First Build: 29 gal glass

[NT Nano]

To date I have been running an eclipse 12 with a HOB overflow and 5 gal sump. I have already had one snail-induced overflow disaster, plus I wanted a bigger tank and a cleaner look, so I took advantage of Petco's recent $/gal sale and picked up a 29 gal aqueon and a 10 gal sump/fuge. I want an internal overflow, so I am building one out of acrylic to work with BeanAnimal's plan. The rest will include a DIY LED fixture and scavenged parts from my old system.
Here goes!

[NT Nano]

I want to add that since this is my first build, I am gearing it towards other first-timers, hoping they can learn from my mistakes. It's a little down and dirty, and I can already tell my next build will be smoother.

[NT Nano]

The part that scares me the most is drilling the holes in the glass, so I want to get that done first. After watching several youtube driling vids, I roughed together my overflow plumbing to determine the depth and spacing of my holes (I am using a 700 gph sicce return pump, so I am going with 1" bulkheads), then made a wooden template/hole guide. I set up outside on some cardboard, padded the inside of the tank with cardboard to prevent falling items from breaking the tank, and clamped a garden hose in place for my water source. (The template off to the right is for my return).

http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/2005/dsc013731024x768.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/837/dsc013731024x768.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[NT Nano]

My fears were justified! Alas, I cracked the tank on the last hole. Off to Petco for another $30 tank. See, this is why I did this while they were cheap!

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/9350/dsc013761024x768.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/269/dsc013761024x768.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[NT Nano]

So, I did finally get my holes drilled successfully on tank 2. I think the crack happened for 3 reasons. The first is that I started to rush things, and was rocking the bit a little. It bound up on one edge of the hole and the rest was history. Secondly, my wood template was far too thick, which compounded the binding problem. I used a much thinner piece of wood for the return and it worked much better. Last, my bit was getting dull. According to the site where I purchased it, one bit should be good for a dozen holes or so, but I think drilling the wood really shortened the lifespan. Again, for the return I only drilled one hole through thinner wood, and the bit cut the glass noticeably better. I don't have a hole saw set-up for my drill, so in the future I would spend an extra $15 and get two glass bits, one for the wood and one for the glass. (A hole-saw is much spendier, and I am only planning on doing this once more). So to sum it all up:
1. Don't rush
2. Use thin templats/drill guides
3. Use new/sharp bits

Hopefully this will save someone else a cracked tank:hmm3:

[NemusMaximus]

Subscribing to your build. It was a good thing you bought the tank cheap and stuck it out. Some people would have quit after something like that. I cant wait to see the rest of your build! :)

[NT Nano]

Thanks! And yes, my stubbornness sometimes serves me well. This is a "learning" build, as I know I will be moving in about 2 years, at which point I will set up my "final" tank (still smallish in the 70 gal range to my current thinking). Might have a professional drill that one, as it is less likely I can replace it on a whim, but maybe I will use the broken tank to practice on and build some confidence. We'll see when the time comes!

[NT Nano]

We live in a rental house, so no built-in tanks for me. It is going to be on a stand against the wall, so my next step is to paint the back black to hide the plumbing, etc. that will run behind the tank.
I masked everything that I don't want painted, and applied 2 coats of rustoleum flat black. I am extremely pleased with the results. I can't even see a flashlight through it when I hold it up to the paint, and I have scraped several items across the back while working on plumbing, etc. and the paint shows no signs of scratching off of the glass easily (one of my concerns).
The masked Tank:
http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/5854/dsc013871024x7681024x76.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/808/dsc013871024x7681024x76.jpg/)

The painting:
http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/9071/dsc013891024x768.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/836/dsc013891024x768.jpg/)


The finished product:
http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/6528/dsc013901024x7681024x76.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/826/dsc013901024x7681024x76.jpg/)

[NT Nano]

I should also mention that while I was working on the painting, my loving husband (who tolerates my reefing because it makes me happy but is truly befuddled by my level of obsession and often horrified at the amount of $$ things can cost) modified my tank stand (aka an old oak bathroom cabinet) for the larger tank by making a new top for it with a cut-out in the back for the plumbing, and beefing up the interior and front with some 2x4's. The tank overhangs the cabinet on the sides and front, so we had to make sure it was stable.
The dimensions I gave him included 1 and 1/8" clearance all around the edge. He then put 1" trim on that both hides the edges of the plywood and provides a "safety edge" for the tank.
Sorry I don't have any pictures of this, but I will make sure the stand is in some of the FTS's at the end.

