DIY surge tank>?

[1guydude]

So i was reading one of my coral books yesterday or the day before and came across something i thought was kool.A surge tank mounted above the DT using a simple tiolet flush mechanizm. Anyone ever done this or think its even worth doing?

 

[1guydude]

hope it looks better on ur computer...i think my format or something on the site is screwed up!>

 

[Peppie]

IMO, and this is just MY thought. It is a waste of time, money, and effort. You are asking for a wet floor.
What are you gaining from adding this to your tank?
There are many designs for this surge box, wave maker, contraption posted on line. If you are determined to something like this to your tank do some more research. There are some much better designs out there.
Good luck, and get yourself a mop to place behind your tank that is not rated to handle a surge. LOL
Pics are a mandatory for this build.

 

[chickenofthesea]

I am curious, what is the purpose of this tank? How frequently will the surge take place? How is the over flow going to handle the large amount of extra water added at such a fast rate? Know nothing about this surge tank business but am interested and following along

 

[Peppie]

I am curious, what is the purpose of this tank? How frequently will the surge take place? How is the over flow going to handle the large amount of extra water added at such a fast rate? Know nothing about this surge tank business but am interested and following along

If you goggle "Carlson Surge Device" It will give you an idea of what 1guy is looking to do. again this is only one of the ways to do it.

 

[mercenary-grunt]

This is what pioneering is all about... Someone had to decide to put a fish in a bucket and try to keep it alive for the first time so that now we have our peace of ocean. With that said my concerns are and my helps are following. I applaud you and your gf for letting you explore. +1 to pics are a must and if you get it working a vid would be nice.

You can get a mp40 to do the same thing. But the overflow can't handle that drastic amount of water. The amount that it can handle wont be worth it. I know bill uses a 200g surge. But his is on a 20,000g tank with room at the top to handle the water. But I'm all for you trying I would upgrade your overflow so the water can be taken care of quickly. And have a oops sump run off incase your sump gets over full.

 

[1guydude]

ya ive noticed that theres diff methods of doing this. However all seem to have the same problem. Micro bubbles and noise... im not to much of a fan of either lol. Right now the tank ill be upgrading has a glass holes 700gph kit on it and im thinking about changing that out for a bean animal with the return not drilled and just plumbed in. Honestly im still up in the air about this. Im just now building my sump and cant decide on wat overflow to go with lol. My current one works but it would be nice to have the cushion knowing my bean animal will handle 3000gph. Again though i need to decide about the surge tank. Someone kick me in the butt and make me do it lol.... otherwise i just dont see much of a benefit for it.

 

[mercenary-grunt]

I don't. The only reason I can see the big systems doing it is that I don't think they make a mp1000 to handle that kind of water flow.

Sent from my MB525 using Tapatalk 2

 

[chickenofthesea]

I say do it! but only cause its not my budget or my floor, LOL. But I was watching some videos on this and it looks like a cool idea. I mean, the idea is to create a surge just like a wave hitting the reef and that causes bubbles in the reef. Have you considered just using a second pump inside your sump that can deliver a huge amount of water very quickly? set it on a timer and pump it from under the tank. No idea if this is practical or defeats the purpose but just a consideration.

 

[Peppie]

If you do decide to build a wave maker, be sure you contact your tank manufacture to confirm your tank will not fail due to the added stress this will have on your tank. JMO

 

[chickenofthesea]

have you considered using a bell siphon instead of the toilet mech? Cause if that toilet mech ever fails you gotta flood, unless you build in a drain just above the toilet mech water level but just below the tank height that feeds back into your display as a precaution.

 

[billwann]

Tried it before , even if you tank could handle the extra volume ever few minutes the noise and the bubbles would drive you nuts . the problem with all of the surges like the Carlson and the toilet valve one is the bubbles . there are two that work really well , on like on my system with a valve that closes before the water drain all the way out of the tank and a revers vacuum one . The vacuum on is cool , I had a few of these on a system years ago . all it is a length of pvc tubing ( diameter and height determined by how much surge you want ) connected to an elbow below the water . you have a small vacuum pump that sucks the air out of the tume and draws in water from the tank . when it gets to the top it hits a float switch that opens a solenoid valve that is half open for a few seconds with a delay on make timer and the water rushes out into the tank . it worked really well and I have 6 of them running on a small vacuum pump .

 

[1guydude]

Thxs for the input BILL! I made ur name big like ur tanks lol...
I like the reverse vacum cylinder idea the best i think so far. The electric solenoid style where it shuts before the water drains all the way sounds a bit $....
-d