RC 75 DIY Stand and Sump - Page 2

rmchoi · 02/01/2015, 03:37 PM

Equipment placement in the sump.

This was a dry run to see how the skimmer and pump fit.

rmchoi · 02/01/2015, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RocketEngineer

Hmm....wonder where you might have seen that technique......

Here maybe?

The silicone job looks very clean. Much better than I did on mine.

RocketEngineer —There were several techniques I saw for gluing in baffles. I don't remember who's they were, until you mentioned this. Yours made the most sense! It saved me time and made the build perfectly square. Thanks for pointing this out.

rmchoi · 02/01/2015, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cidbozek

i would lose the wheels, from all of my reading here its a very bad idea to move a tank with water in it. Very nice build.

cidbozek — I have seen the same information on moving a tank. I have my fingers crossed I won't need to! Thanks for noticing the build.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jreed983

Love the clean lines of your stand! I'm curious to see how you utilize equipment tray once your further into setting up your system.

Following along

Jreed983 —Thanks the nice words. I like the European look too. I have been working on stocking the equipment tray and will share the progress on it.

Fudz Cwerner · 02/01/2015, 11:07 PM

Great looking build! Make sure that you can remove that skimmer from the sump, and also the return pump. It looks like it will be a challenge once installed in the cabinet. Thats always a problem with tall sumps and baffles.

rmchoi · 02/02/2015, 04:04 PM

Placed Sump in the Stand

This is the sump in the stand with the skimmer and return pump.

The skimmer cup and return pump are relatively easy to remove, but not the skimmer without sliding the sump out a few inches.

rmchoi · 02/02/2015, 04:17 PM

A friend who owns a flooring company found this dense rubber tile in their warehouse. I lined the bottom of the cabinet this. This makes a waterproof surface and should help dampen some vibration.

Both layers are made of dense rubber and will not absorb water.

rmchoi · 02/02/2015, 04:28 PM

Staring to place gear in the equipment tray

I mentioned the equipment tray earlier in the stand build. Its designed to hold the controls on the front and the wires and equipment inside. This allow the wires to lay loose and hidden. It also allows me to unplug and remove equipment relatively easy without any disassembly.

The equipment tray doors used to mount tank controls.

rmchoi · 02/02/2015, 04:42 PM

Inside the equipment tray

The inside is quite messy, but this way by design.

The battery back up's are mounted on the sides and the the light transformer above.

The doors have an inch opening at the bottom for the cords.

shellsea · 02/02/2015, 05:02 PM

Very Nice build. I understand the concern about the wheels but hope you would be all right with the move-on-wheels if you pull all/most of the water out first. Love the equipment tray.

rmchoi · 02/02/2015, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fudz Cwerner

Great looking build! Make sure that you can remove that skimmer from the sump, and also the return pump. It looks like it will be a challenge once installed in the cabinet. Thats always a problem with tall sumps and baffles.

Fudz Cwerner —Thanks for looking. You are right about a tall sump making it more difficult to pull the skimmer. There is plenty of space to service the skimmer cup and return pump, but he sump needs to move a few inches to remove the skimmer. How often should one remove the skimmer for a full cleaning?

Quote:

Originally Posted by shellsea

Very Nice build. I understand the concern about the wheels but hope you would be all right with the move-on-wheels if you pull all/most of the water out first. Love the equipment tray.

shellsea — Thank you; so far installing the gear with the equipment tray seems too easy. If I have to move the tank, it will mean rolling it about 2 ft or so. As you suggested, I would lighten the load as much as possible.

rmchoi · 02/02/2015, 08:24 PM

Putting the tank, stand and sump together.

Almost all the equipment is in, except for the ATO and the plumbing.

75 gallon tank set

Received the Ecotech RMS tank mount arm for the lights. The quality is impressive.

cmoore806 · 02/02/2015, 08:30 PM

Love your setup. I may copycat for my first SW setup.

itzonlithai · 02/02/2015, 08:33 PM

Very clean setup, nice to see it all come together so seamlessly. Guess that's a credit to your planning. Can't wait to see it all running with livestock and corals!

rmchoi · 02/03/2015, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmoore806

Love your setup. I may copycat for my first SW setup.

cmoore806 —Thank you, I'm glad you like the build. I picked up many good ideas through the forums. My hope is there might be something helpful to from this thread for you and others in your tanks builds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by itzonlithai

Very clean setup, nice to see it all come together so seamlessly. Guess that's a credit to your planning. Can't wait to see it all running with livestock and corals!

itzonlithai — Thank you, so good so far on the set up. Much credit is due to the contributors of the forums, from where the ideas for this build were compiled.

