My rendition of 300

[Sisterlimonpot]

Nice thread, good read On your overflow / return on the Bean Animal. Are the returns actually under water? I believe they should be. At least that is how I interpreted and installed mine. The design works great and your wide weir is actually the correct way to do it. It is called coast to coast for a reason That and smooth. Of course on my tank I couldn't do that so I have slotted for now and a not so wide overflow due to a peninsula style tank.

Thanks for sharing - lot of good stuff here!

Thank You so much Saf1,

Correct me if i'm wrong, I assume that you are asking about the standpipes going into the sump as needing to be under water??? If that's the question, Yes, They will roughly be 4 inches under.

I'm curious as to how far yours are terminated under water? I suspect that the full siphon would have an easier time flushing itself at start up if the depth was minimized. I'm sure there is a sweet spot that most people strive for.

 

[saf1]

They are more or less the same. I probably didn't ask the question properly and I couldn't tell from the picture(s) how far under. Sorry about that. But yes, mine are more or less in the 3 - 4" range under. I don't have filter socks though because, well - I hate to admit this, but I'm pretty lazy and wouldn't properly maintain or clean them

I really like the overflow though. Previous 100 gallon I had I used the Duroso(sp) design and my wife said to me the other day - wow, this is silent compared to your previous tank I do wish I went with a overflow like yours - mistake on my part for sure but it works has is so I can't complain I guess. Next time!

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

They are more or less the same. I probably didn't ask the question properly and I couldn't tell from the picture(s) how far under. Sorry about that. But yes, mine are more or less in the 3 - 4" range under. I don't have filter socks though because, well - I hate to admit this, but I'm pretty lazy and wouldn't properly maintain or clean them

I really like the overflow though. Previous 100 gallon I had I used the Duroso(sp) design and my wife said to me the other day - wow, this is silent compared to your previous tank I do wish I went with a overflow like yours - mistake on my part for sure but it works has is so I can't complain I guess. Next time!

I'm still on the fence about filter socks, they seem to trap a lot of good (pods) as well as the bad. The way I have it plumbed might be a blessing. I can have either the full siphon filtered and the open channel unfiltered (or vise versa) and be able to allow some water to make its way through.

My last tank had 2 duroso overflow as well and it gurgled and flushed all the time, I'm eager to see how this one is compared to that one.

And we all make mistakes, i'm glad i'm not the only one, the lesson is to be resilient and press on.... or fix it with your next upgrade!! hehe

 

[JimON]

Water is close, Jimmy! Fantastic!:celeb3:

 

[dwolson2]

Thank You so much Saf1,

Correct me if i'm wrong, I assume that you are asking about the standpipes going into the sump as needing to be under water??? If that's the question, Yes, They will roughly be 4 inches under.

I'm curious as to how far yours are terminated under water? I suspect that the full siphon would have an easier time flushing itself at start up if the depth was minimized. I'm sure there is a sweet spot that most people strive for.

Jimmy, the pipes shouldn't be more than an inch below the water line. They will have problems if they are. Ask me how I know..... Also, being above isn't a bad thing, only for noise. I think I told you about how my emergency is above the water line so when it goes....u hear it


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[Sisterlimonpot]

Over the memorial day holiday I was able to work on gluing the rock together, I was surprised at how long it took. This was the first time using a mortar to make rock structure. I set up a base, mortared it together and let it cure for a few hours, then my wife and I would discuss what to put on next, mortar it... rinse wash and repeat.

From past experience, this event would only take a few hours in which I was hovering over the tank while my wife would tell me how to balance a rock on top of another and we'd be done in the matter of an hour give or take.

As stated previous, I wanted 3 islands:

using what ever was near to prop up for the next mortar event:

Once the structures were complete, I attached some scrap acrylic cut 0.75" long and attached them to the bottom so that the bottom portion of the rock doesn't get covered with sand. the acrylic pieces should be covered by the sand leaving only the rock in view. they're a bit hard to see them in the photo:

Here you can see them being reinforced with mortar:

I didn't take any pictures of the islands completed, I was just going to show them when they were placed in the tank. That proved to be a bad idea because I needed documentation on how each rock went into place and what the final structure looked like. Instead of waiting for help lifting the structures up I decided to get the ladder out and do it myself... BAD IDEA!!!

About 5' in the air the rock I was lifting from decided to pull apart and crash to the ground, destroyed!

That was to be the wedge shaped island on the far right of the tank, I don't know about you, but when this happened I was flooded with all kinds of emotions. I didn't know if I should be angry, mad, sad or just simply just cry. I quickly realized that my 12 year old daughter was watching, so I just suppressed my reaction and simply said, "whelp! looks like I have to rebuild that one."

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

"Rebuilt it" is what I did. of course it wasn't anything as good as the original, (it never is) but it will have to suffice. It took 2 days to build this one. I rushed it a bit.

It's hard to snap photos when there's such a glare on the glass, but here's what the final product looks like.

It's hard to portray depth in a 2d photo. From left to right, a bonsai inspired island, a concaved cove, and a wedge that is shallow enough that I can peer from inside the room and see across the entire 8' of the tank.

...and now we start the slow process of filling the tank with water. I saved up 55 gallons about a month ago with the intention to make another 55 for this day. Well, I never got around to it...

Should've put the sand in first....

today is day 4 of filling the tank, another day or 2 and it should be full and I can start adding salt and the cycle begins!!!

 

[dwolson2]

At least it didn't drop while you were over the tank!


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[halmus]

My compliments on the rock work and your self control after the rock work fell apart. You're a better man than I am.

 

[rpjaws74]

very nice set-up...

 

[uclamatthew]

Looks great so far. Can't wait to see water in there.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

At least it didn't drop while you were over the tank!


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There's the silver lining!!! it took a chip out of the acrylic sump... not enough to even matter though.

My compliments on the rock work and your self control after the rock work fell apart. You’re a better man than I am.

Thanks, I'm starting to imagine them full of coral.... eventually... one day... it'll get there.

very nice set-up...

Thanks for the compliment.

Looks great so far. Can't wait to see water in there.

Water is flowing, adding salt as quickly as I can to bring it to 1.026.

I was able to calibrate and set up the Vectra L1 return pump. One thing that I'm a bit disappointed in, is that the Vectra isn't compatible with the WXM, it really irks me to think that the conflict of business gets in the way of individual versatility and choice to select particular equipment. With that said if anyone has a clever way to use this pump with apex and utilize the feed mode, I would be grateful.

I haven't done any hard looking yet but an option may be to have the Vectra plugged into the EB8 and when feed mode is initiated it will cut power to the Vectra having it go to battery backup, and while in battery backup have it run at the predetermined minimum speed, to prevent water from being siphoned back into the sump.

Does anyone know if that's possible???

Among the pumps, I'm slowly getting my feet wet with Apex programming again, and bringing all the MP's online... one thing that I want to point out is that the sheer silence of these Quiet Drives is amazing. I had an old MP60 running on one side of the tank and a new MP40QD on the other side. Standing next to the 40, I couldn't hear it but I could easily hear the 60 that was 8' away. couple the Bean Animal silent failsafe return setup and the QD's the loudest thing so far is the hum of the skimmer. And to think that Mcpuff was ahhh... right:

I think you may be too worried about sound deadening... if you have a full siphon overflow then the noise is so minimal, especially since your sump is in the basement. That's where all the noise will be. My tank is not in a wall but with the full siphon overflow I can hardly hear anything when I'm right next to the tank.

You were right! I was umm.... less right....

If you remember, when I picked up my acrylic, I asked the guy for scrap pieces and I was able to walk away with a hodge podge of assorted sizes and thicknesses. in which I was able to make a tray for the siporax.

With the laser I was able to cut holes to align with the siporax,

Knowing that the siporax isn't machined to precision I was able to take averages and hopefully keep the pieces aligned with the holes...But in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter, there's enough holes for flow and ample opportunity for surface exposure for bacteria

Cut these out with the laser

Glued them together

And this is where most of you will say, "that's too much work!" but I stacked them 2 high

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

To create the ability to add more or take away, I had to make it easy to gain access to the siporax. so I'm using these 1.5" sex bolts to hold it altogether

I only purchased 2000ml to see where that puts me when the tank is booming with bio diversity. The tray has some room for growth and can probably hold 3000 ml. If I need more, I can make another and stack themas deep as I need.

That's my contribution this time... While the tank starts its cycle, my next big project is a light rack, I have some aluminum rails that i've been holding onto for a while for this reason, however I need someone that can TIG weld, and I can't find anyone locally.... I may have to turn to the laser again for brackets.... More to come.

 

[fishguy597]

Jim you have put together a first class system. You definitely got your money's worth out of that laser cutter. The sump looks fantastic.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Jim you have put together a first class system. You definitely got your money's worth out of that laser cutter. The sump looks fantastic.

Thank you so much!!! I like the laser too... Here's an impulsive creation that only took 20 minutes from from conception to completion, I already had the exact foot print of my skimmer mapped out when I was designing the sump which made it easy to cut a platform for it... no measuring at all

Raised the skimmer up to the proper level... bad news is that it made collection cup servicing a little harder... but there's still plenty of room.

 

[McPuff]

Man, that is so cool. You've made some very nice things with that laser! Gotta love the way a freshly made acrylic project looks!

 

[SawCJack00]

Wow nice work Jimmy!

 

[dwolson2]

Thank you so much!!! I like the laser too... Here's an impulsive creation that only took 20 minutes from from conception to completion, I already had the exact foot print of my skimmer mapped out when I was designing the sump which made it easy to cut a platform for it... no measuring at all

Raised the skimmer up to the proper level... bad news is that it made collection cup servicing a little harder... but there's still plenty of room.

Jimmy, are you still using corel draw? I might have to convince you to make/sell me one of those skimmer stands!

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Man, that is so cool. You've made some very nice things with that laser! Gotta love the way a freshly made acrylic project looks!

Thanks, there's a point that you start going overboard, and I'm teetering on it... It's a great tool to have.

Wow nice work Jimmy!

Thanks Bill, a lot of the inspiration of my tank stems from yours.

Jimmy, are you still using corel draw? I might have to convince you to make/sell me one of those skimmer stands!

Yes, CorelDRAW is the only program that is compatible with that laser. I use corel draw X7, it seems more user friendly than 4. Although I'm only scratching the surface with what I do on it. there's not much to 2D hairline drawings.

Give me some dimensions and I'll see if I have enough scrap still.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

I see you've been busy while I was away winning another Baja race. 4
Things are looking good. Glad you got the holes drilled with no issues.
I like the islands and how you constructed them. I had always wanted to build mine like that but never did. How far to the top of the water is the "bonsai" ?

Once I get word on the race, I'll text you info.