MrSpiffy's 40BR tank/stand build (BIG pics!!!)

[MrSpiffy]

Before I get started, I'd like to offer my apologies to anyone who had begun to follow my first thread related to this build. I originally started this as a 30G build, then noticed a lot of scratches on the inside of the tank, and opted to try and find a 40BR or similarly shaped tank instead. Progress got slow, and practically stopped for a short time. So if you were following that thread, I apologize.

But let's start over!

So this build is going to cover stand construction, tank modification, and plumbing, for the most part. I'm not going too nuts with lighting and such, since I don't really have the budget for it right now. But I'm keeping lower-light-requiring corals anyway, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue. Here are my specs:

Tank: 40-gallon Breeder glass tank (modified w/ external overflow and dual drains)
Stand: 2x4 construction, cabinet-grade plywood skin, Aspen top w/ dark cherry stain
Sump: 20-gallon long w/ glass baffles, refugium area
Plumbing: 1" PVC for dual durso-style drains, 3/4" plumbing for return
Return pump: Mag 5
Skimmer: AquaC Remora (yes, I know... underpowered, but it's light stocking for now and budget is tight. At least I have one! )
Lighting: 1 x 96W PC Current Satellite (also underpowered, but it'll do for now)
Flow: I have a couple Mini-Jet 404's right now, but I hope to use the return for circulation, as well. I'll likely upgrade this sometime soon to Maxi-Jet's.

Now for some pics! Here's the intended design, without the front panel to let you see what the plan is.



I plan to make a front panel removable to give full access to the sump area without having to watch out for a door on hinges.

Also, something I've been pondering is how to reduce the number of baffles in the sump without causing microbubbles. If anyone has any ideas on how to do that, if you could let me know, I'd appreciate it!

Here are some pics from construction of the stand before I decided to go with the 40BR, so it's a bit narrow from front to back in these pics.







A pic of the corner joints on the top and bottom frames:


I know it's overkill, but I'm an engineer! What do you expect?

So this pretty much covers what had been done until yesterday... more to follow!

[MrSpiffy]

Continuing on...

I almost forgot! Somewhere in between the original construction of the frame of the stand and last night, I ordered my Mag 5 pump. I know I probably don't need to post it for you, but I'm excited anway. So... Here it is! I did test it in the sink to make sure it works. It definitely moves water!



I also decided to add more depth to the stand to accommodate the 40BR instead of the 30G I was originally going to use. So I screwed on some additional 2x4's onto the back side of the original stand supports, and also created an additional 3-4" of shelf using extra plywood. You should be able to see it in a couple pics below.

Last night I did some staining on my tank. I used General Finishes brand gel stain. The color is called Georgian Cherry. Man, I LOVE that stuff! It's very easy to work with, and creates a nice, even finish. And considering it's my first time using a gel stain, I'd say it turned out pretty darned well! I highly recommend this brand of stain to anyone!

Have some more pics!

A test of the color. I plan to put 2-3 coats on, so it will get darker.


My first attempt using gel stain, before wiping off the excess stain:


The aftermath:






So, that's about it for now. I plan to do another coat of stain tonight, as well as use some Kilz on the inside of the stand to seal the frame and shelf from any spilled water. The Kilz will have to wait, though, until I've finished with the staining, as the one side you see still attached to the stand has been glued on (thanks to my lack of foresight... DOH!

As always, I'm more than happy to hear suggestions and comments! I hope you enjoy!

[kysard1]

If its not too late try to get a 29 for the sump. With a 20L you will have little room for the tank draining down because it is so short.

[MrSpiffy]

Originally posted by kysard1
If its not too late try to get a 29 for the sump. With a 20L you will have little room for the tank draining down because it is so short.

