DIY down and dirty 90g/40b sump on the cheap (ballin' on a budget)

[mudbuttjones]

The hardware store sells a special conduit cement but ive read the regular stuff works too. Im just going to use regular clear oatey pvc glue and only use the purple primer where im transitioning from plumbing pvc to the conduit.

Its sched 40 and fits perfectly. It seems to be lower density than its plumbing counterparts, but its still strong. I would never use it in my house's plumbing but I dont see an issue with this. I did a test run with the pipes dry fitted and aside from small leaks the pipe fittings didn't blow apart, good to know im not dealing with much pressure in the plumbing from the pump. So it'll be smooth sailing once its glued.

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[matseski]

Great progress! I am in the planning stages of a very similar project, trying to do a freshwater 75g or 90g, with a diy stand, canopy, and sump. I am a graduate student so money is tight and while I have been scouring craigslist for a few months, have not come across a reef ready tank in that size range without having to buy a $1000 package. I see that you found the 90 for $240, may I ask where you found it for that price? I have been hard pressed to find anything in the sub $500 price range locally (Atlanta), or online. Looking forward to seeing it up and running.

 

[mudbuttjones]

Great progress! I am in the planning stages of a very similar project, trying to do a freshwater 75g or 90g, with a diy stand, canopy, and sump. I am a graduate student so money is tight and while I have been scouring craigslist for a few months, have not come across a reef ready tank in that size range without having to buy a $1000 package. I see that you found the 90 for $240, may I ask where you found it for that price? I have been hard pressed to find anything in the sub $500 price range locally (Atlanta), or online. Looking forward to seeing it up and running.

I ordered it from my Lfs in june or july. They quoted me $315. I put $100 down and they ordered it, a week later they called and said that they were going on sale in august for $240 and asked me if I wanted to wait an extra month. Really cool of them.

They are a small shop and an aqueon dealer. They told me that every month they do a different size tank on sale.. July was the 65g, august was the 90g...etc Regardless of reef ready or not. I dunno if that's a local thing or what, but I live near franklin WI where they are made.

Check with your LFS. You'd be surprised what they'll do for you... especially if your a regular

I thought $240 was a steal for a brand new tank. I've never owned one.

The piece of mind will be short lived however. I just ordered a 35mm diamond hole saw. MORE HOLES. HOLES HOLES HOLES!!



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[soupa2]

just make sure the glass you're HOLEING isn't Tempered...

 

[mudbuttjones]

just make sure the glass you're HOLEING isn't Tempered...

You know this sounds realllllllly stupid, but I hadn't considered that until this point. I saw the generic orange warning sticker on the bottom and just assumed it had a tempered bottom only

I gave it a second look

"DO NOT DRILL GLASS ENCLOSURE" seems fairly straight forward, however I pulled out my polarized shades and it passed the test. No weird effects on the glass like I'm used to with automotive glass.

I'm going to contact my lfs and Aqueon this week before my Chinese hole saw arrives.


This was my idea, add a 3/4 bulkhead in the center of the overflow, basically a durso style pipe that'll be a buffer between the siphon and emergency. Kind of a hack job beananimal setup. Only has to be 100 or less gph. It has a 1/4 vent tube that will actually loop over the rim of the tank into the overflow chamber. If it fills too high the vent will suck water and make the pipe a full or partial siphon, or at least thats my idea. I built the External portion with 1" pvc and used Schedule 20 pipe all around. sched 20 3/4" pvc has an I.D. of 0.90 inches... not too shabby. Went with a 3/4 bulkhead just for the size reasons.


Btw if your ordering a holesaw on amazon and look for "35mm diamond holesaw" literally all of the listings are shipped from Hong Kong with free17-28 day shipping. Type in "1 3/8" diamond holesaw" and you got 3-5 day shipping listings from the states. Fun fact


Anyway its a brand new 2014 megaflow 90g. You guys think it's tempered?


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[soupa2]

[/QUOTE]
Btw if your ordering a holesaw on amazon and look for "35mm diamond holesaw" literally all of the listings are shipped from Hong Kong with free17-28 day shipping. Type in "1 3/8" diamond holesaw" and you got 3-5 day shipping listings from the states. Fun fact
[/QUOTE]

well you forgot the fun fact of PRICING...

 

[mudbuttjones]

$4.99 for the saw and $6.99 for 3 day shipping. Hardly a make it or break it purchase.

I've bought these cheap holesaws before, they work surprisingly well, albeit they dont last forever.

I Emailed aqueon today and my lfs to see if they can contact their rep to ask about the tempered glass. Im Gonna try a couple more tricks like the lcd screen.

Thinking its not tempered, 3/8" tempered glass would Probably be cost prohibited on a tank This size and what I paid For it new

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[mudbuttjones]

View attachment 1042221
Cut some reflective insulation and put double sided tape on it. Looks like bubblewrap with mylar or foil on both sides.


Started insulating the sump. If I'm lucky maybe my big stupid inefficient mag drive will heat my tank and my apartment. Looool

I also siliconed 1/8" aluminum angle irons on all 4 corners. Dunno what that'll do, but I had a bunch laying around. Piece of mind maybe? I figure itll protect the corners when the time comes to move the whole set up and jam the sump back in lol.


Knocked the teeth out of that overflow like it owed me money.

The chuck on my dremel burned out, did it with a 4.5amp 25,000 die grinder with a cutting wheel mandrel. Not super clean. Ill have to revisit this and clean it up when I fix/buy a new dremel.

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[mudbuttjones]

I emailed central aquatics and had my guy at the lfs call his rep. Not tempered. Lets get crazy


Hole time. Scariest thing I've ever done.
Ive drilled tanks before. Even a 5.5g once just to be a smartass. I recommend the smallest, weakest, lightest, best balanced drill you have. I opted for my 12v black and decker I bought when I was a refugee at a target store waiting for my wife to pick out a bedset. This is not a job for the 12 amp wristbreaker 3000 hamerdrill.


Set up like so


go slow. Take breaks


Oh no!!


Just kidding. Took me about 3 hours. Had to take a couple breaks. Drilling 3/8" glass sucks. Ill never drill a larger tank.

Best hole ive ever drilled. I had duct tape on the back side and managed not to chip it.

Nothing like sweating bullets drilling a brand new tank you cant afford to replace
All of this for a 3/4 bulkhead.

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[mudbuttjones]

Ladies and gentlemen. I present to you an abomination of two very popular overflow designs.

while putting my "herbie" through its paces I found it took a while to dial in and was difficult to keep the emergency dry. I felt like it would be a hassle to adjust. Im gone for long periods of time for work and I live in a rental. I cannot afford any type of failure. I do not think the herbie style is inherently unsafe, I'm just obsessive about overbuilding things to the point of madness. I started reading beananimal's threads on reefcentral. Good information. I decided I wanted to try it. Kind of sort of lol

This is why I bought a reef ready tank... and then drilled it?


3/4 bulkhead 1" plumbing/spaflex. Goes to the top of the trickle tower also. I chose 3/4 over 1" for its small footprint

It won't handle tremendous flow. Ive read 150-175gph is all one can expect from a 3/4" durso style pipe. It just has to pick up the slack between both drains and save me the headaches.


I hope it catches on and people on fishkeeping forums will talk about a mudbutt overflow. God that would be amazing.

MUDBUTT OVERFLOW.


Plumbing is ready for glue and paint

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