Jesse's 40B with 20L sump

[Jesse_emel]

Return Piping finished. very simple design. Let stand 10-15 minutes and water test! Will post results.

 

[Burke]

Is the beer part of the water test?

 

[Loke]

Very nice. Sorry to hear about the sump. Thanx for explaining the bubble trap.

 

[Jesse_emel]

Very nice. Sorry to hear about the sump. Thanx for explaining the bubble trap.

No problem you can see i did away with it since the cracked sump and have a home made water diffuser in the sump.

 

[Jesse_emel]

Is the beer part of the water test?

A VERY VERY necessary part of reef tank building! If any of you don;t have any I highly recommend picking any type of beer at your local store and enjoying on a day as nice as today.

 

[Jesse_emel]

Water Test #1

Filling.....

Pumping and sump pictures.....

 

[Jesse_emel]

As I see it i have 3 problems.

Problem #1 if the power goes out and I'm not around the water syphons back down to the sump via the return pump nozzles. I think if i can find a 3/4" back flow preventer I can solve that problem.

Problem #2 The Mag 18 definitely will over flow the display if I opened the valve above the return pump all the way. Do I?
A) modify the Overflow Box? Take out the Teeth? And install a wire mesh?
B) Find a Mag 12 instead of the Mag 18? I had one that I traded the Mag 18 for but had to return it. If anyone need to upgrade from a 12 to an 18 I can trade straight across. Locally of course.

Problem #3 the bulkhead for the Overflow Box is leaking 1 drop every 30 seconds. A couple more turns outa fix that! Grrrr stupid bulkhead

 

[jaygalindo]

wow thats alot of flow for a 40b. Are you worried about the water moving through the sump faster than your skimmer can skim. (if you plan on a protein skimmer)

 

[Jesse_emel]

wow thats alot of flow for a 40b. Are you worried about the water moving through the sump faster than your skimmer can skim. (if you plan on a protein skimmer)

Yeah I have a reef Octopus 150 Needle wheel skimmer. The overflow is rated at 750 gph so i have to throttle back the pump so far via a valve. I would like to find a mag 12 to trade my mag 18 for. Or I can just order the impeller for the mag 12 and switch them out according to some people. So I hope to find or order the correct pump ASAP before I set this up at my office. The back flow preventer will put some piece of mind on my brain as well.

 

[Jesse_emel]

As I see it i have 3 problems.

Problem #1 if the power goes out and I'm not around the water syphons back down to the sump via the return pump nozzles. I think if i can find a 3/4" back flow preventer I can solve that problem.

Problem #2 The Mag 18 definitely will over flow the display if I opened the valve above the return pump all the way. Do I?
A) modify the Overflow Box? Take out the Teeth? And install a wire mesh?
B) Find a Mag 12 instead of the Mag 18? I had one that I traded the Mag 18 for but had to return it. If anyone need to upgrade from a 12 to an 18 I can trade straight across. Locally of course.

Problem #3 the bulkhead for the Overflow Box is leaking 1 drop every 30 seconds. A couple more turns outa fix that! Grrrr stupid bulkhead

Problem #1 solved Kevin at Aquatic dream had a 1/2" back flow preventer I installed and it does it's job. Thanks Kevin!!

Problem #2 Still can't run the Mag 18 full open. MIght try to take out every other tooth in the over flow and hope it helps.

Problem #3 Solved! just needed a little more tightening.

I painted the piping black with the Krylon Fusion black pain did the last water test and found no leaks. Time to take apart and transport to it's final destination.

Picture Update:

 

[76Frags]

Just out of curiosity, I noticed the overflow line leading to the sump is submerged. Are you concerned about airlocking the line or is there enough water flow to push the air out?
I've had similar designs in the past, and it has caused my overflow to make a bubbling noise as the air escapes. Not being critical at all, just wondering!

The design is great - very clean! I'm following along too!

 

[TotalVapor]

Hi Jesse,

Sorry I am not there to see in person. I am traveling for at least another month.

Problem #1 - Check Valve from Home Depot, place it at the bottom next to bulk head.
Problem #2 - I just saw someone had a mag12 for sale OR change the impeller in the mag18 for a mag12. Read up on the second part it has been a while since we modified pumps.
Problem #3 - seem like you know how to fix it and don't need advice.
Problem #4 - are you not worried your sump is running high? Even with a check valve if you lose power will that sump catch all the water?

 

[rainydave]

To solve problem #1 on my tank I did two things. 1) Drill a small hole in the loc-line and made an arc so that the hole would be exposed when the level in the tank dropped to the level where the overflow stopped. 2) Set the outlets so that they would be exposed at the same level as #1. These two things break the siphon very reliably. I didn't want to rely on a check valve.

I turn the pumps off when I feed, so I get a simulated power outage at least once a day.

 

[Jesse_emel]

Well i have taken it apart and put it back together at the office. It's running wide open after removing a few of the teeth from the overflow box. No problem.

The sump gets a little full when i turn the pump off but i've tested it 5-6 times and the backflow preventer works perfect and the extra drainage only comes from the overflow. I need the level in the sump high for the protein skimmer which is yet to come. I got the saltwater made and the sand in. Filtering the water and heating. I attacked the galvanized lighting support and will install the digital aquatics reefkeeper and lighting tonight. I'll update with some pictures soon I hope. once the water clears up a bit.