Well, despite having more water volume, a 29G would significantly reduce the amount of space I have inside the stand, making it tougher to work in there. I have a 29G freshwater, and that thing's pretty tall. Plus 20L tanks are pretty nice for a smaller sump/fuge. In any case, I already have the 20L, so I'll just stick with that. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

As far as progress goes, I put one more coat of stain on the top and sides of the stand, and put my first coat of stain on the front of the stand. Since I know everyone loves pics, here another one for you:



I won't be able to do work on the stand this weekend, since the wife and I are going camping. We're also moving into a new condo. Hopefully I'll keep this thing rolling. I won't put any more coats of stain on, except for the front pane. I'll just add 2-3 coats of top coat. Then comes the Kilz on the inside of the stand.

[Aquabucket]

Excellent work so far! Are you going to go with a satin finish or a high gloss for the clear coat?

[MrSpiffy]

Thanks! With this project I used a gel stain from General Finishes, and figured it'd be best to follow with a gel top coat. The only gel top coat available from GF was in satin finish, so that's what it'll be. But I think it'll look great, even without a gloss or semi-gloss finish. The stain and top coat have urethane in them, so it'll be just a touch shiny anyway, as you can tell from the last picture that it'll partially reflect the flash from my camera.

[Aquabucket]

I think you will be very happy with a satin finish. If you were to go with a gloss brush strokes and other minor imperfections are more visible.

[Kayadad]

Looks great. You do really nice woodwork.

The external overflow is a great idea that works well. I did one just like yours on my 40B (I used a single 1.5" drain though).

I am also using a mag 5 return and a 20L sump.

[WinnipegDragon]

Arwe you going to seal the wood on the interior as well?

[MrSpiffy]

Aquabucket, we found that when using Polyshades (polyurethane/stain combination), a thicker layer would really gloss over nicely. But I agree, that a satin finish will give it a nice, rich, somewhat more professional look. I actually prefer less gloss. Shiny stuff can get kinda tacky sometimes. Satin finish never goes out of style.

Kayadad, thanks! If I had better tools, it could be better. The stand actually isn't very square in the frame. I managed to correct this on the outside by cutting nice, square plywood panels and making sure they match up nicely. You'd never know the frame isn't perfect.

Also, how do you like the Mag 5 and 20L sump? Do you find they're a good fit for your 40BR?

WinnipegDragon, yep, I plan to seal the interior using Kilz primer. I've never used it before. But I hear that stuff will stick to anything, and seal like a dream. Plus it's white, so if I use a light over the fuge area, it'll reflect more light back to the tank, instead of being absorbed by the wood as much.

[MrSpiffy]

Just a quick update for everyone... I got the last coat of stain on the stand. Now it needs clear top coat.

[ludnix]

That stain looks great! That was exactly the stain I was looking to get (the color atleast) and my local hardware store didn't have anything even close to as red as that. I picked the stain with the most red in it and it still looks too brown

Good luck with your setup!

[Lehman]

Why did you lock in the corners of the 2x4's instead of just butting them against each other?

[MrSpiffy]

Thanks, ludnix! Again, I highly recommend General Finishes stain! That stuff was just a dream to work with.

Lehman, I did that for two reasons. One was for strength. That wood glue will hold it together pretty darn good. The other reason is for structural support. I suppose it wasn't overly necessary, seeing how I attached my support legs to the upper frame. But I did that because I wanted the weight of the tank to be on the boards, not on the screws that hold the boards together. This way forces the one board to push on the other board for support instead of transferring that force via the screws. I hope that makes sense. If not, let me know. I'll make you a diagram. It's always easier to understand through pictures.

[Lehman]

Just trying to get it through an engineers standpoint. Probably wasnt necessary since the weight should distribute evenly through the legs and glue + 2-3 3" screws and the baby would be solid. Im actually a union carpenter and do alot of framing metal stud and drywall and seeing that you were an engineer I was curious of your reasoning. Looks like a nice stand and you definately wont have to worry abut the tank doing any structural damage to it.