[NemusMaximus]

Nice job with the painting. Im def. going to try the rustoleum brand next time. I used some no name stuff for my 5 gallon, and I had to give it like 10 coats, and I still had tiny specks that refused to be covered. Crazy.

[NT Nano]

That sucks about the spots. I run my sump/fuge on a reverse photoperiod, and light shines up the plumbing gap in the back, so I would get a perpetually starry night if that had happened to me. I did hit it with windex first, but other than that I did nothing special and it was all the paint. Glad to learn at your expense;) as I was tempted to go cheap this time (it's in my nature:p), and I will be sure to stick with what I know works for my future build!

[NT Nano]

My next step is the acrylic overflow (acrylic because I can make it at home). I have heard of people having issues with bonding the acrylic to glass, and I want to be able to move this overflow to my future tank, so I stole an idea from glass-holes.com (don't forget the hyphen in that domain name, believe me!) and designed it as a four-sided box that is held to the tank by the bulkhead. There is one seal between the bulkhead and the acrylic, and another between the acrylic and the glass. I bought my bulkheads and extra seals from them as a "Thanks".
This overflow is also oversized for my current tank, again with the goal of moving it to my larger (and final) tank in a couple years. As a result, it takes up a fair amount of real-estate, so I am making the bottom of the overflow out of clear acrylic with the goal of letting some light through. Probably not enough for corals, but at least corraline! I suspect it will gunk over pretty quickly, but since you can't see it anyway, it won't matter if it doesn't work. The sides are clear too, just so I only have to buy 2 pieces of 12x12 acrylic.
I don't have any specialized acrylic equipment, so I am using my dremel tool for the bulk of the construction. I used the same hole template (and hole bit) that I drilled my glass with to ensure the holes will line up exactly (obviously this is crucial with this construction method).

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/1943/dsc013811024x768.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/163/dsc013811024x768.jpg/)

The Finished Pieces
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/8034/dsc013821024x768.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/4/dsc013821024x768.jpg/)

[NT Nano]

The drawback of the dremel... acrylic is STINKY when you cut it, and as it melts and builds up on the edges of the cut, it is hard to keep the tool moving straight and smooth. As a result, I ended up with not-perfect edges, so the typical acrylic welding products are less useful (I hadn't planned on using them anyway because I can't find it locally and online sucks with shipping). I ended up bonding the pieces together with a one-part superglue/epoxy product, then once it had dried I sealed the seams with silicone. After it had all dried I did a water test and there are no leaks.
On retrospect, the clear sides are kinda cool because it will make it easy to see where the water level is in respect to my bulkheads, thus making the inflow/outflow balance easy to adjust.

Lesson Learned: I wish that I had spent the $15-$20 and bought a fine-toothed blade for our table saw. The cutting would have been much smoother, faster, and a more professional outcome. Luckily you can't really tell once it's in the tank :wildone:

The Box:
http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/2396/dsc013841024x768.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/252/dsc013841024x768.jpg/)

[NT Nano]

I based my overflow on BeanAnimal's silent overflow. It takes up more real-estate than some, but after my previous snail-blockage-induced kitchen flooding experience, I love the redundancy in this design. Also, with an active siphon, it is capable of moving more water through smaller pipes than a passive gravity overflow. I drew out my design on paper, made a parts list, and went to Lowe's to get my fittings. In addition to the union valves, I also put unions near the tank to make the plumbing easier to disassemble and transport when we move.
I was working on the overflow simultaneously with the tank, so you can see in my first pic where I test-fit everything prior to painting the tank.

