20 long AIO build

[Peppie]

The last build was so fun I cant stop at one. lol
The veiwing area on my last build is very limited so on this one I will use the whole 30" front to veiw. All the equipment will be at the rear of the tank.
I will use a 130watt CF 65/65 NS80 skimmer, MJ1200 return, media chamber, chaetos chamber. 75watt heater. ATO hooked to a toggle with 1 1/2 gal freshwater holding tank, that will last about 6 or 7 days.
First I did a mockup with plywood to be sure I could fit everything in the smallest space I could get by with.

 

[MGDMIRAGE]

Looks like it should be pretty cool

 

[TJL]

Hey Peppie, Once a tinkerer always a tinkerer Can't wait to see what you come up with this time around. I'm getting a little closer to creating something fun for my little 15g acrylic. A little over halfway through remodeling our master bath and will start laying down some really cool fossilized limestone tile tomorrow. The trick will be to start my project before my wife gives me another Honey Do haha

Todd

 

[Peppie]

Hey Todd nice to hear from ya.
Yea like I said couldnt stop at one, Its all about the hunt!!!
I dont know if I will be able to top the last one, But I have a couple of ideas I'm going to try. Nothing fancy so far I needed to get the basic life support in line before I get to the creative part.
I have a vision!!!! Stay tuned.
Sorry to hear you are remoding your bath. I dislike baths the most. Id like to see some pic of your limestone. Is it reef safe? lol

 

[eww]

I'm gonna tag along for this one too Peppie. Your last build was great and I would still love to see it in person some day. Can't wait to see what the creative juices come up with this time.

 

[Peppie]

So I got all the plastic parts cut and the overflow teeth cut. I will use an adjustable gate to get my flow and water levels to thier max. After that has been set to work right I will cut the teeth down and glue the gate. That will get rid of the nuts and bolts that cause problems with bubbles and access to the small chambers.

 

[psb]

Did you use a router for the acrylic or just the dremel? What screw did you use for the adjustable gate? Can you do a close up of the gates? Thanks.

 

[Peppie]

This should help. I used a tablesaw to cut the teeth. I used 1/4" nylon nut and screws for the gates. After I cut the teeth I drilled two holes in the chamber wall about 1/2" below the bottom of the teeth. Then I make the gat the same width of the chamber wall and about 3" long. I mark were the holes are then drill the gate slots to match the chamber wall holes. Then I file the gate slots smooth with a small file. Bolt the gate to the chamber wall and adjust the slot if ness. You may have to trim the gate alittle in its width. Sometimes it will catch on the silicone corner bead. It must sit flat on the chamber wall to work well.
Hope this helps.
Be sure to put the plastic between two peices of plywood and tape them together before you cut the teeth.
You could also use a router.

 

[Peppie]

Had time to get some work done on the tank. I thought I would share.
After I got all the chambers flowing good I fitted the rock wall. Then I got the gloss black rattle can out and sprayed some background.

 

[Peppie]

So as you could see there is nothing really different about this tank, yet.
I want to try something different in the rockscape. I'll try to suspend a long flat wide rock from the corner of the tank about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom. I'm still rolling that over in my head.
As some of you have seen the last build, the cabinet was different in shape but the color was all the same. This cabinet will be the opposite. There are different woods in this cabinet thus the colors will be different.

Cherry, Clear Fir, Curly Maple. The top left shelf will hold a 1 1/2gal freshwater top off tank. I'll be able to hide all elec. in the rest of the comp.

 

[Cwazy Clown]

Very interesting AIO. I like the DIY attitude though! Especially the stand

 

[Peppie]

Thanks C CLOWN, I can never find what I want at the store. lol

 

[Peppie]

The hood and tank base are ready for a finish.

Vent will hold a double Azoo fan

This profile makes the base for the tank look lighter and added some height.

Added a thin strip of dark wood were the lid sets on the hood . You can never hide that line so I make it stand out.

This part will hold the lights

Had to do some chisel work to make the fug lite fit

It will be a tight fit at the back wall

So far I''m pleased

Some rockwork and finishing touches and it will be ready for water. I hope next weekend

 

[scottmdebord]

man that is a sweet set up very nice wood work

 

[Peppie]

Time to update. I bent up some eggcreat and foamed it with Becketts and trimmed it up. Glued some aggri. to it and put it in the tank. What do ya think?

It didnt float. lol

I think this is a better pic.

 

[scottmdebord]

i think it looks great. What do you plan on keeping?

 

[Peppie]

I would like to get a med sized Toadstool, Some zoas, Mushr, pom poms.and some leathers. I am also looking to get a Yellow Nose Goby. Porcilin Crab, Clown Goby, and mabey a shrimp for the goby. I would like the tioadstool to be the focus.

 

[scottmdebord]

Very cool i cant wait to see more pics with some corals

 

[JRBear5658]

Hey Peppie,
I was looking at doing a similar method of this AIO in a 33 gallon long tank, I had a few questions on how you set up your sections.
In your pictures it looks as if the Skimmer has its own overflow and output, Is it connected at all to the other overflow?
Are you using the other section as a mini sump with a refugium?

 

[Peppie]

The back of my tank flows water in this order. Water will flow into the skimmer compartment. It then passes thru a bubble trap.Then it flows into the return pump chamber. On the left side of the back the water flows into a media chamber then splits off to the return pump chamber and then also flows into a cheatos chamber and then to the retun pump chamber. From there it is pumped back to the DT thru a bulkhead at the top front of the rockwall. It splits off the pump and runs thru two bulkheads at the bottom of the skimmer chamber and into the DT. Once both return lines hit the DT I put a lockline Y so I can direct water flow 4 ways. I also have 2 Hydor nano powerheads one on each end of the tank. I havent found a dead spot yet. There is plenty of flow.

You can see the return line run thru the skimmer comp. On the right you can see thr two chambers. First for medis 2nd for cheatos. I added extra dividers between the chambers They dont go all the way to the bottom of the tank and they are taller than the teeth. This will keep the water flowing thur the chamber instead of just running over the tops.

Different veiw Hope this helps. Dont forget to post some pic of your build.