Basic Pumbing Done - Does this seem like it will work? (Image intensive - hopefully)

[ingros]

After nearly eleven months of reading and, unfortunately, a lot less time building, I have finally reached a point where I "think" I am ready to order a 225 gallon acrylic. That is if you guys don't shoot a ton of holes through my plans! Seriously, if something looks like it will not work please let me know now so I can correct mistakes before the tank, rock, etc. gets here. That is assuming I can actually post pictures here.

Here goes:



Assuming the picture loads you will see my unsheathed stand frame with sump inside, pump installed, etc.

Actually, before I put any more effort into this message, I will post the same to make sure there is actually something here for you to see. If this works I'll be back in a minute or two!

Thanks!

John
http://users.penn.com/~ingros/124.jpg

[ddawson]

No pic, just a red x

Dan

[ingros]

GRRRRR!!!!!! This is harder than the plumbing ... please bear with me as I continue to edit.

John

[surferdude141]

send mr the pics ill post them. my email is surferdude141@netscape.net

[ingros]

Surferdude,

Thanks for the offer, but if I don't figure this out myself I will never truly be able to contribute here.

I'll try one more time before I hang this up for the night...

http://users.penn.com/~ingros/124.JPG

Yeah, baby!! Of course this HAD to be an out of focus shot.

OK, the stand is for a 72x24 footprint tank. The apparent extra leg on the right can be blamed on my wife. Original intent was for an 8 foot tank, but once I dragged the frame into the house she had a fit and told me to shorten it. Thus my new 6 foot stand.

Anyway, you can see where I have located the sump and the main pump, an Ampmaster 4500. Loud, by the way. The flow goes straight up through a ball valve, then a check valve, and into a horizontal 1.5" pipe that feeds 6 half inch flexible tubes and 4 three-quarter inch flexible tubes (all controlled by individual ball valves).

Here is a close up of the pump assembly:

http://users.penn.com/~ingros/131.JPG

And here is a picture of the rear flow pipe that feeds the individual 1/2 and 3/4 inch hoses:

http://users.penn.com/~ingros/70802.JPG

One of the 1/2 inch tubes feeds the fuge through a simple T-pipe that I drilled a series of holes into. When I dial down the flow I get a gentle current through the T-pipe, which then fills the fuge and slowly cascades into the sump area. Like this:

http://users.penn.com/~ingros/70803.JPG

One of the 3/4 inch tubes will feed an AquaC 240, if you think the pump will provide enough pressure. The remaining tubes will go to various locations on the back of the tank to Loc-Line connectors.

The top of the stand is slightly out of level due to the old flooring in this house (circa 1920) so I attempted to level the surface with floor leveling compound:

http://users.penn.com/~ingros/128.JPG

This didnt work too well so my new plan is to use wet Southdown in the top of the stand and then level and pack the same with trowels. As long as the sand is moist, the tank should settle on it nicely and not move. Right??

For what it's worth, here is the stand sheathed in tongue and groove PA walnut. I need to build 4 cathedral doors this weekend and then get busy on the canopy.

http://users.penn.com/~ingros/70811.JPG
http://users.penn.com/~ingros/70810.JPG
http://users.penn.com/~ingros/70805.JPG

Try to ignore the bird cage on the last photo... I'm not normally this messy!

OK, will this work or have I screwed up somewhere? Fire away..

John

[Chris Mu.]

worked woo hoo

[Hopeful Reefer]

Instead of using Southdown to try to level off your tank, you should go to your local HD, Lowes, or whatever you have in your area and buy foam sheathing...you can buy it rather cheap, something like $5 for a pack of 4 sheets I believe...if I remember correctly, the sheets are something like 2' x 4'...cut to size and just put this foam on top of your stand...when you set the tank on top of it and fill the tank with sand, water and LR it will settle naturally...

HTH...just my $0.02

[ingros]

Hopeful,

Would these sheets be a styrofoam type of material or the blue/pink insulation? My fear was that the foam would flatten equally across the stand top and I would still end up with a 1/4" back to front lean. I can't really think of a way to test the theory one way or the other without a tank full of water sitting on it. I see you are listed as still setting up your tank. Did you encounter a similar situation?

