A new 240 gal Reef

[Playatime]

I am upgrading from a 75 gal with a 40 gal sump/fuge to a new glass 240 with a new 60 gal acrylic sump and the above 40 gal sump/fuge which I will use just as a fuge. I have taken plenty of time to do it right, there is no rush here. I started out by installing 8 - 4"x4" in the basement from the slab to the joists to support the weight above. I then used 1/2" plywood to wrap the supports, then rocked, textured and painted them to match the rest of the basment.
I dry fitted all the PVC and then glued up all piping, I am using a Little Giant 4-MDQX-SC which is split between the 2 overflows. For the overflows I am using 2 Duso's reduced from 1.5" to 1.25".
I have 250 lbs of rock and 150 lbs of sand that I seeded with LR and sand from my old tank. This all has been cycling for 6 weeks.

My question for you all is this:
1) I have the stand, tank and Little Giant all on solid foam insulating pads, but you can feel and hear the return throughout the house, how can I further isolated the noise?

2) I temporarily have both Duso's going into the one sump till I break down the old tank. There is a big fluctuation in the overflows that creates a siphon effect every 15 seconds. How do I fix this problem?

To al of you Thanks I have lurked long enough.

 

[drummereef]

Sounds like an awesome setup. Did you drill a hole in the top of the durso? Might have to fine tune a bit to get it to stop fluxuating like that. Got any pics of the setup?

More info here. http://www.dursostandpipes.com/

 

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

sound's very nice "playatime" keep us posted with some pik's too!
[welcome]

 

[chrisqueenz]

Keep us updated, sounds like it's going to be fun!!!

 

[Playatime]

Well, after a long morning I finally finished up the changeover. It was going along great till I had to relocate the old/new fuge. It all fits nicely under the 6' long stand. Trying to figure out were to drill the 2 acrylic's and put the bulkhead's was the hard part, how high etc.
By putting the 2nd Durso ouput into the new fuge I drilled the top a 32nd larger and it fixed the problem. In the fuge I have he 1st sectionas rubble rock, the 2nd section is 12 lbs of Fiji Fuge Mud and caluerpa, the 3rd section is empty.
It is PVC piped into the sump's 1st section along with the 2nd Durso, which is also rubble rock, then nothing in 2nd section or 3rd.
I am working on the power and electrical now should take a few hours.
Thanks for reading, will post pics later

 

[Playatime]

Finally got around to some pics. Have been going slow so these pics are still acurate.

The tie together of the fuge & sump

fuge and ballast

Litle Giant and undersized skimmer

out of focus overview

 

[Playatime]

Changes to be made:
1) an ASM G3 Skimmer
2) a Pan World external pump-the Little Gant is loud
3) redo piping on return to fuge. Too much flow, will split 1" to .75' between sump and fuge.

 

[Playatime]

Is this a good skimmer the ASM G3. I heard good tings about it and I wanted to get your opinion, I am gonna order one this weekend.

 

[t5Nitro]

ASM or Euro Reef are good. Euro Reef is said to be better as ASM is a cheap model of Euro Reef from what people have said.
If you have a good amount of money to spend on a skimmer, look into the recirculating skimmers, or if more yet, the deltec or H&S recirculating skimmers.

 

[Dogfaced Puffer]

In terms of noise. If I had a basement, all my plumbing, sump, fuge, etc. would go down there. Just think of the extra water volume you could use as well.

 

[msuzuki126]

Go with something bigger than the G3. Maybe the G4x or bigger.

 

[Playatime]

Okay the tank has been setup and is going great. Nothing has died and I am slowly adding corals. The problem I am having is my Little Giant 4MDQX-SC. It is loud, you can feel the vibrations thru the house. I have the stand on waterproof soft foam between it and the hrdwood floor, and another layer of hard foam in the bottom of the sump compartment with an extra layer under the Lttle Giant. Is there a external with the same output that you could reccommend that is quieter? any info would be appreciate.