Project: Oceanic 30g Cube

[tydirian]

So I bought the Oceanic 30g cube. I was planning on getting the 24g Nano Cube but did not want to deal with it as so many people were reporting cracking. I really liked the idea of havening all the hardware in the back of the tank and just havening a power cord coming off that back.

I was thinking I would drill the Oceanic but then I found out it was tempered like most of there other tank. I have decided to build my own in-tank overflow/filter/etc similar to the ones in the smaller nano tanks.

From a general design standpoint any advice on how big things need to be to get adiquate water flow would be help full. I have found some info but no general formulas. From what I figure from SWAGing and looking at other wetdry filters and overflows I figure a 1" (ID) pipe will flow about 600gph. This is twice what I think I need to handle. I figure I want the tank to cycle all the water 10 times per hr so that would be ~300gph. I was thinking I would get a RIO 1100 to power the system (it should do a little more than 300gph at ~18" of lift).

I have the basic demensions drawn up and will scan them in and post later today but I have built in enough room for a heater, additional power heads, and protein skimmer (this setup will be fresh but if i sell it later or if someone wants to redo what I am doing for salt).

I ordered a 24"x24"x1/4" sheet of black acrylic for the back wall of the rig. I also ordered the same size sheet in clear (cheaper than black) for the baffles. I have decided to build it in a trapezoidal shape with the edges tapering off to the back corners. I also ordered a 24" heat bender from US Plastics to make the bends on the black sheet for the trapezoid. I have misc. wet dry sand paper, plastic plane, and scraper.

Things left to order.

1. Saw blade for acrylic. (gonna borrow a table saw)
2. Power head (probably the RIO1100UL)
3. Acrylic solvent/glue (recommendations would be good here)
4. Black Silicon adhesive for joining to the tank
5. plumbing fixtures for return to tank.
6. foam block for the overflow
7. grate for the bottom of the wet/dry

Things still undecided.

Not sure how I want to return the water to the tank. May just have a return like most of the other nanos do but could also split the return and route one high and one lower for better overall circulation. Feedback would be good on this point.

I am pretty sure I will leave the bottom and the back open and seal it straight to the glass in the tank. I would be more work but I could close it in entirely and then it would be a drop-in filter.

 

[tydirian]

Here is a drawing of what I am thinking.

I was thinking i would use a loc-line spray bar for a return. I am planning on keeping shellies in the tank so that would let me agitate the surface without having high current in the tank.

 

[tydirian]

Just ordered the plumbing supplies, acrylic cement, appliactor, and black and clear silicon. Very exciting. Still not sure about the powerhead. I am pretty set on the loc-line kit for the spray bar and was going to use a Y adapter so i could have the spraybar at the top of the tank and another outlet mid tank for circulation.

 

[Orion]

Wow sounds like you've got it figured out. Looks good to me.

Only thing is the powerhead. Have you thought about just getting a pump instead? When I think of powerheads I think of in tank water movment, not pumping water from one section of the tank to another. While I'm sure it will work, a pump may give you more and better options down the road, and personaly I would feel better with one. But its really up to you.

Also on the spray bar, you may save a little money by just making one out of PVC pipe instead of buying one. Mabey this is a form of what the loc-line is, never heard of it before.

 

[radamsk1]

Looks like a great setup so far! I always wanted to do this in one of my tanks, unfortunately I'm not setting up a new one until my 220 Gal SW reef starts up in a year, but probably gonna use it as a room divider to everything will be on top or bottom.

I think it'd be good to do a Y splitter and use a spray bar and some other output for water circ in the tank. Keep up the superb work!

 

[tydirian]

I ordered the Loc-line (http://www.loc-line.com/products/index.html) parts so I will have a spray bar and another head for general circulation. I was thinking of useing the powerhead so it could be selfcontained (everything inside the tank). I do not like stuff hanging off of or piped in and out of my tanks but I can not drill this tank as it is tempered glass. I have decided not to go with the Rio as they seem to be high maintenance from the reviews i have read. I am planning on the Hagen 70 currently. I was going to pickup some poster board to mock it up this weekend so I have some templates for the acrylic (I watch to much OCC).

I was looking around and I think I could fit a Mag-Drive pump into the back section. Any thoughts on that?

 

[Orion]

I would say you could probably get away with a smaller mag pump behind there. Once you get the actual measurements of the depth of the area its going to be in, most vendor websites give the dimentions of the pumps.

I should have mentioned before, but some pumps have the nasty habbit of heating up the water. I have a 520 gph internal pump in my 75 gallon, and to be honest I don't think my heaters have ever kicked on. lol Not that its really bad in my situation, the temp is somewhere around 79-81 though out the day, and if the pump ever did quit the heaters would then take over.

I'm going to use an inline pump for my 45 gallon for the water jets to keep this from occuring in this tank. I will have it plumbed outside of the tank. You could do this too, but really I don't know how feasable it would be. Of course, the smaller pumps don't heat the water as much as the large ones do, so you may be ok.

Seeing has how you're putting forth so much work already into this, have you thought about making a background to go in the tank?

 

[tydirian]

I did a bit of mock up with some thick poster board last night and it looks like I could fit the Mag 3.5 (350gph) which is about what i was looking at from a flow standpoint and it seems to review very well. It is a bit more cost wise but if you have added up what I am doing already the cost is irrelevant. I am planning on building a background out of slate and potentially siliconing it directly to the acrylic. I was going to break the slate up fairly small and have a few bigger pieces so i get some overhangs and cave like structures. I will shoot pics of the mock up tonight and post them.

 

[tydirian]

I ordered the pump and the rest of the plumbing fittings today. I ended up going with the Rainbow Quiet One 1200. Looks like it might be more reliable than a powerhead and will fit in the space in the return box.