50G build, upgrade from 20g.

[oldschool52]

Just to put in my couple-a-cents, The 90 will act as a stand pipe and if needed you can always put a small length of straight pipe up off the 90. You probably know this but you want to turn off power to your return pump (like a power outage) and make sure the water stops flowing into your sump before it overflows. It is just a lot easier and less streful to do this under controllable circumstances rather than panicking if power fails. Igot better sleep after I did this with all tanks knowing if something happens I don't overflow or empty a tank on the floor.

Just a thought if you haven't thought of it. Otherwise looking good!!!!!

 

[weaglereefer]

Yup, tested my system today with the fuge setup, and me being stupid didn't realize how I had it set up, it would back siphon from the fuge into the sump. All I needed to do was raise the feed tube and cut it so the tube is out of the water and the siphon breaks when the power goes out (and it frequently does at my place). Little things can make you feel like an idiot in this hobby.

 

[oldschool52]

I've done and still do my share. Remember I've been doing this stuff on and off for over 35 years. It's easy to forget small details when you are doing a major complete set up. Changed the 55 a bunch of times and it's been st up for about a month and 1/2. Have plans for a change on the 72 pump system. The 55 is the intermediate step (test situation) on how to get rid of all power heads in the 72. That's a whole other thread for another time. LOL

 

[hn1]

au01st;371373 wrote: Yup, tested my system today with the fuge setup, and me being stupid didn't realize how I had it set up, it would back siphon from the fuge into the sump. All I needed to do was raise the feed tube and cut it so the tube is out of the water and the siphon breaks when the power goes out (and it frequently does at my place). Little things can make you feel like an idiot in this hobby.

I went from being quite confident in my abilities and knowledge (FW) to feeling like a total moron as soon as I started thinking of plumbing this tank. The Nano was easy.... grrr...

Thanks for all the help. I may be a bit frustrated, but I'm learning a ton!

Dave- I may be calling tomorrow for some advice on how to get this fix installed!

 

[rbredding]

why the S turn in the drain?

 

[acroholic]

Hooked Newbie;371451 wrote: I went from being quite confident in my abilities and knowledge (FW) to feeling like a total moron as soon as I started thinking of plumbing this tank. The Nano was easy.... grrr...

Thanks for all the help. I may be a bit frustrated, but I'm learning a ton!

Dave- I may be calling tomorrow for some advice on how to get this fix installed!

No problem: 770-396-1944.

What oldschool52 said was very important about testing the system by turning off everything and letting the tank drain down to make sure the sump can handle it. This simulates a power outage. I have done this on all my systems.

If your sump cannot handle water draining down to the point where the hole is in the back glass, then another thing to do is make sure all connections from the overflow bulkhead in the back glass to the opening of the overflow pipe are watertight so in the event of a long power outage your water level doesn't fall below the standpipe opening of the overflow.

 

[hn1]

Ok, well we fixed it, albeit a bit ghetto looking for now. We weren't able to use a strainer because of how high the drain is drilled, but put fine mesh over the overflow and it will work at least temporarily. We simulated power outages twice and while this has been frustrating, I will admit that I slept much better having done them.

Thanks for the help guys. Dave & Dave- I truly appreciate the offers of help, but it became a personal matter of principal. lol

 

[harpua2002]

We really appreciate the help everyone! As first-timers with plumbing and a sump, the suggestions we got were super helpful. We feel a TON better about the system in the event of a power outage, and we'll be sure to keep our ghetto screen cleaned up! LOL

We also moved the rock work around, and found some better spots for the corals. Here are some new pics.

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[weaglereefer]

Looks good! The big thing now is you should have no restriction or closed valves on the drain side, right? You shouldn't need to "balance" the flow between the sump and tank as long as your return pump isn't like 800gph.

I like all the sandy real estate up front, I think you need some brains or more acans up there...mmmmm brains....

