Top & Bottom intake? Back chamber setup? Trying to figure out my new Lifegard Crystal tank

[spiffish]

Hi Folks!

 

I just got a 24.09 gallon Lifegard Crystal aquarium. I started a journal on my setup here.

 

I am trying to figure out how to set up my back chamber and also figure out the intake situation. 

 

This tank comes with very thin slits cut into the glass for the intake, and a round hole in the bottom of the intake chamber as well, which came with a filter to allow water to flow through the bottom intake, or a plug to block it off. With the filter in place, the tank water level is correct. If I plug that bottom hole, the tank nearly over flows. The top intake slits are not enough to balance the flow of the return pump.  

 

Is using the bottom intake a problem? One issue is that it would bypass any filters I might put in that chamber since the water would come in below any filter media.  If I plug the bottom hole, how can I allow more flow through the slits?

 

Top intake slits:

 

 

Back Chamber: (Back wall is dark tinted glass, this view shows the back chamber as seen from the display/front of the tank)

 

 

 

This shot shows how close to overflowing the tank is when using top intake slits only:

 

 

This photo shows correct water level with bottom intake also in use (see intake filter plug in bottom left of the tank in this pic)

 

 

See how thin the intake slits are?

 

 

A few other questions:

 

1. Any advice on setting up the back chamber? (see pics below)
2. Do I plug the hole on the intake down near the bottom, or use the included intake thing?
3. Are the intake grates too small? What do?
4. The return doesn't have any sort of end on it to direct the flow, any suggestions?
5. The return pump has a rubber gasket going through the back wall that fits very loose, makes me nervous it will pop out and pump water all over my living room. Where can I get this type of part to upgrade the fittings?

 

Thanks so much for any thoughts!

[Clown79]

The cuts of the overflow are common sized.

 

Fluval designe their tanks in the same manner and ppl block the hole in the bottom so that surface skimming is possible.f1

 

Have you tried removing a portion of the water when you block the hole to see if it still fills up too much of the display. 

[spiffish]

39 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

The cuts of the overflow are common sized.

 

Fluval designe their tanks in the same manner and ppl block the hole in the bottom so that surface skimming is possible.f1

 

Have you tried removing a portion of the water when you block the hole to see if it still fills up too much of the display. 

Thanks for the reply! I did try running less water but the pump chamber empties and no matter what the display tank fills to the brim if the lower hole is plugged. 

[Clown79]

36 minutes ago, spiffish said:

Thanks for the reply! I did try running less water but the pump chamber empties and no matter what the display tank fills to the brim if the lower hole is plugged. 

Hmm. That is odd, at least to me. Lol.

 

That didn't happen with my fluval when I plugged up the hole. 

[denbigh97]

@spiffish did you ever find a solution to your problem?

[spiffish]

@denbigh97 Unfortunately, no solution. I tried reaching out to lifegard aquatics 3 times on various occasions to ask questions, but they never returned my calls.

 

I need to update my tank journal, but the tank has been up and running now for over a month and seems to be doing ok.  I have the bottom intake and top intake going (still no way to plug the bottom).  I made a media basket (similar to intank products) with filter floss located below both of the inlets.

 

 

Overall, some bad design decisions on an otherwise beautifully made tank.

[WhatsReef]

Er, I guess the slits don't provide enough flow if the hole is plugged? I guess you'd have to drill some holes or leave the hole unplugged?

 

Is the return pump overpowered so it's shooting water back into the display faster than it can come through the slits? If so you need more holes/slits for water to flow to the back or you need a weaker return pump.

 

Adding a nozzle on the end of your return might help. If this bottle-necks the return tube down to create more pressure that will put more work on the pump and it won't pump as fast. Try adding a directional flow nozzle onto the return and see if that helps. Might really cut down the return pump's output but I don't have experience on how much this will decrease flow.

[WhatsReef]

PS Where did you get that gorgeous tank stand. Is that the one that comes with the tank?

[Jeff Hood]

Well, since your overflow is glass this kinda decides the issue for you.  I really only see two easy options for you.  

 

1.  Use the auxiliary overflow down deep they provided you.  This obviously was a bandaid fix they decided to add as they knew the overflow wasn’t enough to keep up with pump output.  I don’t see any issue with using it.  Yes some might bypass some filtration but it’s about turnover and as long as you get a couple turnovers through your filter it really won’t matter how much bypasses it.  

 

2. Plug that hole and then throttle your return pump back until you get a balance with that overflow with some reserve in case those slits get clogged up.  Pumps do fine with adding afterload.  Throttle back with a flow restrictor on the output side.  Never on the intake side. 

