Well, this started in a different thread that went to the birds. So, I'll start it off here again. Just pics and a little info... thats all. Well, it is the 300 gallon rubbermaid tub you can purchase at most feed/livestock type stores (I picked mine up from the TSC for $170).
I was going to use a FX5 but I decided to build my own wet/dry with the 55 gal taking up space in my basement. I siliconed two peices of 3/8"glass (you can see in the pics). One peice (12 x 11.75") from the top down near the center of the tank, and a smaller peice (8 x 11.75") from the bottom up, about 12-14" from the other side of the tank. I am going to remove the smaller peice becuase it is cuasing more trouble than it is worth. I put it in there as kind of a buble trap, but as the water evaporates, the only water level that changes is the last section (about 12x12x8). And it evaporates fast. I don't think many bubles will make it to the other side of the tank without the wall anyways. The way I hold up the media is with eggcrate. I didn't glue in any supports for the eggcrate so I just made legs out of the extra eggcrate. It works kind of nice, as I can adjust it very easily if need be. I made a drip plate out of plexi glass, but I wasn't happy with it. Then Rallysman turned me on to this stuff made for cross stitching. It was very cheap and came in a few sizes(in the 2nd pic you can see the two sizes, I used the smaller one).
Next up is the stand. This is a very technical part of this build as I used a peice of plywood and a few cinder blocks. lol. These tubs are sturdy enough to have just put it on the cinders alone, but I wanted to hide them a bit. It is still an ugly stand, but it does what it needs to (raises the overflow/bulkheads higher than the 21"tall w/d).
Next up we have the tub. The only modifications I made to the tub are the bulkheads. I originally had the tub set up with a stand pipe running from the stock drain location (near the bottom of the tub) to the surface. I deciced to scratch that idea becuase if the stand pipe came loose the tank could completly drain itself (it would have to be a freak occurance... the stand pipe comes loose, power goes out/ pump stop working) but I didn't want to chance it. So I decided to go with two 1.5" bulkheads located on the upper 1/3 of the tub. It was an easy install becuase the tub is a plastic resin and was easily drilled. From there the water travels through 1.5" pvc pipes and then through a 90 degree elbow that directs the water straight down to the w/d.
All in all, this setup has ran great and is waiting for some new inhabitants. The only real problem I had was with heating it. I still can only get the temp to around 75. I could use about an 80 temp in there. I only have one 400 watt heater going so I'll have to get another one. The Via Aqua pump is working great and has been quietly pumping water non stop, so so far I am happy. So what do ya think?
I was going to use a FX5 but I decided to build my own wet/dry with the 55 gal taking up space in my basement. I siliconed two peices of 3/8"glass (you can see in the pics). One peice (12 x 11.75") from the top down near the center of the tank, and a smaller peice (8 x 11.75") from the bottom up, about 12-14" from the other side of the tank. I am going to remove the smaller peice becuase it is cuasing more trouble than it is worth. I put it in there as kind of a buble trap, but as the water evaporates, the only water level that changes is the last section (about 12x12x8). And it evaporates fast. I don't think many bubles will make it to the other side of the tank without the wall anyways. The way I hold up the media is with eggcrate. I didn't glue in any supports for the eggcrate so I just made legs out of the extra eggcrate. It works kind of nice, as I can adjust it very easily if need be. I made a drip plate out of plexi glass, but I wasn't happy with it. Then Rallysman turned me on to this stuff made for cross stitching. It was very cheap and came in a few sizes(in the 2nd pic you can see the two sizes, I used the smaller one).
Next up is the stand. This is a very technical part of this build as I used a peice of plywood and a few cinder blocks. lol. These tubs are sturdy enough to have just put it on the cinders alone, but I wanted to hide them a bit. It is still an ugly stand, but it does what it needs to (raises the overflow/bulkheads higher than the 21"tall w/d).
Next up we have the tub. The only modifications I made to the tub are the bulkheads. I originally had the tub set up with a stand pipe running from the stock drain location (near the bottom of the tub) to the surface. I deciced to scratch that idea becuase if the stand pipe came loose the tank could completly drain itself (it would have to be a freak occurance... the stand pipe comes loose, power goes out/ pump stop working) but I didn't want to chance it. So I decided to go with two 1.5" bulkheads located on the upper 1/3 of the tub. It was an easy install becuase the tub is a plastic resin and was easily drilled. From there the water travels through 1.5" pvc pipes and then through a 90 degree elbow that directs the water straight down to the w/d.
All in all, this setup has ran great and is waiting for some new inhabitants. The only real problem I had was with heating it. I still can only get the temp to around 75. I could use about an 80 temp in there. I only have one 400 watt heater going so I'll have to get another one. The Via Aqua pump is working great and has been quietly pumping water non stop, so so far I am happy. So what do ya think?
. I will get some more current pics soon.
