Tank Journal Archive

[chimaera]

I am going to maximise the space under my 700x700 tank and go for a 600x600 sump, incorporating RO reservoir and dosing containers.

This is the kind of layout I currently use, just in a 600x300 space so feels like I have masses of space with double the width! But any thoughts on this? Enough space for each aspect?

(gotta love PowerPoint)

 

[Sam Parker]

Looks tidy as! One concern though, is 1l of alk/mag/cal enough? How often would you have to top it up?

 

[chimaera]

Looks tidy as! One concern though, is 1l of alk/mag/cal enough? How often would you have to top it up?

I think for this size of tank it should be ... but honestly don't know! I could look to make them a bit bigger, just didn't want to eat into the RO space too much. Hmm.

 

[Sam Parker]

I think for this size of tank it should be ... but honestly don't know! I could look to make them a bit bigger, just didn't want to eat into the RO space too much. Hmm.

I guess you would be robbing peter to pay paul if that is the case... Unless you are going to automate your RODI system to fill the top off reservoir?

1l of each is probably pretty decent to be honest, don't listen to me!

 

[mscott]

You could always make them higher. I mean how much space do you have to the top. You could essentially make the dosing containers as high as that. With just enough room to fit the hoses into it

 

[chimaera]

I guess you would be robbing peter to pay paul if that is the case... Unless you are going to automate your RODI system to fill the top off reservoir?

1l of each is probably pretty decent to be honest, don't listen to me!

Yeah I think on reflection, 1l is fine for each of these. Not like it would be a weekly top up.

As for automating the RO reservoir ... unfortunately not. Tank won't be located close enough to the laundry room, and I'm in a rented place so no change of ripping walls apart etc. And I want everything concealed if possible ... working out how to put the dosing pump above those reservoirs. Might look into a 3D printed stand, being all the rage ;)

You could always make them higher. I mean how much space do you have to the top. You could essentially make the dosing containers as high as that. With just enough room to fit the hoses into it

Yeah I've factored that into the 1l calculation. 45cm high I think I went with.

Cheers

 

[Sam Parker]

Might look into a 3D printed stand, being all the rage ;)

When your ready to start designing, check out tinkercad.com - it's free, very simple and made for 3d printers. You can knock together a great looking STL file in no time flat. Then someone on here with a 3D printer (probably me if mine arives this decade....) can print it out for you (and anyone else who wants the same thing).

Sam

 

[Sam Parker]

Alternatively - if you wanted to make it out of acrylic, I have ordered a CNC that could do it:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/makesmithcnc/makesmith-cnc-the-most-affordable-desktop-cnc-rout

 

[Buddy]

I think you need the skimmer to skim out the pellet effluent. Happy to be corrected :)

 

[Salty]

I think you need the skimmer to skim out the pellet effluent. Happy to be corrected :)

Would be ideal. Peter have you give thought as to why you need a bubble trap between the in and reactor/skimmer chamber. Most likely any bubble produced there will dissipate in the fugue and if not def by the time they get to the last bubble trap? will give you a few more inches ;)

 

[chimaera]

Would be ideal. Peter have you give thought as to why you need a bubble trap between the in and reactor/skimmer chamber. Most likely any bubble produced there will dissipate in the fugue and if not def by the time they get to the last bubble trap? will give you a few more inches ;)

Fair point, probably don't need that first trap. And I'll switch the pellets and skimmer , good call.

As for printing ... I'll see how I go. Building in a holder to the stand is another option.

 

[chimaera]

Alternatively - if you wanted to make it out of acrylic, I have ordered a CNC that could do it:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/makesmithcnc/makesmith-cnc-the-most-affordable-desktop-cnc-rout

Also ... This is awesome!

 

[chimaera]

So about to push the button on this build and I'm nervous about the dimensions. Will 50mm on each side be enough for tank legs/support? Where will I put the power outlet? What about the dosing unit? Questions questions questions.

(I am thinking power outlet at the back, stand will be something like 700x800 to allow overflow space at the back, dosing unit mounted on the underside of the tank somehow)

Also the internal dimensions ... think I will be building a cardboard sump layout this weekend and placing what I have in there to be sure!

 

[chimaera]

Mocked up the sump and tank size ot better visualise it, and also make sure the skimmer and pellet reactor fit. Good thing I did ... the skimmer footprint is small, but total area needed is bigger due to the pipes etc on the side. So made a few adjustments to the layout.

The carboard outside is the display tank size.

 

[Sam Parker]

Not a lot of room in there hey! Good work on the mockup, glad to see I am not the only one who re-uses cardboard boxes for this purpose :)

 

[chimaera]

Not a lot of room in there hey! Good work on the mockup, glad to see I am not the only one who re-uses cardboard boxes for this purpose :)

Yeah much tighter than it looks on a screen with little boxes and lines! Glad I did this, I had nowhere near enough room for the skimmer based on its base footprint alone.

Now rethinking whether to even have a fuge, or just use the space remaining for marine pure spheres and/or other reactors.

I also made the dosing chambers slightly larger meaning the RO capacity reduces by a few litres, but figured it was a good compromise.

Talking to Billy to get this started soon - just need to confirm the stand size and whether the sump will fit with only 50mm each side.

 

[leodb89]

thats a funky looking skimmer!

im 1+ on having the cal/mag/alk chambers being slightly larger, you might not use it all but you could mix up like 3-5L and it be a years supply.

its a great set up anyway cant wait to see it.

will you be getting it made out of glass or acrylic?

is the 'IN' the size of the filter sock you're using? if so wouldn't it be only a couple mm off the sump wall from the holder? giving you more room for the skimmer and reactor?

 

[chimaera]

thats a funky looking skimmer!

im 1+ on having the cal/mag/alk chambers being slightly larger, you might not use it all but you could mix up like 3-5L and it be a years supply.

its a great set up anyway cant wait to see it.

will you be getting it made out of glass or acrylic?

is the 'IN' the size of the filter sock you're using? if so wouldn't it be only a couple mm off the sump wall from the holder? giving you more room for the skimmer and reactor?

Yeah it is a bit funky looking! haha. Cool though, the pump sits beneath reducing footprint, and I love the handle on the skimmer cup.

Glass - I have Starfire Aquatics doing the build, tank and sump anyway, potentially stand too.

To be honest the IN is a trace of the pellet reactor haha, I don't really use a filter sock on my current setup so it was a bit of a guess how big this would be. Thinking of having no dividers on that side, so can be flexible with placements depending on filter sock size.

 

[leodb89]

There's really no need for any baffles...or you could go for 2 IM Reactors they're really small footprint as they're taller as opposed to being short and stubby

 

[chimaera]

Tank is back underway - order placed with Starfire Aquatics!

One change is the sump size ... decided that 600x600 was a bit of a tight fit under a 700x700 tank, so have changed to 550x550x450.

Means a slightly change of layout but pretty much as above, losing 50mm from the fuge section.

Also got rid of the alk/calc/mag chambers (good point made about potential for leakage) to maximise RO space. And will decide on the fuge layout after. May make it a frag area with the Marine Pure Spheres beneath - will have to see.