chappy6107 Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 Pretty sure he'll be doing it on a driveway or patio or backyard or something? Oh bathtub would be a perfect place for that too. Btw is the mini overflow box only open on the top and have a transparent bottom, or is it basically just a C siliconed to the tank? definitely doing it outside. the mini overflow box has a transparent bottom and it is adjustable. It can be lifted higher by at least an inch. and I could be wrong but I feel it would be safest to put the pump on the return side. Link to comment
dandelion Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 I think it's safer that way too. How big is your cube btw? What do you plan on putting in it? Link to comment
Nanofreak79 Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Looks like a lot of work for a weirdly designed hob fugue. Maybe save some money, time and possible water all over the floor by purchasing another used cpr fuge or an ac70 or 110, most can be found used for half there asking price. Link to comment
Benny314 Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Pretty sure he'll be doing it on a driveway or patio or backyard or something? Oh bathtub would be a perfect place for that too. Btw is the mini overflow box only open on the top and have a transparent bottom, or is it basically just a C siliconed to the tank? It's part of the HOB unit and looks height adjustable for your tanks water level. It has to be sealed at the bottom otherwise the syphon overflow wouldn't work. Link to comment
chappy6107 Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 Looks like a lot of work for a weirdly designed hob fugue. Maybe save some money, time and possible water all over the floor by purchasing another used cpr fuge or an ac70 or 110, most can be found used for half there asking price. Yes, you are right, but the fuge I have was included when I bought the tank so free or at least all I need for it is the u tube on the intake side. but more importantly it holds 2 3/4 gallons vs the ac70/110 hold much less. How big is your cube btw? What do you plan on putting in it? when I bought the cube I was told it was 30g, but it is not. after rock & sand it holds 23g. so I imagine empty is probably 25g. this fuge will add 2 3/4 gallons to the total though. Link to comment
dandelion Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Is this a FOWLR or are you putting corals in? Any idea what kind of livestock? It sounds like it'll be a fun one. Link to comment
chappy6107 Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 Is this a FOWLR or are you putting corals in? Any idea what kind of livestock? It sounds like it'll be a fun one. Not FOWLR, I will be putting corals in. I don't know which type yet, but prob the soft flowing vs sps. Link to comment
dandelion Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Sounds like it'll be a great tank. Set up a build thread so we can follow your progress! I love this site people are friendly and give great advice quickly. Link to comment
chappy6107 Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 Sounds like it'll be a great tank. Set up a build thread so we can follow your progress! I love this site people are friendly and give great advice quickly. I have a build thread started http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/366767-saltwater-rookie-1st-tank/ I like this forum as well. My local forum is a large forum, but the seasoned reefers do not help out the new guys like myself. I have asked many ?'s there and have yet to receive answers. It has been around 2 months. lol Link to comment
ajmckay Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Maybe I don't understand something but this still looks like it will be a huge mess when it fails... I just don't trust siphons to re-start after power outages or if they get blocked by something. So I would run the water in your display such that it can handle whatever the pump can evacuate from the HOB fuge. It's probably not the whole volume, but I'm guessing it's over half. Also it just seems that if the pump pulls too fast it will lose siphon and if it pumps too slow, well then you could end up with a wet floor. Take a video when you test it but it seems like it would be safer to use a gravity outflow design. Nothing to really go wrong there. Finally with a fuge volume less than 10% of your display tank don't expect it to perform miracles or anything - though would be a cool place to grow macros and cultivate pods. Link to comment
chappy6107 Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 Take a video when you test it but it seems like it would be safer to use a gravity outflow design. Nothing to really go wrong there. Finally with a fuge volume less than 10% of your display tank don't expect it to perform miracles or anything - though would be a cool place to grow macros and cultivate pods. I did receive my utube this weekend so will be testing this out very soon. I will try to post a video as well. Also my tank is ~23 gallons after rock/sand and the fuge is 2.75 gallons so it is a tad less than 10% of the volume. That is why I want to use this fuge vs. an ac 50/70 diy fuge. although I don't have near the risk of a mess with the aquaclear fuges. If I measured right the return chamber after the first baffle will hold about .75 gallon of water. So my DT could possibly hold that overflow in case of a siphon break. Link to comment
chappy6107 Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 no video as of yet, but i did set this thing up in the garage and no matter what I do I can not make it overflow. However the little tiny overflow seems to be too small for the pump I was using or since I havent cut the utube down to fit just right without sticking up too high over the tank. when I had it running, I tried breaking the siphon and the pump would empty the return chamber with did not overflow the tank. When I cut power the intake tube would pull water from the tank into the fuge until the water level in the fuge was the same level as the water level in the tank. Link to comment
