4x8x32 550gal in wall build
- Thread starter camaroboy8691
- Start date
camaroboy8691
New member
it gives me alot to think about , certainly will take my time been a few yrs in the making whats a few more days or weeks .
i do have one question about the returns going over top top you mentioned siphon breaks , i have never heard of this got any reference to this ?
i do gotta thank you so far , deffentily alot of direction on stuff i didnt think about.
upnext , yes i will be painting the stand rustoleum , like to go powder , but paint should be fine im going to acid etch it and stuff 1st , i do need to add some shelve brackets and stuff before it paint it anyways , but hopefully in the next day or so i can paint it .
CyclistMT
More Idiot Than Savant
The output of your return will be below the water line in the tank. If you don't put a check valve or a siphon break in, when the pump shuts off, the water in the tank will drain back to your sump down to the level of your output.
By drilling a couple of small holes (siphon break) in your return pipe just below the normal operating water line, it will prevent this from happening. When the pump shuts off, the water will drain to the level of the siphon break and air will be introduced into the line, stopping the siphon of water. This way you can avoid the use check valves which are notorious for failing.
I would recommed two or three small holes per return pipe in case a snail or something is covering it when your pump shuts off. Also you'll want to check and clean these holes if needed when you do routine tank maintenence. A clogged hole will not break the siphon. I would also advise you to drill these holes so that they angle slightly down into the tank. Water will flow out of these holes at a strong velocity when the pump is running so you don't water constantly shooting up.
You're very welcome. I've been doing this for a long time and have learned a few things along the way, usally at the expense of my current tank.
Current tunes: Queensryche - Silent Lucidity
camaroboy8691
New member
no new updates , past week i didnt even get to think about this project , well i did do some reading on closed loops and sump design , but just very busy with work so not much chance to focus on it .
im going to side track for alittle and discuss lighting , i have 6 250w pendants that im plaining on using for lighting , but at one time over the past few yrs i looked into sun lite tanks , i got that into them that i bought 4 18" light tubes . i decided to not use them since buying them , but i have been thinking about them here lately and more so since that electric bill thread just poped up .
obviously since i live in PA i dont get as much sun as the southerners do , but i do have a few things in my favor , the tank is about 40" below the ceiling where it is going , it is an industrial building with almost flat metal roof , it would be very easy to install the tubes and it wouldnt be far for the light to travel , and another thing i have in my favor is peak summer months i get constant sunlight on my building from roughly 10am till almost 5pm , winter months the sun is alittle lower but i still get a good bit of sunlight .
so whats the thoughts on sunlite , i know some people have good luck , some dont , im thinking of installing the 4 tube lites , and then suppliment with the 250w MH lights
should i or shouldnt i do it ?
im going to side track for alittle and discuss lighting , i have 6 250w pendants that im plaining on using for lighting , but at one time over the past few yrs i looked into sun lite tanks , i got that into them that i bought 4 18" light tubes . i decided to not use them since buying them , but i have been thinking about them here lately and more so since that electric bill thread just poped up .
obviously since i live in PA i dont get as much sun as the southerners do , but i do have a few things in my favor , the tank is about 40" below the ceiling where it is going , it is an industrial building with almost flat metal roof , it would be very easy to install the tubes and it wouldnt be far for the light to travel , and another thing i have in my favor is peak summer months i get constant sunlight on my building from roughly 10am till almost 5pm , winter months the sun is alittle lower but i still get a good bit of sunlight .
so whats the thoughts on sunlite , i know some people have good luck , some dont , im thinking of installing the 4 tube lites , and then suppliment with the 250w MH lights
should i or shouldnt i do it ?
camaroboy8691
New member
no news lately , like always work keeps me far to busy , im hoping to install solar tubes next week , but im thinking of buying some of these light reflectors , they have openings for duct work so you can keep them cool . im thinking of plumbing outside air into one side , and then exuasting back outside , that should help keep the heat down in the summer greatly .... thoughts ?
camaroboy8691
New member
im not worried about looks , everything will be hidden , the tank will be enclosed in a very small room so ill need to have a fan to exhuast the humidity , so i was thinking i might as well run some flex duct work to the lights and let the one end open , and at the bottom of the tank have an air intake and let the air pull from the bottom through the lights to the outside . i think it might work well for both heat and humidity control
Bax
Premium Member
Nice sounding build
Check out a pair of these for return pumps. Lots of variability in flow.
http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/PLPU-SW-DC2640.html
Check out a pair of these for return pumps. Lots of variability in flow.
http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/PLPU-SW-DC2640.html
mrx66699
New member
no news lately , like always work keeps me far to busy , im hoping to install solar tubes next week , but im thinking of buying some of these light reflectors , they have openings for duct work so you can keep them cool . im thinking of plumbing outside air into one side , and then exuasting back outside , that should help keep the heat down in the summer greatly .... thoughts ?
