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

That foam stuff looks quite rock like. Whats it called and do you have a link to it online please? Is it safe for use in aquariums as well? as i was consider making a few interesting rocks in my big tank.

 

Yes its safe...The only thing you need to do is make shure when you apply it to lay the side your working on FLAT..This stuff comes out foamy like shaving cream . You must put Big rocks down and then your crushed coral and or sand fast..


This link is my inspiration....Maxalmon..Hes the man...when it come to this stuff.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/foamback-reef-tank-57314.html

Also i grabbed the pond foam from Lowes of all places and HDepote carries it too..


This is the one the Lowes carries in stock..The Tetra one they dont stock.
Both work the same and fish safe.
Smart Pond at Lowe's: Waterfall Sealant Foam

Any areas that are exposed Not covered by sand rock what ever if under UV light you should seal that portion of foan with a marine clear epoxy..this will keep the barfe foam from breaking down ..

This friday i will be doing more foam work and it will really start looking like something...

Im going to use lots of LR and Live sand too ..Im hopping to get it as real looking as i can and hide everything including the 3/4" recirc outlets..

 

Ok ,, my Glass hole kit should be here tomorrow , in the mean time i decided to mill out all my fittings..

Taking the radius out of Street 90's and my Unions for 1/2"..

I know you thinking why 1/2"... Well they can be hidden easier and they give the exact flow i need with this system..

I dont recomend using 1/2" for returns unless you radius all fittings and actually debu and radius the pipe too..This is very time consuming and will make the 1/2" flow closer to 3/4" performance... I wanted to keep some preshure in the lines with out having the weight of water that 3/4" uses when going 4ft high...

My return runs are 500gph and 700gph (dual pumps ) with head flow loss i will have around 400gph and 600gph maybe less . I will have a union on each line and a Ballvalave to lower flow on either side if need be. These are not my permanet pums ,just one to get me by. I was origanally gonna bulkhead the returns with 3/4 but i have these little shelves in the tank along with corner bracing...Which woulda put the returns in a crappy spot .
When im done you wont even know i have the returns in there.;D

Remeber this is a foam and LR tank..I am hidding everything ,even though you can see the returns ATM..

overflow side single return 500gph pump.


Left side with dual outlet return.. I cut down the street 90's and milled them out bigger than 1/2".All pipe is radiused inside for flow.


To give you an idea of how big i made the all the fittings..Stock union vs my modded Union on the right;D


The returns actually worked out nice and will be adjustable even after being hidden. Took a lot of time and even flow tested the returns on 10ft of pipe with all the fittings on . I cant wait to mount the tank on stand and do the final plumbing..I need my Overflow to continue lol.

Backside and view into front of tank..They willl hide very nice.



Overflow side


Dual return side


How the returns will look from Front view...


I also tested the sump with both pumps,, Flows so nice. It will be close when i turn the pumps off. the drain back will be right at the top pretty much . Worst case ill add 5gallon overflow tank on the other side of stand..

Ill just drill two bulkheads high on the 15gallon to drain to the 5.

All pumps are on and flowing into the Intake of sump above water,,To show Bubbles..when the returns are bellow water its bubless on the intake going to skimmer and sump.





Lots of skimmer bubbles for fresh water lol.
Below this is the part of the fuge that recirculates the water spinning it around and below skimmer. Once it circulates the High flow is all at the surface on exiting to the bubble trap.




Skimmer return goes above the Inlet to fuge ..


Fuge flow is very nice and suttle.


Water enters the fuge below BioBall..Its up from a intake vent directly from Return of DT.... it floats there and dosnt get pushed around . all though ther is plenty of current.



This is the bubble trap and it works wonders.
See the high flow...to think this is flowwing across the very top of fuge and the fuge is almost a calm bay in comparison.


Well thats all for now...This was actually a fun day ,, I like to play with water

 

Well ,,Ive managed to Drill it;D
Wasnt to bad , the plumbing only took a day and half running around getting parts and stuff like More foam...

Heres my progress so far and will be filling with water tomorrow. Its amazing how i say ok thats it im done,,Then find another thing to do to the tank

.Its coming along slower than i thought , but still a kinda fast build...Im usually reall picky and surprized i finisehd the Foam Saturday Morning. I still need to coat the PVC Black and then reinstall the sump..,,Then i can mount the lights and start transfering the Fishy's and Coral....

Glass holes is great,, I like the candy too as it helped me stay awake till 4am that night lol.


Modified the Template,, This way my Overflow can tie into the cornerbox(recirc)



Slight problem, but easily fixable..See i have a glass rim around the top of the tank .I knew i was gonna have to do something..






Yes the Boxes are two seprate sealed chanbers

Time to plumb,,Big pipe first.



Then the little ones next for returns.





Now for the part i like best ,,
Foam and foam and more foam....

First;
Glued in some LR with some small dead coral pieces..Placing objects for flow and for good lighting.


Also i Used some of this on all my glass as i worked..prevents Major cleaning of glass..Joy to work with.

bubble wrap in overflowboxes


Dosnt look like much huh,,




I had already done the left and right returns before laying tank on its back.
This is the first stage and will have more detail after the wall is done ,, this way it will all blend together floor to returns.




Materials used ,,
3cans of Foam for whole project.
8lbs Number 3 Coral sand
4lbs long crushed coral
5lbs Fine LRsand
5lbs mixed with Crushed LR..Tis will seed the wall faster with coraline ,, I used semi dry undead LR crushed ..It wont hurt the cycle ,, which its gonna cycle when move everything anyway.

This way it has a little of both worls since i want a Sandy Shelf look ..As if you wer in a coral tidepool.


Next i Sealed all teh gaps where Eggcrate and boxes meet,, Then seal around all the LR pices and and Overflow returns on wall.





