29 gal external overflow all DIY - yep another one
- Thread starter impur
- Start date
ctreefer
New member
Hey Miles,
Its Vince again. Still no pics, sorry. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve been doing more research than work on the tank and Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m also in the process of cooking all my old rock which is taking up 6 hrs a week from my setup. I do have a couple more questions for you though .
I seem to recall somewhere in your thread a comment about the return from your mag 9.5 needing to go through some larger diameter plumbing. I canââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t for the life of me find it and my literature that came with the pump says nothing about this, but I see in your picââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s that its definitely larger than Ã"šÃ‚¾. What size was it? It seems rather odd that I have to go from Ã"šÃ‚¾ output to larger diameter tubing and then back to Ã"šÃ‚¾ inputs to the sqwd.
My second question pertains to the return from your overflow. I notice you have yours dumping with an elbow into the sump. Do you get a lot of gurgling noise? Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve had this similar setup on my 90 and always had a lot of noise down in the sump area. I was thinking of trying out something similar to a durso for the return, but if you donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t get any noise I may put it off for now. BTW my return is a 1 Ã"šÃ‚½ return so just one.
My third question is with the mb. Did you ever narrow it down to what was causing this?
Hope things are going well. I still havenââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t decided on whether to paint the back of the tank or just let the coralline do its thing. I have cut my overflow teeth at least. Just need to buy all the fittings once I get them figured out.
thanks
vince
Its Vince again. Still no pics, sorry. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve been doing more research than work on the tank and Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m also in the process of cooking all my old rock which is taking up 6 hrs a week from my setup. I do have a couple more questions for you though .
I seem to recall somewhere in your thread a comment about the return from your mag 9.5 needing to go through some larger diameter plumbing. I canââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t for the life of me find it and my literature that came with the pump says nothing about this, but I see in your picââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s that its definitely larger than Ã"šÃ‚¾. What size was it? It seems rather odd that I have to go from Ã"šÃ‚¾ output to larger diameter tubing and then back to Ã"šÃ‚¾ inputs to the sqwd.
My second question pertains to the return from your overflow. I notice you have yours dumping with an elbow into the sump. Do you get a lot of gurgling noise? Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve had this similar setup on my 90 and always had a lot of noise down in the sump area. I was thinking of trying out something similar to a durso for the return, but if you donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t get any noise I may put it off for now. BTW my return is a 1 Ã"šÃ‚½ return so just one.
My third question is with the mb. Did you ever narrow it down to what was causing this?
Hope things are going well. I still havenââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t decided on whether to paint the back of the tank or just let the coralline do its thing. I have cut my overflow teeth at least. Just need to buy all the fittings once I get them figured out.
thanks
vince
impur
New member
Hey Vince! I've got more pics to update this with later today 
Since i got my mag9.5 used i did some research and everything i found said you need to double the outlet pipe size. I guess in theory it makes sense, fluid dynamics and all. Lets take the 3/4 pip for instance. In any sized pipe you have a thin layer of water at the wall of the pipe that moves very little. The friction of the wall keeps its movement to a minimum. So lets say its 1/8 inch layer of water. That comes out to 1/4 inch of water that doesn't move, leaving 1/2 inch in the middle of the pipe that does move. That is a significant amount in a small diameter pipe. If you double the size of the pipe to 1.25" you have much more water in the middle of the pipe moving. Thats what i ended up using, 1.25" pipe up to the scwd and then 3/4 from the scwd to the tank.
I do have an elbow on one of the drain lines in the sump. But above that elbow i have about 30 small holes in the pipe. This lets any air out, and the elbow directs the water over toward and by the pump for the skimmer. I wanted to try and get as much new water as possible being skimmed.
The scwd and locline are the cause of the MB.
I'll put up some more pics in a few hours!
Miles
Since i got my mag9.5 used i did some research and everything i found said you need to double the outlet pipe size. I guess in theory it makes sense, fluid dynamics and all. Lets take the 3/4 pip for instance. In any sized pipe you have a thin layer of water at the wall of the pipe that moves very little. The friction of the wall keeps its movement to a minimum. So lets say its 1/8 inch layer of water. That comes out to 1/4 inch of water that doesn't move, leaving 1/2 inch in the middle of the pipe that does move. That is a significant amount in a small diameter pipe. If you double the size of the pipe to 1.25" you have much more water in the middle of the pipe moving. Thats what i ended up using, 1.25" pipe up to the scwd and then 3/4 from the scwd to the tank.
I do have an elbow on one of the drain lines in the sump. But above that elbow i have about 30 small holes in the pipe. This lets any air out, and the elbow directs the water over toward and by the pump for the skimmer. I wanted to try and get as much new water as possible being skimmed.
The scwd and locline are the cause of the MB.
I'll put up some more pics in a few hours!
Miles
impur
New member
Hey Jerry! Holy cow it has been 2 months huh. Time flies i guess. I'll take some more pics saturday morning after my WC. I treated for redbugs and got a horrible cyno outbreak. I'm finally almost rid of it now. But the redbugs are back. I'm going to be doing another DIY project, a 10-15gal cube all DIY from the tank, to the lights, to the skimmer, etc. It will be a BB tank and i'll move all my SPS into that tank for the time being so i can treat for the redbugs and not kill off any more of my pod population or any more hermits/crabs/shrimp. That should help ensure my mandarin stays healthy and fat. I'll also be cooking the rocks starting this weekend.
