phurst
12/12/2007, 09:37 AM
I've been thinking about this project for a while now.
I have a 12 gallon nanocube on my desk at work. It has been remarkably stable and trouble free for the 4 months it has been up, but I couldn't help wanting to be able to use some of the same technology I use on my 120 at home on my nano. I know, there are a number of nano skimmers available, and more coming out all the time, and you can run carbon or phosban or whatever passively in the filter chambers. You can even turn a chamber into a fuge if you want.
But, I thought to myself, what if I could use a skimmer and a phosban reactor or two, have a larger space for cheato, a DSB, more space for LR, a way to cool without employing a nano chiller, increased flow in the display, an easy way to ATO AND increased system volume.
The natural answer was, add a 15 gallon sump/fuge to your 12 gallon nano :p
I was stuc at work last night rebuilding my laptop, so I figured I'd take on this project at the same time. Although I have never drilled a tank before, nor done any kind of aquaria related DIY, I figured this wasn't exactly rocket science, so I got to work.
I had already ordered and recieved these bulkheads from Drs Foster & Smith in black,
http://a1272.g.akamai.net/7/1272/1121/20051201202044/www.drsfostersmith.com/images/Categoryimages/larger/lg_18983_32771i.jpg
and a diamond hole saw from eBay. I already had all the other supplies I needed around the house.
I started making up the water to fill the sump, and got ready to start drilling. The sump is a standard 15 gallon glass tank, with one baffle in the center. The top of the baffle has a strip of egg crate across it to keep stray bits of cheato out of the return section. The fuge section is on the left, with 6" of oolitic aragonite. Ultimately there will be some cheato from home in that section, although only the sand is in there currently. The right chamber houses the Mag 2 I'm using as a return, and will eventually house the phosban reactors, a Remora Pro HOB skimmer and several pounds of LR. I wanted to keep the LR out of the fuge side so it would be easier to remove the detritus that will inevitably collect around it. I'll be using the stock fluorescent light that came with the 15 gallon tank for now. if it proves to be inadiquite, I can always use something else down the road.
Here is the sump in it's current configuration:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3871.jpg
To drill the tank, I drained about half the water from the display, and all of the water from the rear section of the tank. I drilled the drain line first. I situated it in the 3rd chamber in the rear, so I could still take advantage of water flowing through the rear chambers in case I needed them for carbon or what have you. There's also some LR rubble back there in the 1st chamber, and I wanted water to continue to flow through it. I had never drilled a tank before, but i had always heard getting started was the hardest part, as the bit has a tendency to wander. I used this bit,
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/ff8d_1.jpg
which has a pilot bit in it, and it was a piece of cake. The bit never wandered at all, and the drain hole was drilled in about 5 minutes. I used a spray bottle full of water to spray down the bit and glass to keep them cool. I made an external durso out of some 1/2" PVC and a 1" PVC tee with a reducer and hose barb to connect it to the 1/2" tubing I'm using as a drain line.
Next was the return line. In order to avoid having to modify the nanocube further, I made sure to line up the bulkhead with the hole in the rear wall of the DT where the stock return was. I drilled the hole, fitted the bulkhead, inserted the 90 degree elbow hose barb on the outside to connect the return tubing, and inserted a short length of PVC on the inside of the bulkhead. Into this short lenght of PVC, I inserted a bit of tubing to connect the return bulkhead to the stock return hole in th rear wall of the DT. Not only did this allow me to not have to drill a larger hole in the rear wall, but the reduced diamiter of the tubing increases the velocity of the return flow as it enters the tank. here's a shot of the 3rd chamber. You can see the drain and return lines.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3872.jpg
Here's a crappy shot of the back of the tank with the bulkheads and durso in place:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/PIC-0015.jpg
Here is the back of the tank plumbed and running.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3870.jpg
Don't ask why I have a ball valve on the drain line. I just happened to have 2, so I used them. the durso is not quite done yet. It's functional, but a bit gurgley. I just have to fiddle with it a bit.
So far, I have been very pleased. I have more than doubled the water volume of the system, i have plenty of room for additional gear, a DSB, room for more rock and cheato, more freedom in skimmer choice, better flow in the DT, and maybe best of all, the temp has dropped from 82 to 77. I actualy plugged my heater in for the first time. With the drop in temp, I'm not at all worried about adding pumps for the skimmer and phosban reactors, and I can probably add a nano stream or somthing similar to the DT if I ever need more flow.
Ancillary to the benefits to the system, I feel like I actually accomplished something.
Next up will be the cheato, LR, skimmer, phosban reactor(s), an ATO and probably a float switch in the rear section of the tank controlling the return pump. In the event somthing clogs the drain, I'd rather not have 10 gallons of water on my office floor.
