80G cube - 32x24x24 - Build Thread

[reef tank 2.0]

This build has been put on hold for a good 2 years. A lot of it was due to my lack of motivation. Lack of motivation was driven by me not knowing how to do specific tasks when it comes to the plumbing. Leaks concern me the most. I don't know how much room for error there is when it comes to all these fittings, to avoid possible leaks.

Gotta move forward.

This build is for an 80G "cube" (32x24x24) from SC Aquariums. It has been sitting for a good 2 years. I started the plumbing process, but didn't like the route I was taking. I have decided to go another route, which is a lot better, except that I need to drill through my hard wood floors. WHATEVER, is what it is.........That is where I am now. Once I get the holes drilled, I will begin the build thread. Not putting this off any longer.

i had a 130g, 6ft tank prior to this that was up and running for a good 3-4 years. I relocated into a different home and thought it would be best to downsize to this cube. A lot of my equipment that I had in the last set up will be re-purposed. As much as I can.

I will post pictures as I go, and post threads with questions as I build this thread.

Shawn

 

[kevgib67]

Well about time Shawn! Following.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[WillpoleReefers]

Been working on my cube setup nearly 8 months and still haven’t done anywhere near all of the plumbing! PVC is ok as long as you use a proper pressure pipe rated cement and stick to correct procedure. Good luck with it all!

Steve

 

[reef tank 2.0]

when I bought this tank, it came with the sump located below the display tank. and it turns out, the ONLY way to remove that sump, is to remove the back panel of the stand in order to slide it in and out. Um, there aint no way that's happeneing. especially when the tank is full of water and a foot or less from the wall. so i changed this whole process, and bought a 100 gallon rubbermaid stock tank, which will be located in the basement. so that changed the initial mindset of when i first bought the tank. it was supposed to be easy, so much for that. had to change the plans and move things into the basement.

after determining where exactly i want my drain lines to enter through the floor, I was able to draw an outline of where I need to cut my into my hardwood floors. It's actually going to be way larger than I need (4x10), BUT, I'm thinking ahead. If this tank ever goes away, I can use that cutout to place a 4x10 dummy register vent in it's place. I will most likely cut this out in the next few days.

you would think, after all these years of being alive, one would learn to not stress about things that haven't happened yet, or possibly wont. I out off this process due to thinking of the worst and overthinking the whole process. It happens every time. I put projects off cause of this or that, that i convince myself will happen, without even attempting. this literally took a half hour to map out. not hard at all.

I still have to cut it out, but that's easy. there are no obstacles in my way in the basement. I've already made sure of that.

good grief.....moving forward.



i started the plumbing from the tank and along the back side of the stand, in order to make it's way to the sump. i did the plumbing a year or two ago. the floor dilemma halted that whole process. (eye roll)

in the overflow, looking at the back, the left 1" pvc is the drain line, the center 1" pvc line is the return line, and the 1" pvc on the right is my emergency drain. looking at the bulkheads and on down, the center return line is about 1/4" lower than the other two. the glue dried faster than i wanted it to, and i was not able to push that pvc all the way into the fitting. not sure if this will cause a problem or not, but i guess i won't know this until i do the leak test once everything is set and running. the more i stare at it, i don't know if i want to redo it all. going back to the third paragraph, i think i'll hook it all up and see if it leaks. i remember that plumbing project was a PITA since it was in suck close quarters, I didn't have much room to work. not impossible, just crunched for space.

Once I get the floor cut, i'll continue to add 1"pvc to the existing unions, and then down to the sump area.
process is moving forward.

 

[homer1475]

I have the same tank.

You can't just slide the sump out the front doors?

Mine is OLD and I had the original MDF stand with double doors. With the doors removed there was plenty of room to slide it out.

 

[reef tank 2.0]

Nope, not at all. I have the double doors as well. I even removed the center support thinking it would slide right out NOPE. I tilted the sump, tried to remove at an angle, everything I could think of. It wasn't coming out . I contacted sca directly about it and they said the sump slides out the back. Front is not an option.

What!!?? That's insane. If I could have slid it out the front, this tank would have been running a long time ago. OR, I would have bought a different tank set up.

