Wwest's 29gal Drilled Tank W/Sump

[wwest]

I decided that i needed another tank. ( Had to bribe my girlfriend, but it was worth it )

With help from Duane ( Wildeone ) i decided to drill my own tank. He sold me a bit, thanks again duane..

Here is a picture of the overflow box. I used 1/4 inch acrylic for the box because its easier to work with..


Here is a picture of the DT



Here is a picture of the sump and auto top off.

The sump is on the right, and the auto top off is on the left.

[wwest]

Ok i wanted to start with the sump because i think it is more of a hands on do it yourself job. Here are some pictures of the sump


The return line from the sump into the DT




This section here i have to give credit to Brian. He suggested i do this to cut down my return line pressure which was very very high..

Its simply a T inserted into the return line and aimed with a ball valve to the center section. Release some pressure to the DT and also giving me my center section flow. Saves me from buying a new return pump and a new power head for the center section. And it adds plumbing parts which i like the look of. When i see a tank with alot of plumbing it looks more,.......personal i guess. like that person took alot of time and effort into there tank. maybe its just me..

Here is a picture of the setup



Here is a picture of the center section. Notice the Loc-Line on the right side.. Thats coming straight off of the ball valve. The ball Valve is so i can adjust the flow..




This picture here is the left section. This is where my return pump and live rock is.

[wwest]

Well my overflow box is alittle high. The water line is about 1/16th of an inch from the lip ( the lip that holds a glass top ). Now i dont use glass tops or anytype of tops for that matter but i dont want a temp clog in the drain line to create the DT to overflow. So this weekend or maybe tonight im going to cut the front section off of the box and cut it down about 1/4 inch.. Ill let everyone know how it goes.

[wwest]

OK well i took apart my over flow and cut it down. i only cut down the front section, didnt see the need it cutting the side as well.. But my water level is down to a safe level. Here are pictures of the water level and the overfow box







I also got my auto top off working too. if there is one thing in my tank thread people read and remember i hope its this.. Dont mount your floats untill you know they will work that way. I had to flip my floats and under water with one hand is almost impossible. lol so make sure you bench test before you put them in water.. Here is a picture of the auto top off



Also i have been Culturing pyhto for some time now and i just finaly decided on how many containers im going to culture at a time. I might change it later but for right now these will work good

[BrianPlankis]

Wes,

I'll definitely have to talk to you once I'm ready to do phyto, it looks like you are doing very good with it!

Brian

[wwest]

No problem. Actually if you need some i have alot to spare I split my culture today and ended up with alittle over a gallon lol. its ok though, im going to supply alot of people here localy..

[wwest]

First I have to say, I wish i would of bought a MH retro kit along time ago. This light is simply amazing in the way it looks. The new light shows the ripples on the sand bed. My old PC didnt do anything like that. Also the MH looks more like sunlight. And it will make your eyes hurt and give you a headache like the sun will too lol Anyways i purchased a 175watt 15k Magnetic ballast retrofit kit.

Here are some picture of my new hood and light.






I plan on sanding and painting it later. i just wanted to get it up and running lol

[Toan]

did you drill your own tank??

[wwest]

Yea i sure did.


Also if i haven't said it yet. Welcome to Project DIBS

[wwest]

I brought home more macro today and i went to put it in my sump and i noticed something that looks like a 50 cent peace of green zoo's. I thought nah Theres no way i have grown zoo's in my sump. Sure enough i picked it up and there is a good healthy batch of green zoo's lol. I run 10k 65 watt PC on my sump so i guess it was enough to help it along lol. I placed it in the DT but i couldn't get a good picture but when i do I'll let post one.