14 hrs well spent...First DIY

Hi everybody,

Being a relatively new member of the 3reef community I thought it would be cool to post what I did today. I know a lot of people have done this DIY project, but I felt really happy after seeing it completed and running. As a summary I removed my sump (after removing the bio balls over a period of time), ripped out the flex tubing for my 2 over flows, installed pvc pipe, installed baffles, and started a fuge. Needless to say, I made a couple mistakes along the way.....but maybe this post could help someone with the same ambition.

As a recap, this is a 175gal fowlr at my business that I decided to maintain/try to improve about 3 months ago. It's been up and running for about 8 yrs. It needs a lot of upgrading still, but I figured starting a fuge would help.

I have 2 pacific tangs
1 yellow tang
1 tomato clownfish
1 ocellaris clownfish
2 dotty backs
Turbo and Margarita snails
and 2 chocolate chip starfish (new additions)


So anyway, I started my day emptying out the sump, cleaning off the salt creep, and measuring. I removed the threaded inserts from the overflow bulkheads (bulkheads were threaded on this inside 1.5inches, this seemed to be a common question when I was researching this project) and ventured off to my local Lowe's with many questions.....and as you can see, this was my first experience creating anything with PVC pipe.


I bought:

-20 ft of 1.5inch pvc pipe (over kill, but I wanted to be prepped for screw ups)
-6 90 degree elbows
-4 45 degree slip elbows
-1 T
-1 ball valve
-one tub o PVC cement (per my plumber he states: "with the amount of flow, you don't need to use the purple primer, you will get it all over the place. Put a coating of the cement on the pvc, wipe it off with a paper towel, then apply again and stick it together).
-Live sand
-2 chocolate chip starfish.....I couldn't goto the lfs and not buy anything......anybody else have this problem?


Things I learned:

-PVC CEMENT WILL BOND IN ABOUT 2 SECONDS.....That mistake was made one time.
-Marine silicone can be spread relatively easily with a paint stir-er from Lowes for in between baffles.
-If your to lazy like myself to run back to lowes and get the acrylic sheets cut, a jigsaw works just fine. Taking your baffle dimensions to the local hardware store would be recommended, mine would have cut it for free.
-Yeah so, the jigsaw works just fine for cutting pvc pipe too, as long as you have a straight line (again, first time with anything pvc pipe related)
-Most importantly, I found a neat little device at lowes (on the recommendation of my plumber) called fern coat coupling. I have a 1.5inch bulkhead, so I got an inch and a quarter/ inch and a half fern coat coupling. They are made of rubber, and have a metal band with a screw to make tight. Worked great in case I would have to remove any time in the future.

The pictures below depict right after I ripped out the sump and cleaned it.

Next is when I started the pvc project

Third is with my new sump/fuge creation hooked up and running

Lastly are the two new additions (chocolate starfish) acclimating before getting put in the tank........conveniently dubbed "Stevie" and "Amber" by two employees that work for me; and I'm sorry they are better looking than the starfish so I couldn't resist their request to name them.


So I guess if I had any questions about this diy project it would be..... should the 3 lines I have going into the fuge from the overflows be submerged in the water? In both the fuge and in the skimmer side?

What can I add to my 4inch dsb to eventually support a bubble tip anemone and/or eventually coral?

Thanks in advance for taking a look, I had a lot of fun and most importantly I hope my tank and fish continue to live healthy lives. If there are any noobs like myself thinking about taking on a project like this, feel free to msg me. I would be more than happy to assist in any way possible.


Regards,
JR

 

Seems like you did a lot of work but looks great!!! Do you have any pictures of your DT????

 

why yes, yes I do. thanks for your interest and encouragement!

 

What can I add to my 4inch dsb to eventually support a bubble tip anemone and/or eventually coral?

Nothing. you have it there already. the BTA will attach to the rock work in the tank already. it will walk till it finds a Happy place. the biggest question is what sort of lights do you have on that tank? I did very well with mine under 440wt vho's but t-5's are very popular and they can do quite well. these lights will do well for many types of coral as well. this was on my 75. on a tank your size, you would need a good deal of t-5 lights or metal Halide to keep anythign you wanted such as SPS corals. I have 750 watts of Metal Halide lighting now on mine.

Project looks good. alot of work but worth it in the long run.

 

Great work

 

Your gonna have to remove those chocolate chip stars if you want corals and anemones. But awesome job. Tank looks very good and appears to be in good hands now.

 

Great work! +1 to the Choc. chip stars eating corals. I found this out when I first started out in the hobby. LOL

 

Congrats...thanks for the tips as I'll be doing my fuge hookup soon. I too got way too much pipe....just in case.

 

great work looking nice keep it up