diy 125g stand, filter.. my build thread!

[s14swap240sx]

Ok, so i got the tank, new.. with overflow and lids super cheap on craigslist, and wanted to keep everything on a strict budget. SOoooo my 125g build will have a diy stand, and also diy sump, which my current 55 gallon tank will be used as a sump, and the current stock will be switched over.

So here is the current 55g.. I have a couple fish in it.. benga yellow, vc10, blue dolphin, electric blue hap, 2 ob's and some other dudes.. total about 8 fish. I have been super excited to get a bigger tank, hopefully the vc10 will grow faster in its soon to be new home!

Filters are 2, eheim 2217's, korila circulation pump, big sponge filter.. eheim jager heater. Nitrates are dead low, this set up has been working well for me.

Here is the new tank

AND the stand build begins.. not before a lil giants football

Here is the base to my stand.. its meassures 72.5 x 18.5

I laid the center 2x4s flat to have room for a nice recessed piece of plywood where the sump will be.

and the top

The construction is 2x6 top with 2x4 base, and 2x4 legs. The center brace is offset to make easy access and removal of the sump. I have to still add one more brace to legs to prevent and side to side play.. but honestly i feel it is far from necessary. Plywood top and bottom.

And next is to paint the base of the stand.. but not before another giants game!

GREEN BAY is next!

 

[s14swap240sx]

Ok so for paint i used outdoor deck stuff.. Before painting i glued all the seams with liquid nails.. had to apply twice because the glue gets absorbed into the wood.

Ok so that dried super fast cause we had great weather. And today i started skining the stand.

Ok.. so i realized i need to sand the top plywood piece some more because the skin is not perfectly lined up, it needs to be sanded and i will be able to realign the 1x's to hopefully get a seamless look... im at the point where the lack of tools is starting to realy prevent how clean this is going to be, but for my first wood work project this has been coming out pretty good!

Next up to pick out some moldings, so i can use those to hide the screws i will use to fasten the skin onto the stand.. i also wanted to add some shelves inside the stand now.

This is my first big tank, with a sump so im going to ditch the doors for now... i will prob be checking 10 times a day for leaks or anything odd.

My slim line 3d background should be here soon.. my heater and extra sponge filters for the sump came in as well as

Fancy for sure!!!

The idea for my sump will be a series of 2/3 corse filter socks, and 3 fine socks, into a refugium of 3 bio sponge filters, into a wetdry holding about 10g a biomedia, and then an area for two heaters and more media like eheim biomax and crushed coral, finally into a mag12 pump.. hoping for about 700-800 gallons per hour of filtration.

DBN Slimline backgrounds

 

[s14swap240sx]

here are some more pictures.. stand is almost done.. just need to use some wood filler sand and another coat of stain

sure hope the floor doesnt break.

So thats my progress as of today.. if anyone has any advice please chime in

 

[pdandy]

Looks amazing so far!! I did almost the exact same thing when I bought my 135. And I used my old 75 as the sump. Trust me, you will love it!! If you haven't bought the mag drive yet, I'd go with the 18. I went with the 12 and feel like it's not enough.

 

[s14swap240sx]

mag 18 huh.. im going to be able to drain like 1200gph max from my built in overflows.. i was really worried a mag18 would move to much water.. once i draw up some piping and mock it up i will measure exact headloss and post everything up and i guess we can all decide

 

[pdandy]

mag 18 huh.. im going to be able to drain like 1200gph max from my built in overflows.. i was really worried a mag18 would move to much water.. once i draw up some piping and mock it up i will measure exact headloss and post everything up and i guess we can all decide

Good idea. Head pressure is a big factor. When I first set mine up I did a quick test. I ran both drains to a 5 gallon bucket and timed how long it took to fill it up, did a little math and came up with around 700gph. Since then I rearranged my sump and took maybe a foot off of the return. So I may be around 800. Remember, you can always throw on a ball valve and throttle it down a bit. I wish I had the option to turn mine down rather than wanting more.

 

[s14swap240sx]

instead of creating that back pressure on the pump i was gonna put a t off the pumps 1.5inch diameter pipe or whatever is recomended for the pump and t a ball valve to return excess flow back to the sump and run it by the wet/dry portion of the sump.

 

[pdandy]

That'd work too!

 

[jft]

go giants swamped the pack !!!! nice job!

 

[s14swap240sx]

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