B~Low~HighTide's 60 build....(50upgrade)

B~Low~HighTide's 60 build....(50upgrade)Pic Heavy...

Well its time to replace my 50gallon... I went out and grabbed a budget Tank off a fellow in Sanbruno..He was upgraded to a 160 and after buying 60gallon .

So i was able to grab it for $130cash..with a budget stand it came with..





So far things i have Purchased for the Build,,

60 gallon Blue Ocean (not the rounded corner one) Its drillable too..Thats down the road.

1x Eshopps 1800 Overflow..(will be modded)
1x 20" triangle corner Overflow to house Recirce pump/powerhead(*modifying).
PonD Foam Black:
EggCrate
Some more sand Crushed rock.

Favorite Goodies,,
!x Vertex 250 ballast
1x 250 Radium 20K
ATi Super atinics 39wattx4
1x Coralvure NWB110 Needle whele with Buble plate(2009)
1x 15gallon Tank for Fuge and stuff.24x12x12

Some spare stuff barely used( will use for now).
1 spare 24watt PC ficture for fuge
1x 700gph and a 1x500gph Odessy pump(sprare pumps used on ols fresh 1x350 powerhead

Ill be getting a Mag and tunzes down the road.

Im working faster than normal to get this tank up asap..Im surprized im doing this much lol.The 50 is on its last leg..



My fuge is comming along and should be finished tuesday
http://www.3reef.com/forums/refugium/diy-15gal-fuge-new-60-a-70019.html

So far i replaced the Center of the stand and did some reinforcing with More Pine..I had to move center brace to fit the 24x12x12 sump below..and its still snug.

I ll have pics on that as soon as i finish up the sump/fuge. Then come the plumb stuff...

Well this is it for now ,gotta clean up and do some reef reading ;D

 

wow that bow on the non bow front 50 must be scaring you to death B Low High Tide

good looking new tank though, it will be worth the effort your making to set it up

Steve

 

15gallon 24x12x12 sump/fuge Done.

Woke up one Sunday morning Late and the center brace popped across the Front room while watching Nascar....


Well i finished the Sump Fuge..Cant wait to put it in....

Some eye candy.








Its pretty much like this,,5gallons for Skimmer,, 5gallons for Fuge,, remaining gallons For intake and Exaust LOL..


Im pacing for USPS right now.
They have my Overflow ,,
I need it to start the Foam Fun .

 

I know the feeling well. It's hopeless. Once afflicted, there really is no cure.

 

Well time to start foaming the tank now... ill have to do what i can till it gets here..


I want foam to be done by thursday so i can transfer everything this weekend....

 

I would be crying if my tank was bowing like that. By the way, why wouldn't you just drill the tank now? It would be much easier, faster and cheaper than having to buy an overflow. Plus, it will be nearly impossible to drill it later once you have the tank setup.

 

My sphincter would be twitching overtime seeing that tank bow like that. :S

 

I had ordered it before i knew i could Drill it...

I have a trick up me sleave and the Eshopps is actually gonna be hidden along with a corner Overflow...

Concept to make it look like a Shallow reef going into open sand,, Starting from the Back right corner to left front corner...Its hard to explain . youll see when i post Pics tomorrow of how its going..

Dont remind me lol.....Im going for Tank swapping By Saturday if all goes good..Knock on Wood.....

Few Old Tank Shots....














Time for bed....Never Enuff time.. Seems like when ever you start something in the Fish real,, time just flys.

 

GLaSS Holes...........

Well I ordered my Eshopss 1800 last wensday...I found out today they never shipped it USPS 2-3 day for me...

They called my house when i wasnt home and said it would cost $50bucks to ship a $65 dollar overflow.Why did They Charged me for the Overflow and cost of the Shipping in which i Sellected which was USPS 2-3 day for $13 . To top it off they even Said they shipped.


Now that a week has gone Ill call the Place Back East and it twas never shipped... I happily Cancel the Order ,, As they Said it will Be $107 bucks to get it by friday...

