A Reef in the Sky

[phenom5]

That stand is awesome. I have stand envy.

Interesting idea with the pump in the overflow. To help eliminate the low flow/ stagnate area at the bottom of the overflow I assume.

*Edit* Also, the slide out sump tray...I assume that has some sort of wheels under it? Interesting, love the idea. Any concern about the weight of the sump when it's in the out position, or any concern about stress on the sump when you pull that out?

Sorry if this has been discussed already and I missed it.

 

[fishypets]

So sexy!

 

[qfrisco]

That sump looks better than my display!

 

[solos2]

Looking good Andrew, keep it coming!

p.s. I got some acro frags reserved for you when your tank is ready! You've my cell# so call me whenever

 

[v1...rotate]

That stand is awesome. I have stand envy.

Interesting idea with the pump in the overflow. To help eliminate the low flow/ stagnate area at the bottom of the overflow I assume.

*Edit* Also, the slide out sump tray...I assume that has some sort of wheels under it? Interesting, love the idea. Any concern about the weight of the sump when it's in the out position, or any concern about stress on the sump when you pull that out?

Sorry if this has been discussed already and I missed it.

The pump in the overflow is to help stagnate areas in the display tank. Cut & paste from Page 2

The final part of the water movement involves having a mini closed loop system within the tank itself. I want to minimize potential dead spots and this concept should help. I will use a Eheim 1001 pump rated at 600l/h.
***Remember the internal overflow has been moved inwards and is no longer at the edge. These are old pics but you should get the idea.

An idea of where the piping will go. I'm tempted the even drill some holes in the pipe at certain places to create more/random water movement. (IE: bounce off rock work and the outside of the overflow)

No worries, page 1 explains the rollout sump concept. Here is a cut & paste.

...the sump will roll out on caster wheels which are rated at 50kg Static and 25kg Dynamic each.

So sexy!

Thanks Clint... Looks modern huh?

That sump looks better than my display!

I'm sure your tank is great man.

Looking good Andrew, keep it coming!

p.s. I got some acro frags reserved for you when your tank is ready! You've my cell# so call me whenever

Sweet... Thanks Howard. Will be in contact.

 

[rtparty]

Great setup and tank!

I may be confused but isn't that pump in the overflow gonna create a syphon if the power shuts off? It will then suck water out of the display and just keep flowing into the overflow box and eventually into the sump? That could be a MAJOR issue.

But I am not a plumbing genius and could be way off. Just a thought

 

[spsfreak]

Rtparty, you are correct, unless he puts a check valve on the output somewhere inside the overflow. By default water will continue to back fill into the overflow via the output plumbing back through the pump itself.

 

[mikebpeters]

I've been lurking so far - great build thread!

As near as I can tell, in a power outage, the overflow corner will equalize levels with the tank - through the pump as has been noted. However, the water level in the whole system will only drain down to the level of the lip of the stand pipe. This will only be a problem if the stand pipe height is such that more water can drain into the sump than the sump can handle.

My .02 worth

 

[jason2459]

Really incredible build thread. It was awesome to read through from the beginning with really nice design cad work to the actual fabrication. Thanks for being so detailed! Looking forward to the rest of the build.

 

[rtparty]

I've been lurking so far - great build thread!

As near as I can tell, in a power outage, the overflow corner will equalize levels with the tank - through the pump as has been noted. However, the water level in the whole system will only drain down to the level of the lip of the stand pipe. This will only be a problem if the stand pipe height is such that more water can drain into the sump than the sump can handle.

My .02 worth

I don't think they will equalize. Because the pump is pulling from the bottom of the tank it will be a continuous siphon. No air will be introduced to break the siphon. Thus all the water that is now being pumped into the overflow will just go down the drain in the overflow and into the sump. Since the pump is pulling from the bottom it will never run out of water until the display is almost entirely drained.

Then his corals and fish will sit out of water and die while his apartment floods. :hmm4:

This is all hypothetical on my part though as I have never seen something like this done. I would definitely test it before I ever moved into my place to be setup.

