Moving to the Basement with 180 gallons + 125 gallons + 75 Sump

[bigwave]

New Sump!

Well my basement is taking FOREVER to finish, but I am just going to finish the wall where the tank sits, and slowly work around there.

The real news is that I changed my sump plans. I have a great 75 gallon tank, with stand, light, etc... and I was going to use that tank, and just toss the rest. However drilling the glass wasn't appealing to me, and I hated to waste all the extra stuff, and I know I wouldn't get much for selling the parts out.

So yesterday on Craigslist I found a 55 gallon acrylic aquarium (sold as a plastic aquarium). It was $10 which is cheaper than the drill bit I would have needed for the glass tank. (or the $50 per hole, no garantee he won't break it from my LFS :headshake2: )

So here it is, easy to drill, easy to modify as I see fit, and plenty of room for filtration and heaters!



Now I can setup the new tanks, with the sump, make sure it all works, then move the residents of the 75 out nice and slowly. Then I will sell it. Know anyone in Alaska that wants a nice planted tank with filters and lights in a few months?

 

[Assassynation]

What part of Alaska are you? I'm in Anchorage. I have a 150g that I have frontosa cichlids in.

 

[bigwave]

I am actually out in Palmer, but I work in Anchorage. So did you start a thread with pictures of your Frontosa?

 

[bigwave]

Hard to believe that it has been over a year, and this is still slowly progressing.

In the last year we had another little boy, and so I haven't spent a lot of time on the tanks. However my wife is visiting her family, so I am getting things done this week. I got half the pluming done, and the stand is all together.

Here's a few shots:

The front view, it is in an un-finished basement, you might notice!


And the sump behind.



And just a recap, the 180 on top drains into the 125 beneath, and the 125 drains into the 55 behind the wall. All pumps, filtration and heaters go in the 55.

 

[bigwave]

Here is the basics of the water change system.

Green: This is the pump which will deliver water to the 180 out front. It draws from the bottom of the sump.

Red: This is the outflow, right into my septic system.

The gray hose will be replaced with something more permantent eventually, but it will be on a timer, and will run warm water into the tank, for probably 20 minutes a couple times a day. It will deilver water to the bottom of the tank, so old water flows out the top, and down the drain. I am on a well, so the water doesn't need to be treated.

 

[Mgamer20o0]

Hard to believe that it has been over a year, and this is still slowly progressing.

some times life gets in the way. Keep working and sooner or later it will be done. big projects are not finished over night.

 

[bigwave]

Today water is flowing through all three tanks. Approx volume of 350 gallons. Maybe a few less for empty space in the sump, but that is pretty close.

 

[bigwave]

Well progress is being made.

The original dividers in the sump didn't hold up, they were just 1/8th inch plexi, and the sump stretched since it is plexi also, and everything just kinds flopped loose and didn't work. So I got some 1/4 inch, cut it with round edges, like like this (_) and wedged it in there, then used some food/water safe epoxy in the corners, and siliconed the life out of the rest of it. Now it holds. The sump chamber is about half full of scrubbies, and some nice batting media on top to be rinsed as it clogs. Should be good bio and mech filtration. I will probably double the ammount of scrubbies, so it comes down to that egg-crate.


The sump has been done for about a week, and water is flowing well. Today we rinsed and added 4 bags of flourite. That will be covered by sand (and I know eventually it will work it's way up, but that is okay). Originally I was just going to put a little in, but then my pet store didn't have any in stock, so they were transferring 2 from another store for me. Meanwhile I picked up another, and then when buying them, and some wood the bill came to $77. The checkout girl said if I spent $100, they would give me $20 off. And 1 more bag of flourite brought me to $102, then -20 the total was on. So I got that last bag for a measly $5. Couldn't turn it down at that price!

Here's the pictures from the flourite party:
In the bucket

My best helper!

The display tanks:


And some Flourite up REALLY close.


And the two little distractions, who I gladly allow to infringe on my hobby time!


The tank is running now, hopefully tonight it will clear up, and then I can add the sand and some plants tomorrow!

Goodnight all!

PS - I am going to be building LED lights to light the setup, and I have had some good help on the linked thread deciding what to get. If you want to see the decision making process follow the link, otherwise the building of the lights will continue here! http://www.aquariacentral.com/forum...for-6-foot-long-planted-tank&referrerid=80972

 

[Rbishop]

Looks like some good progress!

 

[SubRosa]

The other details I left out, and just remembered:

The sump will be on the other side of a wall, behind the tanks. That is a room with all our house plumbing so I am going to plumb in a system to do automatic water changes. That way I can keep nice clear water, I am thinking something like 30 gallons a day being replaced, probably 15 gallons in the morning, and 15 in the evening.

That should work out to about a 10% daily water change. I am on a well so I don't need to treat the water.

PS - 125 is close to full now, no leaks so far.

Mathematically speaking it makes more sense to do one 30 gal change than 2 x 15 gal changes, although with doing 10% daily it shouldn't be an issue.