The only thing i've changed on my 29gal is the plumbing. My scwd froze, sending the return water thru just one side. So i removed the scwd altogether, added a bypass on the return to feed my DIY CA reactor, and had to add a ball valve to throttle back the flow. My sump is just too small for lots of flow thru it. I also have been having low pH problems, drops to about 7.7 at night and only up to 8.1 daytime. I've extended the airline for the venturi on my skimmer to draw in strictly outside air, has helped keep the pH steady at least. A few days i was down to 7.5 in the morning!!!
So i'll get some more pics up tomorrow morning. I'll also post a link here to my other thread i'll be starting to document my SPS DIY build
Miles
The only thing i've changed on my 29gal is the plumbing. My scwd froze, sending the return water thru just one side. So i removed the scwd altogether, added a bypass on the return to feed my DIY CA reactor, and had to add a ball valve to throttle back the flow. My sump is just too small for lots of flow thru it. I also have been having low pH problems, drops to about 7.7 at night and only up to 8.1 daytime. I've extended the airline for the venturi on my skimmer to draw in strictly outside air, has helped keep the pH steady at least. A few days i was down to 7.5 in the morning!!!
So i'll get some more pics up tomorrow morning. I'll also post a link here to my other thread i'll be starting to document my SPS DIY build
Miles
awesome, I would love to see that one from start to finish. Oh, and sorry about the red bugs. Their a PITA to treat, specially when you have to kill the cleaning crew and all the little critters in the sand bed. Best of luck with that and I will wait for the updates pics.
Jerry
Jerry
ctreefer
New member
Nice pics miles!!! I can't believe its taking me so long to get my tank set up. Sorry to hear about the bugs as well as the scwd. I had decided in my planning to just remove it as well being concerned about maintanance and the possibility of it breaking. Hoping the flow of the mag 9.5 with two outputs will be enough to keep away dead spots.
So you're telling me you're sustaining all that coral growth without the reactor still? Maybe I still have some hope.
Here's my progress:
Tank is ready.
I just finished the canopy and now need to order the t5 retro fit.
I've rough plumbed the closed loop, however, I'm still deathly scared of cavitation once its all together with my 9.5 mag.
I finally (today) have a solution for my return to the sump. (I had been concerned with noise and have opted for the "herbie" method using a gate valve to control my return and noise as well as an emergency overflow in conjunction with this.
Received my protein skimmer (coralife SS 65 needle wheel) yesterday.
I've been cooking all my LR for the past 2 months (even though I haven't been diligent in my cooking process in the past 3 weeks due to kids and us being sick now that cold season is here. I think for the most part the rock is ready though. A couple more times and it will be complete.
What remains.....
Finish my plumbing now that its all figured out and hope the mag doesn't cavitate.
order lights
setup topoff that I bought used
Take some Da*# pictures!!!!
Find a piece of black acrylic for my back of tank
Decide if I want to do the starfire bottom.
Keep up the good work.
vince
So you're telling me you're sustaining all that coral growth without the reactor still? Maybe I still have some hope.
Here's my progress:
Tank is ready.
I just finished the canopy and now need to order the t5 retro fit.
I've rough plumbed the closed loop, however, I'm still deathly scared of cavitation once its all together with my 9.5 mag.
I finally (today) have a solution for my return to the sump. (I had been concerned with noise and have opted for the "herbie" method using a gate valve to control my return and noise as well as an emergency overflow in conjunction with this.
Received my protein skimmer (coralife SS 65 needle wheel) yesterday.
I've been cooking all my LR for the past 2 months (even though I haven't been diligent in my cooking process in the past 3 weeks due to kids and us being sick now that cold season is here. I think for the most part the rock is ready though. A couple more times and it will be complete.
What remains.....
Finish my plumbing now that its all figured out and hope the mag doesn't cavitate.
order lights
setup topoff that I bought used
Take some Da*# pictures!!!!
Find a piece of black acrylic for my back of tank
Decide if I want to do the starfire bottom.
Keep up the good work.
vince
impur
New member
Hey there Vince! Sounds like your tank is coming along nicely. At least you have the patience to make sure its all done correctly the first time. I commend you on that!
Yes i'm getting some decent growth and still have not hooked up the reactor. Weekly 5gal WCs, kalk 24/7, and daily addition of baking soda seems to be working well. I've got pretty steady readings of 9dKH and 400ppm calcium. I would really like to hook the reactor up, but don't really want to add a dedicated circuit into my stupid apartment.
Be sure to give me a link to your pics when you finally get some!!!
Yes i'm getting some decent growth and still have not hooked up the reactor. Weekly 5gal WCs, kalk 24/7, and daily addition of baking soda seems to be working well. I've got pretty steady readings of 9dKH and 400ppm calcium. I would really like to hook the reactor up, but don't really want to add a dedicated circuit into my stupid apartment.
Be sure to give me a link to your pics when you finally get some!!!