So instead im going The Nice Glass hole Kit @ $102 with California Tax ....to my front door..

UPDATE.......
The 1500 has been Ordered;D


So im now going to Drill the Tank...GlASS Holes 1500...double 1.5 outlets.

Ok This is what i have done so far and can not go further untill i get the Tank drilled..

1st ,,
Made shure my Rocks were clean and the Sand was mixed with crushed coral and rock chips..

made shure the sand was dry .



Small,, medium and large ruble under 1"


Made shure no Hitch hikers were in rubble.


Crush and mix old coral into sand .



Next,,
I Fit the Corner Overflow box with a 450gph powerhead and two 3/4" outlets..this way it will pull surface water to mix and flow underthe bottom grid..The the outlets will exaust it .I had to trim the corner and cut Egg for bottom then silocone seams at top so water only goes in from top and a few holes in bottom when done.

Simple but tight plumbing,, left room to pull abig power head in/out if needed with flexable 3/4" hose to PVC.


a better view of the tight fit. Box is 18"tall and comes out 13" from back glass to to the right side.


Now,,
Time to final fit in tank,, Notching top with Air grinder Low RPM and slow cut or it welds;D


Installed legs and final fit,,


Here you can see how its raised up to let water circulate under over the bottom. ( Its like inlet tunnel but will have foam on bottom with a few hidden holes. this way theres no stale Air in the bottom


Now the Fun Stuff part One

Added Egg support for a platform on back wall,
set bracing for a raised Arcrylic Cave i cut out of the Bottom ( Leftover scrap )cornerbox Overflow.


Cutting the Cave with jigsaw..,,
I also cut the cornes and flipped them to help hold foam and shape.


This side goes toward leftside,, tunnel all the way Through is about 4"-5"high opening with Vaulted Cieling 7"tall...Its the same width as Corner Box. Sorry fish no A/C.......not this time


Ok Now with the Bottom Setup ,Ready for the FUn Foam.
I added eggcrate to top of the cave inside and above to help the foam..It works amazing. There is definatly a trick to this which you only learn by trial and error..

Thats why i did the center first. The cave turned out decent i think.


Walla,,
Bottom is done for now and Once the Overflow is here i can do the Back wall boxes and add more Rock texture so you cant tell i added the center piece(Triangle).


Cave,, Will be some happy Fishy's bungalo


View from Front Right Corner,,see how it slopes..This area is gonna have lots of sand..thus i used old coral pieces and made it rough for the sand to sit on .


LeftSide BackWall Same thing ,,sand will be covering this and i will add more to the center as i do the Overflows...

Well thats it for now... ,,my first foam build.. I just decided to do it.

 

Well ,, it fits with a little room to spare lol.......
I made some supports outa PVC to get to the level i wanted and to aloww water to circulate under it.. The Way i made the sump water is forced to spin around the Skimmer Sump to let the dirty stuff get sucked up..
The return of the skimmer Mixes with the Inlet of the Fuge portion to give any stray bubble time to pop before the Bubble trap at other end..

Its big and tight fitting ...But still has some wiggle room ,,with out hitting any glass..

Size comparison,,
This is the Samllest of this Model and its Huge,, makes a soda Czn look like nothing.
Matter of fact the can pretty much fit inside the Cup.


Intake area looks tigh but has lots of room since it recircs alot in this sump chamber,

Heres the outlet...If you look close (the inlet from Tank enters on the lower right for the fuge ,So both Skimmed and unskimmed will flow here..It will also help slow down the intake inlet to this area with turbulance..

Backside to show all the room under the Skimmer..See the T's i used as Supports..Epoxied to the base and then silocone was let dry on the ends ..No vibrating what so ever..You dont silocone to bottom of fuge ,, you just put a thin layer on PVC and let dry befor you place it in the sump/fuge. Beats Egg Crate i think..

Ok thats it for now ,,
This weekend i should be able to test its skimming power by Sunday...I dont want to go to fast but then again im replacing The whole reef and need to get everything moved safely and working the forst time around.