SC Aquariums Owners Thread

[soulpatch]

Are you sure about the flow direction of the overflow? I am setting up a tank right now with the slits on the lower part of the overflow, and I can see debris get sucked into the lower slits and also the very bottom. The is a small gap at the bottom of the overflow and the glass bottom.

You are correct in that the flow over the top weir creates a form of siphon pulling water up from the slits in the bottom.

I got a used tank and there are tons of crap stuck between the overflow side glass and the side overflow box acrylic cover that is impossible to remove. There is silicon applied in zigzag pattern to hold the sides of the acrylic to the glass. The front part of the acrylic is not attached to the glass so I was able to clean all the crap in there.

I really wouldn't worry too much about it on the sides. Given the limited to no real water movement those act as feeding for some of the anerobic bacteria that will house the debris in that area.

I think that is the reason the newer cadlights did away with the slits and bottom gap as it only becomes a detritus trap. The way particles get sucked in the bottom is cool though. I always wonder how detritus will ever go over the top of the overflow and this looked like a neat solution, but with disadvantages though.

Removing the bottom slits is not wise UNLESS you have the overflow cover flush against the glass and properly sealed. Otherwise you have a serious dead area with no flow. Most manufactorers have added the slits to the bottom to account for this dead area. Heck even the biocubes added bottom slits to handle the massive dead spot in the first overflow chamber. No matter what with moving water you have detritus and it will settle where it can. So if cadlights completely seals the overflow cover to the glass then that is fine...otherwise they are causing a larger issue for the tank by removing those slits.

 

[d0ughb0y]

Removing the bottom slits is not wise UNLESS you have the overflow cover flush against the glass and properly sealed. Otherwise you have a serious dead area with no flow. Most manufactorers have added the slits to the bottom to account for this dead area. Heck even the biocubes added bottom slits to handle the massive dead spot in the first overflow chamber. No matter what with moving water you have detritus and it will settle where it can. So if cadlights completely seals the overflow cover to the glass then that is fine...otherwise they are causing a larger issue for the tank by removing those slits.

yes, I edited my post. The new cadlights sealed the space between the glass overflow and the acrylic. The silicone is curved inward so the water stays on the overflow walls instead of shooting out past the overflow wall and plopping into the overflow water causing bubbles.

 

[soulpatch]

I dont have bubbles happening in my overflow. My herbie is set up so that the water level stays at the bottom of the weir teeth and thus no cascading in my tank to cause that turbulence.

 

[d0ughb0y]

how many inches from the top do you keep your water level?

I am testing my setup right now, I don't have a flow meter, so I use the old school way of measuring time it takes to fill a bucket to measure the flow. If I run it at 500gph or more, the level is about half inch from the top. I think that it a little too high. If I run it at about 350gph, it is 1" give or take from the top. This is for a 50 gal tank. Again, my gph may be way off, so don't quote me on that number.

 

[soulpatch]

If you look straight on at the top of the overflow where the bottom of opening in the teeth is pretty much where my water line is at in the overflow. The water in the DT is perhaps at the 1/2 way mark on the teeth so there is all of a half inch max difference. The water doesnt tumble or such and just flows into the overflow.

I have no idea on my flow but considering I am running a SP6 in the stand and all of perhaps 5 feet total of pipe and a media reactor off of it I should be well over 500 GPH. Still thinking of the FMM though to monitor it.

 

[soulpatch]

perhaps I need to do a new walkaround videoo of my tank and setup...I can do it this weekend and add to my journal thread...

 

[d0ughb0y]

If I use strong flow, I can setup my water level like yours (emergency pipe is same height at glass overflow). And only at that level will I not hear any water sound. Even slightly below, like 1/4 to 1/2" (say if I reduce the flow or open up the main drain a little and water level in overflow slowly goes down), I can hear water trickle sound.

If I use the slower flow, I can keep the overflow water level as low as 6" from the top and still hear no sound, except an occasional trickle sound.

I have not decided yet on the flow. but thinking the strong flow may be a bit too much for a 50 gal tank, but probably fine for a 150.

BTW, how many inches below the glass overflow top is your main drain pipe? I've been experimenting with different height, and it seems water drains faster if the main drain pipe is shorter. not sure which one is better, but leaning more on shorter main drain pipe.

 

[soulpatch]

depends on your livestock and what amount you want to run through you filtration in the sump. 550 gph or so is really nothing in a tank of any size. Hell in my BC29 I had an MJ1200 as my return, a RW4 at almost full power, and a gyre 130 at around 60-70% power.

In my 150 now I am likly doing around 1000 GPH through my overflow through I would need to test to verify it. I have 2 PP8 in the tank at close to full power and ramp up 2 WAV pumps up to nearly 100% through the day as well.

Flow in the tank is really all livestock and layout dependant. I have a good amount of rockwork so more flow is needed. If I had minimalist design I would use less. Since I am a good mix of SPS I need higher flow but if I was all softies I could get away with less.

Personally I like higher flow through the sump so I can catch things in the socks (I use mesh BTW) and more gunk for the skimmer to collect and to feed my refugium. Heck I have a PP4 in my fuge to keep my chateo spinning lol. I monitor everything for my tank via the sump so the higher turnover the faster I can be alerted to drifting values like PH and temp (soon to be alk when monitors from neptune or pacsun come out)

 

[d0ughb0y]

I am not counting the powerhead flow, just the flow of water through the sump.

I want to setup a low energy footprint sps tank. At higher flow rate to sump, I may need a bigger skimmer to handle the higher flow rate. I plan to get a small skimmer rated for 60 gallon, which usually comes with pump rated around 350gph and 10watts max. tank will be low-medium bioload.

