New 55 diy build

[dbfzurowski]

Hey good people

Finlay with some days off from work, the petco $1/Gal tank sale and my fiancée persuasion I ended up building my long awaited new 55G setup.

I've researched diy sumps long time ago so I had an idea what to do.

1. Drill holes for overflow



I used http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...atalogId=10053 which worked great. Held water to cool the drill, overall very satisfied!



2. Paint bottom of tank. I didnt spray paint it as I did it indoors. Just to cold for garage project.





Rest is coming soon... my bro just fried some electrical things durring a radio instal in his car and now it wont start I go to the rescue!!!!

[ZX10R]

Did you buy the glass hole saw at Home Depot? I tried the link but nothing came up it said error on page. I will be drilling my tank soon and didn't want to pay $$$$ for a glass hole saw. When you get done with helping your buddy with his car stereo come over to my house and help me install a remote start in my wifes new vehicle looks like it is going to be a real pain.

[dbfzurowski]

Fixed the link, I did install his starter what can I tell you, google is your friend!

[dbfzurowski]

anyways...

3. About 2 hours at the home depot later



Do NOT use that "red" silicone!!!

4. Over flow assembly




finally all those CD/DVD cases came in handy









that being done, I moved on to the sump...

[dbfzurowski]

5. Sump. 10G tank, I used a jig saw with a metal blade to cut the 1/4in thick acrylic sheet



Drip tray and base... I just couldnt find the egg crate that everyone seemed to be using.



Had some 3/4 pvc left over so I used it to lift the base



Securing the drip tray was a pain to level, but some blue tape did the work. Final product



6. Return from pump. I switched out the brass part to plastic which cost 89C vs $4.

[dbfzurowski]

Hooked it all up and...



got about 400gph out of it




This is the tank, unfortunately I used the wrong silicone on the sump and lost 4/5 discus I had.
I now recommend spending the extra $$$ and buying silicone from LFS



The Light fixture is a T8 from Home Depot. It came in two parts, reflector and bulb housing. It holds two 32W T8 1x 6000k 1x8000k bulbs(sold separately). I can easily purchase those 4' T5 double bulb fixtures and throw them in the reflector to get double wattage. Total cost for T8 64W was $35. If I wanted T5 112 W it would be around $60 for additional fixtures. For some reason they dont sell T5's with reflectors...
So if I ever decide to upgrade from jungle val and frogbit, I can do so for $60 more

[dbfzurowski]

Best thing about this is the water change system. Hook up garden hose, turn the valve and...



50% WC, no more buckets....



Then garden hose is attached to sink and wallah!

[dbfzurowski]

I did alter the build a bit, will post upgrades tomorow. Gnite all

[wewin1]

Nice setup, I think I might do the same setup with my next tank.

[jball1125]

Nice setup dude.

How did you figure out the silicone was the problem? Did you have to make a new sump or did the toxins eventually drain out?

[dbfzurowski]

I started googling like crazy about stuff i used for the build. Pvc glue, brass parts, vinyl tubing and silicone. Found out that ge silicone 1 is ok not 2 that i used. I used a razor to scrape all silicone off and re-applied with aquarium safe one. I washed the whole system and did a lot wc once up and running. The sole survivor is recovering very well, but what can i do with one discus

[ZX10R]

Thanks for that info on the hole saw never would of thought about using a tile hole saw and it is a lot cheaper then what I was looking at. Love the setup I did my 120 like yours but I hard piped my drain outside for WC so much easier.

Good job
Sean

[dbfzurowski]

Thanks and your welcome Sean.

[Second Hand Pat]

dominik, very nice and great photos. Wish I could do my WC from the tap. I have to age my water at least 4 hours for the PH swing.

[dbfzurowski]

Thanks Pat, you have no idea how happy I am to eliminate buckets Do to frequent injuries from my other hobbies it is often very difficult to lift a bucket. We have some hard water here so straight tap works