Randy's 180G Reef-Photo Journal

[tgunn]

I did something very similar for a drain in my closed loop. It is basically a 2" reducing Tee to a 1/2" ball valve:

This pic is a bit out of date but there's now 1/2" pipe that goes right to the sink in the room. Only diff is it's on the return end; the idea for mine is to be the lowest point in that pump loop so that when I shut off the ball valves upstairs for the C/L I can drain the pipes before disconnecting the pump.

I'm going to do the same thing on the return pump intake as well.

Looking good! Nice clean plumbing so far..

Later,
Tyler

 

[rdmpe]

That's a great idea having the drain as the lowest point. Obviously I'm a lot more limited in space, etc. under my stand.

But you did just give me a great idea. If you see my picture, I have that sweep ell coming into the pump intake. I could replace that with a drain style tee and rig it up very similar to the way it is now, but with a drain in it... I'm going to look into that a little more.

Another option is for me to drill a hole in the 2" intake ell and glue something on there (like a modified saddle tee or whatever it's called). I bet I could rig up a pretty slick drain that would seal up fine... hmmm now I have more CL plumbing to do...

EDIT - - -
I just remembered that the dart does have a drain plug at the bottom of the wet end. So I can drain it there if I want. I think it's half inch FPT, so maybe I'll look into something better to replace the plug with...

 

[tgunn]

That's a great idea having the drain as the lowest point. Obviously I'm a lot more limited in space, etc. under my stand.

But you did just give me a great idea. If you see my picture, I have that sweep ell coming into the pump intake. I could replace that with a drain style tee and rig it up very similar to the way it is now, but with a drain in it... I'm going to look into that a little more.

Another option is for me to drill a hole in the 2" intake ell and glue something on there (like a modified saddle tee or whatever it's called). I bet I could rig up a pretty slick drain that would seal up fine... hmmm now I have more CL plumbing to do...

EDIT - - -
I just remembered that the dart does have a drain plug at the bottom of the wet end. So I can drain it there if I want. I think it's half inch FPT, so maybe I'll look into something better to replace the plug with...

I think putting a valve on the drain plug would probably be the simplest; I just looked and of course my pump has the same thing on it. :lol:

In my case the unions are on the side so no matter what I do I'm going to get plenty of water gushing out of the lines when I undo the unions. Your unions mounted on vertical runs like that means that even without draining the line you're not going to get a huge amount of water coming out when you undo the unions (basically whatever splashes over in the pipes)..

Later,
Tyler

 

[rdmpe]

My pump's drain hole is 3/8" FPT, so I'm going to start looking out for a way to rig up a plastic valve to it I think. I did put together a new intake setup using a "sanitary tee"? - not sure what it is actually called. But I don't really like it that well, it takes up a lot more room and doesn't look nearly as clean as the other sweep ell I was using. So I'll probably go back to the old one, especially if I can rig up a valve where the pump drain plug is...

 

[rdmpe]

Tarpon has arrived

Tarpon has arrived

Well, I got a new toy today.

One odd thing about this pump - the motor mounting bracket
is too short so that the pump rests on the bottom of the wet
end rather than resting flat on the bracket. So I'll have to
screw it to a piece of wood then sit that on the rubber pad.

This thing is pretty big...

 

[derrikd]

cool, ill be watching.

 

[rdmpe]

I'm working out the plumbing for my sump / fuge. It is made from two 25G rubbermaid type tubs. They'll be attached with a couple of 1.5" pipes & uniseals.

I was planning on feeding the fuge from a tee off the return pump. But then I decided that I'd rather try to feed the fuge off the skimmer output. That means the water will be a little more "clean" than if it were coming of the return line, but I'm not sure if this will really be a problem since skimmers aren't 100% efficient anyway. It's not like the water will be purified. So that's my logic anyway...

I want to try to avoid feeding the fuge off the return pump because I will be running two or three penductors off that pump, so the pressure will be high, maybe 20' head pressure or so, and I want to put all of the available flow back into the tank. If it doesn't work the way I want, I may change it around, but that's the plan to start with.

Here are some pictures...

The main drain with the gate valve will allow me to balance the drain flow to the return pump flow. It will be adjusted so that the drain intake is fully submerged by several inches of water in the overflow area. That will create a completely silent drain into the sump. If something happens and it gets clogged, the water will rise in the overflow area until it overtops the "emergency drain" which will prevent a flood. Both drains are 1.5". IF the emergency drain ever kicks in, it will be obvious since the water level will be higher than normal in the overflow, and it will be loud too, so I'll know there is a problem. You can read more about this plumbing scheme and people using it successfully in this thread http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=344892

The skimmer is an AquaC EV180. It will be fed by a mag 9.5 which is a slightly oversize pump for this skimmer but I've read that it works well. I have a mag7 to use if the 9.5 turns out to be too much. The skimmer water level is controlled by a gate valve on the exit side. After the gate valve, the skimmer output splits between the sump and the fuge. Each branch has a ball valve. I think I'll only need to use one, but not sure which until I get things running and see how the water flows.

