90 gallon diy under counter from scratch

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Pharaoh;3757350; said:
Should be fine for the sump to be a bit off center. The goal is to just have the water feed to the sump.

90 gallon isn't that big, you should be OK with that tank without reinforcing the floor.

The 30 gallon would make a better sump. I would pass on the acrylic and go to a glass shop and have a piece cut to fit the bottom of the tank. It would probably be cheaper that the acrylic as well. Silicone does not adhere that well to acrylic.
Click to expand...

do i need the 30 even with the overflow inside the tank for bio media? the sump will only be used for water flow not any type of filtration. all my media will fit nicely in the over flow which has PLENTY of space for media

11 gallons worth of media space as well as another 10 in the sump
 
Ok so im going to buy my plumbing and some 2x4's for the sub-frame skeleton mini stand whatever you want to call it

also i have solid wood doors at work that are just useless at this point saving me some work

so basically sub frame will be

3-2x4's laid parallel to each other underneath the door which will be cut to fit the tank

so

__________
__________
__________

door on top of 2x4's

tank on top of door

another plus side to this design is the holes in the bottom of the tank will still be able to be accessed as i am notching the door out so the plumbing is easily taken out

____________
____________
O________O

the great part about the door is it will never warp or bend so if there is sinking or moving underneath the tank it wont do anything but become unlevel which can be easily adjusted with a quick shim job.

still hoping that i dont have to go more then about 4 inches so i have room for my arms and stuff up top.

gonna be starting construction tomorrow after i get the door out of my work. already cut just gotta get the truck and take it home.

last but not least i realized after i got done being yelled at that my girlfriend was right she wasnt going to be able to open the cabinets under the sink if i centered the tank so i had to push the design into the living room side of the counter more. Problem with that is there is a vent there so i had to come up with a way to redirect the air from the heating vent our from under the tank.

Basically just going cut the 2x4 and leave a gap over vent put sheet metal behind to direct air back into the living room.

seems like its soooo long before i get to put this thing up lol

see you tomorrow with vids i hope.

lots of readjusting has slowed down what i hoped to be a 2 day project :(
 
Jackee's gonna beat you! Why do you want the overflow on the other side the sump will be on? Less visible when you look at the tank from the living room I guess. That pipe going 4ft parallel under the tank wont work unless the sump is lower than the pipe and it wont be that way so you'll have to turn it around. Witch makes me think......its gonna be pretty much the same if you do turn it around since the hole is in the bottom of the tank. Huston we have a problem!
 
brad2525;3760852; said:
Jackee's gonna beat you! Why do you want the overflow on the other side the sump will be on? Less visible when you look at the tank from the living room I guess. That pipe going 4ft parallel under the tank wont work unless the sump is lower than the pipe and it wont be that way so you'll have to turn it around. Witch makes me think......its gonna be pretty much the same if you do turn it around since the hole is in the bottom of the tank. Huston we have a problem!
Click to expand...

an off set sump will not be affected by what your talking about.

and worst case scenario i put a stand pip in the over flow that sits higher then the top of the sump.

im pretty sure worst case scenario the drain hole/pipe has to be higher then the sump not any certain point in the plumbing.

u can technically siphon upwards.

take ur cleaning siphon for instance
 
ne one else think imma have problems with this?

_________
| Tank |_______
| Tank | Sump |

thats about what its goin to look like

whats ur thoughts.
 
No I have a 90 tall sitting on my floor plumbed to a common sump to the 240 display in my Living room. It makes a 90 and the back side leads down a hall so it helps define the room, anyways my 90 gallon is only a foot higher than my sump and the only time I had a problem is some how a bio ball got lodged in my overflow and backed up the overflow. That would of caused a spill no matter what height the 90 was at. Also the piping to the sump is one about 8 inches from the top of the 90.
 
Update

another video

basic rundown of what i have so far

taking longer then i wanted but ive been sick and havnt been able to get a healthy person to come near me to help haha

tomorrow should have another update will have the counter supported by the new tank stand rather then the current shelving

got a 2 inch solid wood door from work FO FREE

put that on top of some 2x4's...WALA a base for my tank to sit on with just enough room for plumbing underneath as well as cut offs etc.

check out my youtube.com video for the full update

let me know what you think so far


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_fbb2-GOXI

just posted the video still being processed should be up in 5 10 minutes
 
Wow after a thousand posts and just as many ideas regarding my plumbing i finished it today put about 20 gallons in and tested it for leaks.

all the plumbing is done i just need to grab a longer hose for the drain side.

basically i removed the sump hard lines the plumbing into both the return and the feed of the pump and i am going to put all the filter media in the over flow.

also i picked up a magnum 350 for free just gotta buy a micron filter for it

and i also have a fluval 404 in the mail

basically gonna have massive filtration on this 90 gallon its going to be awesome.

will post a video tomorrow when i fill it.
 
so i guess water testing with only 20 gallons wasnt enough...

got about 55 gallons in and the tank itself leaked...

tore the silicone out last night no clue what im doing really but ive read some posts on here hope things go well on the resealing end

1 question and i actually got 1 answer but looking for some more

the overflow that was built aftermarket in the tank is silicone the tank is glass

how do i bond the 2 together?

1 guy said sand the acrylic a bit but i just want some more thoughts on this let me know what you think.
 
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