Help me design my new 240gal setup!

[mattseattle]

yah, i definitely view check valves as a very risky solution and something you need to keep up on as far as maintenance. saying that i've never used them so can't speak from first hand experience. i planned my return system without them.

 

[Scooterman]

My last tank I used the return which came through the overflow & 90 out, I used loc-line and curved it up out the water & back down just below the surface, the was my siphon break, didn't loose much water if I had a leak.

 

[Scooterman]

Mine were sorta like these but I removed some of the overflow forks to keep the 90 even with the top of the overflow.

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=12111&d=1145420735

 

[Slickdonkey]

Maybe I'll just bring PVC up the outside of the tank and have the return outlets just above the water surface in each corner like Matt said. No siphon holes to maintain that way. That also keeps it out of sight.

Although, this would mean drilling more holes in the canopy. Hmmm.

 

[mattseattle]

Holes are easy! Measure twice - cut once!

 

[Slickdonkey]

Well I ended up bringing the returns up through the overflow and will leave them above the water so I don't have to worry about maintaining siphon holes. It's all PVC except for the last couple inches where I'm using loc-line.

Which brings me to my question: just how water-tight is this stuff? It's only a few inches, but I don't want it dripping all over the place either. I could use some PVC instead.

 

[CarlaW]

As far as I know, loc-line isn't airtight. You may want to run the pvc over the top, and then loc-line in the water. Somebody correct me if I am wrong!!!

 

[szidls]

Slick,
I used a one way valve and a siphon break on my return just for redundancy.
You should not have a problem with leaks from the locline. Also one thing to consider if your locline returns are too high it will cause undo splashing leading to salt creep. You should be able to play with the locline to find the sweet spot of no splash and minimal sump rise till the siphon breaks. I used lockline fan nozzles on Colleen's 60 gal return and they worked well for this.
Scott

 

[Slickdonkey]

Here's a picture of what I was talking about. I guess the only way to be sure about the loc-line is to try it, but I guess I would still be worried about leakage and salt creep over time.

View attachment 12231

I could also wrap some PVC around the side of the tank and shoot the returns from the front of the tank towards the back. But I'm really not using the returns for flow so I'm not sure this would be worth the effort.

One other thing you can see in the picture is the siphon hole on the Durso standpipe. Got the idea from Delbeek and Sprung vol. 3 to drill a hole in the cap and the pipe, and just rotate the cap a bit to adjust the size of the hole as needed.

 

[szidls]

Here's a pic of how I ran Colleens return into the tank.
Scott

 

[reedman]

You'll know as soon as you water test it. My guess is that you won't leak water, but you will get micro bubbles. Loc-line is great stuff, but it's not a solid tube so it does bleed a little.

 

[CarlaW]

You'll know as soon as you water test it. My guess is that you won't leak water, but you will get micro bubbles. Loc-line is great stuff, but it's not a solid tube so it does bleed a little.

Thanx Reed, that is what I was searching my brain for. I knew there was something that was a problem with running loc-line out of the water.

 

[Slickdonkey]

Ok. Well, I could just take it off too. There's not a great reason to use loc-line in this case other than the flexibility. I'll just do a leak test and see how it turns out.

 

[mattseattle]

thanks for the tip on the Durso cap drilling. Such a simple idea and bet it works great.

 

[Slickdonkey]

Hi everyone,

Well, progress is being made. Over the weekend I moved the tank into the house! This is a big step; hard to believe I've been working on this dang thing for almost three months now. I had originally hoped to have this thing up and running with live rock cycling by the end of May, and it looks like that should happen. Tiffany is starting to look like she's hiding a watermelon in her pants so it won't be long before tank activities grind to a halt. I'd really like to have the live-rock stew going by then.

Ed and Travis, I have no idea how you guys were able to carry that stand around. It is a MONSTER. I had no idea it was going to be so heavy. My brother and I managed to "scoot" it out of the garage, across the driveway, and into the house. It took about 45 minutes. I think part of the problem is that there's no good grip to move that thing around. Never has beer tasted so good afterwards.

So once in the house, I spent Sunday drilling holes in the floor and the nice carpet for the pipes. I really hope we stay in this house for a long time because it's going to be a pain to fix all that. Anyway, this process was time-consuming but actually not that difficult. I went slow and steady, and there were no holes where they don't belong. I took some snapshots and will try to remember to post them tomorrow.

Anyway, as long as I've got your attention, I'm thinking about sandbeds. This is a hot topic I know, but I've already decided I'm going to have one. I will have a 6" DSB for nitrate reduction in the 40 gallon fuge and a shallow sandbed (2") in the display just for appearance. Tiffany and I both love jawfish and would like to keep one in the display. I know these guys like a coarser sand, but that's going to mean more junk settling in it.

Does anyone have experience keeping these fish? Will I be ok if I keep the flow up and the detritus in the water column? The sandbed in the fuge will most likely be a sugar-sized aragonite, but I'm undecided in the main tank.

 

[Scooterman]

I think In the main display I'd want a course sb, easier to vacuum, your jawfish will also love it. You have the fine sand in the fuge so it will be processing there. Have you ever tried MM (Miracle Mud)?

 

[Slickdonkey]

Hmmm, I've never been a big fan of gravel vacuuming. I had hoped to keep enough critters in there to keep everything stirred up (gobies, cucumbers, conchs, etc), but I guess time will tell if I still need to vacuum it.

I've never tried MM, nor do I know much about it other than I've read a lot of people really dislike it. So I wasn't inclined to try.

 

[Scooterman]

I've seen several fuges with it, no skimmers & love it, been like that for years, just replacing part of it every 6 months which is the down side cost. You will have to develop a husbandry routine eventually, if you put it on automatic you will eventually have problems, it is a fact of reef keeping.

 

[LakeEd]

Brian,

Ya have to remember guy... Travis & I brought that tank and stand over to you in the morning... PRE "Beer" time! That makes it much lighter and easier to move! *grinz* Then again, we had the doors in the back seat of the truck also... so there was some type of hand-holds.

My personal feelings on a DSB... is they definitely have a use! Even though I have a bare-bottom tank... I now have added a remote DSB off my fuge, just for the nitrate reduction (anaerobic?) possibilities it can help provide. I also did this as a "remote" source... so if in the distant future I needed to, I could remove the entire DSB and replace with fresh... without any fear of releasing anything into my sump/tank. This is probably an over-kill on my part however.

I'm sure there are many more knowledgeable people out here on DSB's that can give you better information.

 

[Scooterman]

If you keep fine aragonite in the main tank you will have to flow water higher & above the sb, otherwise you'll get a sand storm, my tunze would tear it up unless I kept it high.