# DIY: 110g w/ 55g refuge



## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

This project just recently started in the past week due to me having some extremely lucky deals on some tanks. My wife isn't thrilled with my findings, lol... but she tolerates them haha. Currently I run over 10 tanks at any given point.

Recently I acquired a 110 gallon custom tank. 1/2 inch glass, with bar at top to keep from bowing out.
The tank was used to house oscars. It was in rental property, the owner of the tank left it. 
The property management team sold me the tank, light and gravel. However they kept the fish.
Bought this tank setup for $100.

Found a guy who had tons of tanks from a pet store he bought out. Bought two 55 gallon tanks for $40 each. However no pumps... nothing else.

So for two tanks that will be used in my project (110 and 55) I spent $140 dollars to date.

Here's my issue... I want to put a bulk head on the the 110... however can't tell if it's tempered glass, as it was a custom made tank. This is not a regular 110g tank by any means. So I'll have to build a siphon system to suck out the water and send it to the refuge. The siphon will have to have a kill system encase power outage, however this wont be a problem and is easy to do. If I can solve the tempered glass issue, I can have it drilled for 15-20 bucks, by a professional who lives down the street.

This same professional is going to cut the glass or plexiglass I need for this project... to make the 55 gal tank turn into a refuge. The refuge will be built to hold a lot more water than most tend to. As I plan on allowing plants to grow. With some nice lighting and a daily timer.

Cuts I need: 
A - 2" x 12"
B - 17" x 12"
C - 18" x 12"
D - 18" x 12"
E - 16" x 12"

Total cost of these pieces 1/8th inch thick $26.80 + tax ... or ... $28.41 (with tax)
I have a Habitat Restore here that sells huge tubes of 100% Silicone for $2. 

My running Tab so far:
110 gal - $100
55 gal - $40
Cut Glass - $28.41
Silicone - $2.12
Filter Media - $5.00
Total - 175.53


Remaining things to buy for tanks: 2x containers for siphon, 1/2" tubing 10 feet should be more than enough. I have plenty of air line tubing to keep airflow in the 1/2" siphon tubing. To cut down on sound. Pump. Finally I'll need Bio Balls.

Remaining things to buy for stand... wood, 2x4's mostly. Wont know exact amounts until I finish the Design. I'll add siding to it, then doors. As well a side "trap" door for the 55 to come in and out if needed. Then some Paint to paint it.



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Image below shows what the setup will look like.











The Purple box will siphon water down to the filter, which will pass through the bio balls. Near the base of that system will be a 1" gap or so.. that is 12" long. water will easily fill the main chamber which is green. This is where plants will be to assist further. It will overflow into a tunnel, which will overflow into another chamber where the pump will pump it back to the 110 gallon tank.

The teal tunnel is to stop (for the most part) any plants that came loose. For any reason it clogs up you can see that the middle portion of the tube is lower than the filter wall... this is a secondary overflow for safety. 

The excess space will be used encase the siphon needs to meet water level encase power outage.





please give me feed back. I'm still needing to find a pump that will work, I haven't picked one out yet. Same with siphon system. If I go with DIY or purchase one. Unsure which I will do. I'll have to check on prices and how much room it will take up if I build it. We shall see. I'm still leaning towards DIY for that.







Aaron


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

Looking into this project, I don't know if I will be able to get it done by end of Oct... lol... realized I might be moving O_O so if this is the case ... we'll see if I can get it done or not. 


Aaron


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

I've been designing the stand. So far I'm looking at 40" tall, 25" deep and 74" long. The tank is 73" long, so I might increase the length. So we'll see. 6 doors on it total. Two side doors, 4 in the front. The center strip will have a shelving unit about 8 inches long 6 inches deep, to allow some storage of w/e I need to stick there. The inside will be housing the 55 gallon tank so I need a 13" gap between interior posts. 


I'll post pics of the design when I finish tweaking them.


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

pix pix pix!!!!!


