Gary's Oceanic Illuminata 57 build

[Gary]

Originally I was building a reef tank out of an old 55 gallon tank I got from a friend. But as time went on, I decided that I wanted something a little nicer. I picked up the Illuminata and the matching stand from Sierra Pets this week.

Here's the plan for the equipment:

Sump: home made with auto top off
Sump light: Coralife T5 light
Tank Lights: home made
Main pump: Lifegard Quiet One 5000 pump
Heater: Jager 250w heater
Power Head: Hydor Koralia Evolution 550
Skimmer: AquaC Urchin w/ Maxi-Jet 1200 pump
100 GPD RO/DI

 

[Gary]

Here's the sump design.

The water enters on the left where it passes though some filter material. The chamber below that is for media bags. The the water flows out into the refugium. From there it flows through a sponge into the skimmer/pump chamber. The left chamber volume is about 9 gallons (before sand, rocks, etc.) and the right chamber is about 6.5 gallons. The walls, top and interior features are .375" and the bottom is .500" acrylic. There will be 6 Sorbothane feet on the bottom.

I'm also building a slightly larger one for a friend.

 

[Gary]

2 sumps started as 4 sheets of acrylic. An hour on the table saw and it's ready for machining. For these I am using double back tape on a plastic sheet. If I make more in the future, I will make a vacuum plate.

I will start machining on Saturday.

 

[Peppie]

Gary,
In your drawing (anice one at that) I see that your ATO float switch is in with your skimmer. I am not sure how your skimmer will react to the water level changes in your return section. Most skimmers need to be in a stable water height.

Also from my understanding acrylic tanks should be fully supported on the bottom. Why the feet?

 

[Krish]

Looks like a great project!! Good luck!

On the sump, id probably reconsider your skimmer placement if I'm reading and seeing it properly. You have the skimmer in what seems to be the return chamber which means chances are, you will end up transferring micro bubbles to the tank. Usually the skimmer sits it the input chamber to get a shot at incoming water and then as the water continues on through the sump and the bubble trap to the return chamber, by then all of the micro bubbles would have been dealt with. Also I see you are using a sponge in there. Be careful. That can and will act as a little biological filter if you don't either change or clean that regularly (like ever 2-3 days IMO). The waste it traps will sit in the tank and begin to rott degrading water quality. As a result, nitrates, phosphates etc will all increase which is fuel for algae to grow so I'd either reconsider using it or be prepared to stay on top of it being either cleaned or changed regularly


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[Peppie]

2 sumps started as 4 sheets of acrylic. An hour on the table saw and it's ready for machining. For these I am using double back tape on a plastic sheet. If I make more in the future, I will make a vacuum plate.

I will start machining on Saturday.

Cell cast or extruded? Never used OPTIX

 

[Gary]

Gary,
In your drawing (anice one at that) I see that your ATO float switch is in with your skimmer. I am not sure how your skimmer will react to the water level changes in your return section. Most skimmers need to be in a stable water height.

Also from my understanding acrylic tanks should be fully supported on the bottom. Why the feet?

I was afraid of that with the skimmer. Being pretty new to this (for a second time) I went with advice from some friends. This sump layout is similar to one in a friends tank. The feet are a suggestion too. If any water gets under there it will dry up. That's why we went with the 1/2 for the bottom.

 

[Gary]

2 sumps started as 4 sheets of acrylic. An hour on the table saw and it's ready for machining. For these I am using double back tape on a plastic sheet. If I make more in the future, I will make a vacuum plate.

I will start machining on Saturday.

Cell cast or extruded? Never used OPTIX

The 3/8 is extruded and the 1/2 is cast.

 

[Gary]

Looks like a great project!! Good luck!

On the sump, id probably reconsider your skimmer placement if I'm reading and seeing it properly. You have the skimmer in what seems to be the return chamber which means chances are, you will end up transferring micro bubbles to the tank. Usually the skimmer sits it the input chamber to get a shot at incoming water and then as the water continues on through the sump and the bubble trap to the return chamber, by then all of the micro bubbles would have been dealt with. Also I see you are using a sponge in there. Be careful. That can and will act as a little biological filter if you don't either change or clean that regularly (like ever 2-3 days IMO). The waste it traps will sit in the tank and begin to rott degrading water quality. As a result, nitrates, phosphates etc will all increase which is fuel for algae to grow so I'd either reconsider using it or be prepared to stay on top of it being either cleaned or changed regularly

Dang, I posted a picture of the sump design on a different thread, but it didn't have all the innards. I wish I had posted the pictures earlier! :frown: It sounds like this sump will be revision 01.

The sponge is there to keep sand out of the pumps. It sounds like it's not a good idea at all. I guess if nothing else I will get more experience machining acrylic!

 

[Peppie]

How are you going to prep the edge prior to welding the seams? Are you using Weldon 3, 4, or 16?
How tall is the sump and what is the height of your tallest water line?
IMO I would loose the feet, If your sump is leaking enough to have water wicking underneath the smp you have bigger problems to deal with other than drying out the bottom. It would be wise to water proof the floor of the stand.