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/2939/dsc013851024x768.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/705/dsc013851024x768.jpg/)

How it looks inside the overflow:

http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/508/dsc013861024x768.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/853/dsc013861024x768.jpg/)

As usual, my plumbing project did not go as smoothly as planned. Somehow I forgot that the tank stand has a rim across the back, which interfered with the straight drop into my sump that I had designed. My husband saved me from starting over with the brilliant idea of putting a "jog" into the drop with some 45's. Here is the finished product:

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/5288/dsc01492768x1024.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/27/dsc01492768x1024.jpg/)

[NemusMaximus]

Looking good. Water test yet?

[NT Nano]

Looking good. Water test yet?

Here it is being modeled by my number one helper. :celeb3:

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/5696/dsc014181024x768.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/855/dsc014181024x768.jpg/)

And here are all of my 12 gal inhabitants in their temporary homes. I separated corals and fish in an effort to keep up the water quality for the corals. I scavenged a lot of live rock, sand, and the sump for my new system, so after the new sand settles, I am hoping it will cycle pretty quickly.

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/2639/dsc013921024x768.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/705/dsc013921024x768.jpg/)

Next comes the hood and DIY LED's!

[csammis]

Looks great so far!

One thing though...

I don't have a hole saw set-up for my drill, so in the future I would spend an extra $15 and get two glass bits, one for the wood and one for the glass. (A hole-saw is much spendier, and I am only planning on doing this once more).

Use a wood hole saw for the wood, don't waste the glass-capable bits on the templates. Home Depot has hole saw bits that chuck into any ordinary drill for $5-$7.

[NT Nano]

Looks great so far!

One thing though...



Use a wood hole saw for the wood, don't waste the glass-capable bits on the templates. Home Depot has hole saw bits that chuck into any ordinary drill for $5-$7.

Thanks csammis: I must have been looking into the wrong thing because they wanted to sell me a system that had a center drill and then a separate collar that went on to cut the hole. The entire set-up came to about $30. Will definitely investigate more before I do this again!

[csammis]

Thanks csammis: I must have been looking into the wrong thing because they wanted to sell me a system that had a center drill and then a separate collar that went on to cut the hole. The entire set-up came to about $30. Will definitely investigate more before I do this again!

Here's a link to the sort of bit I was talking about: Vermont American 18316 1 in. Carbon Hole Saw with Mandrel (http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardware/h_d1/N-25ecodZ5yc1vZarnk/R-202256371/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053). Of course the downside to these is that they're fixed-size; if you need a lot of different diameters you have to buy separate bits for each one. Honestly though how many diameters does one really need in the course of drilling tanks :)

[NT Nano]

Cool, thanks!

[Joshz400_03]

looks good!

[NT Nano]

I have a 12 LED light I built for my 12 gal that I am going to incorporate into my new fixture. I am adding 2 more heat sinks, 10 bright white, 12 royal blue, and 2 green Cree LED's. I am putting 80 degree optics since it will be pretty close to my tank, and the greens and most of the old fixture (which will be in the center) do not have optics. I am certainly no expert at this, and basically follow the instructions in the kit from Rapid LED.

Getting started

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/4110/dsc014201024x768.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/59/dsc014201024x768.jpg/)

I find it helpful to actually draw where I want my wires to go on the heatsink.

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/2216/dsc014231024x768.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/96/dsc014231024x768.jpg/)

Now for the soldering!

[Greg31]

If I had any skills, at all, this would be an identical build I would do. I look forward to your progress!!

[NT Nano]

@Greg31; thanks! And this is definitely my "learning tank"! I am glad that I am starting relatively small, and on a tank that I know will be coming down in a couple years, although that presents some challenges too since I don't want to sink a bunch of money into it.