 

[grevedin]

Hi V1, congrats on an amazing build an also for providing the inspiration and great ideas for my own build (Its in the Elos forum on here - 215 Gallin tank in London).

I also put my sump, top off, and water change tanks on a platform with the same castors as you have used. Given what I have experienced, I would recommend using more castors than originally planned based on their weight rating. The weight will compress the rubber wheels and make it more difficult to move the platform once the tanks are filled with water.

Also, I started using the same Eheim compact 600 litre per hour pump to feed my refugium and the flow is very weak. I would therefore recommend a higher rated pump if you want it to effectively keep detritus from under your rocks.

Anyway, congratulations again on such an amazing build.

Giovanni

 

[grevedin]

Ps. To give you an idea, I am currently using 15 castor wheels and it's just about right. They support a sump and refugium which are 100cm x 55cm x 45 cm, an auto top-off tank which measures 25cm x 30cm x 65cm and a water change tank which measures 70cm x 30cm x 65 cm.

 

[luther1200]

I don't think they will equalize. Because the pump is pulling from the bottom of the tank it will be a continuous siphon. No air will be introduced to break the siphon. Thus all the water that is now being pumped into the overflow will just go down the drain in the overflow and into the sump. Since the pump is pulling from the bottom it will never run out of water until the display is almost entirely drained.

Then his corals and fish will sit out of water and die while his apartment floods. :hmm4:

This is all hypothetical on my part though as I have never seen something like this done. I would definitely test it before I ever moved into my place to be setup.

If the power goes out then the pump won't be pulling anything since it will be off. I don't think there will be any problems with it. As long as he keeps his stand pipe high enough. At the very worst he would need to leave a lot of extra room in the sump for the extra water, until the tank is at the same height as the top of the drain pipe. There is no way it could drain the whole tank. Its impossible. If the pump was on the outside of the overflow and pumping into the overflow it could happen like you are thinking. But since the water has to go through the overflow to get to the pump, once the tank water is at the height of the top of the drain pipe it would just keep recirculating the water (like a sump). And this of course is only if for some odd reason the power went off and only this pump still worked:fun4:

Think of it as an intank sump. Because its the same process.

 

[mavjoy]

Looks good Alpha! I can't wait to see the whole thing running with water.

 

[Walter Costa]

Congrats on the project. Very, very well planed. Looking forward to see it finished.

Sorry to go a little off topic, but I am at designing stage of my project and I loved your rendering.

I just can't find this software Hypershot anymore. Can you give me a hint?

 

[WhoDey64]

Congrats on the project. Very, very well planed. Looking forward to see it finished.

Sorry to go a little off topic, but I am at designing stage of my project and I loved your rendering.

I just can't find this software Hypershot anymore. Can you give me a hint?

Google Keyshot Hypershot and you will find it. By the way, this is a top 10 build on RC for sure, hats off to the OP.

 

[rtparty]

If the power goes out then the pump won't be pulling anything since it will be off. I don't think there will be any problems with it. As long as he keeps his stand pipe high enough. At the very worst he would need to leave a lot of extra room in the sump for the extra water, until the tank is at the same height as the top of the drain pipe. There is no way it could drain the whole tank. Its impossible. If the pump was on the outside of the overflow and pumping into the overflow it could happen like you are thinking. But since the water has to go through the overflow to get to the pump, once the tank water is at the height of the top of the drain pipe it would just keep recirculating the water (like a sump). And this of course is only if for some odd reason the power went off and only this pump still worked:fun4:

Think of it as an intank sump. Because its the same process.

WHAT?

Have you ever turned off your return pump and watched your return line create a siphon and drain the tank to that point?

If you haven't then go ahead and go do it right now. I know when I cut the power to my return pump it sucks about an inch of water out of the display tank. You don't need power to create a siphon, just a lack of air.