Benny314 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 when I had it running, I tried breaking the siphon and the pump would empty the return chamber with did not overflow the tank. When I cut power the intake tube would pull water from the tank into the fuge until the water level in the fuge was the same level as the water level in the tank. This is good news. The only issue would have been the pump over filling the DT. The fuge is higher than the tank rim so water will never overflow it if the pump stops, as you describe the water levels will equalise due to the gravity syphon. Make sure the syphon tube stays below the water line in all situations and it shoud be rare that the syphon breaks. What do you mean the overflow seems to small? Is it being emptied faster than water is returned to the DT to spill back into it? The water level in the overflow box should match the level in the fuge. Maybe you need to lower the overflow box into the tank more or get a deeper one made for the unit. Link to comment
chappy6107 Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 currently the intake utube is the original length and not cut to size yet so it is 4+ inches above the tank rim. If I cut the utube down to size, things may siphon faster, but as is the return pump is returning water faster than water is coming into the fuge. if I put the u tube outside of the overflow and drop it down to where the utube is sitting on the tank rim then the return pump and intake are very close to equal. I am thinking the overflow needs to be deeper than what it is now. Link to comment
Benny314 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Yeah the syphon is having to lift the water higher than it needs to slowing it down. Shorten the syphon tube, maybe on the tank side only so it's 1/2 an inch off the bottom of the overflow box. I take it the fuge is deep enough for the syphon pipe. If not, leave the fuge side slightly longer when you trim it down. Link to comment
chappy6107 Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 Yeah the syphon is having to lift the water higher than it needs to slowing it down. Shorten the syphon tube, maybe on the tank side only so it's 1/2 an inch off the bottom of the overflow box. I take it the fuge is deep enough for the syphon pipe. If not, leave the fuge side slightly longer when you trim it down. I will give that a shot tomorrow. and yeah the fuge is deep, some where around 12" deep maybe more. Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I have a hang IN fuge; just a breeder box with chaeto. Works great and no chance of leaks... Is that a possibility for you? Link to comment
chappy6107 Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 I have a hang IN fuge; just a breeder box with chaeto. Works great and no chance of leaks... Is that a possibility for you? yes this could hang in the tank, but it is ~5" thick and almost as wide as the tank so I would lose 2.75 gallons in tank + it would be ugly. I think I would rather do with out it completely or go a different route. Link to comment
chappy6107 Posted November 23, 2015 Author Share Posted November 23, 2015 Maybe I don't understand something but this still looks like it will be a huge mess when it fails... I just don't trust siphons to re-start after power outages or if they get blocked by something. So I would run the water in your display such that it can handle whatever the pump can evacuate from the HOB fuge. It's probably not the whole volume, but I'm guessing it's over half. Also it just seems that if the pump pulls too fast it will lose siphon and if it pumps too slow, well then you could end up with a wet floor. Take a video when you test it but it seems like it would be safer to use a gravity outflow design. Nothing to really go wrong there. Finally with a fuge volume less than 10% of your display tank don't expect it to perform miracles or anything - though would be a cool place to grow macros and cultivate pods. Here is the video of the tank. I did break the siphon tube when trying to cut it down to size. it is barely underwater. Also why there is such a large air bubble in the clear siphon tube Link to comment
ajmckay Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Make the video public - can't see it. Link to comment
chappy6107 Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share Posted November 24, 2015 Make the video public - can't see it. should be fixed Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 should be fixed Nope Link to comment
chappy6107 Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share Posted November 24, 2015 Nope Make the video public - can't see it. Now it should be working Link to comment
Benny314 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Ooooo that syphon pipe did break nastily didn't it. As I said to start with, as it has a baffle system in it, you'll never cause a flood unless you fill the DT more. You'll need to watch for evaporation in the return chamber of the fudge. That's where it will show, and where you should fit your ATO sensor if you use one. I'd get a marker pen and mark where the water level sits when running normally so you have a point of reference to refill too. Link to comment
chappy6107 Posted November 25, 2015 Author Share Posted November 25, 2015 Ooooo that syphon pipe did break nastily didn't it. As I said to start with, as it has a baffle system in it, you'll never cause a flood unless you fill the DT more. You'll need to watch for evaporation in the return chamber of the fudge. That's where it will show, and where you should fit your ATO sensor if you use one. I'd get a marker pen and mark where the water level sits when running normally so you have a point of reference to refill too. Thank you Benny! and yes that siphon tube just fractured badly. I guess I will have to use my saw next time. Link to comment
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