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

These are sketches right now, nothing final lol...





















lol found a typo, on front view and top view they should be showing 74" long not 70" long haha.


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

now i am just asking but you are going to double up the 2x4 uprights with a shorter one gong from the bottom edge to the top as added strength correct?? just would hate to have this wonderful project come crashing down .... (i almost lost one a few months ago from lack of proper support)


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

I thought about it but i think you have a point. I'll re-write the top view to show it.

The recommended distance between the two is 18 inches. Mine are roughly 14 inches right now. Hence slightly more structure.

I've also debated about a below the cross bar, and on both sides instead of one side. However I haven't made up my mind yet. If I do that my doors would go from 9" to 7", unless I make it longer overall. Though I might do this on the two center bars, to be safe.


Thanks for the input, keeps me on my toes lol.


The 110 gallon tank I have is quite heavy. The stand will have to hold 1000+ lbs on top and another (roughly) 500 lbs below. So near or over 1500 lbs total.




Edit: I went back and looked at my front view, lol.. it actually shows the support there but the top view doesn't. Don't know how I mixed that one up when I wasn't thinking that at the time.


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

Updated Pics

http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/1131/topview02.jpg

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/7320/frontview02.jpg

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/8027/sideview02.jpg


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

i got thinking last night and wanted to toss out another idea for ya.... the main supports are the ends and the middle.... that being said if you reworked the plan a little you could go with 4x4's on the corners and center then only add 1 set of 2x4's between those .. this would lighted the cost and add strength.... and as your sump is a 55 this would permit more room to get in and monkey with things as needed... just an idea ....


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

I had initially thought of using 4x4's for that reason, but my brain wouldn't allow me to think how to put it together at that time. 

Let me sketch up some ideas and I'll show you later today what I came up with, if I have time. I work until 5pm est.


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

i hear ya just tossing ideas around..


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

I've been doing some research... specifically if I use 4x4 posts to replace some 2x4 beams to allow for bigger cabinet doors.

So far so good when it comes to the news on it. Found out it would be similar to building a deck. Same properties exist. 4x4 post to hold 2x4 beams, to support mass amount of weight. However nails and normal screws wont work to attach the 4x4 to the system. I'll need carriage bolts (4"x3/8" bolts with nuts and washers). They'll act as a joint and will support it more so than the beam.

However I'm also looking into Lag bolts as I wont have to pre-drill the hole for the carriage bolt that will need a square entry point.

Lag bolts have some great properties...lol 
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g166/jraabe/bolts.png

If i use a 4x4 and mount 2x4's onto the side of it, using a 3/4 inch bold going in all 6" would be over 1000 lbs of weight that one bolt could hold.

However I'll probably go with a 1/2" going into it 4"... so the 2x4 would be on the 4x4... the bolt wold reach 1/2 way into the 4x4.

With that said if I have 6 posts, one on each corner, then two in the middle that should allow me to obtain maximum hold. Regardless with that said, I'll be adding tons of support beams with regular screws along the rest of the system for added support and safety. But this will allow me to maximize entry doors into the bottom half of the unit.


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

possible 4x4 setup... base view


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

For pumps I've been trying to decide...

I think I'm going to settle on a "Smart pond 1300 GPH water garden waterfall pump with UV"...

Here is why... the UV will do some extra cleaning for me on removing more algae. As well overall it's had great reviews on the product. Link is below.

Shop smartpond 300-500 GPH Water Garden Fountain Pond Pump at Lowes.com

So with the GPH output I'll receive from the pump I'll have to have two points of draining from the tank, which is easy. I've decided to go with PVC pipe to create this effect. they will drain to the 55 refuge, filter then be pumped back up. While all this is going on the pump will filter water again clean it and pump it back to the tank.

I'll have to add some controls on and a T connector with control encase the GPH is too high for the tank. I can slow it down and let the excess poor back into the refuge.



Thoughts anyone?