I will use 2 sw4 in main tank, which is like 20w each. I figure dc return pump will be 40w and light 90w (hydra 26hd) for a total watt around 180w. or 100kwh power usage per month (lights count as 12hrs per day). This will be higher of course during winter with the heater. At the highest tier, my power rate is I think 30 cents per kwh. So that makes the tank use $1 of power a day.

 

[soulpatch]

I am not counting the powerhead flow, just the flow of water through the sump.

I want to setup a low energy footprint sps tank. At higher flow rate to sump, I may need a bigger skimmer to handle the higher flow rate. I plan to get a small skimmer rated for 60 gallon, which usually comes with pump rated around 350gph and 10watts max. tank will be low-medium bioload.

I will use 2 sw4 in main tank, which is like 20w each. I figure dc return pump will be 40w and light 90w (hydra 26hd) for a total watt around 180w. or 100kwh power usage per month (lights count as 12hrs per day). This will be higher of course during winter with the heater. At the highest tier, my power rate is I think 30 cents per kwh. So that makes the tank use $1 of power a day.

Skimmer pump pulls from the sump. It doesnt matter flow through rate on sump for the skimmer. You could run a skimmer doing 5GPH in a sump running 5000gph if you wanted.

As for power there are tons of options now for return pumps. Whether DC or high efficency AC.

on another hand HOLY cow I pay under 7 cents per KWH. If I was paying 30 cents per KWH I would not have a T5 unit over my tank

 

[z3speed4me]

soulpatch - I realize it's just a square piece of acrylic. I guess my concern was how thick it is and if there's potential it could warp/bow over time making it worth my $$ or not.

I have one from SCA and mine has warped but not sure why... it still does what it needs to do though. I've wanted to email Steve just haven't gotten around to it.

 

[KJoFan]

I have one from SCA and mine has warped but not sure why... it still does what it needs to do though. I've wanted to email Steve just haven't gotten around to it.

I wonder if it just would be difficult to have a relatively thin piece of acrylic NOT warp over some time. I recall having an acrylic lid for the overflow of my Oceanic Tech and it too warped slightly after awhile.

Could have something to do with heat I suppose. At that time I ran a T5 setup fairly close to the top of the tank. Not really sure.

Either way, my acrylic lid is on it's way to me. I guess for the $$ you could always replace it if/when it got too warped to be useful.

I appreciate the input.

 

[cincyjim]

perhaps I need to do a new walkaround videoo of my tank and setup...I can do it this weekend and add to my journal thread...

I'd certainly would appreciate you doing a video of your tank and setup! Thanks!!!

 

[soulpatch]

I'd certainly would appreciate you doing a video of your tank and setup! Thanks!!!

I need my pump back from Spectrapure to hook my calrx back up and I will make one going over my equipment and setup. (I should probably clean the glass and such as well.. LOL)

 

[crazycolt42]

I'm on board and listening! This thread has been great. Starting to understand this SCA 150 better and how I'm going to get this plumbing done. Appreciate all the info guys. Looking forward to the vid Soulpatch. Some day, I too may have some pics and video to post on this thread.

 

[KJoFan]

Just overall quality. Schedule 40 is the sizing of the plumbing but not quality of it...

I intend to use the bulkheads supplied with the tank. I think sometimes people get a little crazed about such things. Are there any known/documented failures with using the original plumbing? Or any factual reason not to use it other than preference?

 

[crazycolt42]

I intend to use the bulkheads supplied with the tank. I think sometimes people get a little crazed about such things. Are there any known/documented failures with using the original plumbing? Or any factual reason not to use it other than preference?

Wondering the same. They seem fine to me. I noticed the full siphon drain was cut uneven and not smooth, but everything else seems OK to me... which isn't saying much Has everyone been happy with going with the Herbie as far as noise goes? I think I am understanding what soulpatch is saying about how to adjust the height of the siphon to allow for the height in the overflow to be ideal and have no cascading, but anyone have problems with noise otherwise? I am going out of my way to try to do a bean animal, but why go through all that work if the Herbie is just as silent and effective?

 

[soulpatch]

I intend to use the bulkheads supplied with the tank. I think sometimes people get a little crazed about such things. Are there any known/documented failures with using the original plumbing? Or any factual reason not to use it other than preference?

Yes for many the included bulkheads have loose fitment with normal pvc pipe or have been slightly deformed. I got 6 bulkheads from sc and 1 i deemed usable. The others were ok in my water mixing barrels at the top

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

 

[soulpatch]

Wondering the same. They seem fine to me. I noticed the full siphon drain was cut uneven and not smooth, but everything else seems OK to me... which isn't saying much Has everyone been happy with going with the Herbie as far as noise goes? I think I am understanding what soulpatch is saying about how to adjust the height of the siphon to allow for the height in the overflow to be ideal and have no cascading, but anyone have problems with noise otherwise? I am going out of my way to try to do a bean animal, but why go through all that work if the Herbie is just as silent and effective?

Bean is a bit more stable and has an additional emergency so if you are ok with running return over back of tank then bean is way to go. I don't have any issues with my herbie and its silent but it does lack the additional emergency

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

 

[androidx1]

sc actually sells an overflow cover. I have one on mine now and no longer use a strainer.

As for raising the level you need the 2 45s so that the emergency can snake up behind the returns. With the t at the top of the return you need to get behind that pipe to raise the water level more and the 45s do exactly that.

Question for all of you. I am about to set up an 80gal rimless...a d the above statement has me confused. Am i understanding correctly that the water level in the tank cant really be raised aboce the bottom of the overflow slots otherwise surface skimming will not occur. So is the level he is talking about the level in the overflow??