New 160G Bowfront, any suggestions?

[kimoyo]

Hey Mike,
Sorry I'm a little confused on this, and just to make sure what your talking about. The street ell or 3 way your talking about is

not

?

I also saw

I have to make sure there is a 6-way, I actually saw a 5-way on savko.com but I'm assuming there should be one. Assuming you are talking about using the first one, attach one to 4 of the 6-way outlets?

With the CL drain, I was planning on using black pipe and tees so I'm thinking it should be hidden. Although building a little enclosure would allow me to cover it eggcrate. This way things shouldn't be able to get in there to close to the suction. If I do it with the tees I can split the inlet but if I build the enclosure I would probably just have one. Still think I should do the enclosure? What I might do is build 2 small enclosures for the tee inlets (not the pipe from the tee) that are removable and see how it looks when I get it set up.

I think I will still go over the top of the overflow and back into the tank because I just like it better. Unless there is a good reason why not to. I could always drill later.

One other thing, do you think trapezoidal overflows would look/be better?

Paul

 

[mojoreef]

Ok the first picture is what I am talking about. I am not sure if thier is a a 6 way either but lets say thier is. small change in plan. from the six way go up a bit and attach a 4 way (X), then up a bit more and add a tee but pointing the opposite way.

On the over flow box the traps look good but it would depend on the extra ammount of money.


take care


Mike

 

[kimoyo]

Hey Mike,
Thanks for all the help man! I really really appreciate it. I should be getting the tank in december so I won't have any updates on it until then. I'll quit bugging you now
Paul

 

[mojoreef]

My pleasure Paul, keep us in the loop and feel free to ask more questions


Mike

 

[big t]

This is going to be a really cool tank! I think that the Trap overflows are really sweet, but if you want another idea you could add 4 more inches to the back of the tank making it 37" front to back and have them put in a false back with overflow teeth cut into it and have the back 4 inches be the overflow area, or you could have the overflow trough on the outside of the tank as long as the back of the tank is 1/2" thick or so. That is what I am doing to my next tank fer sure! That way you don't have to worry about what your overflow looks like in the tank since it isnt there

 

[kimoyo]

Hey Tom,
Yeah I thought about doing an external overflow but I was worried about structural integrity. And unfortunately I couldn't add an extra 4in without a jump in price because I wanted Larry to use 1 sheet for the sides and front and he is already using a 10ft sheet. I'm thinking that I can hide the overflow pretty well with my rock and I'm hoping that since my tank is 24 high, the coast to coast will somewhat be out of the way. I was planning on giving in my final plans soon, so suggestions are very welcome. Thanks Tom.

Paul

But then again, if he built the overflow column on the outside of the back wall along with the coast to coast, it might not be that bad. Since the piping would be covered I wouldn't be worried and it would take any extra length for the sheet. I'm going to do some drawings and post them to see what you guys think.

 

[big t]

Here is a small example of how I think the back of the tank should be if you were to do this with a external trough. The holes would have to be cut with a plunge router with a 1/4" bit and a jig. I think that if there was 1/2" inbetween the holes and it was made from 1/2" acrylic that the strength would not be a issue as long as the trough on the outside was also made from 1/2" acrylic to provide rigidity. This way there would be very little stress on the holes, plus acrylic is strong as hell anyway. Just a little idea that I have for my next tank, and if I ever go into business this will be my claim to fame .

 

[kimoyo]

Hey Guys,

Okay I made up the new designs. There are two sets, one with an internal overflow and one with an external overflow. Like before there are 2 CL returns in the bottom and 1 CL drain in the back of the bottom.

External Overflow

Internal Overflow

What do you guys think? Do you think the structural integrity will be compromised with the external overflow. I didn't make the overflow on the external the full height of the tank, in a hope to help with the strength of the tank, do you think it matters. Thanks.

Paul

 

[big t]

Does that little picture I posted make any sense to you? It is just a little cross section of what the top couple inches of the tank would look like. I would do it like that, and then have the trough like you have posted. Nice renderings BTW.

 

[kimoyo]

Hey Tom,
Check it out.

Paul

 

[big t]

Yup that was what I was talking about. Now just have larry set you up with a removable lid for the overflow to keep the bugs and noise out and you will be set. I really like the way that would loook vs using up the room inside the tank.

 

[kimoyo]

Hey Guys,

Once again I'm asking for suggestions . Larry(IAP) and talked it over and I decided to go with an external coast to coast with the cuts for the overflow at the top. I'm going to make my stand so that the back extends to the bottom of the throff to support it. This will also allow me to hide any plumbing coming out of the back wall of the tank.

So I decided to still do the two tier pvc support thing Mike suggested earlier. The close loop drains (CLD) will be in the bottom along with the two close loop returns (CLR) for the tiers. My two sump returns (SR) will be close to the left and right edges on the back right below the throff. The only thing left are the other two close loop returns. Since, I plan on using a 4-way ocean motions, I still have two outlets which I would like to put on the back.

So here is my question. The plumbing coming out of the OM is 1.5 and I'm using an ampmaster. So I could have 2 1.5 returns coming into the back and then split them up on the inside of the tank. OR I could split the returns on the outside into 4 3/4 returns and go into the back of the tank. The problem is, I'm not sure where I want the flow of the returns go. I was thinking if I did the 1.5 then I could change the plumbing on the inside of the tank when needed, but then I would have pvc pipe in the tank. If I do the 3/4 returns it would probably be easier to hide but they are permanent. So what do you guys think I should do? If you think 3/4 would be the way to go where should I place the the 4 holes?

In the drawings I put 4 3/4 returns on the left (not any specific places) and 1 1.5 return on the right just to show both options. Thanks.

Paul