I haven't set up the sump return pump suction side yet. Hopefully I'll get that done this weekend also.

The bubble trap is (or will be when it's done) made from two somewhat large food storage containers that are made as a set that fits inside each other for storage. Both tank drains go into the bubble trap. This isn't really required for bubbles since the drain should not have any air coming down the pipe (it will be a full siphon) but the bubble trap does keep a fixed head height at the tail end of the drain which will help keep the drain system working correctly. The above linked thread about the silent drain method is really a great thread to read - anyone who wants to quiet their sump or eliminate bubbles from the drain line should check it out.

The skimmer return leg back to the sump also goes into the bubble trap, and the simmer feed pump is sitting in there as well. I wanted the skimmer feed pump inside the bubble trap since the tank drain is in there. I want to pull water right from the end of the drain line into the skimmer. I have the pump sitting in there so that it's intake is right below the end of the drain line.

Well that's about it for now ...

 

[glemos]

You may want to consider modifying your discharge from the Aqua C skimmer since it appears from your picture that the discharge piping will cause the water level in the skimmer to run significantly above the recommended operating level. The fact that you are planning on using the Mag 9.5 will only further exacerbate the problem.

Having an Aqua C skimmer, I can can speak first hand about the importance of maintaining a proper water level to produce the right amount of foam. Too high a water level will generate a very wet foam.

 

[rdmpe]

I wanted to try to feed the fuge from the skimmer output rather than tee of my return pump. I know I'm supposed to use the gate valve on the skimmer to balance the water level at the proper location. I have been thinking that trying to bring some of the water over the edge of the sump tub, which is higher than the skimmer outlet hole, may cause more backpressure in the skimmer than I want.

So are you pretty positive that it won't work? I'll probably try it anyway, since I have it all set up. If it doesn't work, I'll have to feed the fuge off the return pump I guess...

 

[rdmpe]

Well, I've redone some of the plumbing, just made it a little cleaner. But I don't have pictures of it yet. I took it back out and am putting a drain in the bottom of the stand

The stand can hold about 3" of water before it would spill out onto the floor. So I decided to put a 1.5" drain pipe from the stand to outside the house. Guess I'll have to do a water trap of some sort to keep the critters out. Also will probably put a rubber flap type check valve in. Hopefully that'll keep the snakes out of my house...

I just used a hole saw that was about the right size. But I had to figure out a way to mount the drain pipe in there so that it wouldn't get ripped out when I tried to hook something to it. Would have been much easier to set something nice up when I built the stand, but I didn't think of it then, so now I'm rigging it up sloppy style.

So here's the hole, tricky since it comes in about half way below the plywood "floor" of the stand. But I wanted the drain hole to be low so it would be more effective.

So I made a little piece of spafle that would fit snug down in there and form sort of a scoop or spoon shape. I heated it up in the oven to about 200F wich makes it nice and flexible. Got it in place and it cooled to the shape I wanted.

Then I cut a TEE with a band saw to make a "bracket" that I could mount to the outside of the tank. I slid the spaflex through it and glued it in place. So this will mount the drain to the outside of the stand and allow me to (hopefully) hook the drain line up without pulling the spaflex out of the stand.

So here it is in place. All I have to do is seal it up with Lots 'O Caulk. Then knock a 1.5" hole in the exterior wall and pipe it through the wall.

This bracket made from the TEE has 4 stainless steel screws holding it to the stand. It's in there nice and solid. The connection is 1.5" FPT. I would like to put a union there, but the 1.5" unions I have are too big in diameter to fit - they hit the floor and will not line up. I don't want to raise the pipe up since it's a drain, I want the water going down hill...

My Project Manager really likes this drain idea

 

[rdmpe]

I decided to post the basic plans I made for my stand.

Click on the pictures for a PDF file.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

 

[bkwudzjeep]

I really like that idea for the drain!! I have my stand to be able to hold about 15 gallons with leakage, but that is only for a 90 gallon. Your 180 is a bit more......

Keep up the good work!!

 

[rdmpe]

Thanks! After seeing Damn Yankee's thread about his flood, I figured it is worth the trouble now. We've had a flood once before from a plumbing problem (not fish) and it is no fun.

Here is a picture of the finished drain. On the outside of the house there is a 12" vertical drop and then a "P-trap" at the bottom made from street ells...

You can also see some electrical flex conduit coming into the house and heading to the tank. I was lucky enough to have a sub panel right outside next to the main disconnect and it had an unused spot in it. So I ran two 20 Amp circuits into the house just for the fish tank.

I brought the circuits into the stand and wired two 20 amp twist lock sockets. That way I can unhook my outlet panel and work on it easily if I want to.

Here is the outlet panel when I was wiring it up

I found these grounding blocks at home depot. This was a great time saver since the outlets aren't setup for the ground to be strung along to the next outlet the way the circuit connections are. So I just had to run one wire from each outlet down to this grounding bar.

