Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory

[Anonymous]

In case anyone hasn't been following this highly gripping saga, I am trying to use my old 55 as a sump for my new 100 L. So I spent the afternoon taking apart and rebuilding my stand and managed to get the 55 inside.

That's the good news, and it ends there.

 

[Anonymous]

As you can see, there is not a whole lot of room left.

Here is another view:

 

[Anonymous]

The second view makes clear two things:

1. There is little clearance between the top of the tank and the bottom of the top shelf of the stand.

2. I'll never get my frigging arm back there to reset the GFCI when it pops.


At this point I am ready to give up and go buy a 20 long or something as a sump, but I thought I would at least post this in case anyone has a better idea.

 

[Anonymous]

What am I looking at in the second picture?

jayo

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, that thing in the middle in the first picture is my old CPR backpack skimmer. There is not quite enough room to get the skimmer cup on top of it.

 

[Anonymous]

What am I looking at in the second picture?

jayo

You are looking through the front left side door of the stand, though the 55 (acrylic) tank to the back wall where the GFCI is safely out of arms reach.

 

[Anonymous]

7" clearance for the tank, 2.5" clearance for the skimmer.

Grrr.

 

[Anonymous]

Hmm. I think that that isn't going to work.

If I were you I'd sell the 55 and buy something that will easily fit under there - 30? 20? You'll have to measure and see what seems reasonable.

jayo

 

[Anonymous]

Dang, that sucks!

What about a 40g breeder under there instead?

 

[Anonymous]

40 breeder is to wide more than likely. Well at least you gave it a try.

 

[Anonymous]

It's too wide. I just bought a 20 long. Nice little fish tank. There was a time when I considered that a big fish tank.

Now I get to take the stand apart again, take the 55 out, stick the 20 in, and put it back together yet again, hoping not to undermine the structural integrity of the thing any more than I already have. I am seriously thinking maybe I should retrofit with some 2x4s.

 

[Anonymous]

If you alredy hav a lot of vertical some 1x4's would probably do the trick. Just have them over lap the existing splices.

 

[Anonymous]

It maybe possible to router the top of the 55 gal (it is acrylic, right?) off and get everything to work right by lowering the height by a few inches. However, it is not a good option unless you have time, and want more sump space than the other option that you already started (20 gal).

 

[Anonymous]

a: ditch the cpr-it sucks as a skimmer

b: go with a low long rubbermaid tub

you need at least a foot clearance over a 55 to be able to do ANY work on/in it once the system's running (just to get your arms in without breaking your elbows )

 

[Anonymous]

Ditto on the CPR. For a 100 gal tank, it is going to be a real workout for it. Go with some in-sump skimmer (I got a AquaC from tazdevil), and you will appreciate the shorter stature and higher efficiency. Again, get dimension and the amount of space to take the cup off before handing over the cash.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I have an aquaC as well. This thing was handy for checking clearence.

 

[Mr_Ugly]

Just cut down the 55.

Use a thin kerf 60 tooth teflon coated plywood blade. Makes fast super nice cuts on plex.

 

[Anonymous]

Nah. I now have a lizard tank.

 

[Anonymous]

Doktor,

You will not want to read this thread.

Psychic SciGuy thread: http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.p ... highlight=

-Lee

 

[Anonymous]

Doktor,

Definitely do not read the third post in that thread by some joker called SciGuy2.

-L