noticing my biggest problem is that my return pump is more under-powered than i calculated for. i think it is because of the one way valve and the T are restricting flow. for now i think its good, but i have been thinking that a scwd would be a good addition in place of that improvised Y
  4. Articfox32's Avatar
    I will post a pic of how I did mine probably tomorrow. I made a cover to sit on my over flow out of acrylic, used a Johnny quest fitting in acrylic, ran tube from the cap to the fitting the a straight shot to the water
  5. gettareef's Avatar
    Great job, your build looks promising. One suggestion: in one of your pictures, behind your sump, I noticed your electrical output with 2 cords plugged in. If possible, change those so the cords each have a drip loop. Make sure to keep posting with your progress!