[NT Nano]

My LED's are going to be mounted directly to my canopy. I don't want to fabricate an actual fixture, because this set-up will likely be reintegrated into a larger fixture one we move. My canopy design is pretty simple...a light frame that sits on top of the tank with cladding on 3 sides. The top (with the lights mounted on the underside) will fit inside of the edges, and the front will be hinged onto the top. That way I can work on the lights by flipping the front panel all the way over so that it rests on the top, and lift the top off of the canopy frame to take it anywhere I need to. I failed to take pics, but if it works well I will try to if anyone is interested.

[NT Nano]

So, Here they are in all of their glory:


I have 3 drivers. One runs my old set-up, to which I spliced in the green LED's (the white driver will burn out the greens, so they had to be on this one because it was the only one with any room left), one runs the new whites, and the last runs the new blues. I tied the whites and the old driver together into one power cord, and the blues have their own. I didn't do dimming... I know I could figure it out, but I was a bit intimidated, and I'm just not that into technical lighting right now. With this set-up my actinics come on 30 mins earlier and run 30 mins longer than the remainder of the lights, and that is enough for me!

Here you can see my set-up. In addition to mounting the sinks to the wood, the metal flanges will hold my splash acrylic splash guard (I bent the end into a little lip). I don't have the lenses on yet. I wanted to make sure they work first, since it is very hard to solder once the lenses are on.
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/5827/dsc014271024x768.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/6/dsc014271024x768.jpg/)

The light test:
http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/9382/dsc014291024x768.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/833/dsc014291024x768.jpg/)

How it looks in the canopy:
http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/1322/dsc014321024x768.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/850/dsc014321024x768.jpg/)

[NT Nano]

So, as anyone with LED experience probably could have told me, my fan set-up was completely inadequate. After just a couple hours running, I could tell that my heat sinks were just getting too hot. I go by the unscientific measure that you should be able to rest a finger on the sink comfortably. If you can't, it's too hot, and these ones were close to burning me.
Back to the drawing board :headwally::
I cut 2 wood strips out of scrap 3/4 plywood to elevate the sinks off of the wood. Then I drilled ventilation holes in both ends of the canopy, and mounted the fans (I also requisitioned the smaller fan out of my old set-up) on either end of the sinks so that they blow down the length of the fins. Obviously heat will dissipate from them much better this way, and I was overly optimistic to hope that the cross-breeze that I planned before would be effective.

Here is the final product. The second fan had to be mounted to the canopy frame due to lack of room, so you can't see it, but it is a mirror to this one, only smaller. The sinks are all a comfortable temp now, although the one on the end with the smaller fan is noticeably warmer. I think I will upgrade to the larger fan next time I place an order with Rapid (I am eyeing a PAR bulb for my 'fuge), but for now at least it is cool enough that it shouldn't harm the LED's.

http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/2033/dsc015071024x768.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/825/dsc015071024x768.jpg/)

Also, a note on the canopy set-up; I still like the concept, however, now that I have had to remove the lights, I can verify that it is a pain! There are a couple holes in the back of the canopy for the power cords to go through, and so I have to balance the top on edge with one hand while I thread power cords through with the other. The drivers etc. make it pretty heavy, and it is at shoulder level for me, so it is a bit awkward and difficult. Hopefully though, I am done with lights and won't be doing it again for a long time (like until I take the tank down!)

[resplendantreef]

Looks great. I wish I would have drilled mine but I was too scared.

[NT Nano]

Looks great. I wish I would have drilled mine but I was too scared.

Thanks! Even though I have done this one, I would still be scared to do a less easily replaced tank. I am on the fence about drilling my next one or having a professional do it, since it will be bigger and more expensive. Maybe with more practice under my belt!

[NemusMaximus]

Green LEDs? I have not seen that before. What are the benefits of green? Looking great so far!

[NT Nano]

Some of the coral pigments, specifically pocilloporins, fluoresce best under green. As far as I know (which isn't much) it is mostly for looks and doesn't have any growth benefits. There are some crazy LED colors coming out now. A lot of people are adding reds, cyan, etc. There probably are a few useful wavelengths in there, but again I think it's mostly for looks.

