GoToSleep's 700g Build Thread (& complete remodel)

Here are some shots of the completed sump. Skimmer chamber is on the right. Refugium is on the left. And return to the Barracuda is in the middle. Having the fuge on the opposite side of the sump will allow me to send a different flow rate to the fuge than what I send through the skimmer. Also the fuge will receive water that hasn’t already been stripped of everything by the skimmer. Hopefully the 3 baffles on either side will prevent any problems with bubbles. I’ve got 3” between each baffle so there’s plenty of room if I ever needed to put any media in there in a place where it will receive serious exposure to the flow from the tank.

 

I may have mentioned that the skimmer cone had to be put in the sump and laid on its side to get it under the stand.

 

Here are a few under-tank shots for those of you who like that sort of thing (like me;D)

 

So far it looks awesome. Very big project. You have it very thought out.

Just curious..... why did you not want your sump in your equipment room?

 

Here is the center section with the 1 1/2" bulkhead and the line to the return pump in the next room. THose with sharp eyes might notice the WaterBug water sensor under the sump at the left side of this picture. The water sensor is tied into my centrally monitored alarm system of if there's ever a leak under my stand, I'll know about it right away.



We put a trap on the drain line (now that I think about it I probably should have some sort of clean out there). The wire still need a little tidying up.

 

I would have been happy to have my sump in my equipment room and originally thought that I would do it that way. Unfortuately, between the large water vat and the utility sink that was a late addition, I was only left with about 3' of space between them. By the time I'm done, that room is going to be pretty packed.

 

Plenty of ways to skin that cat. I was just curious of your thinking. A project this size in my house would certainly cause a divorce. I have a history of going overboard. ;D

You are doing a great job.

 

:yelrotflmOverboard? I started this project planning for a 180g.:

 

WOW!!!! your making some great progress..... These pictures are not doing your project good justice. But it helps when I see a pop can placed in certain parts of your project to to give a size comparison. It really took me back when I saw you standing inside the tank.

One thing I will mention is about your protein skimmer. You were wise in having a side door to be able to remove your sump in the future if the situation ever rises. But To remove your protein skimmer ( if you ever have to ) you would have to undo all plumbing then remove sump just to remove your protein skimmer. Not to point this out in a top notch tank... but was this an unforseen detail?

 

The short answer is Yes, it was an unforseen detail. This arose out of several issues. I originally planned my stand to be 42" tall which would have given me plenty of room but then we scaled the ctand back to only 36" which still would have been OK except that the door openings on my stand aren't at 36" they are several inches lower because of the wooden beams supporting the tank. To compound matters, I wound up with a 72' long sump (which is a story in itself). Well a 72" sump fits under my stand which has about 75" inside but it does not fit down between the end rails so my sump is 1 1/2 inches above the floor. When you combine this with the fact that the dimensions of this skimmer werent available when I ordered it back in early July I actually pretty lucky that I get the skimmer under there at all. I didn't know for sure until a few days ago but if I hadn't been able to get it under the stand, I would have plumed a 40gal breeder intot he system in the fish room and put he skimmer in that, so I always knew that I could solve the issue one way or another.

I can get the skimer pumps out to service them without any difficulty. I can also get the Self Cleaning Head and the Skimer collection cup up without too much problem. So the only thing that will be a bear to get out is the actual body of the skimmer and since it doesn't really have any moving parts and I'm not worried about leaks with an in sump skimmer, I think that I should be OK.