It's not the end of the world, but more money and effort than what I was hoping for.

 

[homer1475]

Just an FWIW.....

Unless you can get to the back of the tank, keep those valves either inside the cabinet where you can reach them, or down by the sump.

 

[homer1475]

My original MDF stand had no center support. Just a doubled up 2x4 across the top front that the double doors closed onto.

My tank is 10 years old, they probably have changed the stands in that time.

 

[reef tank 2.0]

Where the tank will be, I can easily reach behind the tank to either turn the valve nobs OR unscrew from the unions. I made sure to leave enough room for servicing if needed. It's a good 10-12 inches from the wall, if I recall right. Easy to adjust valves

 

[tsharpe291]

stock tank sump is the way to go if you have the room, miss mine

 

[Luckki]

Wow you have some work ahead of you, but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. It seems a shame to drill through the floor and subfloor.

Kind of curious where do you go in Cincinnati for Fish and corals, or do you just order online?

 

[reef tank 2.0]

@Luckki - that actually changed a few times when i had the 135g up and running.

The Amelia Petco had saltwater fish. I bought a couple there. Never had any issues. (not sure if they still sell saltwater fish)

I've gone to Monfort Aquarium & Pet - I like that place. It's a mom and pop shop.....they have a lot of animals / fish. I bought a few things from there, again, never had issues.

I have gone to Gerbers up in Dayton. I really like that place. Bought a few fish there and never had any bad experiences.

I've bought fish from Lazy's up in Dayton also. I bought a number of coral pieces there as well. I haven't been there in a good while. I hope he's still up and running.

I have been to Aquarium Artisans. Bought one coral there, and some clean up crew critters, but that was it.

I believe that's all of them. I will definitely go back to Gerber's, Monfort, and Lazys when time comes.

I've never ordered fish online. Personally, i have a hard time doing that. Just the thought of it possibly being DOA, doesn't sit well with me. Hate seeing animals die. I know it's part of the hobby, but, if someone else gets the fish and are all healthy when I see them, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

more info than you asked for, but there ya go.

 

[Luckki]

@Luckki - that actually changed a few times when i had the 135g up and running.

The Amelia Petco had saltwater fish. I bought a couple there. Never had any issues. (not sure if they still sell saltwater fish)

I've gone to Monfort Aquarium & Pet - I like that place. It's a mom and pop shop.....they have a lot of animals / fish. I bought a few things from there, again, never had issues.

I have gone to Gerbers up in Dayton. I really like that place. Bought a few fish there and never had any bad experiences.

I've bought fish from Lazy's up in Dayton also. I bought a number of coral pieces there as well. I haven't been there in a good while. I hope he's still up and running.

I have been to Aquarium Artisans. Bought one coral there, and some clean up crew critters, but that was it.

I believe that's all of them. I will definitely go back to Gerber's, Monfort, and Lazys when time comes.

I've never ordered fish online. Personally, i have a hard time doing that. Just the thought of it possibly being DOA, doesn't sit well with me. Hate seeing animals die. I know it's part of the hobby, but, if someone else gets the fish and are all healthy when I see them, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

more info than you asked for, but there ya go.

I appreciate the information. I was hoping that this area would have more selection. I was just up at Gerber's and Aquatics Galore this weekend. Gerber's seemed to have several tanks with ich in them including the fish that we were looking for, which is a bit of a shame. I was there about a week and a half ago too, and they had three tanks with dead clowns in them.
Aquatics Galore was hectic, I think that they are renovating or something I am not sure. I know they were setting up a new frag tank, but all of their tanks you could barely see into with the algae growing on the glass. Customer service was spotty there. They seemed to have a decent selection of corals though.

I will have to check out Monfort, I didn't see them when I was searching for a place to go to. As for Layz's that would be Layz's Coral House? If so I might have to see what they have. In the mean time My wife and I went to Dr. Jacks they are willing to special order live stock. They are ordering us a couple of small Black Ocellaris Clowns from one of their suppliers. I really liked that they had a nice clean store and were open about the pricing and their care procedures. Not to mention that all their freshwater fish were actively swimming, lively, and seemed to be happy, the unfortunate things is that their saltwater selection is a bit small and is currently down due to the loss of their main pump. They replaced the pump and are going to be putting some salt acclimated mollies in to help the bio load this week.

