Tony’s 3 Tier Tank Build

[tonytran509]

Welp... its a sad day everyone... i have became addicted to this salt water thing... i blame @jcook54 for even predicting my future. But some of you may already know from a previous post that ive been wanting to convert some of my smaller tanks to salt for qt and other things... i finally pulled the trigger and started the work ln 01/21/2020.... started with a metal rack that i was using previously with 4 20 gallon long tanks. Took them all out scrubed them all and started drilling. Oh and of course i broke my first tank I tried drilling and had to run to grab another one. Then also my dumb ass only drilled the overflows and went to paint forgetting to drill the return. So had to go back drill and then repaint the second time. Once everything was dry i started putting the tanks back on the rack and started figuring out my plumbing. Took everyones advice and took everything i learned and started plumbing. Of course i screwed up and wasted some piping, measure twice cut once... for me was measure once cut four times lol....

01/23/2020... all the fittings had been dry for almost two days... then pushedthe rack back in place and filled with water.... fingers crossed will update tomorrow.

Oh i need a check valve for the return and recommendations.... i screwed up didnt grab one...

 

[ZapataInc]

Looking good!!!

 

[lmm1967]

my vote would be NO check valve - if you drill a siphon break in your returns you shouldn't need one.

Check valves fail - utilizing a check valve makes for a system that will flood your floor when that valve fails.

 

[ActiveAngel]

My vote is yes for the check valve, especially in a tiered system unless your have a massive sump.

It shouldn’t be in the closed position unless you manually are working on the tanks. It’s a safety net.If it’s going to fail, it would likely mean being stuck in the Open position when you are there and working on something. And if that’s a flood, at least you’re there to fix it immediately. The check valve is there to prevent floods when you are absent, such as a power outage when at work or in the middle of the night, and have no warning.

The counter argument would be: what if power goes out for several hours, it flips to the off position, then power kicks back on, and it doesn’t open and becomes stuck in the off position during those extra hours. Which is fine and valid argument! But for me, it provides more value being there than not being there... again, unless I have a massive sump.

@lmm1967 Some days we agree on a lot; but apparently today we have different opinions/experience on the topics-of-the-day. Nonetheless, it’s all good feedback for readers. Lots of different viewpoints in this hobby!

 

[Rainblood]

Nice. How is that rack able to hold all that weight?

 

[lmm1967]

My vote is yes for the check valve, especially in a tiered system unless your have a massive sump.

@lmm1967 Some days we agree on a lot; but apparently today we have different opinions/experience on the topics-of-the-day. Nonetheless, it’s all good feedback for readers. Lots of different viewpoints in this hobby!

HA - neither thought process is wrong. It's a balance game with all this plumbing stuff.

I agree check valves would be just fine and have advantages during maintenance etc. My crazy mind always goes to "I'm out of town and a breaker trips and shuts down my return pump - at the exact moment a snail has decided to hang out inside the stupid check valve which prevents it from closing and more water than I ever imagines or planned for drains into my sump, over flows....." and so on.

2 weeks ago my 120 gallon started making abnormal draining noises - the water level in one of the 2 over flows would not stay consistent - I run 2 herbie style overflows - one in each overflow. I had not had to tune these overflows in over a year. I started messing with the valve on the full siphon drain pipe in the overflow that was surging and it seemed "weird". I closed it all the way, opened it all the way and in the process of doing so I heard a snail tumbling down the drain pipe. Look in the sump and sure enough - a snail had gotten in there.

My imagination puts that snail right on the flapper of check valve.

 

[lmm1967]

I should also point out - you have way more experience running tiered tanks - I'm very lucky and am able to run a sump that has plenty of room (60g + 180g with a 125g sump and a couple 120gs each with a 40g gallon sump)

 

[Adam]

Looking good Tony. In addition to @jcook54 's prediction I'm going to say within 18 to 24 months you'll have a large acrylic tank that you've made for yourself

I can go either way with the check valve. If you get one then check & clean it once a quarter. Murphy's Law is always in the back of my mind though.

 

[tonytran509]

Looking good Tony. In addition to @jcook54 's prediction I'm going to say within 18 to 24 months you'll have a large acrylic tank that you've made for yourself

I can go either way with the check valve. If you get one then check & clean it once a quarter. Murphy's Law is always in the back of my mind though.

oh noooooo stop it with all these predictions lol.

