60 gallon frag system build

[gimmito]

Thank you Jim Merry Christmas to you also. May the Lord bless your home on this wonderful day

Thanks Brother. I pray the Lord blesses your home (and business) as we reflect on the greatest gift given to the world...a Savior in the form of the baby Jesus.

 

[Frankie]

Time to update. Last night Rhodes and a friend came over and helped me bring the stand in the house. It is being placed in the kitchen breezeway.
The painting all came out great with the cup gun but I struggled with the clear coat. So I changed products and went with a water borne clear instead. I am very happy with the results.
HEre are a few shots. Now that I have my garage back I will start working on the maple trim, doors and filtration.

 

[Skimmy]

dude, wot a cool frag system!!!
very sweet!

 

[Krish]

That came out really nice Frankie!! If I were doing the same thing with painiting a stand, I'd use autocryl as well. Makes life easy with paint and clear all in one.

 

[Frankie]

Thanks Guys
Here is a more clear picture.
Today I am going to start the sump design and get ready for the glass order. So filtration is next.

I also installed some fans last night. Not to sure if I will be using them though. They are quiet but the wind noise upsets me. I may be investing in some new types later that the Japanese have come out with. Apparently they do not make wind noise.

 

[Rhodes19]

Looking good Frankie.

 

[Frankie]

Thanks Chris.

Here are a few updated pictures. I finished the sump build and have begun the skimmer build today in full.

Also I began the trim work. The wood is Brazilian cherry.
sorry for the crappy cell shots. I'll get some quality ones going soon after I get a few more items completed.

The sump is a raceway design I came up with to accommodate the Zeovit method. I made it for less then $50 bucks out of glass bought at a habitat for humanity resale store.

 

[gimmito]

Cool raceway sump there Frankie.

 

[Rhodes19]

Where do the rats start their race?

 

[Frankie]

Right up front on the left. lol!

I finally got a wire so I can upload my cheesy cell shots.

Here's my new skimmer build. The dimentions are 22" tall made out of 8" cast.

This will be another beckett design. I am working on the beckett housing next and plumbing/pump sizing.

The inner chamber I made out of sheet and bent and jointed the circle I wanted. Everything is routed in.

Basically, I just made a router table on my work bench and used a filed finish nail.

Here's the glass sump I built out of scraps from the local habitat. Not bad for a total $30

The other side

I promised to have water in it by june a way back so here you go

That's all I have for now. Next week I am hoping to start on the front vents for the chiller. I have flush mount floor registers made out of brazilian cherry for that to match the trim.

 

[eww]

Very nice frag system indeed Frankie. That's some DIY that's way beyond where I would have taken it. Love the look of the everything.

 

[Krish]

Great stuff Frankie!!! I love that last shot you posted with the blue lights on. Pretty sick!! :hail:

 

[Peppie]

Frankie, Now that is what I call a DIY build. I am impressed with your design and ablity to to the work yourself. So many times you will read the title of a thread "NEW AQUQRIUM BUILD" and the only thing they build is the muscles in there fingers from posting pics of all the equipment they have bought and pieced together. lol
It is clear to see I am not the only one that thinks out side of the box, and is not afraid to pursue that thought. Weather we fail or not.
Keep up the good work. You should be very proud. I am sure it will give many others ideas and insight.
Looking forward to more pics of the trim work

Peppie

 

[Frankie]

thanks guys! It is a strange build for sure LOL!

I have always liked to build everything from scratch. I'm not rich, and cannot afford the 2K bubble king I would like to have. So I build it myself instead. Most of my diy comes out better then what I can afford, so I am ahead of the game

Here is the third and best skimmer I have built to date. I think my new one will be better though and more efficient for electrical consumption.

I built that one for under 800 and it can handle a moderately stocked 1000g system from the production and cut off time I observed running it for a year.

So you can guess from my posts I like the beckett method. I have tried everything over the years but never saw better foam production like I did with the modified beckett.

The problem with that skimmer is the 3200gph Marlin I used to run it! Glad it was a good year in work

This time I have some ideas on how to run it on a very low energy pump for it's design. Wish me luck!

I'll get some more pictures up as soon as I progress further. It has a long way to go though.

 

[TJL]

Wow. Nice build Frankie and as Peppie stated it sure is nice to see a true DIYer in action. Better yet one whom takes the time to really do it justice.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Frankie]

Thanks Todd

I have to work today but only a short time. Tonight I want to get the front grill going because the wife is getting pissed at the way it looks when we walk in the door. It's staring you right in the face and not looking too pretty she says LOL!

I'll get some more pictures up tonight of what I get done. Also I never shared the paint process in this thread I noticed. I'll hook that up also. It was quite a chore. Took me 3 weeks to get the final produce right. The paint is BM oil satin impervo with a bin primer.
Then cleared with lacquer and toped off with a clear coat of water base. All sprayed. It was fun though getting yelled at by Mojo for not wearing a mask was a rude awakening. Apparently spraying can cause some serious damage to your lungs and breathing canal from automatization. (think I spelled that wrong)

It's all good. I only developed a second brain in back of my neck.

 

[Krish]

Looking forward to seeing this new skimmer Frankie!!

 

[Myteemouse]

Frankie, Now that is what I call a DIY build. I am impressed with your design and ablity to to the work yourself. So many times you will read the title of a thread "NEW AQUQRIUM BUILD" and the only thing they build is the muscles in there fingers from posting pics of all the equipment they have bought and pieced together. lol
It is clear to see I am not the only one that thinks out side of the box, and is not afraid to pursue that thought. Weather we fail or not.
Keep up the good work. You should be very proud. I am sure it will give many others ideas and insight.
Looking forward to more pics of the trim work

Peppie

I agree I had to buy my equipment but Built my stand and stuff my self. I also built my own 50 gallon tank out of glass and after nearly a year it's still holding strong
I like to see DIY's .. Very creative.

 

[Frankie]

Thanks again guy's. It just feel's more like a hobby building it all this way. I have a huge respect for the guy who diy's his first pvc skimmer and kalk stirrer. I miss those days. Today it has really changed with the ability to just buy factory made stuff.

PaulB is one of my favorite diy guy's. He comes up with some pretty cool stuff!

I did a little work on the skimmer today. I slipped a bit, drilling the inside chamber for the beckett but the 2" flange I made fit tight. Just a bit sloppy around the edges. Nothing buffing won't hide.

I made the flange out of the orange acrylic by gluing two pieces together to get a 1/2" The beckett fit's tightly into a dado I made for it. I cut the bottom ring of the beckett to slip up further exposing the bottom and sitting that inside the dado snugly. After I make the pump flange the beckett housing should be air tight.

The outer hole in the 8" main body came out perfect.

I still need to build the flange for the pump hook up.

Everything is fitting just right as planed. The water level in the sump will be 8 1/2" high, just right for this skimmer and KZ reactor to run.

You can see my circle mark where the water will be entering the sump on the bottom left. That is a glass box that will have a custom sock built for it attached to a bulkhead and unions for removing and cleaning. The glass top sits on a moulded silicone edge, I used wax tape on the glass top and pushed it into the silicone. I let it dry and removed the tape. Now the glass top sits snug and safe on the glass box.

 

[Peppie]

Damn Frankie. That is some very close tolerance work in the round. I wish you were closer. You need to get this racetrack sump on video when you get it all up and running. I am a 1yr newbee to reefing, Is this an original sump design? I have read a lot of threads in the past 1 1/2 years on DIY things and have not seen one like this to date.