simple 156 reef build

[Zoos]

It looks like you're going to have a nice clean setup, looking forward to some new pictures.
Felix

[crvz]

Thanks, Zoos! I've started building the stand, so I'll try to get some photos this week (probably tuesday).

[electric130]

Originally posted by crvz
The other piece I ordered was the gate valve mod from MarineDepot. Its kind of weird for me to buy something like that (as I don't mind putting it together myself), but I struggled to find the actual gate valve around here so I just went the easy route.

i just searched marine depot's site and didn't see any Euro-Reef gate valve mods. hopefully you didn't pay much more than $21 (which is the cost of a 1.25" gate valve, even cheap for the 1" $9.

[crvz]

Oh, i didnt pay too much more than that, about $30 if memory serves, but that included shipping. They were on clearance at marinedepot and they only had 2 left (I'd been watching it, and when I saw it on clearance I had to pull the trigger), and it comes with a number of grey PVC fittings, so that's a bonus.

But thanks for looking out for me, J.R.!! I've never been to that savko website, so I'll be sure to waste my time and money there before it's all said and done.

Chris

[electric130]

savko is great for all your plumbing needs. i buy everything i can from there since they're cheap. the only time i go to lowes is if i need something quick and last minute or in an emergency. if i'm planning an install, i plan everything out and then buy from savko. true-union ball valves make plumbing and maintenance a dream. they're about half price from savko than if you buy local. everything i do now has threaded true-union ball valves on the input and output. need to clean your pump? close 2 valve, pull the pump out with only a couple drops of water, clean it, reinstall and open valves. no need to drain your sump or anything. true unions are the secret to maintenance heaven!

(sorry if you already know all this)

[crvz]

Well, sounds like your speaking external pump, or closed loop, which I've never used. So it's definitely a good nugget of information. With the mag drive pumps, I've used them submerged with the plumbing over the sump, and so have always been able to just pull the plug and pull it out without worry about water spilling. For this tank, the overflows will not both be over the sump, so I may need to look into this.

I'll go a head and draw up my plumbing, which is pretty simple, and post the pictures. Maybe you'll be able to help me make some wise decisions!

[crvz]

Alright, so here's a quick drawing of what I've not thought through entirely. What I'm intending is to use a Mag 18 for the return, which has a 3/4" output. The first part there inline is a bushing to increase the output to 1.5", then traveling up is a valve (true-union, per electric130's recommendation for ease in removing the pump), then a "T" which steps the 1.5" down to 1", where I'll screw in some hose barbs to use tubing until it gets to the 1" return line in the overflow box (I'm still going to just use the loc-line when it gets to the tank for now).

The drains are 1.25", where I'll use PVC all the way, again with a ball valve but this time to really control how much water goes to each section of the sump (left side return is refuge, right side is where most of the water will go, into the skimmer section). At 1.25", I should be able to handle ALL the return through just one side (should be around 1000 gph, at best), so that shouldnt be hard direct water to each section.

So, now, recommendations, please! I'm very interested in keeping things simple, so keep that in mind. Also, I want to use soft tubing to keep vibration noise from the Mag 18 down, which currently works pretty well on my 58. Let me know if this is a bad idea. Thanks for your help!!

[crvz]

First, I'm dying for plumbing advice, so feel free to expound on my drawing above.

But second, and probably more exciting, I have pictures to share. I started building the stand, as mentioned, so I thought I'd provide some shots of the work. The stand is probably a little over-designed, but what would you expect from a couple of engineers. The first shot here is a drawing of the stand to give an impression of what cuts we're doing later on. Specifically, the 2x6s and 2x4 will overlay to add a little support in case of lateral shear (the blue part of the picture). The yellow boards are 2x4s, and the greenish ones are 2x6s. There is also an extra 2x6 on the sides to provide support in case of shear in the front-to-back direction.



But to get started, we cut all the boards to approximate length and spent the time to joint and plane them. Here are a couple shots of that in work.





Once that was done, we worked with the vertical 2x6 supports. We needed to cut out the section that overlaps, and to do so we used the table saw. We started by making a cut 3/4" deep 2" from each end of the board. Here are all the boards after we made that cut.



Next we used a sweet jig to cut the perpendicular edge 2" high, but 3/4" from the end of the board. Here is an example cut.

Before…


And after…


You can see how it removes that section of the board. This next shot is me knocking out one of the 2x6s.



And finally, here are 5 of the 6 boards cut.


After that we started building a jig to make the corresponding joint on the 2x4s, but it took a while and we didn’t finish. I imagine we'll get more done this weekend or early next week. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

[thrlride]

Looking good! Can't wait to see more.

[electric130]

Originally posted by crvz
Alright, so here's a quick drawing of what I've not thought through entirely. What I'm intending is to use a Mag 18 for the return, which has a 3/4" output. The first part there inline is a bushing to increase the output to 1.5", then traveling up is a valve (true-union, per electric130's recommendation for ease in removing the pump), then a "T" which steps the 1.5" down to 1", where I'll screw in some hose barbs to use tubing until it gets to the 1" return line in the overflow box (I'm still going to just use the loc-line when it gets to the tank for now).

The drains are 1.25", where I'll use PVC all the way, again with a ball valve but this time to really control how much water goes to each section of the sump (left side return is refuge, right side is where most of the water will go, into the skimmer section). At 1.25", I should be able to handle ALL the return through just one side (should be around 1000 gph, at best), so that shouldnt be hard direct water to each section.

