Looks great! Do you have to worry about the fish getting injured on the jagged edges?
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DIY down and dirty 90g/40b sump on the cheap (ballin' on a budget)
- Thread starter mudbuttjones
- Start date
Ive been running my fingers around all the edges. Most of em arent too bad actually. The ones that feel too rough or sharp I just clip with a side cutters and it crumbles off.
The worst parts are the pointed pieces. The sides dont seem too bad.
I used slate alot in my 75g. 3 years and the only fatalities were homicides lol.
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The worst parts are the pointed pieces. The sides dont seem too bad.
I used slate alot in my 75g. 3 years and the only fatalities were homicides lol.
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Coming along nicely. Need more silicone though. Gone through 2 tubes so far
Background is done. Tank is still surprisingly light. I read an article on fmueller.com , where the site's owner siliconed a quarter ton of flag stone to the back of a 240g glass aquarium. So im completely not worried about mine now lol.
Drilled a hole in a small piece of slate and started making my own fake plants. It was unreal what petsmart/petco wanted for them.
I normally don't like fake plants but I feel that its almost impossible to keep real plants with Africans, plus I dont want leaves in my overflow. Atleast all the plants in the tank match. Makes them less of an eye sore
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Thanks you're too kind.
I let the tank sit on it's back for 6 days before righting it. Tonight im going to add water and do some more tinkering with the plumbing.
I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Its difficult to scape with that big stupid overflow tower.
"ZOMG THER3S DR1FTWOOOD IN THARE THATS NOT A RIFYLAKE BIOTOPEZ" .... shut up lol. You can't harscape without driftwood. Thats a fact. I finally broke it off with all those wild and crazy zoologists and marine biologists so nobody will know when they come to my house. Case closed. Lol.
The mailman brought gifts. Bought 3 ac110v 80mm "computer" fans. I was gonna go dc and wire up controller but this thing is already enough of a firehazard lol. 2000rpm 23cfm 28db 4watts dual ball bearings. Not bad $14 each.
I'm putting 2 in the stand. One blowing on my powerstrips that will be pulling air from a hole cut in the top of the stand (no open top on my stand).. it'll pull stale air from the small gap between the stands top and bottom pane of the tank. the other will be blowing on the light fixture in the stand and my pothos. I know not totally necessary but I wanna avoid heat build up in the cabinet and keep air moving.
The third will be blowing air into the canopy.
More updates soon
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Little update, I underestimated the flow rates of both pumps. I must be pushing well over a thousand gph turn over. The water is crashing over the overflow and making tons of bubbles. The bubbles are being pulled into my main drain and preventing a full siphon. I've simulated failures of drains and still cant get it to spill over, even partially blocking the overflow grid (simulate a dead fish or something)
Its still reasonably quiet, im going to tee off one of the pumps back into the sump to try and get a manageable turnover rate that's still high but not wreckless.
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Its still reasonably quiet, im going to tee off one of the pumps back into the sump to try and get a manageable turnover rate that's still high but not wreckless.
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I ended up ditching the 2nd return pump. The overflow and plumbing could handle the 1000+gph flow but it was too crazy. It was unmanageable and my trickle tower was a little on the small side to handle all the chaotic flow.
So JUST running on a little mag 9.5 lol.
Can you tell I'm ocd about cable management?
Some shots of the power center. Ive got a heavy duty woods/yellowjacket brand work shop strip to handle the 2 heaters and return pump. The other power strip is a Philips brand multimedia strip. Seems to be of decent quality. Good enough to handle my LEDs, air pumps, fans, low draw accessories. Each strip gets a dedicated wall outlet, albiet on the same circuit. Its not a coral reef tank, the whole rig will draw less than a single metal halide lol.
None of my circuits In this old house are GFCI protected. Im paranoid about water and electricity so I am working on this removable shield that will guard against any splashes.
none of the cords hang low enough to get wet if the sump fails and leaks.
There is a fan circulating air behind the splash guard to reduce the event of any heat build up, if there is any. What do I know. I'm not an engineer, or an electrician.
Other side of the sump - 3rd mini power center. Runs the timed lights for my pothos and another circulation fan. I built a guard in the joists to keep pothos leaves from touching the bulbs since im a lazy gardener. There is also a fan blowing horizontally across the bulbs (2x 10watt 6500k cfl) and will also blow air on the pothos once it's inside. Figured a cabinet needs circulating air, may as well place it strategically to get the most benefits.
Overall view of the sump thus far.
To the left my trickle tower to the right my pothos "planter" its a half Gallon tray fed by a 185gph pump. Keeps my plants independent of the sumps water level and ensures no debris gets sucked into my return.
Little crazy and strange, but hey im enjoying my self.
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So JUST running on a little mag 9.5 lol.
Can you tell I'm ocd about cable management?
Some shots of the power center. Ive got a heavy duty woods/yellowjacket brand work shop strip to handle the 2 heaters and return pump. The other power strip is a Philips brand multimedia strip. Seems to be of decent quality. Good enough to handle my LEDs, air pumps, fans, low draw accessories. Each strip gets a dedicated wall outlet, albiet on the same circuit. Its not a coral reef tank, the whole rig will draw less than a single metal halide lol.
None of my circuits In this old house are GFCI protected. Im paranoid about water and electricity so I am working on this removable shield that will guard against any splashes.
none of the cords hang low enough to get wet if the sump fails and leaks.There is a fan circulating air behind the splash guard to reduce the event of any heat build up, if there is any. What do I know. I'm not an engineer, or an electrician.
Other side of the sump - 3rd mini power center. Runs the timed lights for my pothos and another circulation fan. I built a guard in the joists to keep pothos leaves from touching the bulbs since im a lazy gardener. There is also a fan blowing horizontally across the bulbs (2x 10watt 6500k cfl) and will also blow air on the pothos once it's inside. Figured a cabinet needs circulating air, may as well place it strategically to get the most benefits.
Overall view of the sump thus far.
To the left my trickle tower to the right my pothos "planter" its a half Gallon tray fed by a 185gph pump. Keeps my plants independent of the sumps water level and ensures no debris gets sucked into my return.
Little crazy and strange, but hey im enjoying my self.
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Thanks. Makes me feel good considering I didnt sketch or plan anything out persay. Blows my mind when I see 3d cad drawings on here.
My mesh breeder box for my fry/grow out.
Wow that's alot of zipties how many did you use?
Short answer- alot. Long answer- close to 400.
Why didn't you just silicone in a divider? I dunno
Playpen for my kids
Today is the big day !!
"Is my tank overstocked? Plz halp guyz. My cichlids arent well, plz tell me why?"
They'll be fine for a few hours
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So relieved. Its finally done.
All my friends survived the move except 2 very small fry I found while tearing down the old tank.
Sumpy sump
Moonlights
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All my friends survived the move except 2 very small fry I found while tearing down the old tank.
Sumpy sump
Moonlights
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