[ingros]

I guess in the excitement/relief of finally posting my photos, I forgot to mention other details that may be critical to your input. Two 1.25" drains will be in a center overflow. Both will drain through filter socks directly into the sump area.

I see that most of you use rigid piping to plumb your returns. Is the flexible tubing plan I set up doomed to failure? Don't be afraid to bash, I've already ripped out two prior versions of the plumbing (all laying in a pile in our basement now).

Also, and most important, thank you all for the great information you have posted here and allowed me to review for the past year. This place is great.

John

[ingros]

Bump

I was hoping someone would know whether or not the flexible vinyl tubing incorporated into my returns will work long term (since everyone seems to use rigid piping). Does anyone use this material or have you used it in the past in such an application?

John

[thorsky]

If I am reading the "leveling" problem correctly I would not use foam sheeting. If one end of the stand is higher/lower than the other I would build up shims to go around the base to get everything level. If you mean there are imperfections in the top of the stand then the foam sheeting will help that.

[I_Like_Fishies]

I second thorsky, I wouldnt use the foam method you were talking about. If it were me I would shim the bottom of the stand to make the stand level. You dont really know how much the foam will condense down to and also how long it will last. Another reason I wouldnt shim anything between the stand and the tank is because it would make the tank look unlevel compared to the stand. Looking at the pictures, heres what I would do, I would take off the bottom 1/4 round and then shim your stand up, then put the 1/4 round back on so that it covers up the shims and so its flat against the floor just like it is now. The only downside to that is if you want to move the tank somewhere else you have to take the 1/4 round off and do it all over again. Hopefully this will help a little, if you have anymore questions, I'd be glad to help you. Good luck!

[I_Like_Fishies]

Oh yeah, your question about the return hoses. The hose you have now will work, but it could kink somehow. I am getting ready to start on a 180g and I'm either going to use the hard PVC pipe or to make things easier use hot tub or spa hose, that stuff wont kink. I forgot to say in the last post, the stand looks great!

[thorsky]

I was thinking it as well but forgot to mention. NICE STAND!!! :D

[Hopeful Reefer]

Just to eleborate on my last post...sorry, but I made the assumption that you had already shimmed the end of the tank stand that wasn't level or else you were already planning on doing that...guess I should have included that disclaimer previously... :)

As for which foam sheating to use, don't use the exterior house insulation (the blue stuff you mentioned)...I have seen it sold sometimes as interior attack insulation...styrofoam sheets that are anywhere from 1/4" to 3/4" thick...

As for tanks I have looked at in the past...I have seen that using both the shims and the styrofoam works best to level out the tank and give it a nice base long term...

[ingros]

thorsky, Fishies and Hopeful:

Thanks for your responses and nice comments. I like the idea of shimming the base - don't know why I hadn't thought of that myself! I can make some larger quarter-round to cover the larger gap that will result at the base of the stand.

I think I'll still put the insulation down between the tank and stand, but only after I have leveled the stand itself. The floor leveler I initially laid down did not smooth out as I had planned so I think I need to put something down to keep the gouging and scratching of the acrylic bottom to a minimum.

I had planned to leave some excess vinyl tubing behind the tank, but I too can see how kinks could develop so I'll shorten each length of tubing to the minimum needed to make a connection.

Last question: The AquaC 240 takes a Mag 12 pump, which I did not buy. The Aquasea 4500 I do have is supposed to push out 4500 gph (surprise). Under the set-up I have proposed, do you think it will properly drive the skimmer given the other return tubing the pump will also pump through? Or should I just get a Mag 12 too?

Thanks also for your kind comments about the stand. So far I think it has turned out as expected. The canopy should be a lot of fun to build as we plan for it to have a peaked roof rather than a box look. We'll see whether that is actually do-able or not in the next few weeks.

John

[Hopeful Reefer]

This is a list of recommended pumps from the AquaC web site for the EV-240:

• Sen 900
• Mag 1200
• Dolphin DP-1200
• Iwaki 30 RLT
• Little Giant 4 MDQ

It also says just below that list that these are the pumps that have been tested with this skimmer, but if you have a question regarding pump choices you can contact them.

Soooo, my recommendation to you would be to go the the AquaC web site at http://www.proteinskimmer.com/ and send them an email.

HTH...just my $0.02...