Now to the Main overflow box,,
This took about 3lbs of crushed and 3lbs of coral and 2lbs of sand stuff alone.

I put foam on them throw the stuff on ,,let sit untill i rises some then press it down..Youll use lots of Sand an Crushed coral ..I also used a brush tp help spread the sand and clean.,To get this look you need to pipe it on and press it in..It is a challenge and well worth the $ 60bucks it only cost for me to do this.




Then finally i cut the slots back out using a jigsaw using a SheetRock Saw.


Now for the Money Shot lol,, Returns are just visiable ,,there are two on the wall.



I wanted detail so Left retuns TopView,,

Bottom View,,


Side shot with flash,,


BackShot,, The Pipes will be Black when done


My favorite Shot so far..This is what it really looks like. Im using a 6500K Shop light...


Thats it for now,,
tomorrow ,,
water day,, make shure there is no leaks ,then pant the pipes...fit light for fuge and drill a few Cord holes in the stand..almost ready

 

I love that foam scaping, even if it is a little on the square side. This is definately gonna come off well. The plant you got there in your sump...is it live or a plastic plant? If it's live then what species is it?

 

Great detailed build, looks awesome, but I have one question. How are you going to stop the CUC from climbing out of the tank when the wall(overflow wall) goes all the way up to the top of the tank?


Luna

 

+1 with Luna - I totally agree! I love the care and attention your giving this project, more specifically the build in back ground with the foam etc! Im really looking forward to seeing the finished product!!

I have to ask tho - your current tank has an abundance of a coral thats all stalky like. Its pretty cool and i wouldnt mind getting some of it myself. Is it Monti Digi??

 

Thank guys/gals

Its plastic lol,,
i used a few different ones to test the sump flow.. The way i took the pictures looks kinda sqaure. Its not ,actually its curved and more rectangle like with slanted edges...

I cant take picture work a can o beens . One day ill get a DSR if my dad still has it and try with that

when i fill it it will look way better..As for the Triangel base thes for the center Piece of one of my Big Corals and the base will have sand way up in the back with lots more LR to blend everything in...

Not a problem ,, i dont use any critters except the live worms and , Pods ,and small thorny clams and some othe little clams that managed to grow on my rocks in the other tank..

Ive lerned to stray away from adding Snails and crabs.. when algee's are keept under control you dont need them, but maybe asandsifting star or blue lankia star.

My Tang keeps anything that would grow mowed for me. Thanks for rminding me about climbers,, lucky i have no climbers lol;D

yes,,
its a purple Monti Digi Grow Fast,,
under 175 single halide with 4x39 t5's 3ati blue 1 SuperAtinic.

I started with just a 1" piece four years ago,, Now the tank is full....
the idea is to have then start to grow up the back wall like in my old tank..Im trying to get a blue green and found a super green yellow coral frag which i don tknow what they are yet... Im trading a few pieces of the and some Metalicgreen shrooms and a Leather at my LFS.

I will be adding more corals down the road . im using the 175 still but have 250watt halide Radium standing by...I need to lets everything adjust the first week before I retime the lights and go with more watts.

I didnt plan on doing this much,
I wanted a simple tank swap and figured now is the time to go all out...

Working on the lights and painting plumbing today will fill it this afternoon and give it its first run with the Foam and fresh water to clean the sytem. Hoping tomorrow will be "the swap the tank day ,,O boy....";D

Also this is my first Custom build and ive never ,,ever made a sump before. Im just going on a wing and a prair and lots of coffeeeeee.

 

Well had to go outa town untill Sunday,, My mom is baby sitting the old tank and my mess in the living room untill i get baclk lol..

Tuesday i will have everything set up and transfered.. The Black PVC looks so nice i cant wait to get home and show you guys the stuff ive done..


The pics i posted of the light stand was only the rough beginning.Bare Sqaure wood lol.

Just Picture rounded edges with all the corners cut at 45degrees and a nice Black wash finish to show the wood grain...

Ill post some more pics of the prepped Hood and boxed hood pole before it was painted..

Sunday night i should get in early.. Monday and tuesday will be the swap .I also have to gather a few frags for my local LFS so i can swap for a new frag or other cool stuff;D


Friday ,,
i had made a few shelves in the left side of the stand and then mounted the Fuge light ,, What a pain that was... I have a 1/4" from the side of skimmer pipe.. Ill be forced to clean it more often , but it looks so nice..


So Monday and Tuesday i plan on a lot of Pictures of the system..

I only wish my Radium was in already ...I will have to use my 175 for now,, who knows maybe it will show up monday.I really want to see how the vertex eletronic ballast runs it.. Its rated at 265watts ..well shall see.

AFTER ALL IVE ONLY PUT IN 100HRS SO FAR,,
haaha and I said a fast tank build lol........







I really feel like this little fella

 

Hey My camera is in the shop .. It wouldnt let me access my pictures lol....

Ill have new pictures soon and for now this is some stuff i have been doing ....

By the way there will be lots and lots of pics to come.
Before,,


After,,




Stand just before sanding and stain,,




I decided to trim out the stand too.....Like a old radio kinda ..Im really liking the the black stressed wood look..i didnt think it was gonna turn out that well since i have no idea what im doing when it comes to wood staining,, Really i have no clue..

My pride and joy ,Lil Sierra making shure no reef critters escape living room lol,,



The main mess..






Man ,,i just had enuff coolers and Moms tuppaware came in handy ;D

More pics soon,,
The camera is fixed and i cant pic it up till tomorrow.. they managed to retrieve the rest of my phots from when i was making the light and stand trim..Now ill have to get some real nice stots of the tank in action.
then ill finally show some FTS .