I have a 12 gallon nanocube on my desk at work. It has been remarkably stable and trouble free for the 4 months it has been up, but I couldn't help wanting to be able to use some of the same technology I use on my 120 at home on my nano. I know, there are a number of nano skimmers available, and more coming out all the time, and you can run carbon or phosban or whatever passively in the filter chambers. You can even turn a chamber into a fuge if you want.
But, I thought to myself, what if I could use a skimmer and a phosban reactor or two, have a larger space for cheato, a DSB, more space for LR, a way to cool without employing a nano chiller, increased flow in the display, an easy way to ATO AND increased system volume.
The natural answer was, add a 15 gallon sump/fuge to your 12 gallon nano :p
I was stuc at work last night rebuilding my laptop, so I figured I'd take on this project at the same time. Although I have never drilled a tank before, nor done any kind of aquaria related DIY, I figured this wasn't exactly rocket science, so I got to work.
I had already ordered and recieved these bulkheads from Drs Foster & Smith in black,
http://a1272.g.akamai.net/7/1272/1121/20051201202044/www.drsfostersmith.com/images/Categoryimages/larger/lg_18983_32771i.jpg
and a diamond hole saw from eBay. I already had all the other supplies I needed around the house.
I started making up the water to fill the sump, and got ready to start drilling. The sump is a standard 15 gallon glass tank, with one baffle in the center. The top of the baffle has a strip of egg crate across it to keep stray bits of cheato out of the return section. The fuge section is on the left, with 6" of oolitic aragonite. Ultimately there will be some cheato from home in that section, although only the sand is in there currently. The right chamber houses the Mag 2 I'm using as a return, and will eventually house the phosban reactors, a Remora Pro HOB skimmer and several pounds of LR. I wanted to keep the LR out of the fuge side so it would be easier to remove the detritus that will inevitably collect around it. I'll be using the stock fluorescent light that came with the 15 gallon tank for now. if it proves to be inadiquite, I can always use something else down the road.
Here is the sump in it's current configuration:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3871.jpg
To drill the tank, I drained about half the water from the display, and all of the water from the rear section of the tank. I drilled the drain line first. I situated it in the 3rd chamber in the rear, so I could still take advantage of water flowing through the rear chambers in case I needed them for carbon or what have you. There's also some LR rubble back there in the 1st chamber, and I wanted water to continue to flow through it. I had never drilled a tank before, but i had always heard getting started was the hardest part, as the bit has a tendency to wander. I used this bit,
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/ff8d_1.jpg
which has a pilot bit in it, and it was a piece of cake. The bit never wandered at all, and the drain hole was drilled in about 5 minutes. I used a spray bottle full of water to spray down the bit and glass to keep them cool. I made an external durso out of some 1/2" PVC and a 1" PVC tee with a reducer and hose barb to connect it to the 1/2" tubing I'm using as a drain line.
Next was the return line. In order to avoid having to modify the nanocube further, I made sure to line up the bulkhead with the hole in the rear wall of the DT where the stock return was. I drilled the hole, fitted the bulkhead, inserted the 90 degree elbow hose barb on the outside to connect the return tubing, and inserted a short length of PVC on the inside of the bulkhead. Into this short lenght of PVC, I inserted a bit of tubing to connect the return bulkhead to the stock return hole in th rear wall of the DT. Not only did this allow me to not have to drill a larger hole in the rear wall, but the reduced diamiter of the tubing increases the velocity of the return flow as it enters the tank. here's a shot of the 3rd chamber. You can see the drain and return lines.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3872.jpg
Here's a crappy shot of the back of the tank with the bulkheads and durso in place:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/PIC-0015.jpg
Here is the back of the tank plumbed and running.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3870.jpg
Don't ask why I have a ball valve on the drain line. I just happened to have 2, so I used them. the durso is not quite done yet. It's functional, but a bit gurgley. I just have to fiddle with it a bit.
So far, I have been very pleased. I have more than doubled the water volume of the system, i have plenty of room for additional gear, a DSB, room for more rock and cheato, more freedom in skimmer choice, better flow in the DT, and maybe best of all, the temp has dropped from 82 to 77. I actualy plugged my heater in for the first time. With the drop in temp, I'm not at all worried about adding pumps for the skimmer and phosban reactors, and I can probably add a nano stream or somthing similar to the DT if I ever need more flow.
Ancillary to the benefits to the system, I feel like I actually accomplished something.
Next up will be the cheato, LR, skimmer, phosban reactor(s), an ATO and probably a float switch in the rear section of the tank controlling the return pump. In the event somthing clogs the drain, I'd rather not have 10 gallons of water on my office floor.