My friends build had 4 of those on it and the fan units and it sounded like a freight train.....the sound was unbearable .....
I have a 540 in wall....take a look at it and let me know if you have any questions......the build might be able to give you a few ideas..... especially with the lights .....I went with LEDs on a movable rail system ....
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2147084
camaroboy8691
New member
getting back onto this project , have not touched it for a few months , but just ordered the rest of my pumps
ordered another dart pump for another return , also ordered a hammerhead/barracuda pump for 1 of the closed loops . amd also ordered a tiger shark high pressure pump for the other half of the closed loop system .
i decided that half of the closed loop will be without those flow accelorators , and the other half will have the accelorators , this is why i ordered the tiger shark .
also order one of those newer innovative marine ato's looked interesting so i figured id give it a try .
hoping to post some picture updates in a few weeks , really excited to get back onto this project ... hoping to install the sun lights next week , then paint the stand , and start plumbing .
ordered another dart pump for another return , also ordered a hammerhead/barracuda pump for 1 of the closed loops . amd also ordered a tiger shark high pressure pump for the other half of the closed loop system .
i decided that half of the closed loop will be without those flow accelorators , and the other half will have the accelorators , this is why i ordered the tiger shark .
also order one of those newer innovative marine ato's looked interesting so i figured id give it a try .
hoping to post some picture updates in a few weeks , really excited to get back onto this project ... hoping to install the sun lights next week , then paint the stand , and start plumbing .
camaroboy8691
New member
im hoping to post some pics in the next few days , FINALLY , i got the stand painted , holes cut into the walls , and tank into place , plumbing is up next , over the past few weeks i installed 3 18" solar tubes , preped the area etc .
pretty excited .
my biggest delemia i have to get over now is the sump . i bought a 90 gallon tank 48x18x24 for the sump but not sure its enough . my pmxl2 skimmer can sit outside of it .
i want to have alot of rock in a 55gal drum instead of in the sump but im limited on space , i gotta jamp everything into a 4x8 area .... when i post some more pics it will come to ight what im doing . hopefully in the next few days before i begin plumbing .
pretty excited .
my biggest delemia i have to get over now is the sump . i bought a 90 gallon tank 48x18x24 for the sump but not sure its enough . my pmxl2 skimmer can sit outside of it .
i want to have alot of rock in a 55gal drum instead of in the sump but im limited on space , i gotta jamp everything into a 4x8 area .... when i post some more pics it will come to ight what im doing . hopefully in the next few days before i begin plumbing .
FuzzyZipperbaum
New member
Have you figured out your closed loop/power head design? If not I have a thread called lunatic fringe somewhere on here...I have 2 500G tanks and used both methods and I posted some thoughts on doing both.... the one think I did notice on your design that I made a mistake on one of my tanks and corrected it on the other..... is that wherever you put both the returns and the outtake...you are going to have to cover them with rock to hide.....if you put all of the holes symmetrically on the same plane, it makes it difficult to do a nice rock formation as you end up losing some of the depth of the tank because you have to build the rock on a straight line.... basically, vary the hole location a bit....wont change flow at all. On the tank I varied the holes by a 6-8" inches it took me 2 hours to design the rock formation...on the other tank where I was symmetric....I redid them 4 times with 20+ hours and I still like the other one better.
and IMHO Cyclists info is very good....so I wont retype most of what he said...
and IMHO Cyclists info is very good....so I wont retype most of what he said...
camaroboy8691
New member
ok , picture update time .
