Hi guys,
My first post. I'm getting back into the hobby after a 10 year hiatus and am interested in creating a beautiful SPS reef cube. I want to hide as much equipment as possible and keep the purity of the cube intact. I've drawn up some schematics and wanted to know your thoughts on whether this will either run or in fact it will fall apart and flood my flat.
I've never run a sump based tank, and mostly freshwater so this is all quite new to me!
The display tank will be a 28 x 28 x 28 cube. The tank will use Optiwhite glass and be completely braceless/rimless. The cabinet will be gloss white to match our kitchen units, and of the same width and depth but with a 30 inch height.
Volume of the tank will be 95 US Gallons / 369.7 litres
Volume of the sump will be 35 US Gallons / 136.6 litres (assuming all chambers are full.)
Total volume 130 US Gallons / 534.3 Litres.
Display Tank
As you can see I intend to run a 22 x 6 x 4 CTC over flow on the back of the display tank. This will be fed by a 20 x 1 gap on the top of the rear display tank panel.
Question 1) Is the overflow big enough? Is the 20 x 1 inch hole big enough?
I'm also planning to drill three 1.5inch holes in the centre base of the overflow to run a beananimal return. I'll orient the tubes with the first tube as a durso facing left, the middle as the emergency drain (non durso), and the final as another durso facing right. (Big on symmetry.)
Question 2) Is a 1.5inch beananimal drain enough to feed a 1000GPH turnover. I'd like capacity for up to 10x turnover should I choose.
Question 3) Are these spaced in a way which allow the bulkhead fittings to be connected here? I haven't used these UPVC fittings before. Is the overflow deep enough to hide these fittings when viewing the tank from the front? I'd like nothing to be higher then the rim, and preferably a bit lower, so still hidden when viewing at an angle from above.
I have two one inch return holes drilled either side of the overflow for the return. These are drilled so that the top of the hole is level with the bottom of the overflow. These will be driven by one pump, split into two lines at the sump level.
Question 4) Do these look well positioned to you? Is 1 inch pipe enough diameter for 1000GPH?
Sump
I've gone for a three chamber sump that will more or less fill the floor space of the cabinet below the tank. I've tried to keep water moving in a zig zag fashion through the use of 8 inch overflows alternating back to front. The idea is to keep flow quite high, suspending detritus as much as possible.
One other configuration would be to use the central chamber as the return, with the right chamber taking in water from the display tank. This way the left chamber can be used as a low flow refugium - but hopefully that won't be necessary.
Question 5) Will the sump be able to handle 1000GPH with 8 inch overflows?
Question 6) Will the bubble trap still work?
Question 7) Is a 8 x 12 x 26 return chamber (10.8 U.S Gallons/42.0 litres) good enough not to require an additional ATO chamber? I'm in the UK which is pretty mild most of the year...
A lot of questions! Thanks in advance for all your help. Look forward to sharing the results.
My first post. I'm getting back into the hobby after a 10 year hiatus and am interested in creating a beautiful SPS reef cube. I want to hide as much equipment as possible and keep the purity of the cube intact. I've drawn up some schematics and wanted to know your thoughts on whether this will either run or in fact it will fall apart and flood my flat.
I've never run a sump based tank, and mostly freshwater so this is all quite new to me!
The display tank will be a 28 x 28 x 28 cube. The tank will use Optiwhite glass and be completely braceless/rimless. The cabinet will be gloss white to match our kitchen units, and of the same width and depth but with a 30 inch height.
Volume of the tank will be 95 US Gallons / 369.7 litres
Volume of the sump will be 35 US Gallons / 136.6 litres (assuming all chambers are full.)
Total volume 130 US Gallons / 534.3 Litres.
Display Tank
As you can see I intend to run a 22 x 6 x 4 CTC over flow on the back of the display tank. This will be fed by a 20 x 1 gap on the top of the rear display tank panel.
Question 1) Is the overflow big enough? Is the 20 x 1 inch hole big enough?
I'm also planning to drill three 1.5inch holes in the centre base of the overflow to run a beananimal return. I'll orient the tubes with the first tube as a durso facing left, the middle as the emergency drain (non durso), and the final as another durso facing right. (Big on symmetry.)
Question 2) Is a 1.5inch beananimal drain enough to feed a 1000GPH turnover. I'd like capacity for up to 10x turnover should I choose.
Question 3) Are these spaced in a way which allow the bulkhead fittings to be connected here? I haven't used these UPVC fittings before. Is the overflow deep enough to hide these fittings when viewing the tank from the front? I'd like nothing to be higher then the rim, and preferably a bit lower, so still hidden when viewing at an angle from above.
I have two one inch return holes drilled either side of the overflow for the return. These are drilled so that the top of the hole is level with the bottom of the overflow. These will be driven by one pump, split into two lines at the sump level.
Question 4) Do these look well positioned to you? Is 1 inch pipe enough diameter for 1000GPH?
Sump
I've gone for a three chamber sump that will more or less fill the floor space of the cabinet below the tank. I've tried to keep water moving in a zig zag fashion through the use of 8 inch overflows alternating back to front. The idea is to keep flow quite high, suspending detritus as much as possible.
One other configuration would be to use the central chamber as the return, with the right chamber taking in water from the display tank. This way the left chamber can be used as a low flow refugium - but hopefully that won't be necessary.
Question 5) Will the sump be able to handle 1000GPH with 8 inch overflows?
Question 6) Will the bubble trap still work?
Question 7) Is a 8 x 12 x 26 return chamber (10.8 U.S Gallons/42.0 litres) good enough not to require an additional ATO chamber? I'm in the UK which is pretty mild most of the year...
A lot of questions! Thanks in advance for all your help. Look forward to sharing the results.