 

I really don’t think trying to drill that glass panel will be practicle and even with the plug open your getting surface skimming.  Who cares if it’s not 100%.  

 

What GPH is your pump putting out?    My bet is it’s 10x tank volume or more so think your fine with either of the above.   Then you get your in tank flow dialed in with a couple wave maker powerheads. 

[Natereef]

Does the flow go like this? Thats a pretty weird design in the first place, the middle  baffle decides how high the water is in the overflow? But back to your problem, it could be that the slits are too small for the power output of your pump, thats probably why they put the hole on the bottom. Try a less powerful pump and just use your powerhead for more flow in the display. Or just leave the hole open. But thats just weird overall if you are using the stock pump they provided and the stock slits cant even handle the stock output of the pump.

[eag]

Hey everyone - new user here. I've got a lifegard aquatics 7.4g side filter. Not the exact same tank, but similar in a lot of ways, including the bottom drain.

 

Jeff is correct. I have managed to fix the problem by restricting the return. Now when I plug the bottom drain, the water does rise a small bit but reaches equilibrium well before it gets close to the rim. So, I believe the theory of "the return is pumping water into the display faster than the overflow can pull off" is correct.

 

On 3/9/2019 at 11:05 AM, Jeff Hood said:

This obviously was a bandaid fix they decided to add as they knew the overflow wasn’t enough to keep up with pump output.

 

I also believe this statement is correct. I fell back to using the (less powerful) stock pump after the sicce micra I had installed was still too powerful even fully restricted. The stock pump also came with an adjustable restrictor... except, I had to adjust the restrictor the the 85% position in order to obtain a reasonable water level in the display. With the stock pump already being kind of weak, this really makes me think that the overflow suffers from a design flaw.

 

On 3/9/2019 at 11:05 AM, Jeff Hood said:

don’t see any issue with using it.  Yes some might bypass some filtration but it’s about turnover and as long as you get a couple turnovers through your filter it really won’t matter how much bypasses it.  

 

I did actually run into problems using it. If you are using the stock sponge (or anything similar), over time as the filter collects detritus, the throughput goes down. The reduction in throughput causes the water level to shift from the back chambers into the display, which in turn causes my ATO to kick on and dump water into the back chamber. As the filter becomes more clogged, more and more RO gets put into the tank, causing salinity swings.

 

This direct coupling of display-to-chamber throughput and the relative dirtiness of the mechanical filter is the root of the issue. Plugging the bottom drain solves it by decoupling - water enters the overflow and can pile up on top of the filter instead of in the display - a much smaller volume to fill.

[mcarroll]

Seems like they gave a pump that's more than capable, and is adjustable – those are good things.  

 

In the Lifegard videos on the product they say you can use a plug or a strainer in the lower hole.  Do you have the strainer?  Is the strainer adjustable?

 

More vids here in case they're useful:

https://www.lifegardaquatics.com/products/lifegard-crystal-aquariums/

[Ronniebouy]

I’m having just the opposite problem all the chambers are full to same level as the tank I tried siphoning water from the two center compartments no luck pump seems be working fine anyone? Iv already lost one my favorite fish the water in the compartments has a foul smell stagnant I guess Iv sent two emails to manufacture no response I have the bottom hole plugged?HELP PLEASE 

RON

[ramsey750]

I have the 24 gallon, rear sump. I've had it for about 2 years I think. The "Quiet" One return pump was too noisy and too powerful. Even at the lowest adjustment it would overwhelm the overflow and spill over the side of the tank. I kept the plug closed and added a ball valve to the return hose and was able to to reduce the flow sufficiently however, this made the pump noisier! I replaced it with a tiny Hydor pump from my LFS and runs silent now. Still had to turn down the flow significantly to keep from flooding my floor. Not sure if this is a defect of the o reflow. I was never able to get a response from Lifegard about this. They could have cut more slits in the overflow as they don't extend across the entire length of the overflow section; poor design. Did they even test it?

Otherwise, happy with it.

[mcarroll]

From your comments it doesn't sound like you guys watched the video or tried the things folks posted in this thread.

[Paulio]

I have the 9.98 version. What I immediately noticed about the top overflow slots was that they are not equal size from the tank side to the chamber side. Being wider at the tank side and narrowing toward the chamber. Using the bottom strainer imo was not an option as I wanted stacked media of different types top to bottom. The solution was simple and cheap. A set of different size and shape diamond crusted files from Amazon for $12 and about an hour of my time. Simply filed the slots from the chamber side until equally wide front to back. Don't apply a lot of pressure but good and firm. Now I'm running a 130gph pump wide open except for a small tube in the intake to inject CO2. Water sits a bout 2' from the top rock steady. No bottom strainer no media bypass. Hope this might help.