Update #6 - The sump
Authors Note: I’m actually about ½ way through the build at the time of authoring this. I’m adding these entries to remember the fun I had along the way.
Time to build the sump! Now in case you forgot by the title of the thread I’m a rookie and it wasn’t long ago that I didn’t know what a sump was or why someone would want one. As I was researching the hobby I realized they were VERY useful although I’m still trying to explain to my brothers why you need a “tank under your tank”. I considered buying a pre-made sump but opted to build my own to save a few $$$.
A few months ago decided to take a practice run at this by assembling a 29 gallon quarantine tank complete with sump. It was the first tank I drilled, I bought a custom overflow box off of Amazon, and got glass baffles cut at the local glass place. The entire setup including the stand was under $200 and I learned how to drill a tank, insert bulkheads, use silicone, and (after a few attempts) how to make an overflow drain run quietly. Now it serves a nice QT when I need it.
For this build I decided to use a 40 gallon tank and combine it with a Fiji Cube Sump Baffle Kit. For me this was a really nice compromise between a nice looking sump and was still less than ½ the cost of something like a Trigger system. It also lets you space out the sections of the sump however you would like. I’ve used Clear Aquarium Silicone Sealant by ASI (Amazon) on both builds and have been happy with the results. Even though the silicone doesn’t actually bond the glass tank to the acrylic baffles they seem to be held in place quite nicely.
Next step…the refugium.
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Nice! I find going the DIY route makes you feel more connected with your system. Love the idea of pea ting on a QT system. Everyone should have and use one!
Update #7 - The refugium - Dad what’s with all the fish tanks?!?!
Authors Note: I’m actually about ½ way through the build at the time of authoring this. I’m adding these entries to remember the fun I had along the way.
My kids are aware I have a saltwater fish problem but sometimes my behavior still catches them off guard. “Dad what’s with all the fish tank?” my daughter asked me as she came into the garage. Now personally I don’t think there is anything wrong with having a 40 gallon tank, two 29 gallons, two 20 gallon, and two 10 gallon tanks strone about your garage as you are trying to find the perfect combination of sump and refugium (not to mention an unusual concentration of PVC pipe and fittings all over the floor and a 180 gallon tank in our family room). Apparently she didn’t get the memo that this is a normal part of the hobby.
I know there are a lot of interesting techniques you can try with a refugium for nutrient export and to bulk up your pod population. They are also a great place to add some extra rock. I wanted to be sure I could try some of these techniques in the future.
In this hobby there are a lot of ways to be successful but I liked the idea of having separate tanks for the fuge and my equipment. The display tank has two 1” drains and two 1” returns. I had read trying to run two separate returns from two sumps\fuges was a bad idea because you could never keep the returns totally balanced. The big question then was how to “connect” the two tanks.
I wasn’t crazy about plumbing the two tanks together into one massive sump. Keeping them as two separate tanks provided one less opportunity for leaks and would make it easier to swap out tanks if I changed my mind in the future. If I went with a sump larger than the 40 gallon tank I wouldn’t be able to take it in and out of the stand. Definitely didn’t want to sacrifice that.
I decided the right solution for me would be to use gravity to drain the refugium into the sump. A 20 high tank was the perfect size and I built a small stand to get it high enough to drain into the second tank. I drilled two 1” returns and added uniseals (link) with one being the primary and the other higher as an emergency drain. Using some egg crate (link) and zip ties I fashioned a way to keep chaeto and larger animals out of the return area. I also plan to add unions to the plumbing so I can bypass the refugium altogether and have both drains go directly into the 40g sump. Options. Gotta have them.
The primary return on the refugium bypasses the filter socks and skimmer section of the sump to encourage the pod population to find its way back into the display tank. The emergency return is going to flow into a first section where the filter socks are minus the sock. The theory is the noise of the draining water will alert me that the primary drain is clogged. I also plan to water sensors on the floor of the stand in case something catastrophic happens. Here is what the two tanks look like together:
It’s a fairly simple setup but that was the intention. Time to order some rock and think about aquascaping…
Update #8 - Aquascaping
Authors Note: I’m actually about ½ way through the build at the time of authoring this. I’m adding these entries to remember the fun I had along the way.