 

[Gary]

How are you going to prep the edge prior to welding the seams? Are you using Weldon 3, 4, or 16?
How tall is the sump and what is the height of your tallest water line?
IMO I would loose the feet, If your sump is leaking enough to have water wicking underneath the smp you have bigger problems to deal with other than drying out the bottom. It would be wise to water proof the floor of the stand.

Thank you for your suggestions. I really appreciate it! I'm using Weldon 4. The edges will be a machine finish. I work at a machine vision/robotics company. A lot of what we do is underwater inspections and have made quite a few acrylic enclosures so this one shouldn't leak. You are probably right about the feet. I was on the fence about them.

The sump is 20" tall and the water in the left chamber is 13".

 

[Peppie]

Thank you for your suggestions. I really appreciate it! I'm using Weldon 4. The edges will be a machine finish. I work at a machine vision/robotics company. A lot of what we do is underwater inspections and have made quite a few acrylic enclosures so this one shouldn't leak. You are probably right about the feet. I was on the fence about them.

The sump is 20" tall and the water in the left chamber is 13".

That is good to know that you have worked with acrylic. Some people on the forums think it is no big deal to glue some (plastic) together and wonder why it leaked. LOL.
The only reason I asked about the water height is that the extruded does not bond as well as the cell cast. It should be fine with the small water volume that will be held in the sump.
I noticed a mill in the background of one of your pics, have you ever milled acrylic on it? I am planning a skimmer.......

 

[Gary]

That is good to know that you have worked with acrylic. Some people on the forums think it is no big deal to glue some (plastic) together and wonder why it leaked. LOL.
The only reason I asked about the water height is that the extruded does not bond as well as the cell cast. It should be fine with the small water volume that will be held in the sump.
I noticed a mill in the background of one of your pics, have you ever milled acrylic on it? I am planning a skimmer.......

I have an immense respect for tank assembly. I've never had a tank fail because of glue joints, but funny story... About 2 years ago I built a ~800 gallon tank. It was all 1" acrylic. To save water we transfer it between 3 tanks. One of our techs got the bright idea that if he tipped the tank it would drain faster so he pallet jacked up one corner. There was a loud crack and it popped. Luckily there was *only* a couple hundred gallons in it. So, you are right about even support! I had Interstate Plastics cut the unusable areas out and rebuilt it to be a ~500 gallon tank.

Yep, I've milled acrylic on the CNC before. It's been a while, but i'm sure it'll turn out ok. I need to come up with a better way to hold the sheets though.

 

[Peppie]

I have an immense respect for tank assembly. I've never had a tank fail because of glue joints, but funny story... About 2 years ago I built a ~800 gallon tank. It was all 1" acrylic. To save water we transfer it between 3 tanks. One of our techs got the bright idea that if he tipped the tank it would drain faster so he pallet jacked up one corner. There was a loud crack and it popped. Luckily there was *only* a couple hundred gallons in it. So, you are right about even support!

Yep, I've milled acrylic on the CNC before. It's been a while, but i'm sure it'll turn out ok. I need to come up with a better way to hold the sheets though.

I was thinking of some 1'' billets welded together to turn a skimmer cup neck. doesnt need to be polished clear but smooth enough to be functional. A simple lip turned on the top side could act as a holding point for the turning of the cone shaped bottom. then simply cut off the lip at the bandsaw or belt sander.
Would you consider spending an afternoon in the future swapping lies and jig construction at your shop and maybe have enough time to spin some acrylic skimmer necks??

 

[Somethings Fishy]

Looks good!!!

 

[Gary]

What do you guys think of this. I still have the sponge in there. I would love any suggestions of what to use instead of that!

I rearranged the innards to move the skimmer to the inlet side. The water level dropped to 12" on the inlet side and 10" (guessing) on the outlet. The refugium is ~6.5" X 13.3" X 7.0" (inlet baffle).

 

[Gary]

Looks good!!!

Thanks! I'm learning!

 

[Gary]

I was thinking of some 1'' billets welded together to turn a skimmer cup neck. doesnt need to be polished clear but smooth enough to be functional. A simple lip turned on the top side could act as a holding point for the turning of the cone shaped bottom. then simply cut off the lip at the bandsaw or belt sander.
Would you consider spending an afternoon in the future swapping lies and jig construction at your shop and maybe have enough time to spin some acrylic skimmer necks??

Sure, sounds good. Weekends are better because this is a personal project.

 

[Krish]

What do you guys think of this. I still have the sponge in there. I would love any suggestions of what to use instead of that!

I rearranged the innards to move the skimmer to the inlet side. The water level dropped to 12" on the inlet side and 10" (guessing) on the outlet. The refugium is ~6.5" X 13.3" X 7.0" (inlet baffle).

Looks much better. You want that skimmer to have a shot of the in-coming water to process it first and also, a lot of skimmers spit out microbubbles so you definitely don't want it sitting in the return chamber.

Good luck slapping it together! I see Peppie gave you some great advice. Trust whatever he says with confidence. He's a great DIY'er/builder like you can't imagine.


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[Gary]

Thanks! I'm off to the shop. I'll let you know how it goes!