New Build ~ 600 Gallon

[Def Leppard Hysteria]

Great feedback, thank you! That's how I ended up with two 1000 models. Decided to go with the 2000's for this tank and separate the pumps after I had already ordered the 1000's.

One of the 1000's is reserved for my 330 gallon and the other is currently running on a 250 gallon. Only complaint I have is it drains the tank to backwash. I still haven't figured out a fix for that yet.

Yeah. I hear ya. Kind of have to take the good with the bad with the Ultimas. Never (knock on wood) having to get inside and physically clean them is a wonderful thing. If I had a faster fill supply, I could literally do my 50% water changes on my 600 gallon tank in minutes. Just remember, always shut off your pump before rotating the head on the Ultima ☺. I've had my set up running for over a year now and it's second nature to go through the steps needed to backwash the tank and get it up and running again.

Can't wait to see this all done, looks amazing so far!

 

[jaws7777]

I ordered it through Wet Spot here in Portland. I live about 30 minutes from their brick and mortar store. Most retailers should be able to get them. They are made by Zoo Med which is a fairly common brand.

View attachment 1239283

**EDIT**
The dims are 48" x 24" x 10" (not 12").


**EDIT #2**
The UPC code is 09761207151 - if you want to track one down that code will be the best thing to search for. It is unique to this product alone (UPC = universal product code).

thx man. Think that woukd make a cool planted upper jaw tank. How are the pups to be are they here yet ?

 

[JK47]

Awesome tank and progress. Keep up the good work

Thank you! I have a tank I'll get to next month that is right up your alley. Stay tuned

Deep Blue makes 48x24x12 and 48x24x16 frag tanks... 60g and 80g. $108 is a great price! I've seen the deep blue frag tanks above in stores for $200-300.

Great build... watching with interest

Thank you! Cant beat the price for the footprint. The height is perfect for me. The tanks are diluted by 700+ gallons so height and volume are not nearly as important as footprint. In fact the shorter height helps. It means there is enough room for two

Awesome setup and great job on the clean up, I will be keeping an eye on this

Thank you!

Yeah. I hear ya. Kind of have to take the good with the bad with the Ultimas. Never (knock on wood) having to get inside and physically clean them is a wonderful thing. If I had a faster fill supply, I could literally do my 50% water changes on my 600 gallon tank in minutes. Just remember, always shut off your pump before rotating the head on the Ultima ☺. I've had my set up running for over a year now and it's second nature to go through the steps needed to backwash the tank and get it up and running again.

Can't wait to see this all done, looks amazing so far!

Thank you! The pumps are on switches in a server cabinet under the stand. I'll get pics of the switches here shortly.

thx man. Think that woukd make a cool planted upper jaw tank. How are the pups to be are they here yet ?

They are overdue. They will drop literally any minute. I'm getting a bit ansy to be honest...

 

[JK47]

Drilled the holes slightly larger than intended. I dropped the bit at some point and didn't realize it was out of round as bad as it was. I decided to step up to a larger gasket just in case.



The larger gasket is intended for a larger diameter bulkhead fitting. I need to fill this gap in order for the larger gasket to sit evenly behind the flange of the bulkhead fitting.



As you can see it does not sit "centered" behind the flange.



The fix: get six more bulkhead fittings to scavenge the gaskets from.




I cut the center of each gasket out as a template to hold the larger diameter gasket centered behind the flange of the bulkhead fitting.




Much better.. They are all now seated and centered. Not interested in staring at a crooked gasket for the rest of the tanks life. This seemed worth losing a bit if time.



Glad that's done

 

[JK47]

The tank as of an hour ago. Time to repeat all of this on the left hand side. Rinse, lather, repeat....




Same process. Tape everything off in the areas to mark and drill.



I used the manifold for each side to mark the holes to drill. Any imperfections in the manifolds will be transferred to the hole template and in turn be an exact match. I am doing the same thing for the gasket on this side as well so they match. I am going to use the same bit as well. The reason in doing so it if this does not work, I will have the same matching problem on both sides and can correct both with whatever potential fix I come up with. If that ever becomes a necessity



I should have this drilled and solvent welded before the end of the night and ready to go on the stand tomorrow after everything has cured.

 

[JK47]

Last hard line left on the tank is complete. I still have a couple of holes to drill in the top for the soft line returns from the sump. That is easy though.

I had to make one last minute 1/4" adjustment on the template. My dog really enjoys "helping"..



These are not tightened down in the pic yet but everything is square and true.



All done. This is much easier the second time around. I think I will do this for returns with manifolds from now on. It was much easier than building to fit holes.



All hard lines are in. The tank plumbing is finished and ready to go on the stand tomorrow.



I do regret not screwing the loc-line knuckle to the bulkhead fitting before installing it. Now I have to wait until I can get inside the tank in order to reach it. Oh well. You guys get the idea.



Now I just need to hustle up some muscle to help me get this on the stand and it should be wet the following day. I only really need one solid day to hard line the Ultima's in and the overflow to the sump.

 

[Dis]

Looking good. When you plumb the ultima do you have to plumb a drain line in to backwash it? Can that same line empty the tank for a water change?

Plumbing them always seems so complicated

 

[Jez1992]

This build looks awesome.

Although I'm confused, with those returns wouldn't it cause a back siphon as you have the sump so isn't closed loop? Or is the sump being ran separate to ultimate?

Sorry if I missed something?!

 

[nzafi]

Sump is run separately.

Curious how your flow works out and if the outputs on the sides help push debris to the intakes. I like the idea of intakes on the bottom without outputs along the top. The output push water against the opposite glass and down causing flow directly to the intakes. There was another tank build like that which it seemed to work perfect for. They never have to do siphoning of the ground.

 

[Def Leppard Hysteria]

Looking good. When you plumb the ultima do you have to plumb a drain line in to backwash it? Can that same line empty the tank for a water change?

Plumbing them always seems so complicated

I have my drain line on my Ultima 1000 plumbed directly into my house main drain. I placed a pool sight tube along the pvc, so I can get a better view of how dirty the water is coming out of the filter. The little sight glass on the filter is fairly small and it can get pretty hard to see exactly how clear or unclear the water is while backflushing the filter. You only need one drain line. The rotating valve head on the Ultima will determine what "mode" you're in, ie. Backwash, Recirculate, Waste, Rinse, Closed, Filter, etc. So, if you want to just drain your tank for a water change, you can rotate the handle to Waste and fire your pump back on and it'll bypass your media.