Rainer's 55!

I do not know who would be disapointed, we all do things a little diiferent for different reasons. There is some old saying something like, "if everybody was like me there would be no need for the rest of you." I know I am different and it shows in what I create and maintain, I just wish they were all mine! I believe in Science, an ever changing and growing science and I look on reef tanks "FIRST" as a science. Learn, grow, enjoy! Make yourself happy!
 
Instead of cardboard or poster board (which will look bad if it gets wet), I suggest trying to find a black shower curtain. Just cut it to fit and tape it on the back.
 
If your running korailias,then you can use the magnets to help hold it in place.
A little super glue along the bottom of the tank trim works good to.
 
I used a black trashbag on my tank. wetting it helps it cling to the tank. the magnetic holders on the koralia's help it too. then a few pieces of scotch tape along the top finishes it off.

nice stand by the way. I love to see new tanks come together.
 
ok nice update and a few questions!

1) How long did yall wait after glueing your pvc together before you ran water through it? The toxic primer and glue scares me, im afraid to put it in my tank :shock:

2) Scroll down for the pic of my overflow.....yall think i should ditch the filter thingy in it? seems like im just gonna have to clean that thing....and it may steal some of my pods :grumble:

on to the pics!

returnline2.jpg

Here is the overflow...
overflow.jpg


returnline.jpg


partial shot of the tank, i thought i got a full one, but i didnt...

liverock.jpg


:^::^::^::^:
 
Looks good, but I would put some reducer bushings in the return outlets to increase the return velocity. You will have good flow with or without the bushings, but with two outlets as large as your pump outlets you are going to have pretty dismal velocity (force/pressure). Just push the bushings in by hand, you do not have to glue them. If you then think your velocity is two high take them out. To have the same velocity at each outlet as at the pumps single outlet you want the area of each of the two outlets to be half the area of the pumps output. :twocents: I usually just give the pipe solvent a couple of hours to out gas, and that is probably longer than needed. Tank really starting to look good in that last photo. I really like the looks of your sand waves. Are you going to use a background to hide your piping, or ignore it until the coralline covers the glass? I really like PVC hard piping, unions and valves, glad to see your making good use of all three!
 
Last edited:
slurp slurp slurp.....this overflow/return thing is confusing....

still working on getting it even...im afraid of flooding the place :(

plus as you can see my overflow is noisy and im really not sure what kind of velocity my pump is getting im starting to wish i had gone with bigger than than the quiet one 1200. its only 296 gph i think...
 
ok update, had to get in bed so i shut the pump off and and closed the valve on the overflow and return. At this point the water level in the fuge fluctuates too much for me to have confidence in it. On a side note the flex tubing i got for the return up to the pvc sucks and kinks too easily so ill have to redo that tomorrow night.

oh well my cycles still going anyway :)
 
Wow. A quiet One 1200. That is a little pump. Its maximum flow is 296 GPH (gallons per hour), with a head cutoff to zero flow at 6.1 ft. That really doesn't give you much to work with. You have at least 4 ft of head to pump against (height from center of pump outlet to the highest piece of your plumbing) plus the head equivalenvy of your pipe, valve, fittings and tubing, which theoretically is around another 1 and 1/2 ft. Your going to be lucky to get about 1.5 to 2 gallons per minute out of that pump given the height of your tank and stand and the friction losses. Even then your velocity will be at less than 1 foot per second (and you want around 4 ft/sec). Basically you will be getting less flow and velocity from this pump arrangement than a Maxi-Jet 600 power head at about 6 times the electrical cost per hour and half again more the purchase price. I personally would recommend you upgrade to a larger pump. I would suggest, if you are also going to use power heads, that you get a pump rated at around 600 to 650 gallons per hour as with losses due to head and friction losses you will get closer to a 525 to 600 gallons per hour output. Even larger would not be a bad idea. Running half your turn over through a sump is quite acceptable (550 gph), but larger flow than that would be pretty heavy through a refugium. The problem with pumps smaller than 600 -700 gph, is that is they do not pump to heights, and every bend, fitting, valve and constriction increases your head height. Look for a pump with a maximum head of around 10 foot or higher or you will loose nearly all your pumps capacity to get barely any water. I do not think anyone wants an explanation of pump curve charts her, so you will have to take my word for what I am saying or don't. As for recommended pump sizes for your setup; with the Quiet One brand I would do a minimum increase to a Model 3000, Mag Drive a Model MD 7, Enheim a Model 1260, Ocean Runner a Model 3500, Little Giant a Model 3-MDQ-SC, Gen-X a Model PCX-30.
Your Quiet One pump will be large enough for an in-feed pump on a skimmer big enough for up to about a 100 gallon tank, so all is not lost.
Sorry I can not be more helpful.
 
Last edited:
heh im not sure why you think you werent helpful :)

yea im thinking its not going to cut it, if i get my overflow going good and steady the pump falls way behind. Ill be grabbing another soon, the main reason i went with the small was to limit the flow through my fuge, but i guess i limited it too much :(
 
Like Fishbait, my only concern is that metal valve. That will leach heavy metals into your tank and kill your inverts. No metal parts should ever touch any of your water.
 
ack....never thought of that! thanks a ton, i ran some water through it last night, you think i did much harm? it only ran for prolly 30 mins maybe.
 
Back
Top