185 Gallon Planted Tank Build

MHenrichs48

Gambusia
MFK Member
Feb 29, 2020
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I have another thread opened (here) on the stand that I have for the new tank, but I thought it would be good to start a general build thread to get feedback from you all on the build.

This will be a 185 Gallon build on a tank that used to be saltwater but I'm converting to fresh, so it's drilled with dual overflows. My idea is to build a planted tank with soft water cichlids in it, but I haven't decided which yet.

To start with, here's the stand. It's made of 2" steel tubing and it's 39" tall:

stand.jpeg

I recently painted it with a hammered rustoleum that looks really sweet. I'll share a picture of that later. I'm planning to build front and side panels out of old barn wood (depending on whether or not I have enough), and I'll post those pictures when I have it as well.

At the moment, I'm planning out my sump, and I'd love to get some feedback on the design (below). This will be a 36" 40 gallon breeder tank, and I'll be ordering some glass baffles to put inside.

sump (1).png

Any recommendations on the above? At this point it's wide open for changes. Thanks y'all!
 
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Oughtsix

Redtail Catfish
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Apr 9, 2011
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My sump design theory is keep it simple and most of all easy to maintain!!!

Your first compartment (4") is going to collect a bunch of debris on the bottom of it that you will have to figure out how to wipe/vacuum out. I would get rid of the first partition and use 9" wide foam instead of the 5" wide you are showing. Pull the foam, rinse it out and replace it... pretty quick and easy. I like how you have the foam on the egg crate. Make the egg crate removable so you can pull it out and wipe underneath it. You will get some (but a whole lot less) debris collecting under the foam.

Bio media compartment looks good. Put the bio media in a mesh bag so you can pull it easy when you need to do a deep cleaning. Put an air stone/wand under the bio media for extra oxygenation/off gassing.

Refugium - The water is going to flow across the top of the refugium and not provide much circulation in this compartment. Maybe get rid of the partition set off the bottom holding the second fine filter sponge and move it to the left of the refugium compartment so the water enters the refugium from the bottom and leaves from the top to provide much better flow?

Make sure to plan for enough room for a completely submersed heater.

OR!!!

Maybe just use 3 partitions.
1) 3 layers of filter foam on top of the egg crate as shown with the bag of bio media underneath the foam.
2) The 1st compartment would provide the bottom water entry into the refiguim
3) An overflow partition into the return pump compartment.

This will give you a bigger refigium with better flow. A simplified layout. And you really haven't lost anything.


Hmmm....

With your current design put a very big very fine mesh bag lining in the fist "dish scrubbers" compartment. The water would not flow through this mesh, the very fine mesh would just be there to collect the debris. Pull the mesh bag, rinse it out and replace it... this would be a lot easier than trying to vacuum / wipe out his first compartment.


... just some random thoughts.
 

deeda

Silver Tier VIP
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Mar 26, 2008
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Another thought though from someone that hasn't made a sump ever but had considered it.

Instead of going through the trouble of installing glass panes to separate, what about using some Poret foam filter media and make vertical dividers? Check out this Sump layout using 2" thick pieces of varying pore size. You can use as many or as few as you want and still have room for a refugium.
 
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MHenrichs48

Gambusia
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Feb 29, 2020
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Sorry y'all, I'm a bit overdue on updates. Firstly, I've made some adjustments to the sump design. Folks on the planted tank forum convinced me to go with a matten filter style setup. I think I'm also covering the suggestions here as well. Here's what that design looks like:

matten-filter.png


I've also been working on the stand, and made some good progress building the doors. My wife and I built a bar using some old barn wood, and there was enough left over that i'm using that as doors and sides. Here is a photo of what the stand will look like with the new doors. They're just placed in, no hinges yet. I'm hopeful I can get the sides finished this weekend.




Image from iOS (1).jpg
 

Devaji108

Feeder Fish
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Apr 8, 2020
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nice stand! came out perfect! wanna build we one next? lol

Ok my thoughts on the sump...I have never have a FW sump just lots SW sumps so take that for what ever it worth.

filter socks are nice...BUT unless you are really gonna clean them they will end up being a mess not sure how that really effects FW planted tanks but in SW it will give you huge algae blums and tank crash. so if you want to use them get a few and have regular time to change them out.

alternatively and in my option easier and better is Polly fill from waltmart and filter cups. I generally change my out ( depending on what tank bio load etc.) once a week or so take less than a min. grab it out trash it and add new. simple.

good luck! keep the update coming as I have always wanted to do a FW planted tank.
 
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MHenrichs48

Gambusia
MFK Member
Feb 29, 2020
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We had a bit of a delay while working on some other home projects, but I actually got the tank on the stand last night! Next step is getting it all cleaned up and plumbed. My sump is built and ready to go, so I'm making progress. IMG_1594.jpg
 
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