There are a lot of interesting aspects of this hobby and a lot of skills you can learn. Aquascaping is one of those aspects. On the one hand the bacteria and pods don’t care how you stack your rocks. On the other hand allowing room for corals to grow, hiding spots for fish, trying to eliminate dead spots, creating swim throughs, and making it look awesome all at the same time takes a little thought and planning.
What makes a “scape” look good is very much personal preference. Personally I wanted to have some negative space and ensure there was plenty of room for fish to swim in front of and behind the scape. The plan is to have tangs and other fish that like to cruise around. I also wanted to create some interesting shelves to look at, ensure that the scape was extremely stable, and be able to easily change the scape in the future. In short it needed to have:
- Open space
- Interesting shelves
- Room for coral growth
- Swim lanes in the front and back
- Hiding spots
- Minimal dead zones
- Lots of swim throughs
- Extreme stability
- Ability to change it in the future
- Be awesome
I decided to use a combination of Marco Dry Rock and Marco Shelf Premium Dry Rock. I also purchased several large foundation pieces and several small foundations. The foundation pieces are cut smooth on one side of the rock. You place the smooth side against your bottom glass and cement the rest of your scape to the natural looking top. This gives you an extremely stable and natural looking base which slopes down naturally into the sand.
I also wanted to avoid having a giant, heavy scape that was difficult to change or move. To achieve this I created four large “scapes” that can be independently moved around and multiple tiny scapes that can be stacked on the larger ones. You can see an example of this on the far right but most blend in without be able to be noticed.
I used E-Marco-400 Aquascaping Mortar to hold the rocks together. I purchased two kits although only really needed one. Although very pricey for what is basically hydraulic cement, it was easy to work with and has a very strong bond if you let it cure properly. If you are cementing multiple rocks on top of each other it is a good idea to let each bond fully cure before cementing the next rock. This prevents any shifting while the cement cures.
All in all I was happy with how it turned out. I’m by no means artistic and knew I would be looking at this for a long time to come. Having interesting pieces of rock to work with does make the job a lot easier. There is only so much you can do with round rocks.
Now that all the cement is dry it’s time to start cycling these rocks…
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That’s an interesting idea with the base rocks. Makes total sense!
I spent some time when I first setup my cube looking into what it takes to make a visually appealing scape. It turns out there’s some science to it. The Fibonacci sequence (or rule of thirds in photography) explains some of how our brain perceive something to be pleasant to look at. I wrote something up about this at one point, but I can’t remember where… I’ll find it and post it elsewhere so I don’t hijack your thread 
EDIT: I found it, but it was from my old 75g and on my olllllllld website. This is hilariously bad. I’m going to post a thread now…
Update #9 - Curing rocks - Dad what’s with all the trash cans?
Authors Note: I’m actually about ½ way through the build at the time of authoring this. I’m adding these entries to remember the fun I had along the way.
“Dad what’s with all the trash cans?” my daughter asked. As mentioned my children are used to strange behavior related to this hobby but are still regularly caught off guard. “I’m just cooking rocks.” I said casually. “Is this the last time something strange will appear in the basement because of your fish tanks?” she asked. “Probably not.” I said.
Now that the scape has been created and the mortar has had time to fully cure I wanted to begin curing the dry rock. To do this I turned to the trusty brute trash can. After soliciting some input from other hobbyist I went with a very simple set. I added a Kedsum 660gph pump for flow, one softball size rock from my existing tank to help seed the bacteria, and am phantom feeding with the dry fish food I’m using in my current tank roughly every 1-2 weeks. At this point I now own four Kedsum pumps. I don’t use any of them continuously but think they are a very nice value for utilitarian functions. It took two trash cans to fit everything and I added a rubber hose to have the water run in a whirlpool pattern.
Related to this topic I recently heard an interesting story from about another club membe. He recently went from a 90 gallon to a 120 gallon tank and commented that it took almost a year for his tank to fully settle down. I’ve been thinking how long it would take the new tank to settle and his experience surprised me. Perhaps naively I was thinking that I could take everything in the 65 gallon tank, plus the additional cured drive rock, plus some live sand and be off to the races.
