wet/dry fuge pics for cambarr

ok heres what he made me. the first baffel could have been shorter to create so current lower in the second chamber, but since he put the stubby second baffel in it forces all the water flow downward so it works very well actually. the other pics are of the way i plumbed it. christian includes a few fittings and some tubing but i changed a few things and used what i had on hand.

heres the intake side

the plumbing for it on the intake in the tank is a elbow with a short threaded peice of 3/4"gray schd. 40 pcv and a 3/4"intake screen

the return i just used 2 threaded elbows to get it low enough into the tank to keep it below water. the only problem i ran into was the the return inside the fuge was half above water and sucking in air and creating bubbles. so i added the elbow inside the fuge and it they ceased.

ok im sold thanks mine gonna cost 180 but its bigger it for a 20h thanks for teh help bro

hey another question for ya what size are the bulk heads thanks cam barr

bulkheads are 1"

Fuge for my 20. Ten bucks.

Sorry I couldn't help myself, I had to post it.

lizbeth....Is that a 5.5 aga you used for that fuge?????

No it's not. It's a tank I custom built to sit beside the 20. It's the same depth as the 20 and sits on a raised stand attached to the 20's stand.

The raised stand that can hold that much weight would cost more then 10 dollars alone.

Spudds.

Originally posted by Spudds

The raised stand that can hold that much weight would cost more then 10 dollars alone.

 

Spudds.

Guess you don't know me very well huh?

This is true.

hey dont under estamate the momma of nano reef kk good job liz

"the only problem i ran into was the the return inside the fuge was half above water and sucking in air and creating bubbles. so i added the elbow inside the fuge and it they ceased"

- I am currious about how this works. I am building a very similarly designed fuge right now and I believe you that this elbowing off the return in the fuge works, but I just can't picture it working. The way I see it, the water level in the fuge is going to drop to wherever the entry to the return pipe is. Could you explain a little more how this works? Thanks.

Im also a bit confused. My question is that, there is air inside the tube, which creates an air bubble on the top of the "U". Once this air bubble is eventually pushed out, it starts to siphon the water out and then the water level drops down do the level of entry on the tube and then begins the process all over again...it makes perfect sense what it is doing but I dont know how yours works, do you go through the same thing?...That is what has happened when I tried to do this on my fuge. Im not sure how it works on this one....

well the intake is a 3/4" bulkhead and the return is 1" and uses 1" fittings, so the waterlevel without the elbo is at the halfway mark of the bulkhead, with the plumbing in the tank below water level it makes bubbles. if the return line is halk above and below water in tank it doesn't matter as all the bubbles pop on the surface. by adding the elbow on the fuge side the water level is the same height as without it, and in turn puts the intake below waterlevel where it just sucks water no air. if you go back and look at the last photo i posted you can see where the water level is in the fuge and it never changes. maybe by adding the extra elbow i've slowed the return down to where the pump stays just ahead of it. regardless it works for me. since these photos i have redon the plumbing but the only differance is i switched the bulkheads around so that the shank stick out of the fuge instead on in it. this way i can actually get something (with tongs) from the bottom of those chambers.

reefriot who made that fuge for you?

Hi, I'm curious about the intake and how it works on start up.

Basically, it appears you have a U tube configuration for the intake plumbing, through the bulkhead of course. When the system is not running, the water level is going to drop out of the U tube config enough to trap air in the top at the bulkhead section. So how do you start it backup? Can the powerhead really start the suction backup with that air pocket? Wouldn't that be damaging to the powerhead.

I'm just trying to understand, I am currnetly in the planning stage of my DIY HOB sump. I like the idea of having the intake pump in the sump, I'm just worried about the air pocket and the powerhead.

TIA

it has little effect on the powerhead. sure theres a bit of air at first that gets spit out of the pump but quickly stops. the one thing you should remember is how often are you going to stop the pump? i only turn it off when i do water changes and when it restarts theres no problem. i t takes longer if you leave the pump running dry while you do the water change thats why i just turn it off. maxijets have a pretty long run dry time before any damage is done to the pump. i like it because it eliminates the bulky powerhead in my tank.

Thanks, that's wat I was wondering. I do like the idea of having the pump out of the main tank as well, glad to hear that you haven't had any problems getting the pump restarted. I usually turn all pumps off when I feed, but maybe I'll just turn the circulation pump off and not the sump pump just to be safe. Thanks again.

Just a little question. Since you added that elbow in the fuge, on the output, haven't you in effect changed it into a syphon? And, won't it syphon the fuge down to the bottom of the elbow if the power should fail? A flood hazard maybe?

Okay 3 questions.

Cami

I bought one of these too but I am not sure what kind of fitting I need, it only came with the two threaded pieces for the intake/output. Anyone have any suggestions on this and how to hook up a small pump to the intake inside the fuge? I was told everything I needed would be included but I guess not... Sorry for the newbie question but I don't have any plumbing experience

I used the same configuration, a thin "Stand on Back" Fuge for my 10 & 20. I built them myself right down to the black trim I got for free from the place that molds the stuff for All-Glass. My 10 gallon's fuge is 20"long by 6"deep by 18" high. I use a 'pump-in' config(like a CPR product)...although I am thinking of taking out some bio-balls to put my pump in the sump like this one. Mine uses that eco-mud and algae suspended on a tray just a couple inches over a nano-plenum. GOD, I need my digital camera back!! Well, the point of all this is: I use a Maxi jet 600 to pump the fuge, and this makes just under 150 gph through the fuge. My overflow is similar in that I have an elbow facing down in the fuge to kill the gurgle...and it doesn't syphon. True, it is similar in concept to what those bucket wave makers are...but there just isnt enough height or flow to get a syphon to start...just not enough. Now, if reefriot or I (or someone building another) were to increase the return height too much or have a greater water flow in the same diameter pipe for the overflow return...yes, the fuge would also become a wave-maker (got that quicksilver?). Another thing in those bucket-style wave-makers is that they work best if a small hole is drilled just above the lower tank's water level to allow air to escape fleely when the syphon starts up (so it doesn't have to push all the air out before the water when it surges down the pipe). For anyone building one of these keep in mind if you do the pump-in method, you could incorporate an extra baffle, a down facing input pipe and a collection cup (like the one off a CPR bak-pak) in the first chamber to turn it into a protien skimmer. Really to simple when you think about it.