For Online:

I just placed an order from Tidal Gardens; another Ohio reefer recommended them, they were prompt and straight forward that they were not going to ship me the corals to avoid the "winter storm" this weekend. I got that message at 8:01 am Friday. They could have been here Saturday, but it seems that they really care about their creatures. I like that they were willing to hold off sending the coral, so that the coral would not be as stressed by the shipping. I wish I could just drive up there and pick up the corals, but I cannot get off work when they had time for me, They have in store shopping by appointment only.

Thanks again,

Luckki

 

[reef tank 2.0]

that's a shame to hear about Gerber's. I never witnessed that 5+ years ago. I hear good and bad about Gerber's. One of those hit or miss. It can be that way with any place though.

I've never heard of Aquatics Galore, I'll have to look into them when ready.

Monfort has a both fresh and salt, including corals. I have never special ordered any special fish, mainly just looked at what was in stock. I remember getting a red brittle star from them. I had that for a couple years before I nuked my tank on accident and the brittle star dies. He was a good 9-12" in diameter too. I'll definitely get another. again, this was 5+ years ago. Store may have changed. They are about 10 minutes away from me, I may stop in there just to look around. I can report back when I go.

Back when I went to Lazy's Coral House, Brian was still in the old location (basement of his house). I think he either remodeled or relocated to a new home and started a new store. I have not been to the new store since opening. At the time I was there, he specialized in coral, and was starting to introduce fish. I am not sure if he does that still. I was looking on his website, but don't see any mention of livestock. Might be worth asking. He has a very impressive coral selection, or at least he did. Good guy too

Dr. Jacks? Have to look into that one too.

I have ordered coral online before, but never fish. I forgot where I bought my coral from, but me and another member would buy a lot and split it between the both of us. Doesn't help you much not knowing the name, but it's been too long since I have bought any.

 

[Luckki]

This is the website that I found on their Instagram. https://lazyscoralhouse.com/collections/live-coral looks like it has some Corals

 

[reef tank 2.0]

I have not run any of my plumbing yet, although the hole has been cut in the floor!! I am now in the basement trying to figure out how to secure the lines in place and which route i'd like them to go. All PVC is 1".

this is certainly fairly simple. the sump layout is slightly offset from the display tank above, so it is not a perfect drop down.

let me know if any of this raises a red flag. I don't have a lot, and I am trying to replicate, for the most part, the set up I had before. I never found that I needed anymore than what I am working with.

once the lines pass through the floor, they will each hit a union. (D, R, E - Drain line, Return Line, Emergency Drain Line)

Drain Line - I am still debating whether I use 45's or 90's. I think I will use 45's so there are no flow restrictions, other than the 3 or so 45's. Would it matter if they were 90's? I would like 90's only for the fact that that allows me to leave a lot of the wall space clear for future use, i can keep the line high and tight. Using 45's could potentially have the line taking a good chunk of the wall up for maybe adding / hanging other devices.

Return Line - i'll have this come up vertically and hit three gate valves. one valve would hit the carbon reactor, the second valve would hit the GFO reactor, and the third valve would be a spare for future use. (I hope this vertical run won't take up a whole lot of wall space, and that I have enough room to do what I want). Once it hits the last valve, then it would make it's way up to the Display Tank.

Emergency line - Once it hits the union, I was thinking of adding a hose barb right below. from that hose barb, I'd install a run of flexible tubing that would eventually make it's way to the Skimmer portion of my sump. Since this is a last resort drain, I'm thinking that I can get away with tubing rather than hard pvc. On the attached pdf, i show this line as an exaggerated curvy line. Obviously that's not how it will be installed.