[NT Nano]

Well, as it usually goes, after the quick action of the build comes the waiting as the tank cycles. As I had hoped, the tank cycled pretty quickly due to the large amount of live substrate from the old tank. I did have some LR die-off because the rocks were out of the water for a couple days while the glue dried. I tried gorilla glue this time... I have awful luck with epoxy, and hoped GG would be the answer. It was better, but still not great. Next build I am going to drill and peg anything that I want to be permanently structured.
At any rate, the ammonia and nitrites had zeroed out, and nitrates were dropping, and I had a small cyano bloom when my holding tanks started to crash. Probably just accumulation of toxins in a small tank, because despite my frequent water changes and carbon filtration, my nitrates started to really spike. My corals did not like it, and browned out immediately. So, I decided to move my livestock a bit early. Not ideal, but conditions in the new tank were vastly more stable and healthy than those in my temporary tanks, so the move happened.
Here is the FTS:
Everything is browned out and unhappy.
http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/7906/dsc014381280x960.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/716/dsc014381280x960.jpg/)

After a couple of days I got the amazing hair algae bloom you would expect when stocking a tank that still has nitrates. I have never cycled a tank that didn't go through this, so I wasn't too upset. At least the cyano went away!
The cali tort died from RTN that started in the holding tank. Amazing, one day covered with tissue, 30 hours later, a white lifeless skeleton :sad1:

Luckily, everything else has settled in nicely. Nitrates are now zero, and I am in a holding pattern until the algae starts to subside. I'll post a FTS of the "algae tank" soon, so that someday I can compare the green mess to a nice clean FTS and give others going thru an algae bloom some hope.

[NT Nano]

Things are slowly coming along. I still have a lot of hair algae that is slowly fading away. My nitrates have been at zero now for several weeks, and the algae is definitely slowing down and disappearing. I have some caulerpa in my sump now, so hopefully it will out-compete the hair algae for an nutrients that are remaining. I might get a couple turbo snails to speed up the process, as I am a bit tired of the tank looking so shaggy, but I am getting great growth on my SPS and LPS, and coolest of all, my pair of neon gobies laid their first clutch of eggs. Of course she chose the nook where I park my algae scrubber, so it is out of commission for the time being and my glass is quickly scumming over, but I wanted to leave the eggs undisturbed to see if they develop. If they are fertile I might gear up for some rotifer culture and see if I can raise the next batch (assuming there is a next batch). Here are some pics:
Here you can see her gravid belly bulging out to the side:
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/5128/dsc016391280x960.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/88/dsc016391280x960.jpg/)
The marbled appearance on her belly is the eggs showing through her skin;
http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/1400/dsc016301280x626.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/651/dsc016301280x626.jpg/)
and here she is guarding the clutch. My firefish has been very interested, but she fearlessly chases him off despite the fact that he's 4 times her size:
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/4408/dsc017071280x960.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/42/dsc017071280x960.jpg/)
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/752/dsc01701886x1024.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/269/dsc01701886x1024.jpg/)

[NT Nano]

In honor of Halloween, I decided to raise my thread from the dead, Hee Hee. Actually, we are getting ready to move across the state. I am planning on setting up a 50 gal tank and stocking it from my 29 gal, but with a 6-hour drive in-between, I am not sure what shape things will arrive in when they reach their new home. At best the system will go through a mini-cycle and we can move on from any set-backs, at worst I could lose all of most of my stock. Scary!!!
I was looking at my build pics, and I can't believe how the tank has changed in less than a year. These pics are "down and dirty". I didn't have time to spruce up the tank since we are moving, but I wanted to record it in its current glory before anything happens to it. I still don't have the knack for tank photography, so the colors are not nearly as pretty in the photos as they are in real life, but I think you can at least appreciate the amount of growth that has occurred.
Not anything like a "pro" tank, but I truly enjoy my little reef!
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[willfly4food]

wow your tank looks great! I am a little nervous drilling my next tank. Thanks for the tips