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steve1981 · 01/03/2017, 06:42 PM

Hi all.

I started of with a 30l biro marine convert, then went to a 120l Juwel and now I'm in my new house I am going for the big boy whilst my live rock is kept alive in a Red Sea 130. (well as big as I can). Unfortunately I had a MAJOR nitrite spike before I moved from my old place which killed off almost everything! Very upsetting. Buy hey, it happened right.

I am going for a 5 foot x 2 foot high x 1.5 feet deep on a custom built (by myself) unit/stand with canopy above and cupboard to the right. All clad in high gloss doors to go with the kitchen/dining room look. I plan on documenting my progress and through in some questions and pleas for advice along the way.

I am doing everything from scratch so hope this may be of some benefit to someone. I have only been in the hobby for a couple of years and keen to get a decent size tank going. I also plan to make a full integrated Arduino controller to control everything from lighting modes to feeding, from dosing to temperatures and alerts, but thats for another day (or year).

The rough design for the tank unit is going to be as follows:

uploading images

As for the tank, I have a couple of questions that I would like advice on.

The units in the picture above the tank are going to be half and half cupboard and empty space to allow access to the top of the tank. If you imagine open up the top the cupboard doors you will see a 300mm high cupboard at the top running the length of the tank. The door will over hand the bottom of this cupboard by another 300-350mm or so so that it allows about 350mm for access to the top of the tank and I want it to come down a bit so that it hides the top rim of the tank hiding the bracing and the air gap at the top. Question is...

1. How much room do you all have above your tank for access? Will 350mm be enough? Too much? Could I get away with smaller do you think?

2. How high does the water normally sit? I know this is determined by the standpipes etc but as a norm, how much gap is there usually between the very top of the tank and the waterline? (So I know how far to build the unit to come down the glass to hide all the not so pretty stuff.)

Other questions relate to piping. Because of the setup in the pic, I am planning on having the exit pipes (bean animal method) exiting the tank on the right hand side as it will be hidden by the tall cupboard. I plan on cutting an access hole but the whole cupboard can be pulled out if major work needed. My original plan was to have an external weir and have the 3 bean animal pipes going straight down to the sump from there. However I am now thinking of going another route and having a small tooth weir inside (not full height) and having the three holes cut in the right side of the tank with the pipe bends happening just inside the tank but hidden from view by the weir. like this... http://www.beananimal.com/media/4054...de_500x375.jpg
...but not on the back, on the side with a smaller weir.

3. My measurements show this display tank should hold around 470 litres. After reading up between 8-10 times turnover is average. Does anyone see any problems with using three 1" pipes for my bean animal drain and 1" for the return? From what I have read, 1" pipes can carry 600GPH under normal gravity but if I understand it correctly, the bean animal method drains through two pipes, one primary and a secondary with the this as an emergency, so with both it should be able to handle 1200GPH. My source also states that 1" can return under pressure up to 2200GPH so that should be enough too. Unless anyone thinks differently?

Wish me luck!!!

01/03/2017, 06:42 PM	#1
steve1981 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 355	New 100G reef tank build Hi all. I started of with a 30l biro marine convert, then went to a 120l Juwel and now I'm in my new house I am going for the big boy whilst my live rock is kept alive in a Red Sea 130. (well as big as I can). Unfortunately I had a MAJOR nitrite spike before I moved from my old place which killed off almost everything! Very upsetting. Buy hey, it happened right. I am going for a 5 foot x 2 foot high x 1.5 feet deep on a custom built (by myself) unit/stand with canopy above and cupboard to the right. All clad in high gloss doors to go with the kitchen/dining room look. I plan on documenting my progress and through in some questions and pleas for advice along the way. I am doing everything from scratch so hope this may be of some benefit to someone. I have only been in the hobby for a couple of years and keen to get a decent size tank going. I also plan to make a full integrated Arduino controller to control everything from lighting modes to feeding, from dosing to temperatures and alerts, but thats for another day (or year). The rough design for the tank unit is going to be as follows: uploading images As for the tank, I have a couple of questions that I would like advice on. The units in the picture above the tank are going to be half and half cupboard and empty space to allow access to the top of the tank. If you imagine open up the top the cupboard doors you will see a 300mm high cupboard at the top running the length of the tank. The door will over hand the bottom of this cupboard by another 300-350mm or so so that it allows about 350mm for access to the top of the tank and I want it to come down a bit so that it hides the top rim of the tank hiding the bracing and the air gap at the top. Question is... 1. How much room do you all have above your tank for access? Will 350mm be enough? Too much? Could I get away with smaller do you think? 2. How high does the water normally sit? I know this is determined by the standpipes etc but as a norm, how much gap is there usually between the very top of the tank and the waterline? (So I know how far to build the unit to come down the glass to hide all the not so pretty stuff.) Other questions relate to piping. Because of the setup in the pic, I am planning on having the exit pipes (bean animal method) exiting the tank on the right hand side as it will be hidden by the tall cupboard. I plan on cutting an access hole but the whole cupboard can be pulled out if major work needed. My original plan was to have an external weir and have the 3 bean animal pipes going straight down to the sump from there. However I am now thinking of going another route and having a small tooth weir inside (not full height) and having the three holes cut in the right side of the tank with the pipe bends happening just inside the tank but hidden from view by the weir. like this... http://www.beananimal.com/media/4054...de_500x375.jpg ...but not on the back, on the side with a smaller weir. 3. My measurements show this display tank should hold around 470 litres. After reading up between 8-10 times turnover is average. Does anyone see any problems with using three 1" pipes for my bean animal drain and 1" for the return? From what I have read, 1" pipes can carry 600GPH under normal gravity but if I understand it correctly, the bean animal method drains through two pipes, one primary and a secondary with the this as an emergency, so with both it should be able to handle 1200GPH. My source also states that 1" can return under pressure up to 2200GPH so that should be enough too. Unless anyone thinks differently? Wish me luck!!!