91mini Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Just finished getting everything pieced together. Please let me know what you think. This is my first build. It's a 100G. I asked before about the siphon for water changes and many said that it is not necessary because I can just use the pump to drain. I think because my pump chamber had to be so small that I will need the back siphon from the return for easy water changes. I plan to push the return lock line deep into the water when I do water changes and place a mark on the side of the tank to measure water level. 1. Siphon for water changes 2. BRS single reactor (carbon) not purchased yet 3. BRS single reactor (GFO) not purchased yet 4. Drain line from overflow (1500 GPH glass-holes kit) 5. Eheim 1260 6. Ball valve to control flow from pump 7. Ball valve for future equipment 8. Union's 9. Plan to the hang the carbon and GFO on this inside wall. Ball valve to run each using my pump and close the fuge for the return lines. The space to the right of the fuge in this picture will be for a container for my ATO. I have the Tunze 3155. Link to comment
albertthiel Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Just finished getting everything pieced together. Please let me know what you think. This is my first build. It's a 100G. That is quite a set up 91mini Link to comment
CJBuckeyes Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Looking good! I'm no plumbing expert, but just a few things I've noticed. 1. It might make more sense to have the unions on the overflow pipes higher up, in case you ever have to move the tank. 2. It looks like you have a check valve on the right side return line, but not the left. Is there a reason for this? Looks like this is going to be a great build! Link to comment
91mini Posted August 12, 2012 Author Share Posted August 12, 2012 Looking good! I'm no plumbing expert, but just a few things I've noticed. 1. It might make more sense to have the unions on the overflow pipes higher up, in case you ever have to move the tank.The only reason why the 1 1/2" unions are lower was to decrease space behind the tank. I wanted them higher up but they are so big that it would put the tank even further from the wall. I am trying to get the tank as close to the wall as possible and figured that I could put the tank on further back on the stand and slide it forward to fit. 2. It looks like you have a check valve on the right side return line, but not the left. Is there a reason for this? I didn't want a check valve at all but decided for water changes it seemed like the easiest option considering that the area that the pump is in is too small to use it to do water changes without constantly watching it to see if it runs dry Looks like this is going to be a great build!Thanks, I'm trying to do my research. I started with a 14G Biocube. It's been up and running for 1 year 5 months now without an issue. Figured I learned that now it was time to grow Link to comment
Lawnman Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Lordy that is alot of plumbing. I see about 25 places for leaks. Link to comment
91mini Posted August 12, 2012 Author Share Posted August 12, 2012 Lordy that is alot of plumbing. I see about 25 places for leaks. Please explain because I definitely agree with you about the potential for leak but only at the unions. Which 2 are over the fuge and will only leak into it if they fail. On the others I plan to make some sort of drip collection unit similar to the ones on a BBQ pit that will notify me if there is a leak by filling up in the glass container. Since everything else will be cemented together I'm not seeing the 25 potential leaks you are speaking of. Link to comment
thirdchild Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Consider running a short piece of soft tubing between the return pump and the rest of the hard pvc for the return. I'm going to make this change myself since I don't like the vibration noise from the return pump. Link to comment
Lawnman Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 The 25 leaks I was speaking of is everywhere you cement together can fail. I am just use to drilled tanks on the bottom. With my sump underneath. So if either 1 of my 2 bulkheads has a drip the sump will catch it. 3rd picture labeled 1 is a HUGE NO NO that metal fitting will crash your tank. Link to comment
91mini Posted August 12, 2012 Author Share Posted August 12, 2012 The 25 leaks I was speaking of is everywhere you cement together can fail. I am just use to drilled tanks on the bottom. With my sump underneath. So if either 1 of my 2 bulkheads has a drip the sump will catch it. 3rd picture labeled 1 is a HUGE NO NO that metal fitting will crash your tank. The metal fitting is only for a water change drain. It will never come in contact with water for the system. I went with a more durable metal fitting in this application because of that. Do you think that should be plastic even though it will never come in contact with the display water? Link to comment
Lawnman Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Is there anyway possible for water to escape that pipe going back into the tank? I would change it but it is your tank. Link to comment
glennr1978 Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 IME, the simpler the better. Also, flex tubing > PVC. Link to comment
Lawnman Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 IME, the simpler the better. Also, flex tubing > PVC. Where the hell have you been Glenn? Long time no see. Link to comment
glennr1978 Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Working, chasing my two kids, working, and working some more. I've become much more of a lurker than a poster these days, lol. Still have my tank and it's doing pretty well. May post some pics sometime soon. Sorry, thread jacking over lol. Link to comment
albertthiel Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Working, chasing my two kids, working, and working some more. I've become much more of a lurker than a poster these days, lol. Still have my tank and it's doing pretty well. May post some pics sometime soon. Sorry, thread jacking over lol. Love your Avatar, Mr Bean is the funniest ... Link to comment
disaster999 Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 way too complicated, too much elbows and turns, ill be happy if your return pump pumps out 50% of whats its rated for. your thinking of pushing 2 reactors with that pump? good luck is all i could say. the check valve will not work, it will just start bouncing back and forth until it looses its siphon. unless you are going to dip the locline lower into the tank whenever you want to do a water change, its pretty useless i IMO.it doesnt seem like you are able to change out a lot of water with it. especially when the check valve doesnt stop the back flow. Link to comment
Genj Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 I have to agree with a lot of what was said above. The part about a cemented leak however, I can't say that I've seen that ever happen with PVC. Then again IANAP. As for water changes, I would rather see you drill the bottom of the tank and place a drain line there. My guess is that you are going to hook something to the lockline to extend down into the water in case you really need to drain it low? Link to comment
godfathernikki Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Don't forget to add some sort of support structure for the plumbing. Link to comment
91mini Posted August 14, 2012 Author Share Posted August 14, 2012 ill be happy if your return pump pumps out 50% of whats its rated for. your thinking of pushing 2 reactors with that pump? good luck is all i could say. Does everyone agree with this? Should I be getting separate pumps for each reactor? One seperate pump for both? Link to comment
disaster999 Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 i would get an separate pump to run the reactors. if you insist of having one pump, i would either go with a higher flow rate pump, or use an external pump with a high pressure head rating Link to comment
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