Bill's 100gal Build

[blk822822]

blk822822's 100gal Build

So My 34 gal cube is getting to small for my corals. So I thought why not get a bigger tank. I have had a 180 but it had to be kept in the garage and heating and cooling were an issue, so I sold it all off. Then I cought the bug again and got the 34 gal tank and have gone from there. I have been picking up parts and peices from fellow reefers on here and am getting close to the move. I just need a heater lighting and a few more peices of rock. I'm planning on keeping the tank pretty clear on one half for fish to swim. I havn't had but a couple fish for awhile now and would like to finally have some.


So first I got the tank a 100 gal acrylic from NoMercyMike, thanks to Mike. Then I started to look for a stand but was haveing bad luck looking for a 60" long stand. But then one day I found the perfect peice on Craigslist for "FREE"......I had to move the configuration of the doors but it was easy and then the wife didn't like the Oak color so it got a black paint job.

Then I picked up a Oceanic sump from my buddy crazyfish for some frags.....that thing has like 3/8" thick glass....crazy.

Got some cash from a frag sale and bought a Eheim 1262 from Ichthys...and gave him a frag for a bucket of used sand..

So heres where the tank will go ,I had to move the 34.

And heres the stand in place , doors are off just to make it easier.

And then the tank in place .

So I will post more as I go. I just need to sell more frags and I was out of work for 5 weeks and have started a new job and tomorrow will be the first pay check from there. So I'm looking for a 500 watt heater and some lighting now. And thanks sooo much to the people on this site that have helped me and given such great deals.

I will also be selling my other setup as soon as this one is going.

 

[IPisces]

Wow great deals. Thats going to be a great size tank. Your going to love all the extra room.

 

[Aquanaut]

You may only need a 250w titanium heater for the water volume as it did well for my last set-up which held more volume than your tank.

 

[pandora32]

I prefer the 2 heater system. I dont use heaters in my 215reef cuz of the heat my pumps and lights put out, ut on my wifes 110g, i have 2 150 watt heaters. Just in case 1, burns out, you'll still have a backup.

 

[blk822822]

I like to use 2 heaters also, I had a reef keeper lite on my old 180 running 2 heaters and it was nice.

 

[blk822822]

Well Tank is plumbed and has sand and some water in it. DO/DI takes awhile to make for a 100gal tank. I can't wait to turn on the pump and watch it run. Need about 15 more gallons and I'll be ready. Need to get more pics. I know how much people love build pics.

 

[IPisces]

It does take a while, doesnt it.
Since I was only running water to fill my 180 while I was home, it took two weeks to fill it up. Then I still had to fill the sump. Well not actually two weeks, but 9-10 days.

 

[blk822822]

Ok I got the tank full and ran the pump for awhile and my overflow is REEAAALLLLYY loud. The tank has a built in overflow with the hole in the bottom of the tank and I made a peice of pipe with a bunch of holes drilled all over it as a strainer. And the water make a siphon going down the hose under the tank a make a terrible sucking sound. What do I need to make to stop this noise????

 

[Katchupoy]

Bill, Congrats on the new build. will be tagging along. Funny that you are scaling up, and Im scaling down.... can you take a pic of your overflow? I want to see why it is making that sound.

 

[blk822822]

Ok heres some new pics...and some of the overflow

 

[pandora32]

I think what he meant was a picture of your down pipe, "overflow pipe". Not your actual overflow box. Tank looks really nice. Have you looked into a megaflow overflow? Look at some pics then you could just build one.

 

[Katchupoy]

Bill,

On this picture, is this it? There should be a stand pipe in there correct?

there should be something similar to this Bill...

If there is none, that is why you are hearing the gurgling sound....


Here is another one...

 

[blk822822]

I had a straight pipe in there, I was thinking there needed to be an elbow like the ipcs but I couldn't remember. Thanks I'll build that .

 

[Katchupoy]

Bill also, do you see that pipe that goes up? and the other one T eed off and face down.... the one that goes up??? has a small hole on the top to act as breather. Too big of a hole will make noise, too small will make the siphon fail... You might know this already, just want to make sure everything on the checklist has been checked.

 

[blk822822]

Sounds good. I'll give it a shot.

 

[blk822822]

Ok made a pipe forthe return and now it's quiet. But NOW there a surging glurging bubbling sound from the sump. The return draws down air with the water and then after so much air is caught in the lines it surges out and makes a gluging sound and a surge. I'm now trying to make a muffler for the inlet to the sump.....And mixing salt in there now toooooo.....YEA YEA. Maybe transfer stuff over tomorrow.

 

[Katchupoy]

Normally a J pipe will take care of the sound at the end of the outlet at the sump...
Image below is a quick sketch I did to vizualise better. Abd below is a Double J pipe together. Normally one J-pipe is enough to soften the drop of the water from the main tank to the sump... but you can double it like so. Also, the two short ones needs a cap with a small hole as breather. Without it, you will still hear the water flowing.

This idea is to slow down the flow, and with the introduction of so many corners, water will hit walls and slow down... The smaller pipes going up is for the air breather to be released so less will go out at the very end of the pipe...

Hope this helps.

 

[blk822822]

My water comes in through the side of the sump....it's drilled with a bulkhead. So how about that ....LOL It's a oceanic sump made out of 3/8" glass. It's actually alittle quieter after adding the salt, but you can still hear the burping.

 

[Katchupoy]

you can still do the same... so put the j pipe outside of the sump before it reaches the bulk head...

 

[blk822822]

That looks dangerous......theres alot of water coming down that line. But I think I have an Idea off that design.