Office Tank take 2: 20L FOWLR

[supertech99]

So after taking out my 5.5 reef that began to be too much maintence at work, my coworkers compalined that they missed it. I too missed it but the water changed had become a huge hassle due to where I park and the small volume. I decided that If I was gonna do it again I needed to make it lower maintence so I decided on a FOWLR. I wanted to build it myself as this is way more fun and I could totally over do it! I didn't want any powerheads so I decided to drill returns kinda like a closed loop but out of the sump. Anyway I know pics are the way to go so....here is my 20L sumped with a 10 gal office tank build.
Frame done!

noched the wood to make room for the sump and cut the acrylic for the sock holder (still need to cut the hole)

Drilled a 1 inch drain and 2 1/2 inch return lines I also made acrylic washers to go behind the bulkhead (drilling was easy and I need to get the bits back to mike!)

Dry fit the plumbing

here it is so far, with the light on top

Anyone got any ideas for a return pump, I will not be running any powerheads so it will be providing all the flow.....and with the way I plumbed the returns I will loose plenty of "head presshure" I have a mag 7 that could be brought up to working order, is this too much?

 

[NeveSSL]

Looking good, man!

Do you have any further plans for your drain? As-is, that thing is going to gurgle and flush like none other.

Give the Mag a shot. Can't hurt, right?

Brandon

 

[luckyfish]

I've used a mag 7 for a variety of purposes and while I have found they are good utility pumps you may run into issues with heat given you are looking at no more than 30 gallons and, more importantly depending on the office environment, noise. They are not the quietest pumps in the world. Is the return pump going to be submerged? (It looks like it from your pictures). I agree with you you're going to lose a good bit of return volume due to head pressure. Have you thought about an Ehiem?

 

[AdrianBryce]

Looks goods Sean. I'd say go with the ehiem as well. Also, have you thought about using SQWD on the return to alternate the flow? On your overflow I would make a durso style drain with a Tee on the back side of the tank left open to reduce noise.

 

[supertech99]

I have a T fitting that I could use however I did not like the look, I know thats silly but I have not ever had any experience with this type of overflow, i want to check out how loud it is and then decided if I need to remove it, painting it today. sould i just put the t on the back and place a cap ont he top with a hole for air...is that how it works? also howmany gph do you guys think and what model of ehiem are you talking about?

 

[AdrianBryce]

I would just leave the tee open at the top. That is generally how I see them with that kind of setup. I wish I would have done my 45 gal that way. I did it the way you have it and it was loud.

I would go with an ehiem 1260 maybe, 630 gph, would put you at roughly 300 from each return line, if you used a SQWD that might be a little too much flow for a 20 gallon though.

 

[supertech99]

well made some progress, i painted the back and made my sump. I set up a wet test and no leaking out of the bulkheads, YEAH! I discovered that you were totally right about the gurgle it was very loud. I did not find that the pump was all that loud though and once placed in a enclosed stand i doubt i will hear it much at all so i think i am going to go that way. believe it or not i think i am actually getting good GPH out of this to the point that the 1 inch drain is getting overwhelmed so i need to go get a ball valve to restrict pump power. I alsno need to find a 2 way 1/2 inch flow diverter for each out line so i can get the ball valve dialed in.....but....it works so happy day just need to tweak. here are some updated pics
Sump...modeled it after my big sump on my 75 first chamber will be a filter sock and rubble, then will be sand and cheato, and last is simply my return area. I know the white silicone looks junky but i grabbed the wrong one and had already opened it.
before anyone asks too it is GE 1 so it will be safe for critters.

Water test success

front pic on the mock stand for testing

ITS ALIVE!

 

[NeveSSL]

Nice man!

All you need to do is cap the top of the back T (with a hole in the cap... adjust hole size to adjust air flow and quietness) and turn your elbow inside the tank upside down and you'll have an external durso.

Keep rockin it!

Brandon

 

[supertech99]

turn the elbow upsidedown? if i do that the water level will be below the trim and look all weardkies? also it would not really surface skim if i did that either right? do i need to put a tube in the airhole, i have seen that online before and was not sure why they used it.

