Idaho-Tank build... Starting over

Hello,
Been lurking around here for a while and decided to join and post up my tank build project.

I have kept salt water tanks off and on for the past 18 years. I maintained a 100 gallon reef tank for about 8 years with a lot of success. Tore it down about 6 years ago (was building a house, lost interest etc...) but kept the tank. I had built a stand and hood for it but that has since been tossed. So thats my past - I am now a newbie again.

I started this project on July 13... about a week ago..

I welcome comments, questions and really welcome any suggestions and advice!

In the mail:

6" Cotopus Extreme skimmer = Reef Octopus Extreme 160 Protein Skimmer by CoralVue* - AquaCave

2 Nova Slim pac T5 24" retrofit lights for the sump

a 48" Nova Extreme 8 bulb T5 fixture - Current USA Nova Extreme T5 Aquarium Lighting Fixture, 8X54 Watt, 48 inch

 

unpacked my tank which needs a good cleaning at some point! It will also need some polishing to get rid of the tiny little scratches I have made during the years of use.

 

Plans for the stand...

The front... I am going higher with my stand this time to get the tank up higher.



The guy who built this tank for me put the overflow right in the back corner... Im sure this is typical but it makes getting the overflow line through the stand top and structure a pain. I didn't plan for it last time I built a stand... this time I am keeping that corner clear of structure.




I will be starting the Hood as soon as I have the stand done...

 

Construction of the stand....



Thought Id post up some photos of my stand so far.. this is just the frame obviously. Had to purchase the 2x material but the screws and MDF was stuff I had. Let me know if anyone has any thoughts... Obviously the 2x4s are overkill but inexpensive and easy to work with for a frame - I also like the peace of mind knowing its solid.





The overflow corner drain is clear of all material.

 

Sump....

I decided to try to copy a sump that Melevsreef did - Model J Melevsreef.com | Acrylic Sumps & Refugiums 40" x 14" x 16".... It will fit in my stand really well.

Here is what the original looks like:



I will have some acrylic left over after but I figure I will need some to practice with and perhaps a stand for my skimmer etc... And I couldn't get a smaller amount on short notice from the supplier...

I ordered 1/4" cell cast. Based on the reading I did 1/4" will be adequate and I will be installing some bracing along with the baffles etc... for extra support. Having never worked with acrylic I am planning on practicing with some welds prior to putting the finish pieces together.

Need to also purchase the solvent/cements.


My sump plans:

 

Work on the stand continues....

I realized that the top shelf could not go all the way across as it would make accessing the skimmer to difficult (it will be on the far right). I decided to cut the shelf back - I still wanted a shelf for test kits, misc "things" etc.. I also put a panel in the back - I will mount two power strips to this panel which will help keep power cords organized and tidy.

I am still waiting for my 1x fir that is being wire brushed - should have it this week. I forgot to order a 4x4 for the corner trim detail I wanted do so I bought one and wire brushed it myself. I cut the corner so it tapers in two directions and has the look of legs. I cut a dato notch into the back corner so it will fit over the corner of the frame. The 1x finish material will butt into these corners. This stand is going to weigh as much as the 100 gallon tank... lol.

Wire brush technique - before sanding.


Stand with corners, back panel and modified shelf. I also applied a couple coats of polyurethane to all MDF.

 

Back to the Sump


After a couple hours of working on the stand I decided to start on my sump. I have been anxious to start this part of the project since I decided to build my own last week. I purchased a full 4x8 sheet of 1/4" cast acrylic (cast is supposed to be better for cutting than is extruded acrylic). I was a little nervous about cutting the acrylic as I have read more than one guy talk about how difficult it can be.

I bought a 60 tooth 10" blade for my table saw (the 80 tooth I wanted was to expensive). I also have a chop saw with a 60 tooth blade. I found cutting the acrylic to be really easy and not near as difficult as I had anticipated. I did not use any water spray or anything like that (a couple guys had recommended doing that to prevent melting). I found that the table saw was the easiest way to get good square cuts. I did use my chop saw as well.

The only difficult part was making the very first cut - my little table saw is not really set up for cutting full sheets.



After the first cut was made it was easier. I had to create a makeshift fence.




Slow and steady worked great.. no melting, no chipping....



After I had most of the pieces cut I decided to try the teeth for the overflow from the refugium. This also went smoothly and was no problem... I used a dovetail template which worked great. I hope the glueing goes as smoothly but I am guessing that is the hardest part...



After that I decided to tape it all together and see how it looked.

 

Sump continued:

I pulled my old sump pump out.. it is a Danner Mag drive 9.5. It looks like the head height will be about 4.5' so the GPH will be about 800GPH....

I finished cutting the last few pieces of acrylic and started putting it together. In addition to the #16 cement I decided to buy some #4 - I was glad I did, the capillary action using the #4 is really nice. I applied the #4 & #16 with a syringe which worked great. I also used some wedges as others had recommended.



I found that I didn't need the pins others had used to create a space between the acrylic before applying the #4. The solvent would wick in between without the pins. I did apply from both sides. After the #4 dried I ran a tiny bead of the #16. Hopefully this will strengthen the seams.



Here you can see on the left where I have ran the #4 and then stopped... The lighter color is where no solvent has been ran yet. Its easy to tell where the bond is good.



In the process of putting it all together



The guy who I bought my acrylic from gave me a few pieces of extra - one was a tinted piece.... Thought Id use it as my center baffle on the bubble trap...



Here you can see the bubble tower... the location the water first enters the sump from the display tank. I will fill this with some live rock chunks to help break up the bubbles.

 

Yesterday I finished putting the sump together..... Then I let dry for about 3 hours and sanded the exterior corners and top edge. After sanding I used a torch to heat the edges which makes everything nice and smooth. Tomorrow I will test for leaks!!

After sanding (thats what all that dust is from... static electricity).. here she is. I figured 1/4" acrylic would be adequate to prevent any deforming (especially since there are interior supports) but I did decide to put corner bracing in each corner just to make thinks a little stronger.



After sanding, I used a torch to smooth out the edges and make them clear.



here is a corner



After the sump was done I decided to clean my existing tank.. It was filthy after sitting on a shelf for 6 years... After the previous years of use there were several minor scratches from various things. Using a polish I purchased for plastics & metals and a drill attachment I polished the inside and outside of the tank. This worked to take out all but a couple small scratches I have from rock being moved.

The stuff I used which worked well



This would take forever without a drill attachment!



All done and ready for water.

 

Today I plan to test my pump out and start the plumbing..

Here is the plan for plumbing.... any thoughts?