And finally I have it mounted in the stand and plugged into the main twistlock sockets. It's not the prettiest that's for sure, but I wasn't going for art. I just wanted to avoid having half a dozen power strips laying all over the place down there.

 

[tgunn]

Looking great! I really like the drain in the stand. Because it's there you'll probably never need it.

That's one thing I wasn't able to do with my steel stand.

BTW, for the gate-valve tuned drain pipe you're using; wise choice. I did the same on my tank. At the moment it's not perfectly tuned; there is a slight trickle going over the emergency drain. But it's not by any means a loud sound. If you're not able to balance the drain perfectly, I'd suggest tunining it like this to allow just a slight trickle over the emergency drain; it's very quiet..


Tyler

 

[rdmpe]

Tyler - that's a good idea allowing the trickle over the emergency drain. I'll probably be forced to do that anyway due to my plumbing system. I'm going to have that actuated jandy valve switching the flow between two different lines, each line having penductors. So when the valve is switching it will flow to both lines and the volume going into the tank will increase for about 30 seconds. This may create "issues" with the balanced drain... Not sure how that is going to work out until I actually get water in this thing. But if there is a slight trickle in the emergency drain it will probably help take up the variation.

 

[tgunn]

Tyler - that's a good idea allowing the trickle over the emergency drain. I'll probably be forced to do that anyway due to my plumbing system. I'm going to have that actuated jandy valve switching the flow between two different lines, each line having penductors. So when the valve is switching it will flow to both lines and the volume going into the tank will increase for about 30 seconds. This may create "issues" with the balanced drain... Not sure how that is going to work out until I actually get water in this thing. But if there is a slight trickle in the emergency drain it will probably help take up the variation.

I'm planning to make a small cover to go over my overflow to block incoming light and prevent things from growing in there I don't want to; that should also serve to silence the trickle further.

Depending how much of a surge you're getting it may end up being more that a trickle over the emergency drain, but that's something I'm sure you can tune as you set things up..

I found the trick was to keep it at a slow trickle so it almost sheets over the emergency drain; anything more and the water freefalls down the standpipe and crashes into the elbow below the tank and makes a lot of noise.

Tyler

 

[rdmpe]

Here's my bubble trap...

I may end up making a couple of smaller ones rather than using one large one, but the general idea will be the same...

 

[rdmpe]

I have the actuated Jandy Valve set up. I haven't set up the timer but the plumbing is in. I'm not sure how often I'm going to set it to switch. Maybe every 5 or 6 minutes. I'm thinking that will wear the seals out of this "neverlube" valve pretty quickly LOL. I did take it apart and lubed it up with some silicone lube despite it's fancy name...

So here is the setup, powered by a sequence Tarpon (did I mention that pump is huge?)... I have some regrets about going with 1" from the pump to the jandy valve, but space was tight and the pump outlet is only 3/4" so I did step it up a little by going to 1". Still, 1.25" or 1.5" would have been nice, but much harder to work with in the tight space. On the other side of the jandy valve I really did have to use 1" to get it all to fit. When the drain lines and skimmer are in there, it gets way crowded.

In this shot below you can see where the pump is pulling water from the sump through this 1.5" bulkhead fitting. The other tub (left) is the refugium. They're connected together with two 1.5" pipes that drain the fuge back into the sump. I used uniseals there instead of bulkheads. I did leak test it outside, but I'm a little worried about the uniseals. My hole saw is a cheap piece of junk so the holds in the tubs were a little larger than I wanted them, which makes for a less sure fit for the uniseals.

 

[rdmpe]

Here is a pic of the connection between the refugium tub and the sump tub. I also connected the tubs at the top (through the curled over lip part) with a couple of stainless steel 1/4-20 bolts with washers and wing nuts, so I can make sure the tubs are tied together securely and avoid putting more stress on the pipes and uniseals connecting them.

To the right is a platform I made out of "eggcrate" and zip ties to hold my skimmer up higher - Sort of a retangular box. It's sitting on it's side now though... It was really sharp on the bottom, so I cut some vinyl tubing lengthwise and slipped it over the sharp edges so they won't end up wearing holes in the bottom of my cheesy sump tub...

 

[rdmpe]

Here is a picture of the whole mess plumbed...

The biggest problem I expect right at the start is my plan to feed the refugium from the skimmer output. The skimmer output is split and part of it would need to go up a couple of inches to make it over the edge of the sump and into the fuge. I have a 1" gate valve on each "brance" off the skimmer, so I can close the low branch down a little bit so that water will flow up and over to the fuge. However, I think this is going to make my skimmer spew all over the place. So I think I'm going to have to tee off the sump return pump or use a seperate pump to feed the sump water to the fuge. We'll see when the wet test starts, maybe this weekend. I'm trying to get some temporary plumbing done inside the tank so that I can get some water in it and fire the pumps up. Anyway, here is the plumbing...