 

[NeveSSL]

Yep, but if you have it as-is it will not function as a durso as the air will just be sucked in the elbow, just like normal.

The airtube in the back is just for the air to mix through that tube instead of gurgling in from the aquarium side.

Clear as mud, right? :lol:

Brandon

 

[NeveSSL]

Hey Sean,

Any updates?

Definitely wanted to let you know that I recently got an Eheim 1060/1260 from Zach... holy crap! These pumps are extremely quiet and put out a LOT of flow. Would highly recommend it. I have to throttle it back quite a bit on my 30g because the nano overflow can't handle it. So I'm gonna feed a reactor with the extra flow. Maybe an algae scrubber if I can make one look decent enough to have in the office.

Brandon

 

[acrodave]

nice set up.. are you going to put a check valve on the return. since they are so low.if the power goes out that looks like more water than the sump can hold

 

[supertech99]

hey gang, sorry have not updated in a while I went to see the family back in "sweet home, Chicago". I wanted to get all tonga branch for the display but BRS is all out of their dry tonga branch and i will NOT pay live rock prices ever again now that I have tasted the sweet savings of dry rock. While i was gone I found a cool shop near my sister that was trying to liquidate some bleached staghorn skeltons they had in their shop for over 18 years. doesent sell well so i thought it would give me the look i want after a few months soak in my tank. I just got back from lowes and got 2 pvc checkvalves for the returns but am not usre if they will work. my two concerns are 1. is the internal spring mechanism metal? and 2. how much flow restriction will there be, i need to dial down my pump due to my wnaky drain design but dont want to shut it down too much. Anyone ever used one of the PVC check valves?

 

[supertech99]

**update with pics**
added 2 check valves, ball valve on pump, slip t fitting, drilled hole in cap for air, and tried out the light and attempted to stack some of the bleached staghorn skeletons I picked up from a LFS in chicago when I was up visiting my sister. He has had these in his shop for over 20 years and was selling all at 50% off so i wheeled and dealed a little and got 3 fairly large peices for $20, in retrospect I should have grabbed more since he said he would not ship but I guess I can always get my sister to go get some for me! I plan to add some rock in the display as well but want to keep it open for swimming room. Wanted to get some nice tonga branch but BRS is out, anyone got any for sale at a great price?
First the final wet test!

Updated pipework

very early aquascaping ideas, please add .02 cents here!

 

[supertech99]

cant see it in the pics but the corals are very deep reach from front to back!

 

[zef004]

Looking good that would be a great seahorse tank. If you get your sister to send you some I'll take some. And for the tonga branch I ready somewhere that cites put a stop of harvest them from the ocean. I've been trying to find some for the last year or so.

 

[zef004]

Also I got some tonga branchs in my seahorse tank. I'll be willing to trade for some stag. Is just to fat for my ponies to get there tail around them.

 

[acrodave]

are the check valves working.. i know you've done all that work. but you also could have just put one inline with the return

 

[NeveSSL]

Looking good that would be a great seahorse tank. If you get your sister to send you some I'll take some. And for the tonga branch I ready somewhere that cites put a stop of harvest them from the ocean. I've been trying to find some for the last year or so.

EXACTLY what I was thinking.

Maybe birdsnest would work well for DSHs?

Dead birdsnest, that is... heh.

Looking good, Sean! Did you get your overflow quietened down?

Brandon

 

[supertech99]

Thanks for the comments guys. Yeah I know that I did not need 2 check valves but i softlined the line from the pump to the t connector for ease of positioning so I had a hard time finding a "soft" inline check valve. Yes, they totally work! I also got the noise under control with the drain: with the extra drag on the flow that the checkvalves introduced and the ball valve i was able to find a good setting for flow rates. I want to slow it down even more by adding a lockline y fitting for the returns but i am still thinking about how i want that to turn out. The true tonga branch is no longer imported but they still harvest some dry "branch" style rock from dry caves and that ws what I was actually looking for. Now that I have some stag skeltons I may just add some pukani dry rock and call it good for the display. I could probally get my sister to ship some to us, the guy had A TON in his shop but need to know how big (in inches) roughly you are looking for and this way we can split the shipping. I may call the guy and ask him to reconsider shipping to us as well if we bought a big amount.