Finally Made Up My Mind....

[Siamese Fighter05]

Yep same size tank

Can you tell me the height, width and depth of the overflow box please? And also if you think it is just about the right size?

Could you post a pic so i can see what it looks like in action?

Just to clear up the T piece with the ball valve, if i shut the ball valve all the flow would go back the tank?
If the ball valve was fully open would it all go back to the sump?

I know you wouldn't have it fully closed or open but just wanted to know

Cheers
Dan

 

[daneeboy]

i took the box off cause it looked too big inside the tank. i have a strainer in the hole now. no fish could get thru it, that on its own surface skimms the water, not the best idea but the box just didnt look right for me with the tank being pretty small. i made it 3" x 4" (4 inches high 3 inches from front to back) i wish i had of left it on tho, but too late now but u learn from your mistakes. and i didnt have any pics of it and its now in the bin!

this ball valve saga for my pump eheim 1260 if the valve is fully open some water does get into display tank but most of it back into sump. if its fully shut, the drain just about keeps up but my water level was about 5mm from top of tank, bit too close for comfort. I started off with no valve so added one later on to tune it. now its just slightly open to give a slow flow into my refugium.

Also dont forget your anti back syphon break on your return pipe!

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Was your oveflow box blacked out with a black background? I think that helps hide it a little although i've never seen it in person, you can hardly notice it on the pictures though I think i will use the same dimensions as yours was

I guess if i can get the calculations right on the return after headloss and choose the right pump then hopefully i won't need the ball valve after all as i like more flow but hopefully the drain can keep up. But this will all depend on the headloss and pumps available...

About the back syhpon...

Would i need the air holes drilled in the return? The plan was rigid piping into a bulkhead near the top of the tank which is connected to the V piece Locline which creates the surface agitation and flow higher up in the tank.

If the power breaks, the water in the pump return piping would fall back down into the sump.
The tank surface would continue to drain into the overflow box until it is not high enough to get over the glass. (A few mm's)

Then the 90 degree elbow would suck all this down into the sump until the level in the overflow box (2") was too low for it to suck more down. I think the only piping that needs drilling is the end cap on the external durso?

Is that right?

Cheers
Dan

Isn't this how the syphon would break?

Edit: Just thought about it, the water would would still drain back down the sump return, how do i stop this? Or do i just leave room in the sump for the extra " or so back flow?

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, you have a couple choices to prevent backflow into the sump through the pump line. If you drill the return as opposed to having the return hang over the top, you run into problems with allowing air into the system. If power goes out, my return line has two holes just below the water line in it so that air gets in, and breaks siphon. However, I can do that since my return goes over the top of the tank. If you drill it out, you have to somewhow allow air into the plumbing when the water gets a little too low. You could position your lockline right near the surface so that when the water level in the display dropped that low, air would get in and break siphon.

That being said, I wouldn't trust that as my single source of protection. I would also have a gate style check valve to prevent backflow on that side. Multiple levels of protection is a good thing

 

[daneeboy]

My return hangs over my tank with 2 elbows, i just drilled a elbow and put a peice of air line in and clipped it to my tank so its always out of the water. Maybe i should add another just in case it gets blocked.

My 150W halide came today, a note to self. dont look at the lamp after its been on a few mins! i can still see it now and it was half a hour ago!

 

[SkiFletch]

LOL, yeah 150w of light is a lot . ALWAYS drill 2 holes AND have a check valve. What happens if a snail covers one or both of them? or a piece of debris gets in there. Multiple levels of protection

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Hmm doesn't the water come out of the hole when it is being pumped up the return?

Does anyone know any Uk supplier of the Locline i really would prefer to use that method as it makes more flow compared to the spraybar.

One more thing, what do people use as returns for their closed loops? just leave the bulkhead as is with a mesh cover?

Thanks

Dan

 

[daneeboy]

Dan,

Yeah water does come out the hole, but what the hole does in the event of pump failure is suck air into the pipe so it breaks a back syphon and doesnt empty your tank into your sump.

you can see my anti syphon break in this pic, the pipe is a bit shorter now and clipped instead of just resting on the support.

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Ah thats perfect Makes sense now

Do you use a closed loop also?

 

[daneeboy]

no not used a closed loop, dont think the tank is big enough to use one. Ive used 2 seio 620's and the sump return. The sump return goes down the back and swirls round through a gap in my LR, i can see the flow from where the sand has moved to.

maybe closed loop would be a space saver option so u dont need any power heads in the tank.

What lighting are you going for ?

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Yep i want to use a closed loop for the flow as i hate the look of powerheads in the tank!

I want to go with something like 30-35X tank turnover altogether so it will need to be a decent pump, not to worried about that at the moment though

Lighting wise, i'm thinking a 150 MH with 2 24watt actinics or if i can get the money saved maybe a 250 although i'm not sure i fancy the heat issues it would bring for the extra watts when i'm only really interested in softies and LPS

Well i put away my first saving towards the setup yesterday £85 (Lots to go yet!) and put in a CV for a part time job in the new subway down the road, lets hope i get it!

Thanks for your help, what do you think about the lighting choice? Would a 55cm unit light a 90cm tank?

Dan

 

[daneeboy]

Well ive just bought a 2nd hand arcadia series 3 mini pendant with 150w halide (14k bulb). so i'll use that and 2 34inch actinic tubes.

im skint now untill i get paid, ive had to pay for my football season ticket 2 tyres for girlfriends car (94 quid each!!) and virtually all my fish tank stuff this month, so better take it easy for a few weeks.

When i tried the halide (balanced on 2 pieces of wood and 2 paint tins ) the difference was amazing compared to the T5. The water shimmer and colour was so much better, looked a lot more natural. I was told you would get away with T5's on a 15" tall tank with 4 tubes, so long as you placed any light hungry corals within the first 12" of water.

Ive almost finished my new hood to hold the halide. I didnt want to hang it from the ceiling so made a hood that the halide will sit on top of. I put some PC fans in there to move some air plus the hood is open top so hopefully heat build up isnt going to be too bad

I'll post some before and after halide pics when I put it on this weekend.

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Is it the 40cm MH or the 55cm, i think they also make a 70cm 150watter?

Look forward to pics

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, a 175w MH is PLENTY for softies and LPS. Heck, with the supplimental actinics you could probably keep SPS in there

 

[daneeboy]

Right. got the pics for you. the pics dont do the halide justice, i cant get the camera to show it off. In the pics the T5's look better To the naked eye the difference is 10x better, the water shimmer looks cool and the light just looks like sunlight where the T5's looked white. Im not saying more T5 tubes wouldnt look as good cause im sure it would look better than just the 2 tubes i had.

1st pic is 1 T5 14k white tube and 1 actinic tube (both 34", 39w)

next one is halide & actinincs (arcadia 150w, 14k bulb, was told its 3-4 months old and 34", 39w actinics)

Next pic is 2 x actinics only (both 34", 39w)

next is my fans to help cool if it gets too warm.

The temp raised to 82 yesterday, i put the fans on and 30-40 mins later temp was back to 80 The fans blow into the hood.

ohh the Halide is the 40cm unit.