 

[eww]

Man you move fast Jesse. I think that was 5 days from your first post to set up, even with a cracked tank in the process. If you weren't so far away I might try to hire you to set up our next system .

 

[Jesse_emel]

Man you move fast Jesse. I think that was 5 days from your first post to set up, even with a cracked tank in the process. If you weren't so far away I might try to hire you to set up our next system .

Well this it my 5th system.

1) 1 gallon pico tank (this is where it all started)
2) moved up to a 29 Gallon Biocube
3) 335 gallon reef tank with 210 Display (Now gone)
4) 57 gallon Oceanic illuminate reef tank with sump
5) This 40 breeder.

Yikes!

 

[Skimmy]

As I see it i have 3 problems.

Problem #1 if the power goes out and I'm not around the water syphons back down to the sump via the return pump nozzles. I think if i can find a 3/4" back flow preventer I can solve that problem.

Problem #2 The Mag 18 definitely will over flow the display if I opened the valve above the return pump all the way. Do I?
A) modify the Overflow Box? Take out the Teeth? And install a wire mesh?
B) Find a Mag 12 instead of the Mag 18? I had one that I traded the Mag 18 for but had to return it. If anyone need to upgrade from a 12 to an 18 I can trade straight across. Locally of course.

Problem #3 the bulkhead for the Overflow Box is leaking 1 drop every 30 seconds. A couple more turns outa fix that! Grrrr stupid bulkhead

your tank looks awesome so far, and i dont mean to be a debbie downer but...
you guys are driving me nuts with this return pump shenaninans....

what is a mag 12 doing as a return pump in a 40g???
absolutely innapropriate, and you already sawed the teeth out of your overflow..

for a 40g tank, you need about 120gph to 200gph of flow through the sump...THATS IT!!!!

your sump return pump IS NOT an appropriate way to accomodate the high flow requirements of your display, and if anything, your making waay more work for yourself with evap and top off, salt spray and salt creep, moisture negatively effecting all electronics near the sump, as well as spending cash on electricity for pumping power that goes to waste.
also, the skimmer you have only processes about 200gph of water, and any media reactor you might/should have shouldnt be fed more than 150gph.
so providing all that extra flow through the sump does absolutely nothing...most of those water molecules are flying right by the actual filtration and going straight back to the display. not to mention that mag pumps are aweful, loud, heaters that will most likely fry after only a couple years.

i understand that your trying to use what you have, but come on...
im sure someone on here has a cheap used pump that will be more appropriate for you if your that opposed to spending good money on a decent return pump.
those watts your wasting could be used to provide flow in the main display.

seiously, the person's comment about using a maxijet 1200 (a $20 300gph pump) is actually more appropriate that the mag you have in there.

 

[Xtremedave67]

Wow you do move fast, my current acquisition may take a couple years LOL. who knows, if I keep falling into great deals, I may be up sooner that that lol

 

[Jesse_emel]

your tank looks awesome so far, and i dont mean to be a debbie downer but...
you guys are driving me nuts with this return pump shenaninans....

what is a mag 12 doing as a return pump in a 40g???
absolutely innapropriate, and you already sawed the teeth out of your overflow..

for a 40g tank, you need about 120gph to 200gph of flow through the sump...THATS IT!!!!

your sump return pump IS NOT an appropriate way to accomodate the high flow requirements of your display, and if anything, your making waay more work for yourself with evap and top off, salt spray and salt creep, moisture negatively effecting all electronics near the sump, as well as spending cash on electricity for pumping power that goes to waste.
also, the skimmer you have only processes about 200gph of water, and any media reactor you might/should have shouldnt be fed more than 150gph.
so providing all that extra flow through the sump does absolutely nothing...most of those water molecules are flying right by the actual filtration and going straight back to the display. not to mention that mag pumps are aweful, loud, heaters that will most likely fry after only a couple years.

i understand that your trying to use what you have, but come on...
im sure someone on here has a cheap used pump that will be more appropriate for you if your that opposed to spending good money on a decent return pump.
those watts your wasting could be used to provide flow in the main display.

seiously, the person's comment about using a maxijet 1200 (a $20 300gph pump) is actually more appropriate that the mag you have in there.

Actually I have a Mag 18 running in there. It's working great because i reduced down to a 1/2" back flow preventer. which only allows 500-600 gph through it. Also I may be branching off the return line to run a calcium reactor too so i wanted room for expansion. The rule of thumb I go by and have heard many times is 10x your water volume in turn over. with the rock and sand I figure I'm at about 50-55 gallons total. so I'm right on target with my water turn over.

In my 60 gallon system downstairs I run a eheim 1260 which pushes about 600 gph and that tank is on of the nicest I've done and i also have 2 K1's running.

Besides I'm not paying for the power. The tank is in my office!!

 

[Jesse_emel]

Thanks to Kevin at Aquatic Dreams I got all new light bulbs for my lighting fixture. Let there be light!

Also got some rock from Aquatic Dreams...

Got a reflector, shelf mounting bracket and daylight bulb on the chaeto algae all for $20.

The whole tank as she sits. Kevin seemed to think with the rock and chaeto it should be cleared up by tonight but I'm not so sure. But i figure by Tuesday morning it should be looking hot. The rock is in the display and I'm patiently waiting for clarity. It's miller time