75 gal Holy crap what have I done? Errr, make that 90gal.

[Beza]

Here's what I came up with using google sketchup for design ideas:



Basically it just shows the 75gal which will be used as a sump shoved into the bottom part of the stand to make sure it will fit. I am still in the dev stage, figuring out materials needed, sizing, etc.

I may be increasing bracing as well, I'm not sure if this setup with 2x4s will be sturdy enough. I may also switch to 2x6s or 8s for the vertical pieces. Other considerations will be disassembly because I don't plan on living where I am now for very much longer (anyone selling a house? lol). It has to be pretty high because of my damn giant skimmer, ha ha.

I would appreciate any ideas or input. The main tank will be a 90gal FOWLR.

[Beza]

Here's what I've come up with. I think I want a nice big fuge to grow pods and whatever else may strike my fancy...







Ok so I spent like 6 hours working on plans today! Time to go actually do something a little less time consuming, and maybe a little less fun...

Also considering getting rid of my GenX PCX40 and buying a bigger submersible for the return... I don't want to drill 3/4" glass just to put an external which will take up more room. I wonder if the 1200 could run the skimmer, and maybe use the 1800 for the return? Hmmmmm.

[Beza]

Went out today and bought a bunch of scraps of plexiglass and acrylic off a local shop. I tried doing the old score and snap thing, but unfortunately my workspace is a computer room right now, so I totally sucked at it. I need to go out and grab a bunch of woodworking clamps.

I'm also beginning to wonder if having flow go BELOW the refugium might be a bad idea.

Has anyone else built a sump like this? I was hoping to have a high flow rate as well as reducing microbubbles, so I made the fuge elevated and had DT return flow whipping underneath.

Lol. It's back to work tomorrow, so I get to second guess myself for another week or so... I think I'll put this on hold again. Sigh. I want to be really sure of what I'm creating before I actually start slapping baffles in.

[Chase31]

this is the first time i'v ever seen a sump like that :P mind you i went baffleless in my sump

[new but handy]

That's almost exactly how I built my sump. I t'ed off my drain into my fuge so I could adjust the flow. Then The excess and the other drain go into my sump. Makes the fuge nice and gentle with good flow through my sump. Make sure the bottem of the fuge slopes up in the direction of water flow or else a lot off air will get caught under it

[new but handy]

I lied
I put my baffles on the other side of my fuge, just before my return.
how are you feeding your fuge?

[Beza]

Ok, so I built my stand. It is a BEAST! I am starting to wonder if my weight for everything once it's done might be too much for a second floor... anyone have any thoughts on this? lol.

I'll put some pics up, but all you're going to see is once massive stand that could probably hold a tank with a footprint of 25"x48" that could weigh as much as a dumptruck. What the hell was I thinking? Ha ha. Anyways I put the 75gal underneath and it fits fine, so I have nothing left to do but commit to ruining it with a bunch of weird baffles and crap, then actually trial run it.

So I just put in the first 2 pieces of acrylic which will hold up the skimmer. Apparently I will wait for them to dry and complete the sump from left to right, so I can adjust sizing as I go if needed.

I'm still not sure what to do with the open spot I'll have under the skimmer. I suppose I could put some LR down there to break up the bubbles too. Why am I so obsessed with bubbles before even having to deal with them?

Pics soon once I find my camera cord.