 

[weaglereefer]

Oh, and if you want to hide that overflow elbow, get some Krylon Fusion black spray paint and a new elbow. Also get a "street elbow" to fit your bulkhead. It should slip right in or screw in and be less noticeable, especially if it's painted. Let the paint cure for at least 3-4 days since it will be fully submerged 24x7. As long as there is nothing in your drain line like a filter sock or a split off, I would just remove the netting and fish the jumpers out of the sump for a clean look.

I was at Jeff Mcphail's house recently and he had a similar setup with his overflow drain. I asked about fish and I think he had 3-4 in there when I asked him, lol.

And since you're not returning out of an overflow, I'd recommend the wide flow return nozzles. Angle them so one end is just out of the water, and in the event of power loss, BAM! instant siphon break, no worry about sucking down 1" of water out of the display.

 

[harpua2002]

au01st;372154 wrote: Looks good! The big thing now is you should have no restriction or closed valves on the drain side, right? You shouldn't need to "balance" the flow between the sump and tank as long as your return pump isn't like 800gph.

I like all the sandy real estate up front, I think you need some brains or more acans up there...mmmmm brains....

The return pump is 700 gph. The drain side is running wide open and we've restricted the flow of the pump a little. Seems to be working well.

 

[weaglereefer]

700gph probably comes in around 300-350 with head pressure, but since you've dialed it back, you probably have it about right to have 5x flow through the sump. Glad it's working well.

 

[hn1]

au01st;372154 wrote: Looks good! The big thing now is you should have no restriction or closed valves on the drain side, right? You shouldn't need to "balance" the flow between the sump and tank as long as your return pump isn't like 800gph.

I like all the sandy real estate up front, I think you need some brains or more acans up there...mmmmm brains....

We had to throttle back the return a bit (Mag 7), but the drain is now wide open. Funny you should mention brains.... that's EXACTLY what we're planning to put there. Also thinking about a Crocea clam, but we'll see.

Barbara;372158 wrote: Nice wrasse!

Thanks! I have to say that wrasses are probably my favs. We may try to add a solarensis down the road.

au01st;372160 wrote: Oh, and if you want to hide that overflow elbow, get some Krylon Fusion black spray paint and a new elbow. Also get a "street elbow" to fit your bulkhead. It should slip right in or screw in and be less noticeable, especially if it's painted. Let the paint cure for at least 3-4 days since it will be fully submerged 24x7. As long as there is nothing in your drain line like a filter sock or a split off, I would just remove the netting and fish the jumpers out of the sump for a clean look.

I was at Jeff Mcphail's house recently and he had a similar setup with his overflow drain. I asked about fish and I think he had 3-4 in there when I asked him, lol.

And since you're not returning out of an overflow, I'd recommend the wide flow return nozzles. Angle them so one end is just out of the water, and in the event of power loss, BAM! instant siphon break, no worry about sucking down 1" of water out of the display.

Excellent, thanks! I've used Fusion for years in FW, but wasn't sure about using it in SW. I actually posted that question on another site (I always fear inciting a riot here lol), but failed to get any definitive answers as to it's safety in longterm reef use.

 

[weaglereefer]

I've got it on drain tubing (didn't want to see a big white PVC blob in my overflow), used it on eggcrate for frag racks, never had a problem.

 

[harpua2002]

au01st;372160 wrote: Oh, and if you want to hide that overflow elbow, get some Krylon Fusion black spray paint and a new elbow. Also get a "street elbow"</em> to fit your bulkhead. It should slip right in or screw in and be less noticeable, especially if it's painted.

Can you tell us more about this? Our bulkhead is threaded, but the hole is close enough to the side of the tank that I'm not sure we can screw in an elbow.

 

[weaglereefer]

Oh, sorry, this is why I like slip bulkheads. You should be able to get an elbow with threads on one end and slip on another.

 

[harpua2002]

au01st;372201 wrote: Oh, sorry, this is why I like slip bulkheads</em>. You should be able to get an elbow with threads on one end and slip on another.

Live and learn, LOL. We'll keep this in mind for future projects.

 

[hn1]

The newest addition and one of the reasons that we were in a hurry to get this up and running.... a Saweeet Monti from Jonboy! Thanks again Jon!

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[harpua2002]

Thanks Jon!