My 185gal build in progress (lots of pics)

As a DIY'er I am really, really, really impressed with your wood working skills. Until you actually try to work with wood, it's really hard to appreciate good work. This project is impressive. Good work and good luck.

It's WAY easier to buy equipment and put it together, and at times during the DIY projects you probably wish you would have done just that, but in the end it's worth it! Stay motivated and keep those self-doubt gremblins at bay!
 
lousybreed said:
As a DIY'er I am really, really, really impressed with your wood working skills. Until you actually try to work with wood, it's really hard to appreciate good work. This project is impressive. Good work and good luck.

It's WAY easier to buy equipment and put it together, and at times during the DIY projects you probably wish you would have done just that, but in the end it's worth it! Stay motivated and keep those self-doubt gremblins at bay!
Click to expand...

Thanks LousyBreed ;) I'm somewhat less impressed myself, but it's always nice to hear other people appreciating it! Mind you, you can't see it close up enough to nitpick out all the details I'm unhappy with!
 
MORE!! MORE!! I'm loving it!! :D Good work dude. Although many have already expressed this, ill just state it again: I can't wait until everything is set up with all the fishies and all systems going! :D
 
:popcorn: cant wait to see more
 
OK... bit of work this evening... lots of pics. Lots of mess!

Mocked up the plumbing for the overflow:
DSC02702.jpg


Started figuring out the plumbing for where the overflow drains into the sump:
DSC02703.jpg


This is with the lid flipped up. The two drains will have 100micron filter bags on them, flip the lid up for filter maintenance:

DSC02704.jpg


First divider sitting in place. It obviously needs some epoxy, etc. But this is where it'll sit:

DSC02705.jpg


My return to the tank. It's a bit complicated... there will be a hose connected to that dangling barb. The thick part right after the barb is a check valve. The U-turn with the T in it will feed the upper tank return. This return will be a 1/2" or so hole that sprays onto the water surface and does some surface agitation. This hole will also help break the siphon in a power failure, so I'm not relying on the check valve 100% to keep my tank from completely draining into the sump:
DSC02706.jpg


Playing with my dual pumps plumbed together; I think I'll need a couple more check valves here... I realised today that if one pump quits, the other pump will just pump through the dead one and back into the sump... so instead of a redundant system, I have a system that's twice as likely to fail!
DSC02707.jpg


Put a coat of Varathane on the front of the tank. Shiny! After I'm done finishing the front of the tank I'll mask it pretty thoroughly, because I'm sick of cleaning it and fretting about scratches.
DSC02708.jpg


Mocked another divider into the sump, and put a drawer full of bio-balls in there, to get a feel for how much media I have (2 drawers full) and how much space it'll need in the sump. I cut the second divider that'll wall in the trickle chamber, too:
DSC02709.jpg


I was wondering why my garage floor was so wet from my relatively short sump experiments... when I realised the stupid bin I'd been using to submerge the pumps in had a hole in it:
DSC02710.jpg


And lastly, a sketch of my sump design:
DSC02711.jpg
 
Moving right along and lookin good too! Well thought out.
 
Good update, everything looks great. Keep up the good work
 
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