Cincyreef · 02/03/2015, 10:09 AM

Very nice setup! Subscribed.

rmchoi · 02/03/2015, 10:49 AM

Some final photos of the stand.

Moving on to plumbing and aquascape for the tank.

rmchoi · 02/03/2015, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cincyreef

Very nice setup! Subscribed.

Cincyreef —I appreciate that. Coming up, I have a little concern on the rock layout. The live rock arrived way different than expected. Instead of a dozen typical pieces, it came in one large piece! Not sure where to go with this...yet.

shellsea · 02/03/2015, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmchoi

Cincyreef —I appreciate that. Coming up, I have a little concern on the rock layout. The live rock arrived way different than expected. Instead of a dozen typical pieces, it came in one large piece! Not sure where to go with this...yet.

RocketEngineer · 02/03/2015, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmchoi

Coming up, I have a little concern on the rock layout. The live rock arrived way different than expected. Instead of a dozen typical pieces, it came in one large piece! Not sure where to go with this...yet.

Hammer and chisel.

I've done that several times now. It makes a big mess and you risk breaking pieces you would have rather kept together but you can restructure the pieces into more interesting shapes that way. I just turned a piece that was about 20" long into a rounded coral head by cutting it in half and gluing the two pieces back together.

BTW, very clean setup so far. Much more organized than my rats nest and chemical plant.

rmchoi · 02/03/2015, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shellsea

shellsea — your suggestion is well taken!

Quote:

Originally Posted by RocketEngineer

Hammer and chisel.

I've done that several times now. It makes a big mess and you risk breaking pieces you would have rather kept together but you can restructure the pieces into more interesting shapes that way. I just turned a piece that was about 20" long into a rounded coral head by cutting it in half and gluing the two pieces back together.

BTW, very clean setup so far. Much more organized than my rats nest and chemical plant.

RocketEngineer —I'm going to cross my fingers and break into it! As you said, a big mess and glue leads to interesting shapes. Have thought about using rods and drilling rock for building rock structure. Any suggestions on rod materials beside pvc or resource links?

RocketEngineer · 02/03/2015, 06:29 PM

The last one I did just used wire ties to hold it together as the result had three points of contact so it sat how I wanted it. The other two I've done used a vertical PVC pipe with a square base. I hid the pipe with pieces of rock so looking at them you can't see the supports at all.

I will say that using a cheap 1/4" wide chisel makes it easier to break where you want. Cheap so you don't care what the chisel looks like when you are done. You will likely break things you don't want but it lets you be a little more selective than a hammer.

rickztahone · 02/04/2015, 12:28 AM

Great looking sump design. I've been looking at different layouts for sumps and yours looks great to emulate.

rmchoi · 02/04/2015, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickztahone

Great looking sump design. I've been looking at different layouts for sumps and yours looks great to emulate.

rickztahone —Thanks for the compliment. I used designs of the newer acrylic commercial sumps, like Elite Aquatics. They are sold "fully loaded" with all items built in, like separate sock chambers, probe holders, dosing tube rack, adjustable skimmer weir. They even come with the filter socks and Uni-seals.

I thought they were pricey at first. When you DIY to include all the features, you realize commercial sumps are much more than a few baffles and the value is commensurate with the cost.

EvenFurther · 02/04/2015, 05:12 PM

Awesome build so far. Thanks for posting the pics. I'm building a 75 with oversized DIY stand/sump and its great to see other set-ups.

EvenFurther · 02/04/2015, 05:18 PM

What are the details on the filter sock perforated covers? Is that a standard 100 or 200 micron filter sock?

02/01/2015, 03:37 PM	#26
rmchoi Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Michigan Posts: 148	Equipment placement in the sump. This was a dry run to see how the skimmer and pump fit. Last edited by rmchoi; 12/26/2017 at 04:31 PM.

02/01/2015, 11:07 PM	#29
Fudz Cwerner Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Tx Posts: 115	Great looking build! Make sure that you can remove that skimmer from the sump, and also the return pump. It looks like it will be a challenge once installed in the cabinet. Thats always a problem with tall sumps and baffles. __________________ Live the dream! 210g mixed reef, AI Hydra/Vega combo, 3x MP40, Octopus 5000, BR140 running Biopellets 60g cube sea horse tank, AI Nano, 2x MP10, XS160, BR70 running Biopellets.