cutting holes in the roof to install the solar tubes , this tank is going into my shop/living area it is a 40x60 building with 12' eves {the living area is attached to the front of the shop and thats where the main veiwing area is and the side of the tank is viewable from a side office you can see the side wall has a cut out for viewing ..... the building has a steel roof , so it made it easy to cut the holes in and install them , the living area is about 30" higher than the shop floor this is why the stand is so tall .
i went with the solar tubes to obviously help lighting , i live in pennsylvania where the sun isnt the best in the winter , but come summer its great ! it also helps that my building and the pitch of the roof where the tubes are installed face south , so even in the winter i get alot of sun on the building , it may not be directly over head , but i do get sun in the winter . id say sun hits the roof around 10am , and doesnt give up till around 3pm in the winter , summer time sun from 9am till after 6pm .... so i dont need a ton of extra lighting .
before
holes in
drywall painted , before stand goes into place
cutting holes in the roof to install the solar tubes , this tank is going into my shop/living area it is a 40x60 building with 12' eves {the living area is attached to the front of the shop and thats where the main veiwing area is and the side of the tank is viewable from a side office you can see the side wall has a cut out for viewing ..... the building has a steel roof , so it made it easy to cut the holes in and install them , the living area is about 30" higher than the shop floor this is why the stand is so tall .
i went with the solar tubes to obviously help lighting , i live in pennsylvania where the sun isnt the best in the winter , but come summer its great ! it also helps that my building and the pitch of the roof where the tubes are installed face south , so even in the winter i get alot of sun on the building , it may not be directly over head , but i do get sun in the winter . id say sun hits the roof around 10am , and doesnt give up till around 3pm in the winter , summer time sun from 9am till after 6pm .... so i dont need a ton of extra lighting .
before
holes in
drywall painted , before stand goes into place
Last edited:
camaroboy8691
New member
heres the tank and stand in place , i painted the back of it black , but didnt paint the middle section i wanted to keep an eye on the return loop strainers from behind .
it may look odd , but i still need to build the wall around the tank to enclose it from the shop . but im plumbing everything before i even do that . last thing i want to do is build the wall and then have to back track becuase of a loose fitting or whatever else .
it will make sense as i progress , just keep an eye on the progress
hard to see , but 2 of the return screens
heres the sump , its a glass 90 gal , i have cut outs for 2 7" filter socks . no rock or anything will go in this , its just a sump ..... i have my doubts on if i shoud have went bigger , but i need to get everything under the tank . nothing can be outside of it .
heres where the 2 closed loop pumps are going , pictured is a hammer head and a dart . my other dart pump is in use on my holding tank {im using 2 darts for closed loop}, when im ready to break that down i will install the 2nd dart ..... also it gave me an idea of how the dart flows vs the hammer head . and im very impressed how the water flows out of the dart , in the next few pics you can see i opted for 3/4 flew pvc , i have 14 returns , 6 on each pump , 2 are capped ...... but i found these 1 into 6 manifolds and they work great ! they really move alot of water .
it may look odd , but i still need to build the wall around the tank to enclose it from the shop . but im plumbing everything before i even do that . last thing i want to do is build the wall and then have to back track becuase of a loose fitting or whatever else .
it will make sense as i progress , just keep an eye on the progress
hard to see , but 2 of the return screens
heres the sump , its a glass 90 gal , i have cut outs for 2 7" filter socks . no rock or anything will go in this , its just a sump ..... i have my doubts on if i shoud have went bigger , but i need to get everything under the tank . nothing can be outside of it .
heres where the 2 closed loop pumps are going , pictured is a hammer head and a dart . my other dart pump is in use on my holding tank {im using 2 darts for closed loop}, when im ready to break that down i will install the 2nd dart ..... also it gave me an idea of how the dart flows vs the hammer head . and im very impressed how the water flows out of the dart , in the next few pics you can see i opted for 3/4 flew pvc , i have 14 returns , 6 on each pump , 2 are capped ...... but i found these 1 into 6 manifolds and they work great ! they really move alot of water .
camaroboy8691
New member
hard to see , but 1/4 full , closed loops .
almost half full ....... this is just a normal water fill to check for plumbing leaks. which i do have 1 leaker so far . a fitting that screws into a bulkhead is leaking . :furious:
almost half full ....... this is just a normal water fill to check for plumbing leaks. which i do have 1 leaker so far . a fitting that screws into a bulkhead is leaking . :furious:
