My 560 gallon Acro oasis
- Thread starter Acrononomus
- Start date
wij
New member
Well done with the floor look ace and the tool is simple but very effective great stuff.The tool used to do it
Looks great man what an under taking. I set up a 400 system in the garage just because i wanted to skip this part and go right to the tank stuff. floor can hold it, elc is on the wall right there already from the meter, I added ac and insulation, locked the garage door shut and walla new fish room. Noise not an issue, leaks not an issue, C02 not an issue, getting the tank in not an issue.
and I have all the more reason to go to the garage now.
Keep the pictures coming! can't wait to see the plumbing and gadgets. Are you doing a drain line for the room, a wash tub maybe, and quarantine system n frag system? can you store water under the crawl space maybe in a large tank for ATO n AWC
and I have all the more reason to go to the garage now.
Keep the pictures coming! can't wait to see the plumbing and gadgets. Are you doing a drain line for the room, a wash tub maybe, and quarantine system n frag system? can you store water under the crawl space maybe in a large tank for ATO n AWC
slief
RC Sponsor
Nice setup.. One question though.. What are all those lines going into the back of the tank towards the bottom? On the first page, I gathered those are for return lines but I see you also have bulkheads along the top rim of the tank so I'm a bit confused. If those are for return lines, what are you going to do in the event of a power failure? You really don't want to use check valves. It's not if they fail but when.
About 10 years ago, I had check valves on my 480 gallon display and came home one water running down my driveway, over an inch of water covering my entire downstairs and less than an inch of water left in my display. All 480 gallons drained from my tank due to a check valve failure. This is a story that is all too common with check valves. Like I said, it's not if they fail but instead when.
If those are really for your return lines and they lines won't be up at the surface where they belong, is it too late to have the tank drilled for a proper return setup? I really wouldn't suggest running your returns that way. A professional glass guy can drill new holes easily enough. I could give you some guidance on a perfect use for those bulkheads if you don't want to use them for a closed loop setup.
If those aren't for your return lines, than please forgive me.. Other than that, it looks really nice!
About 10 years ago, I had check valves on my 480 gallon display and came home one water running down my driveway, over an inch of water covering my entire downstairs and less than an inch of water left in my display. All 480 gallons drained from my tank due to a check valve failure. This is a story that is all too common with check valves. Like I said, it's not if they fail but instead when.
If those are really for your return lines and they lines won't be up at the surface where they belong, is it too late to have the tank drilled for a proper return setup? I really wouldn't suggest running your returns that way. A professional glass guy can drill new holes easily enough. I could give you some guidance on a perfect use for those bulkheads if you don't want to use them for a closed loop setup.
If those aren't for your return lines, than please forgive me.. Other than that, it looks really nice!
slief
RC Sponsor
I gathered that but this is what concerned me a prompted my reply.
To me that sounds like those lines down low across the back are part of the return lines. Hopefully the OP chimes in and lends some clarification. If my assumption is correct which I hope I am wrong, I would rethink that plumbing.
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Acrononomus
New member
Hey fellas sorry for the confusion, on the back pane across the bottom I will be using those for the closed loop, there will be 5 across the bottom and 2 across the top, those will all be on a closed loop with the oceans motions 4 way, I think I may have to add another one in the closed loop setup as well... There will be a sea swirl in each corner powered by the return pump.... I only have temporary plumbing up now, so it's still to be decided what goes where.... I feel your pain on the check valves , as I've had many floods myself 
there will only be a check valve on the seas swirls return line. However there will eventually be a 3" floor drain in the floor in case anything happens.... 
I have much more to post.... I appreciate all the comments and compliments. This system has been a dream for far to long... Glad to finally see it coming together! Thanks everyone!
there will only be a check valve on the seas swirls return line. However there will eventually be a 3" floor drain in the floor in case anything happens.... I have much more to post.... I appreciate all the comments and compliments. This system has been a dream for far to long... Glad to finally see it coming together! Thanks everyone!
slief
RC Sponsor
Hey fellas sorry for the confusion, on the back pane across the bottom I will be using those for the closed loop, there will be 5 across the bottom and 2 across the top, those will all be on a closed loop with the oceans motions 4 way, I think I may have to add another one in the closed loop setup as well... There will be a sea swirl in each corner powered by the return pump.... I only have temporary plumbing up now, so it's still to be decided what goes where.... I feel your pain on the check valves , as I've had many floods myself
I am glad to hear that. I read your profile and saw you had years of experience and my hope was that it was just not clear in your original post.
That said, many years back I had several closed loop pumps on my system. My electric bills were running me over $1100 a month which was mostly attributed to my tank. I decided to make some major changes to my system to save on power. That included swapping my pair of 400 watt halides and six 4' VHO bulbs to LED fixtures as well as some major pump upgrades. I had upwards of 6 pumps on my system which was out of control. My 1/2 HP chiller was also running 12 hours out of the day to keep my tank cool. I switched my return pump out for a Reeflo Hammerhead and kept only one of my closed loops and outfit that with a Dart. The other 4 pumps were ditched in favor of Tunze's that I control via my Apex. The end result, especially as a result of the Tunze's was much greater control over my flow and huge savings in electricity. My chiller in fact was no longer needed and my electric bill dropped to about $350 a month..
I bring this up because this may just give you some ideas. Personally, I am not a fan of having a bunch of closed loop pumps. I know you are also going to run some Ecotech pumps but I will plant a seed here and give you an idea for all those bulkheads you have on the back of your tank.
I had a similar situation when I opted to ditch my closed loop pumps. It left me with several vacant bulkhead which got me thinking.. I hated the look of power heads in the tank. Largely because of the wires so I came up with a creative idea to hide the wires and take advantage of the bulkheads and the remaining plumbing.
I made some custom PVC mounts and mounted the Tunze silent clamps to them. When I removed my closed loop pumps I cut the PVC lines on the back wall of the tank and rotated the remaining PVC upwards so the end of the lines were above the water level. My plan required me to desolder the little Tunze interface boxes from the wires so I could route the wires through the PVC and out the back of the tank. I then soldered the little boxes back onto the Tunze cables. This was 5 years ago and my Tunze's are still kicking butt. On the rare occasion that I need to clean them, I just pull them off their mounts, slide some of the cable through the PVC and soak them in a container with vinegar on top of the tank. Then rinse them and put them back in. This setup has been so effective for my flow and was probably one of the best things I have done for my tank in the last 20 years. With my Apex in control of the flow, I have so much control over the flow that I wish I would have done this sooner. I have several flow profiles that rotate throughout the day ranging from surges that create wave motions to flow that kicks up any detritus that may have settled. It's so much more effective than any closed loop one could dream up. The one and only closed loop I chose to keep was one that exits out through a manifold under my live rock and keeps detritus from settling under the rock. That was important to me and that is also where my UV filter is plumbed.
These pictures were taken about 5 years ago.. The pumps now look like part of the liverock as a result of all the coraline on them. I neglect them but Tunze's are damn near bullet proof and they just keep on taking a beating without skipping a beat. By the way, I did all these mods including the closed loop removal while the tank was full. I just used some PVC plugs to plug the bulkheads from inside the tank and barely loosened the bulkhead nuts enough to rotate the lines upwards after cutting them to length. So just because your tank is full, doesn't mean this can't be done safely if you chose to do this down the line.
Here are two of the Tunze's that had to be mounted on some PVC extensions so they would clear the live rock that is glued to my back wall. The closed loop lines on this part of the tank were hidden in opening in the live rock.
Here they are mounted to the back wall.
I even mounted one to lockline on my overflow.
This is how the lines come out the back of the tank through the orignal closed loop plumbing.
Here are a few pictures of those pumps taken somewhat recently.. They blend right in! LOL
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Acrononomus
New member
Me too lol I just stained the top today and got the aluminum for light rack! In a few hours I'll put the first coat of poly on ! Hope to have the top done this weekend... Then I can put it on and then sand and stain the bottom... Thank you
Those are some really creative mounts for the tunze the look great and real effective! I am going to run a hammerhead on the closed loop, and I have one for the return as well but may switch to a red dragon return pump in the future.... Will see how it goes I'm excited to get all the plumbing done and see how it flows... Just another thing on the list :headwalls: :spin2:
slief
RC Sponsor
You might consider a Superdart Gold instead of the Hammerhead if you didn't already buy the pump. It's nearly 100 watts less and still puts out an honest 4200+ GPH on a closed loop. I pulled my Hammerhead gold in favor of the Superdart. Tank temps dropped, power consumption dropped and the flow difference I could live with. My Darts have since be replaced with RD3 230's but I still like the Reeflo's. They are very efficient for their flow rates. Especially for an AC Motor and they are pretty quiet too. The RD3's on the otherhand are dead silent and cold as can be. No heat transfer at all. Also very efficient and stupid powerful.
Acrononomus
New member
That's why I was wanting to upgrade from reeflo is silence.... Reeflo is quiet but puts out a lot of vibration.... I think I would really like the red dragon 3 230 good to know someone else's is using one and they like it
Acrononomus
New member
Here's a look at how I configured the drains, I really didn't wanna run 4 1 1/2" drains so I came up with this.... Works well, not loud, a lot of splashing in the sump, I need to have an acrylic lid made up, as well as a lid for the overflow box...