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

AaronCombs said:


> I've been doing some research... specifically if I use 4x4 posts to replace some 2x4 beams to allow for bigger cabinet doors.
> 
> So far so good when it comes to the news on it. Found out it would be similar to building a deck. Same properties exist. 4x4 post to hold 2x4 beams, to support mass amount of weight. However nails and normal screws wont work to attach the 4x4 to the system. I'll need carriage bolts (4"x3/8" bolts with nuts and washers). They'll act as a joint and will support it more so than the beam.
> 
> ...


well i found that with the 4x4 on the inside of the 2x4 i was able to use 3.5" deck-lock screws and tehy have been amazing (and less expensive over all) just wanted to toss that one out also (i am a very very Cheap guy)


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

never heard of deck lock screws... are you meaning carriage? most decks use them, only reason I ask.


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

New pics on the 4x4 design, I'm thinking I'll use some steel re-informants in the joints to attach the top and bottom frames to the 4x4's... to be extra cautious.



http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/3418/4x4base01.jpg
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/7403/4x4front01.jpg
http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/1112/4x4side01.jpg
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/7633/4x4top01.jpg


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

nope a deck lock screw is the ones with a star end (not Phillips)


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

the carriage bolts use the nut as the screwing method, the lag ones use a ratchet


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

So totally been working with the design, it's basically the exact same thing I posted however only tweaks are with the bolt system. I have the 110 running right now to test to ensure holding of water.

So far so good.


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

Yup sadly lol... I'm moving, project will be put on hold.

Good news, plans for the tank are finished regarding the stand.

As for the sump, I'm looking at deciphering what kind of pump. I have a contact I need to get a hold of. He has a vary nice pump that will draw water out of the sump, then up to the tank. However it's a large higher GPM one... so With some valve controls and an overflow excess drain back to sump... I should hopefully be able to slow it down. Should be pretty cheap, 30-50 bucks probably. 

The other option is to buy an underwater pump, I'm thinking that a 1300 gph with UV waterfall pump would work nicely. From what I read most people had problems with the system clogging in ponds... however if the water is filtered first, the pump's filter wont clog. The addition of the UV light will help kill off algae in the tank even more so as well. Which would be a nice added feature. The pump has built in features that shut off the pump in case of low water levels, so it can last longer. 

Pump:
Shop smartpond 1300 GPH Water Garden Waterfall Pond Pump with UV at Lowes.com


Now 1300 gph on a 110 is a great size pump... lol... so some valves to control the speed and the overflow spout back to sump will help.


I'm also looking into Battery pack surge protectors. I think if the power goes out I can keep sump pump running but kill the rest. Regardless the system would shut down without problems if the power went out because of siphon break and all that.

On the other side of it all, this project will have to be put on hold until after the move for buying wood / pipes etc. As well need to fix my car. Just junked one of them (almost classic, brake lines and more rusted out, to lazy to fix)


Keep feeding me ideas if anyone has them I'm open to design ideas and all that still. 


Aaron


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

I've been doing some research. I found that a 4' board of 6x6 will hold over 4k lbs per board. This is a substantial weight load. 

I'm going to re-design my project with four 6x6 posts. No center posts. Using Lag bolts I'll attach 2x4's to the outside top and bottom part of the 6x6 posts. Then I'll attach horizontal beams to the long outer beams to keep from bowing. However they are not for any other support purpose. The tank will rest on the 6x6 beam almost entirely on each post. Plywood sides and back... the front will be hinged doors for working on sump. Sump will slide in from the front way. Ply wood set on top and secured down. To help balance the weight distribution. 

Basically if I'm correct in the design, this table should technically have a max weight limit of over 15k lbs. Will I get there nope.. I only need it to hold 1k to 1.5k lbs max. Meaning longevity for the stand.

This would seem weird I know, However if the tank rests on each of the posts, not the outer beams, I don't see why the beams would bend or buckle. 