[MrSpiffy]

It's always interesting to see a different point of view on a design. I'm sure it would have been really strong without locking the legs like that. I'm just a fiend for "overkill engineering", I guess. I usually do that to make absolutely sure, so there's no doubt in my mind that anything could possibly happen from a design standpoint. Of course, that's probably why my stand is freakin' heavy, too.

[Trigeek]

I love the stain color, looks great so far!!!

[MrSpiffy]

Originally posted by Trigeek
I love the stain color, looks great so far!!!

Thanks!

[MrSpiffy]

Alrighty! Time for another pseudo-update!

I've worked out what I feel would be a good plumbing scheme for my tank, given that I want to utilize mostly rigid plumbing parts. Below are two screenshots of my plumbing layout concept. The green plumbing is the return plumbing, while the white plumbing is the drain plumbing. The main drain will split into two lines, with a ball valve to determine how much of the drain will enter the refugium area. The second drain (which is higher in the overflow box) will be a backup drain, not used unless absolutely necessary. I was thinking of adding union ball valves to each drain, too, so I can cut off flow down the drains in case I need to remove anything. But is that necessary? Probably not... I'm also thinking I might want to make the T'd section of drain into the skimmer area threaded, so I can unscrew it, should I want to remove the sump for a move or something.

The initial section of return line near the pump will employ spa flex PVC on each side of the ball valve so I can remove the pump whenever I choose, without worrying about harming my rigid PVC structure. The green rectangular box in the sump area is just a representation of my Remora skimmer that I'll be utilizing for now. Eventually, I'd like to upgrade, but that will wait until after I finish the build.

Let me know what you think!

[MrSpiffy]

If the pics are too big, let me know and I'll shrink them a little.

[GrandeGixxer]

WHat is your reasoning on splitting the drain betwwen the refugium and the skimmer and letting them both drain into the return chamber unstead of making it go, Skimmer section, refuge, return? That will take away 1 set of the baffles. Look at the different layouts on www.melevsreef.com for some examples.

[MrSpiffy]

Trust me, I've already looked at the sumps that Melev's got on his site. In fact, that was probably the first place I went! It's an awesome resource.

The reason I did the split return is so that I get even pressure out of both outlets of the return line. That's why I put the pump in the middle instead the side. I didn't want to waste plumbing by putting the pump on the end and then running it in the center before splitting it to each side.

It doesn't really eliminate any baffles by doing it skimmer -> 'fuge -> return. Compare his vs. mine. (2nd one down on the page) You should see the same number of baffles as mine, just in a different order.

http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/s...***/index.html

[Trigeek]

Looks good! You'll be glad you used the unions. I would add two more unions, one after each elbow going into the skimmer chamber from the drains. That way, you can disassemble that part of the plumbing if you do ever need to remove the sump.

Another thought; why not run the fuge off of the return to allow for more water into the skimmer chamber? Are you worried about loosing head pressure on the returns? What else are you using for flow?

Looks good so far. Love to see the planning involved.

[MrSpiffy]

Well, honestly, it didn't really make much of a difference to me to split the return or the drain when I was planning all of this. I suppose it might have made it easier to split the return instead of splitting the drain, but this way the 'fuge gets raw tank water. Not that it'll help that much. But I'm not worried about head loss. I have a couple powerheads, Mini-Jet 404's, that I can use for some extra flow. But the Mag 5 will probably provide the bulk of the circulation from the return outlets. Even at 4' of head loss, it'll still put out an estimated 250GPH, which should be plenty for my purposes, if I include the MJ's.

Although, now that I look at it, I wouldn't have much room to add a tee into the return line to feed the 'fuge without tapping into one of the two return lines, which would reduce flow out of that particular outlet. That I don't want. Thanks for pointing that out! Now I have a better reason as to why I did that.

[Kannin]

if you haven't completed it yet... you might want to make your return chamber larger. I made mine too small and i don't have enough room for an auto top off so i must add top off every day.