Frankly this had made me reconsider my entire plan. Perhaps I’ll keep the 65 gallon tank up and running while I’m dialing in the 180 gallon the first year. There are two drawbacks to running both. I will have to move the 65 gallon (currently sits in the location of the future tank) and the move itself will likely set the tank back. I’d be curious to hear from others how long this is (months?). Second it is a lot more work and additional expense to maintain the two tanks. The positive would be that I would be far less tempted to rush the new tank.
In either case I’ll need to be patient. This story also highlights the value of being part of a club. While the online forums have been tremendously helpful, being able to hear people’s first hand experience in the hobby is very different. Besides it’s fun…
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Hi Adam,
That was me, of course, with the 90 to 120 switch. I’d be curious to hear what more seasoned reefers think. It could be that I was not cautious enough with my feeding and then when I added the dosing of Reef Roids, I really sent things over a Phosphate cliff. Hard to know. You might be just fine if you don’t make those mistakes I made.
The new build looks great and is making me dream of a 180 again . . .
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Update #10 - When someone gives you good advice…
…you take it. I added a pond liner to the bottom of the stand because it’s not a matter of if but when something leaks. The liner is very thick, fish safe rubber that was surprisingly hard to cut. It’s held up with a few roofing nails that have plastic around the heads so they don’t cut into the rubber.
Now if the tank leaks I can convert the stand into a lagoon. =) This DIY project was inspired by our last club meeting.
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Looks good, it will give you peace of mind
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On a related note, when Adam was advising me on my stand build, he suggested I used appliance paint (basically epoxy paint) on the inside of the stand. I put 3 coats on it and then also caulked the seams of the interior. Water beads up beautifully on the epoxy paint and my stand is well protected.
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the pond liner is a good idea
Update #11 - Got sand…
I’ve spent a fair amount of time researching sand. Like most things in this hobby there are multiple ways to be successful - deep sand beds, shallow sand beds, or bare bottom tanks can all host successful reef tanks. I also spent a lot of time considering the type of livestock I could or couldn’t put in the tank based on this decision. I’ve decided that I’m putting sand in primarily for aesthetics and will use bio balls/bricks in the sump if I want to increase my surface for bacteria. While I think the fish and invertebrates that filter the sand are neat they aren’t at the top of my list for livestock. I’m mostly going for fish that like to cruise around the tank.
I decided to go with 140lbs of Arag-Alive! Fiji Pink sand. The seven bags have arrived and sure I’m no longer my UPS drivers favorite stop. That should give me an inch to an inch and a half of sand in the 180. When I clean the sand I won’t have to worry about releasing pockets of anaerobic bacteria. The grain size is on the smaller size so it might blow around but I definitely prefer the look. I’ve used the larger crushed coral for my sand bed in the past and while functional I think it tends to always look dirty. Time will tell if I made the right choice but the nice thing about sand is you can always add more or remove it if you change your mind.
There is a lot of good information out there but I found the BRStv video below to be the most helpful. I’d be curious what others have done (shallow, deep, or no sand bed) and how they liked it.
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Update #12 - Building the mega wall…
Public service announcement: I’m not a structural engineer and encourage you to do your own research regarding weight considerations for larger tanks.
I’m enjoying this build but have I’ve realized just how big of an undertaking this particular project is. Back in January when I purchased my tank I thought that 3 months would be more than enough time to get the tank up and running. Obviously COVID-19 changed everything and I also grossly underestimated the amount of work. I think the silver lining is it has given me a lot of time to research and think about my design.
I know that weight is an important consideration for large fish tanks, particularly if you want them on the second floor. I wasn’t concerned that the tank would go crashing through the floor. If you place a tank against an exterior wall perpendicular to the joists it’s unlikely (unless your house had other issues). I would, however, be concerned over time that the floor would sag under the weight which could cause seals to fail. Imagine that mess!