Well enough talking about it I want to build it.. but still waiting to find out if I will be moving to Tn or not lol.


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

wow impressive.. i looked around after reading this post and you have a great plan here man.. can not wait to see it moving along.. i know it could be a long time but i am still following along here.......... very very good idea on this one and will make the inside more open for your sump with out having to be super bulky


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

Here's a direct link to the 6x6 outline view...

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/552/6x61.jpg


I'm still adding to it, however this is the supporting corners and the outside beams that will be bolted to the corners. I'll be adding a lot more details later on for you all.


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

that is sweet!!


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

Updated Front view... The base 2x4's are in the exact same location on the top section. On top you see a different colored board, this is a piece of ply wood. It sets not directly on the edge, because I'll take molding to give it a more dynamic look. I'll have to do some extra measurements, but it is possible that I'll have to make some minor adjustments on the width when I go looking for which molding. Just encase I go for a larger molding that is.



http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/9021/6x62.jpg


Just realized the bottom center 2x4 is off by about 2 inches to the left... owell lol


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

here's the angle view so you can see the supports under the top...
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/2029/6x63.jpg


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/7007/6x601.png

Here is the final project, excluding the doors I'll add to the front. The hole in the back portion is a generalized location for power strips, the hole wont be that big. In the top wood section I put 3 holes, two intake, one return valve. Reason I have 3 is incase the intake isn't as fast as the return i can add another intake line do the sump. I plan on using a 1300 gph pump. Due to properties of a intake valve on pvc piping it can only allow so much flow. Just a fall back if needed.

Anyways what is everyones thoughts so far on this look?


PS I used Google SketchUp to create the design.


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

very clean design .. its gonna be great!!


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

So I've been dicussing with several people. Some from LFS's (great guy, very dependable) others from here and there.

This plan would work... however It would have to be re-inforced with steel or something to prevent the bowing effect. 


So I'm scrapping this plant and re-doing my design again. Luckily I know I'm moving to Tn officialy now. Will be there in about 2 weeks. I'll be going to an apartment roughly 2 months after that. 


Here's my idea now. Instead of using 55 for a refuge, since I have two 55's laying around. They are almost the same height as a 110... I'm going to build a new stand that will support the 110 as the front main tank, then the 55's on the sides so it'll makea U shape or a slight H shape. It will allow all the tanks to run on the same refuge, and will allow a much larger one. 

Now I have to make this stand practicle and useful... so to please my wife, I'll have it house my movie collection 150+ and counting. 


Also The main tank will show off endler's ... the second tank on the left or right will have my community of guppies / platies / mollies... and finally the right tank .... I'll put a Piranha school... like 3 of them. The Piranha's will come into the tank later down the road. I will have to wait until the Community tank is nicely populated and the Endler's tank is going decently strong. Pirahna's will eliminate my defective and overstocked fish tanks. As well take care of my snail problems when they become too much. 

For any reason my population isn't strong enough I'll go with some feeder fish, chicken, beef, or whater I have extra. 


I love TN... unlike Ky .. Piranha's are perfectly legal... and naturally hunt guppies, mollies, and platies in the wild. Mmmm tastey treats. 


I'd be haveway tempted to make the piranha's the main 110 tank... but ... i need a huge school of fish to support there eating habbits. 10 +/- fish a week per pirahna...


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## ram50 (Sep 21, 2010)

if you dont mind me asking what part of TN are you moving too. (if you posted this info earlier I'm sorry for reasking. I didnt read all the posts )


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

lol Chatanooga... I have some family in Chatanooga, some ine Knoxville, a lot in north western Georgia as well. 

The remaining family is in Ky and thats only like 5 people total out of my huge family.


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## Seanmiller09 (Dec 8, 2010)

I just moved from chattanooga to knoxville a few months ago, I love both cities so Im back and forth atleast 2 times a month. 

Any progress on the design?


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

I have family in Knox. No progress right now, however it will probably be another month or so...


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