02/02/2015, 04:04 PM	#30
rmchoi Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Michigan Posts: 148	Placed Sump in the Stand This is the sump in the stand with the skimmer and return pump. The skimmer cup and return pump are relatively easy to remove, but not the skimmer without sliding the sump out a few inches. Last edited by rmchoi; 12/26/2017 at 04:34 PM.

02/02/2015, 04:17 PM	#31
rmchoi Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Michigan Posts: 148	A friend who owns a flooring company found this dense rubber tile in their warehouse. I lined the bottom of the cabinet this. This makes a waterproof surface and should help dampen some vibration. Both layers are made of dense rubber and will not absorb water. Last edited by rmchoi; 12/26/2017 at 04:37 PM.

02/02/2015, 04:28 PM	#32
rmchoi Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Michigan Posts: 148	Staring to place gear in the equipment tray I mentioned the equipment tray earlier in the stand build. Its designed to hold the controls on the front and the wires and equipment inside. This allow the wires to lay loose and hidden. It also allows me to unplug and remove equipment relatively easy without any disassembly. The equipment tray doors used to mount tank controls. Last edited by rmchoi; 12/26/2017 at 04:40 PM.

02/02/2015, 04:42 PM	#33
rmchoi Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Michigan Posts: 148	Inside the equipment tray The inside is quite messy, but this way by design. The battery back up's are mounted on the sides and the the light transformer above. The doors have an inch opening at the bottom for the cords. Last edited by rmchoi; 12/26/2017 at 04:52 PM.

02/02/2015, 05:02 PM	#34
shellsea Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Destin, Fl. Posts: 479	Very Nice build. I understand the concern about the wheels but hope you would be all right with the move-on-wheels if you pull all/most of the water out first. Love the equipment tray. __________________ Jack "Shellsea" 120 mixed reef, Reef Breeder Photon 48, Apex and a proud owner of a Lifereef Skimmer

02/02/2015, 08:24 PM	#36
rmchoi Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Michigan Posts: 148	Putting the tank, stand and sump together. Almost all the equipment is in, except for the ATO and the plumbing. 75 gallon tank set Received the Ecotech RMS tank mount arm for the lights. The quality is impressive. Last edited by rmchoi; 12/26/2017 at 04:56 PM.

02/02/2015, 08:30 PM	#37
cmoore806 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 24	Love your setup. I may copycat for my first SW setup.

02/02/2015, 08:33 PM	#38
itzonlithai Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 198	Very clean setup, nice to see it all come together so seamlessly. Guess that's a credit to your planning. Can't wait to see it all running with livestock and corals!

02/03/2015, 10:09 AM	#40
Cincyreef Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 59	Very nice setup! Subscribed.

02/03/2015, 10:49 AM	#41
rmchoi Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Michigan Posts: 148	Some final photos of the stand. Moving on to plumbing and aquascape for the tank. Last edited by rmchoi; 12/26/2017 at 04:59 PM.

02/03/2015, 06:29 PM	#46
RocketEngineer Space is big. Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Maryland Eastern Shore Posts: 3,226	The last one I did just used wire ties to hold it together as the result had three points of contact so it sat how I wanted it. The other two I've done used a vertical PVC pipe with a square base. I hid the pipe with pieces of rock so looking at them you can't see the supports at all. I will say that using a cheap 1/4" wide chisel makes it easier to break where you want. Cheap so you don't care what the chisel looks like when you are done. You will likely break things you don't want but it lets you be a little more selective than a hammer. __________________ -RocketEngineer "Knowledge is what you get when you read the directions, experience is what you get when you don't." - Unknown Current Tank Info: None Currently

02/04/2015, 12:28 AM	#47
rickztahone Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Pacoima (SFV) Posts: 1,481	Great looking sump design. I've been looking at different layouts for sumps and yours looks great to emulate.

02/04/2015, 05:12 PM	#49
EvenFurther Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 352	Awesome build so far. Thanks for posting the pics. I'm building a 75 with oversized DIY stand/sump and its great to see other set-ups.

02/04/2015, 05:18 PM	#50
EvenFurther Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 352	What are the details on the filter sock perforated covers? Is that a standard 100 or 200 micron filter sock?