Blog Comments

I would definitely do it! i have about 6" of extra stone to the left and right of my tank, it works great as a small work station and wipes up extremely easy if i forget to wipe it...it doesn’t matter, no staining or warping not to mention my tank heats the stone so my cat loves to lay on it and watch the fish
PLUS when ppl come over and see granite it adds a bit of wow factor.

Originally Posted by melev

Just remember the refugium won't have much to feed upon for the plants to thrive, but yes you can get things going now. You can feed the refugium some flake food once or twice a week.

What kind of plants do you put in a sw refugium?

@ baker.shawn I am looking at easily more than a month I am ordering northern white cedar logs that come off of an island called Coburn Island in Canada

@ baker.shawn it is funny that you suggest a granite piece for the top.... i have been contemplating doing that I have a stone countertop manufacturer that is about 10 miles from my house

i also usually go with about 10lbs/gal. its definitely better to be safe than sorry.

when building my stand for my 45 i absolutely over build it, however considering all the time and money we put in to our tanks, the last thing we want is our stand to fail because we couldn’t spend the extra $100.

just a suggestion for the top of your stand. If you have a local stone countertop store see if they will let you pick through the scraps, i was able to pick up a beautiful piece of black granite big enough for my stand super cheap and you never have to worry about water drips warping it

makes sense and will help speed up your cycle..but how long do you you think it will take to get the stand made? if its only going to save a week or two i think it may be more trouble then its worth,
but you go ahead with it, get the sump going too, the more water volume and surface area the better your chance of avoiding a cycle

Just remember the refugium won't have much to feed upon for the plants to thrive, but yes you can get things going now. You can feed the refugium some flake food once or twice a week.

for that matter i might as well build the sump and hook it up also and get the fuge going and put a couple of powerheads in the aquarium for circulation

I dont see a problem with it. You may experience some bacterial die off during the transfer, but your still ahead by trying to get most of it out of the way while you are building your new stand.

@ Midnight lol very true can't be to careful was trying to get an idea of lbs / sq ft to decide on plywood thickness

i am working on designing an engineered masterpiece for my stand will post pictures when i get it finished

Reefer's rule of thumb: If you can't park a tank on it, make it stronger! Make sure that there is even weight distribution like this:

This is an old picture, the stand is the same, but the sump and all that crud is now in the garage

I guesstimate at 10lbs/gallon.

ty for the link very handy calculators

wow good thing you are on a concrete slab as that is one heavy aquarium!! make mine look like a picotope lol

so for my ~ 33 gal. nano setup (24x20x16) I will be looking at 264# water volume, 45# sand (2" bed) from the handy link calculator, ?? # live rock.... so a min. of 310# per shelf

A gallon of saltwater, at 1.025sg, weighs 8.7125lbs. The volume of the sand bed, will displace an equal amount by volume of water... Same can be said about the lr, although estimating lr volume is tricky.

All things to be taken into account when estimating te weight.

Yes, you are looking at 8lbs/gallon plus the weight of the sandbed. Also, the weight of the tank itself should be factored in, as well as the weight of your canopy.

You can use various calculators to determine weight. Here are a few: http://www.dfwmas.org/calculators

My reef tank weighed 1200 lbs according to the trucking company who actually put it on a scale before delivery. I added 450 lbs of sand to the tank. There was at least 120 lbs of sand in the refugium, I believe. 2400 lbs of water (300g of water volume). The steel stand took four of us to move it, so I'm going to estimate it at 400 lbs. (Two of us were unable to get it where it had to go in my backyard upon arrival) 200 lbs of live rock was added. My system is just shy of 5000 lbs I'd say. And it sits on 21 square feet on a slab foundation.

Originally Posted by melev

Cast acrylic is stronger and more clear, but for a sump extruded is fine.

I use a 3/8" laminate trimming bit for the teeth.
http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/teeth.html

Thanks

I am going to make the template you show in that link and then use a router bushing

Cast acrylic is stronger and more clear, but for a sump extruded is fine.

I use a 3/8" laminate trimming bit for the teeth.
http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/teeth.html

Originally Posted by melev

Lots of good conversation. You really should practice on something smaller to get your feet wet. Learn and make mistakes on something smaller so you don't mar your final display.

I won't run a reef in an acrylic tank because it is so prone to scratching. I got to meet a hobbyist in the Boston area that has a stunning acrylic reef in a plant-filled sunroom. He has a method of erasing scratches that works, but he's a meticulous guy with the patience of a saint. I'm not wired the same way, and opt to use glass. Starphire glass is softer than regular glass because it has a lower iron content; I use credit cards to scrape it clean, and a normal cleaning magnet to erase film algae.

Marc I am going to practice on the parts for the sump first and just practice putting scrap pieces together. Does it matter if you use extruded or cast acrylic for the sump internal pieces? What size router bit is best to make the teeth in the overflow?

Lots of good conversation. You really should practice on something smaller to get your feet wet. Learn and make mistakes on something smaller so you don't mar your final display.

I won't run a reef in an acrylic tank because it is so prone to scratching. I got to meet a hobbyist in the Boston area that has a stunning acrylic reef in a plant-filled sunroom. He has a method of erasing scratches that works, but he's a meticulous guy with the patience of a saint. I'm not wired the same way, and opt to use glass. Starphire glass is softer than regular glass because it has a lower iron content; I use credit cards to scrape it clean, and a normal cleaning magnet to erase film algae.

@DJ inn WV that is about what i calculated also... i was hoping that would be enough to be a stable system Am thinking about doing one as a reef and the other as a "fuge" and then the sump underneath

@Mustang thanks for the link awesome information and your right he makes it look very easy I have got to try this

have to finish designing the bookcase and build it... then i will work on the sump and aquariums for it

i will no doubt need help with figuring out the plumbing, pumps, etc when i get to that point and will ask for suggestions

thank you everyone for your feedback