So, now, recommendations, please! I'm very interested in keeping things simple, so keep that in mind. Also, I want to use soft tubing to keep vibration noise from the Mag 18 down, which currently works pretty well on my 58. Let me know if this is a bad idea. Thanks for your help!!

everything looks fine. i don't think you'll need 1.5" though. even 1" or 1.25" to the T and then 3/4" off the T would be plenty. i ran 800gph through a single 3/4" return on my old 90.

[electric130]

Originally posted by thrlride
Looking good! Can't wait to see more.

ryan, check your PM at myspace you turd!

[electric130]

Originally posted by crvz
First, I'm dying for plumbing advice, so feel free to expound on my drawing above.

But second, and probably more exciting, I have pictures to share. I started building the stand, as mentioned, so I thought I'd provide some shots of the work. The stand is probably a little over-designed, but what would you expect from a couple of engineers. The first shot here is a drawing of the stand to give an impression of what cuts we're doing later on. Specifically, the 2x6s and 2x4 will overlay to add a little support in case of lateral shear (the blue part of the picture). The yellow boards are 2x4s, and the greenish ones are 2x6s. There is also an extra 2x6 on the sides to provide support in case of shear in the front-to-back direction.



But to get started, we cut all the boards to approximate length and spent the time to joint and plane them. Here are a couple shots of that in work.





Once that was done, we worked with the vertical 2x6 supports. We needed to cut out the section that overlaps, and to do so we used the table saw. We started by making a cut 3/4" deep 2" from each end of the board. Here are all the boards after we made that cut.



Next we used a sweet jig to cut the perpendicular edge 2" high, but 3/4" from the end of the board. Here is an example cut.

Before…


And after…


You can see how it removes that section of the board. This next shot is me knocking out one of the 2x6s.



And finally, here are 5 of the 6 boards cut.


After that we started building a jig to make the corresponding joint on the 2x4s, but it took a while and we didn’t finish. I imagine we'll get more done this weekend or early next week. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

everything looks great. that's a sweet setup you got there. is that in your garage? or do you have access to a wood working shop? i'd love to have that cabinet saw!!!!

[crvz]

Originally posted by electric130
everything looks great. that's a sweet setup you got there. is that in your garage? or do you have access to a wood working shop? i'd love to have that cabinet saw!!!!

Nope, not my garage! You probably saw some photos of my car-hole earlier in the thread... my wife likes to park in it! My father-in-law, however, quite enjoys the wood working, and has graciously (although not voluntarily, I'm sure to owe him more than a few rounds of golf) agreed to help me with this project. On top of that, he's got some amazing tools, without which I would be hopeless and helpless on the build!

[crvz]

I have more pictures. First, here is the jig that we finally got to work.



And then after we routed out a piece of wood.



We did the same thing on the end pieces.



And then we notched all the 2x6s to create room for the front-to-back 2x4s.



And then fitted it together. Nothing that exciting, but it's starting to take shape. Probably start gluing stuff on tuesday.

[crvz]

Many much pictures!!

Here is the front side glued.



Back side glued and clamped to make the diagonal measurements equal.



Both of these are done, and hopefully Tuesday I'll get them attached with the two foot 2x4s. We also made it to Houston Hardwoods and got a large amount of wood for various projects in the works. I picked up about 50 board feet of 4/4 red oak. Here is a shot of the selection (all types of wood).



And the 50 board feet for me.



Hopefully I'll get started on the facing and canopy soon.

Anyways, there's more write-up in the red house if you so desire to read it. Thanks for looking!!

[electric130]

soooo.......are you building a house or a stand? j/k looks awesome!

[crvz]

I'm building a house for the fish! Obviously this is quite overdone (borderline ridiculous), but I've got the tools available and it's fun to do.

[crvz]

So last week we finished putting the stand together. Last piece (should be done this afternoon) is to put the plywood on the top and on the floor of the stand for the sump. Hopefully it won't take that long. After that, I'll get started on the oak skin. Here are a few shots of the stand, but it's upside down.

Screwing in the last support


top joint


bottom joint


But as mentioned, the stand is upside down when these pictures were taken. I'll try to snap some better pictures later today.

[Pbrown3701]

Looks good Chris - lets see some more photos!

[crvz]

You're the boss, Peter. Here is the front of the stand. It's not yet attached.



And the sides (the doors will hide the pine 2x6).



Here is all the wood ready for making panel doors.



And I started on the canopy frame. Not that exciting.



More to come next week.

[crvz]

Question for the woodworkers or those who have built similar stands. What is the best means of attaching the oak to the pine? I'm concerned about gradual and inevitable warpage (especially considering that this is being constructed outside in Houston, the humidity is much higher outside than in, and I expect some swelling has taken place). I prefer to glue the pieces together, but I'd hate to see something crack or otherwise break down. How did or would you guys do it?

[Pbrown3701]

can you move it inside for a couple of days before gluing it up? ALso, if it's been cool there (like it has been here), you may not have a problem just going ahead and gluing.

I wouldn't worry about it personally...

[costa13]

Looks like you have a promising stand going there. Also from the pictures it looks like you have some really nice tools. I used to live in The Woodlands just outside of Houston and man was it humid there.

[crvz]

Originally posted by Pbrown3701
can you move it inside for a couple of days before gluing it up? ALso, if it's been cool there (like it has been here), you may not have a problem just going ahead and gluing.

I wouldn't worry about it personally...

It has been cooler for houston, but it's still about 90% humidity. We're doing a little test to determine how much deformation we'll get; we took some measurements and brought it inside. If it moves more than a couple 32nds, we'll be concerned. If not, we'll probably stop thinking about it.

I glued the canopy frame together. Here are 2 pictures.

[Pbrown3701]

It's coming together...

DId you only glue or are you brad nailing or screwing also?