As for the sump, I'll have the skimmer on the left, rocks and heaters in the center and then the return pump on the right. Since there are no baffles, Everything will be in it's own compartment with imaginary dividers . i will place a small powerhead in the sump to help with flow across the rocks. Not quite sure if a powerhead is needed, but what harm could it cause? Once I start dosing, I'll need a powerhead to help mix the dosing supplements. I am planning on having two heaters in the sump. And as much rock as I can fit in the center. I have a lot of rock left over from my 135 tank, so I should be good there. I started my last tank with dry rock, so I will be taking the same steps this time around.

this sump can literally slide left or right. Where I show it, does not mean it's in it's final home. I'll slide it left and right as needed once plumbing starts to take place.

I am using schedule 80 parts and pieces, as well as unions. I like the grey color. I will most likely continue the black pipe scheme I have going at the display tank. I'll paint all that once i dry fit everything. i hear some people have a bit of trouble with unions leaking. I certainly hope that isn't the case for me, especially behind the display tank.

In my post #5 above, you'll see the upper half of the plumbing lines that come off the Display tank. I have unions and gate valves up there to adjust flow. all accessible.

where the lines come through the floor, and where the basement wall is, there is a good gap, i don't have that dimension yet. But I think I'll need stand offs. but that doesn't affect what I'm planning here.

Hopefully everyone can see the attached pdf. Here is a naked view of the wall that I have to play with.
the upper right corner of the photo is where the plumbing lines pass down through the floor.

oh, and as for electric......i have one circuit going to that GFCI receptacle in the upper left corner of the photo. i will have a surge suppressor plugged into it. that'll most likely have 10-12 outlets on it, although they won't ever be all used.

i'll talk about the water storage area once I get this part squared away.

 

[reef tank 2.0]

i think the DT progress is going to come to a screeching halt, for a moment. I am currently in the process of having my front door replaced and it is not far from the display tank. Just to be safe, I'd rather wait till that's done before I add water. I can at least continue in the basement, to get all the plumbing set up. I really wanted to get the plumbing pipes set in place so I could anchor them in place directly below. I'll have to see how much I can actually do before needing to worry about the vertical lines going up. I'll post some pictures of my set up as I go. I'm sure I'll have questions.

 

[reef tank 2.0]

A quick picture of the back of my tank. I have decided to move forward. Right now, I'm just waiting for equipment to arrive so I can move forward. I will get pictures of the basement progress once the pump / plumbing lines are further along. for right now, i have ran the plumbing lines through the floor, got my gate valves locked in place, and have done a leak test in the overflow to make sure the bulkheads are sealed tight. So far so good. I realize things can change under pressure, but for now, they're dry. Stand is shimmed and level.

it looks to be rather tight from the back of the tank to the wall, but i can definitely get my arms in there and some of my body as needed. Let's hope things don't need tweaked

the pipe support you see on the floor is for my emergency drain line. I will run that last, once the return / drain lines are finalized in the basement. Need to figure out how I want to run that emergency line, whether it be hose or hard line. Since it won't be used much (hopefully), it leaves my options open.

 

[reef tank 2.0]

ater doctoring the sump drain plug area, i filled it up and we have zero leaks at the drain. I am waiting for a couple things to come in, but once they do, the stress test, I mean the leak test, will be in progress. the only concern i have are all the unions at the back of the tank. im not really concerned about the fittings (45's, 90's, etc), its those unions, once the return pump is powered up. I'm guessing in the next couple days.

today, i got the skimmer stand created and installed in place. my last tank, i had a skimmer stand, and the base of the skimmer would sit on top of the egg crate. I had the egg crate glued to pvc "legs" to keep it all in place. This time around, I was gonna do the same. This time, my skimmer needs to be 10-13/16 high to accomodate the height needed for my skimmer. I had some 2" pvc on hand, from a brainy idea i had with my last set up, but never used. SO I cut 4 posts out of that, and attached them to the egg crate. BUT this time, I was getting ready to glue it..........i was thinking, hold up, why on earth am i doing this?? that glue is a pain in the rear, and it wasn't all that secure since it only had egg crate to adhere to. So i decided to drill 4 small holes in the pvc, and i passed a zip tie through each set. looped it through the egg crate and cinched it in pace. DONE. I didn't have white zip ties, so I used the black I had on hand. Nobody is gonna see it, it's below water in a black sump

Here are some pictures of the stand in progress and complete and in place.