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Calling all plumbing gurus


holy carp

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Hey everyone,

 

 

 

I'm planning my first saltwater - a Mr. Aqua 12g long. I've been doing a good bit of research and experiments with plumbing, and I'm hoping to hear some opinions from the experienced. I know people have plumbed this tank a few different ways on this site - really impressed with the one by Scorched, though he had some issues with getting a good amount of flow out of the bulkheads since they're close to the top. I'm putting a standard 10g as a sump/fuge in the cabinet under the tank.

 

My intentions are to drill the tank on one end only, hide the plumbing in a black acrylic or wooden box, and avoid an overflow box altogether. (even the tiny glass-holes box is too big to accommodate the return on the same side panel. Since minimizing equipment in the tank and the limited real estate on one end of the tank (9"/230mm high by 7 3/4"/198mm wide measured on the inside) Originally I hoped a 1" drain and a 1/2" return would work, but when I hooked up a dummy setup using some milk jugs at approximately the same head, I found that my DC Runner 1.2 pump would overpower the return when set at 3 of 8. So 2 was the max setting that worked, and testing that yielded about 65 seconds to pump up a gallon or a paltry 55gph. At full steam, the pump should run a gallon in roughly 25 seconds, or 140-150gph with a 32-35" head.

 

My next thought was to add an additional 1/2" drain slightly deeper that would run full siphon - since that would suck down about 500gph at a ~35" head (from the awesome calculator at http://www.beananimal.com/articles/hydraulics-for-the-aquarist.aspx), I would have to restrict it to balance the flow and prevent sucking sounds, but that seems like it shouldn't be too hard to tune.

 

So the conceived layout would have the 3 holes lined up at at their bottom edge to limit back siphoning in a power outage or so. I drilled a template in wood for the time being - from left to right, it would be a 1/2" full siphon drain with a speed restricting valve along the hose, the 1" open flow drain that would be slower but catch more surface water with negligible noise, and a 1/2" return.

 

 

This would allow even spacing of the bulkhead edges and about 3/4" from the edges of the glass.

 

 

 

If a blockage occurred, my estimated volume in the return section of the sump (~4.5"-5" of the length of the 10g aqueon) should limit the pumped amount from overflowing the display.

 

Am I overlooking something why this might not be an advisable approach? Keeping in mind that I'm avoiding any 'machinery' on the other panels of the tank, it seems like this might get the flow I'd like and still save enough space below to add a powerhead like an MP10 if I decide I need more current in the tank.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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"with negligible noise"

 

Sorry, but it's gonna sound like a toilet flushing all the time. I would notch the end of the tank coast-to-coast and install an overflow box on the outside, BeanAimal style. Also, use gate valves not ball valves as they are easier to adjust. You can drill a hole for the return under the overflow box and use loc line to direct flow wherever you want. You can still enclose the overflow on the end to hide the plumbing.

 

I could not see your images.

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i just finished building a 12 mr aqua too (check my signature for link). i have mimicked scorched plumbing design and its not that quiet. i am happy with the return/reactor plumbing but think i will redue the left drain, it is louder than the right one (water splash and gurgle noise) . the return pump i selected is too strong so i may get a sicce 2.0 instead but overall i am happy with my 12L build. if you want any advice, feel free to message me.

 

-Luis

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Thanks,

These were the images I had attempted to attach. Not sure what went wrong before.

 

post-87676-0-61218700-1430059027_thumb.jpg

post-87676-0-29334800-1430059062_thumb.jpg

post-87676-0-87510400-1430059001_thumb.jpg

 

How would you recommend to accomplish notching the edge of the glass? Is that something to leave to the glass pros, or can it be done at home? The only videos I found of it were done in factories or with some specialized tools.

 

All the diagrams and images I had seen about the bean animal design included an internal overflow box with 3 drain tubes, typically fitted across a long side of the tank. Can that fit in <8" of length? I was sort of thinking I was effectively creating 2 of those drains (excluding the emergency), so there could still be room for the return

 

Regarding the noise, I had tested the setup of the two drains, and when there was enough back pressure so that the water level was around the top of the 1/2" drain, it was at full siphon, and the larger 1" drain was still getting air so all I could hear was a slight sound of water running down inside the tube. The sound didn't seem to differ when I attached the low profile strainer.

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Luis, I haven't gotten through your whole build thread yet, but your end cap box is almost exactly what I had envisioned. Main difference was that I'm putting it on a credenza as opposed to a custom or fitted cabinet, so instead of going through the top, I was planning to use tubing routed behind the cabinet and then in through some holes drilled into the back.

 

Regarding your noise, what amount of flow are you getting? Noise could be solved with a breathing hole in the elbow, from what I've read, but my experiments indicate that would sacrifice the possible safety of having it become full siphon in case of blockage at the other drain.

 

BTW, I like the lights. I had been eying the orbit marine pro, the BML controllable, and the primes. Still undecided, but your pics have definitely boosted the current usa...

 

And regarding the drains - why so low on the return? I had thought a bit more surface agitation might be desirable, but I'm a total newbie to this - hence the deliberation and hesitation around the plumbing and drilling - hard to undo those decisions. How far from the top did you drill the 1" holes? And how is your water level stabilizing relative to the height of the top of that hole?

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CatfishSoupFTW

have you looked into ghost overflows? my cube tank is double the size of yours almost, but I wanted something that minimized the internal size of the overflow, so I got one built. ( check my sig if youd like)

 

 

its super low profile on the wet side, maybe an inch wide at most. at whatever length you want. Then the external box, you can make a wooden housing around it to cover it, and it would loook soo fresh !!!

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And regarding the drains - why so low on the return? I had thought a bit more surface agitation might be desirable, but I'm a total newbie to this - hence the deliberation and hesitation around the plumbing and drilling - hard to undo those decisions. How far from the top did you drill the 1" holes? And how is your water level stabilizing relative to the height of the top of that hole?

 

i have my return much lower than yours, thats about where i would have a powerhead circulating water so thats where i put my returns. some surface agitation is good but not too much or your evaporation will be fast. i really dont have any agitation on the display but there is a lot going on in the sump. noise im getting is some small slurping sounds and i have drilled a breathing hole which helps a small bit. i may redo my plumbing but for now, it works just fine. i dont remember how far from top i drilled the 1" drains, i just tried to get it as close to the top as i can. i have my return pump dialed down as low as it goes to make it as quiet as possible (wifes request) but im gonna be working on the tank this week to see how i can get more flow with low sound.

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