In tank filter...

[Matty1124]

Ok so this isn't monster at all but im going to be setting up a small salt water tank and im going to try somthing i saw on another site... a refuge that is is built into the back of a 10gallon... this will be my first attempt at doing a "big" DIY project... im going to make the refuge out of 1/4 inch thick acrylic, and i will be using Anchor-Tite Marine Epoxy, and then i will be sealing that with GE Silicone II (with BioSeal)

This is a mock up with card board

 

[cbfreder]

I like it.

You might want to consider raising your coral frags closer to the lights and lowering your baffles closer to the bottom. This will give your corals more light and allow for more live rock rubble. Are you planning on adding any mechanical filtration?

Brandon

 

[Matty1124]

how close to the bottom should the baffles come? I have them set at 3" right now, and does that mean that hte bottom one should come up higher as well? The way I figure it with the refuge being 5 inches deep i can have roughly 75 cubic inches of LRR and about 20ish square inches of coral frags... and the chaeto will go crazy.. so i will have to trim that every day or two

EDIT: Oh yeah I'll have some sort of filter materil on top of the live rock in the first chamber, and there is a sponge that goes on intake of that power head

 

[BrianOKC]

DO NOT USE GE II silicone it has additives to stop mold which will kill ur fish. Please use GE type 1 its 100% silicone.

 

[Matty1124]

good thing i didnt start anything yet... i was standing in the store with both in my hand but i couldnt remember what i read online about which one to use, so like a moron i just got the more expensive one glad you told me

EDIT: any tips on getting acrylic to stay attached to the glass other then a bunch of silicone?

 

[cbfreder]

Marine epoxy should work great. You are not containing water so you only need to be concerned with appearance and mechanical strength. How close you go to the bottom depends on how much flow you want to have. I've never kept saltwater, but the books and posts i've read suggest corals like fast moving turbulent water and high light.

I would consider going all the way to the bottom and cutting slits in the separators so that water is forced through the LR and then through slits and holes, randomly spaced to simulate turbulence. This could travel about 2/3's to the surface, through eggcrate and frags and then back down through the algae.

I think you'd want to balance the number of slits/holes to enable maximal flow while still causing strong turbulent flow.

Are you going to run a protein skimmer?

Also, remember that you are going to need to keep your water level very high so that the pump doesn't start to suck air and chaeto will probably stil get sucked into the pump.

Hope you like me opinions,
Brandon

 

[Matty1124]

i dont think i will need a protein skimmer on a tank this small, with weekly water changes.. also i don't know if im going to get into growing fancy coral right a way, i just want to have a place for them if i want to in the future... i think ill use that slit (although i think i'll use drill holes and not slits to make it easier) idea and just bring the dividers all the way to the bottom..

thanks for the ideas

when i start construction in two weeks ill take picture along the way to show my progress
thanks for all the help

 

[brettrotchell]

looks great , cant wait to see it done

 

[alex101]

God you're such a dork and I love every second of it......in fact....I'm an even bigger dork because your dorkiness just makes me want to outdork you and become the all time uber dork that all the other dorks look up to.......Next weekend we're getting totally baked and making ten gallon overflows is what Im getting at.

 

[Matty1124]

You know it....

Quick question, the stuff i got to bond the acrylic is called anchor tite marine... but now i see on the back of the box says not recommendd for bonding polyethylene or polypropylene... and i think that includes acrylic... where can one find Weldon #4, and if i cant find it around here can i use pvc cement?