Fortunately my garage is underneath where I intend to place the tank. Being able to “easily” reinforce the second floor was a big factor in my decision to upgrade. I considered a few options to build “mega wall” (steel beam and column, 2x4s, etc) but was most familiar with framing. I built the wall 30" out from the exterior wall which should allow me to place the tank 4-6" off of the interior wall above. The floor in the garage wasn’t anywhere near level so I have to stick frame each piece in. You’ll also see I’ve got shims everywhere.
The good news is everything is square, plumb, and nice and tight. Gaps or anything that isn’t true could cause issues. If you’re not familiar with construction this is the design for a load bearing wall in your house so it’s probably overkill but gives me piece of mind. I also added two doorways because I’m going to put my salt reservoirs and other gear behind this wall. I also don’t plan to add dry wall or do any other finish work. It’s strictly utilitarian for now.
This was a pretty big milestone for the build. I couldn’t move the tank upstairs until the wall was done and was in a holding pattern until I could get the lumber from Home Depot. It was a little frustrating. Now I can start moving forward again. My rocks have been curing for about a month, most of my gear has arrived in the mail, and I can start putting all the pieces together.
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Nice wall you’ve got there
Don’t think you’ll need to worry about any sag now for sure. Nice to have an extra fish room now too 
Nice work, now excited to see the finished set up
Update #13 - The gear is here…!
The gear is finally here! It feels like Christmas and my downstairs looks like I just robbed an LFS! There are numerous brands that will get the job done but in my case I decided to go with Ecotech for lights and flow, Neptune for my controller and dosing, and Finnex for my heaters. It’s quite an upgrade from my previous gear and the tank will have:
- 4 Vortech MP40s (plus one extra wet side for easy maintenance)
- 4 Radion XR15s G5s
- 4 Radion mounting kits
- 1 Vecta M2 pump
- 1 Octo Classic 150-S skimmer
- 1 Neptune Apex EL
- 1 Neptune DOS
- 1 Finnex 500 watt heaters
Initially I’m going to try to create an ultra low maintenance (ULM) tank. I’m planning to use the Neptune as much as possible and the DOS for automatic water changes. The plan is to have a series of Brute trash cans directly below the tank in the garage with saltwater and RODI for top off. Assuming the tanks total water volume is 200 gallons I’ll program the Neptune to replace a few gallons daily (more as the corals and fish grow). Once I have this installed I’ll do a full update.
For flow I originally was planning to put two MP40s on opposite ends of the tank and two MP10s along the back. The glass on an 180 gallon tank is too think for MP10s so I decided to get four MP40s. This should give me plenty of options for flow. I’ll start with two MP40s on opposite ends of the tank and two MP40s on the back. I’d be interested if anyone has had success running four jets along the back. If you could make this work the MP40s would be practically invisible against the black background. I’m also looking forward to trying out off of the pre-programmed flow patterns.
The Vectra M2 pump should be more than enough to power the sump and I’m really excited with the fine grained control of a DC return pump. I think the Octo skimmer should be fine but may need to upgrade to something like a NYOS once I have large adult fish in the tank. I got two 500 watt Finnex heaters. Each individual heater isn’t quite strong enough to “cook” the tank but is strong enough to keep it stable if one were to die. I’ll also have them plugged into the Neptune as a safely measure in case they were to malfunction.
It’s starting to feel like things are coming together! Next step… the controller box!
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Holy cow! Is your credit card smoking after that order
I think the whole MP10/thick glass thing is a bunch of bull. My tank is 50g rimless and I can’t use an MP10 because it is 10mm glass. So now I have an MP40 running at 20%…seems stupid. I’d have gotten two MP10s. Not sure about running all 4 on the back wall. You could do one high and one low on each side and run them like gyres, but you could also just buy two gyre pumps With how wide the flow is on these, I think they’re really more suited to a big push across the tank that just front to back. I run mine on the back wall, but my tank is a square. Soooooo… ha!
The Rona affects all of us in different ways.
I’m also running an mp40 on a 45 jbj AIO. At 20% as well. I have an mp10 but am hesitant to try it because I finally got the flow right haha. Did not even think about the glass size. Mp10 is on my 40 breeder.
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Ecotech is based here in PA. Always nice to see some commerce for the state