 

[tonytran509]

Nice. How is that rack able to hold all that weight?

find a rack that is labeled to hold over the weight per tank. Set up the height and then epoxy everything together. So basically you now have a one piece rack thats super strong lol.... ive used these racks for over a decade and had been fine... those that has used these and failed has used the cheap racks, improper installation, and bot being flat and balanced are the biggest culprit to having one fail.

 

[ActiveAngel]

HA - neither thought process is wrong. It's a balance game with all this plumbing stuff.

I agree check valves would be just fine and have advantages during maintenance etc. My crazy mind always goes to "I'm out of town and a breaker trips and shuts down my return pump - at the exact moment a snail has decided to hang out inside the stupid check valve which prevents it from closing and more water than I ever imagines or planned for drains into my sump, over flows....." and so on.

2 weeks ago my 120 gallon started making abnormal draining noises - the water level in one of the 2 over flows would not stay consistent - I run 2 herbie style overflows - one in each overflow. I had not had to tune these overflows in over a year. I started messing with the valve on the full siphon drain pipe in the overflow that was surging and it seemed "weird". I closed it all the way, opened it all the way and in the process of doing so I heard a snail tumbling down the drain pipe. Look in the sump and sure enough - a snail had gotten in there.

My imagination puts that snail right on the flapper of check valve.

Ah, yes, good point!

While it’s never happened with my check valves, I know for a fact that my newborn baby snails under 1mm big can fit through there. However the guards on my return pump and my tank drain prevent anything larger from 1mm getting into the piping.

However, the grill on my overflow is much larger, and even ‘teenage’ snails can get to my sump easily enough. But the overflow should not get a check valve, just the return pump line.

 

[Eric_n_Ga]

HA - neither thought process is wrong. It's a balance game with all this plumbing stuff.

I agree check valves would be just fine and have advantages during maintenance etc. My crazy mind always goes to "I'm out of town and a breaker trips and shuts down my return pump - at the exact moment a snail has decided to hang out inside the stupid check valve which prevents it from closing and more water than I ever imagines or planned for drains into my sump, over flows....." and so on.

2 weeks ago my 120 gallon started making abnormal draining noises - the water level in one of the 2 over flows would not stay consistent - I run 2 herbie style overflows - one in each overflow. I had not had to tune these overflows in over a year. I started messing with the valve on the full siphon drain pipe in the overflow that was surging and it seemed "weird". I closed it all the way, opened it all the way and in the process of doing so I heard a snail tumbling down the drain pipe. Look in the sump and sure enough - a snail had gotten in there.

My imagination puts that snail right on the flapper of check valve.

I call this the real life finding Nemo scenario . I find all kinds of little things stuck in places where the only explanation is Definitely my fish were trying to escape again..lol

 

[lmm1967]

I think we've all had fish show up in a sump - I certainly have several times. I've also had Whelk snails migrate from one tank to another via a shared sump.

 

[Adam]

I think we've all had fish show up in a sump - I certainly have several times. I've also had Whelk snails migrate from one tank to another via a shared sump.

Hmm... Whelks... no good. Must go! Kill them all!!!

 

[lmm1967]

Hmm... Whelks... no good. Must go! Kill them all!!!

As I found them - they all got put in the toad fish tank - and subsequently "disappeared" for some strange reason. Same with the bumble bee snails I thought were a good idea at one point in time.

 

[Adam]

As I found them - they all got put in the toad fish tank - and subsequently "disappeared" for some strange reason. Same with the bumble bee snails I thought were a good idea at one point in time.

The don't burrow, so "disappeared" is good, very good!

 

[Doberman13]

Awesome setup! This will be very cool once all lit up. Are you planning to have coral in these tanks?

 

[tonytran509]

Awesome setup! This will be very cool once all lit up. Are you planning to have coral in these tanks?

yes will be looking at least one with coral maybe 2 if i can fill it up with frags to grow out lol.... kinda did this and not think of exactly what i want yet. But for sure will be shooting my shot at breeding clowns in one for sure.

 

[jcook54]

Boom! There it is! Lookin' good man, so glad you're part of this community.

 

[casper75]

Looking good