When the pump turns off, it will create a siphon. That siphon will pull water from the display tank and into the overflow. Once the water in the overflow rises to the stand pipe, the water will flow into the sump. The newly created siphon will continue to siphon until air is introduced to break the siphon. That point will not occur until the display tank is drained because the pipes on that pump are at the bottom of the tank.

Now I don't know what type of drain he will be using but that shouldn't matter. I really wish Andrew would chime in here.

 

[Reeefer]

Very impressive from head to toe!

 

[v1...rotate]

Hey guys... Thanks for bringing this up Ryan as I forgot to mention it. As stated, I plan on using a check valve that will be located on the outside of the overflow. May actually use x2 in a row for redundancy.

There will be two CJ standpipes for the drain and they will be at the same level in the overflow.

I did calculations a while back showing that the sump would be able to handle the overflow if the return pump failed... but this assumes that the small Eheim pump in the overflow has a check valve on it. Therefore you are correct regarding draining of the tank via the small pump if the power is turned off.

All the plumbing info is on the top of page 4.

Really incredible build thread. It was awesome to read through from the beginning with really nice design cad work to the actual fabrication. Thanks for being so detailed! Looking forward to the rest of the build.

Thank you Jason. :thumbsup: I actually enjoy being detailed, showing my ideas and presenting my thoughts. Glad you and others like.

Hi V1, congrats on an amazing build an also for providing the inspiration and great ideas for my own build (Its in the Elos forum on here - 215 Gallin tank in London).

I also put my sump, top off, and water change tanks on a platform with the same castors as you have used. Given what I have experienced, I would recommend using more castors than originally planned based on their weight rating. The weight will compress the rubber wheels and make it more difficult to move the platform once the tanks are filled with water.

Also, I started using the same Eheim compact 600 litre per hour pump to feed my refugium and the flow is very weak. I would therefore recommend a higher rated pump if you want it to effectively keep detritus from under your rocks.

Anyway, congratulations again on such an amazing build.

Giovanni

Ps. To give you an idea, I am currently using 15 castor wheels and it's just about right. They support a sump and refugium which are 100cm x 55cm x 45 cm, an auto top-off tank which measures 25cm x 30cm x 65cm and a water change tank which measures 70cm x 30cm x 65 cm.

Thank you very much Giovanni for your information. Glad you like some of the ideas. Had a look at your thread and the tank looks great. Will definitively follow along.

Confirm you purchased the same casters? Mine are hard plastic and not rubber. It seems you have a little more on your sump tray than I will. Also the stand bottom will support the tray if there is a failure of the casters. Will monitor it and if required grab some more. I would be interested in seeing some pictures of your x15 casters if able.

Here is where the casters will be located. There is room for more if required.

Yeah, I have tested the Eheim pump and it is rather weak. That was the largest I could go with due to size restraints in the overflow. Hopefully it will be enough to be useful.

Looks good Alpha! I can't wait to see the whole thing running with water.

Cheers Mav, I see your tank is up running now. Must visit RS and give an update and follow your thread there.

Congrats on the project. Very, very well planed. Looking forward to see it finished.

Sorry to go a little off topic, but I am at designing stage of my project and I loved your rendering.

I just can't find this software Hypershot anymore. Can you give me a hint?

Thanks Walter. No problem at all. I use Hypershot Bunkspeed WEB version but must update to Keyshot. There seems to be some changes to the software name.
This appears to be the product http://www.keyshot.com/keyshot/
I can PM you the e-mail address of the person at Bunkspeed I dealt with. Was very helpful.
There is a 15 day free trial plus the some great explanation videos on the internet.

Here is something I created with the 15 trial version last year. Does a pretty good job without actually rendering.

Google Keyshot Hypershot and you will find it. By the way, this is a top 10 build on RC for sure, hats off to the OP.

Thanks very much for compliment. I enjoy sharing my journey.

Very impressive from head to toe!

Thanks Andrew

 

[mrvicz]

thanks for the iaquatic contact andrew.

i was just able to checkout your thread again today and i say this again and again, yours is definitely one of the best builds here in RC! goodluck on the build buddy!

vic