Sinistard's 68.8 Acrylic Tank Journal [Photo Intense]

What happens when you turn off the return pump currently? Does the 10g hold all the water that drains down? I typically don't recommend those for sumps because they hold so little volume.
 
I'm not sure, I have no got that far yet....LOL. I hope to fill it soon to leak test and figure out if the 10g will be enough to handle a power outage without overflowing.

If it does not hold enough I will be forced to get a custom made sump and then maybe I could fit the Trigger systems fuge in the stand. I hope it does not come to that because I will be in for some major plumbing rework. I still need to add baffles to the sump, how tall do you think they shoud be? I think I'm going to put in 3.

Thanks
 
i was wondering the same thing as melev about how the 10g would hold water in the event that the pump stopped. 10g typically isnt very sufficient for a 70g but with the added 10g fuge and a geo skimmer i think youd be in good shape
 
Well the fuge gavity drains into the sump so it would not help in the event of a power outage. If the tank is 100% full and it drained down 2 inches it would be around 7 gallons and I guess there would be around 1gallon of water in the pipes. The tank should never be "full" it will be a 1"-2" below the top so my guess is at most one inch will drain so around 4g plus 1g for the pipes so I will need to leave room for 5g in the sump. Crossing my fingers that i'm right on this:confused:
 
The tank is 44x18. The bottom of the sump return bulkheads are 2 1/4" from the top of the tank and the overflow teeth are 1 1/2" tall. I'm guessing that the water will be around 1 inch down from the top of the tank while the pump is running. So if this is right 1 1/2" inches of water could potentially drain back into the sump returns. That should work out to around 5 gallons

I'm guessing I will need to keep the 10g sump with around 5 gallons of room to be safe. Do you think this will be enough volume in the sump? If not my only "easy option to fix my problem will be to make a bigger sump that is wider and the same height as the 10g so it will fit in my space.

Thanks
 
Every inch of water that drains is 3.43g of water, based on your tank measurements.

Running your sump at 50% full (or empty, depending on how you look at it) will leave room for up to 5g of water, assuming the tank truly holds 10g of water. It might hold less since they don't base that number on INSIDE dimensions.

Your best option is to build a custom sump & refugium that is all one piece, but I'm hoping we can work with what you have now.
 
I hope it does not come to that, I would need to do some major rework. I am going to fill it up tomorrow to test for leaks and see how everything works out.

What do you think the lowest I could keep the water level in the 10g sump and still have it be effective?

If it comes to it I can get a 21.3x16x13 tank into the same spot my current sump is without modifying any plumbing or the stand. That would work out to be around 20g and that should give me a lot more to work with.

Maybe I will try to make one myself. I could sell the Trigger Systems refugium and then use the money to build one that will fit. How much do you think I could make one for?

If I did this I would have a 10g refugium and a 20g sump.

I will try to get the pictures of the closed loop tomorrow I did not get a chance today.
 
Acrylic (4' x 8' sheet 1/4" clear) and Weld-On #4 w/ applicator bottle will run you about $100 to $115. You'll need a table saw (or pay them to cut up your pieces), a router and a smooth work surface. Here's what I use to build: http://www.melevsreef.com/tools.html

A larger sump would be wise only because what you have now won't really do anything. At this point, you have to run it so shallow you can't submerge a heater in there, and it may even be too shallow to avoid the pump sucking in air as it tries to pump water back up to the tank.

You really do need to fill it up and test it out to know for sure. This is going to be really close. Once you have everything filled and running, unplug the pump and watch the sump fill up as water drains. If your sump still has space, add more water until it is almost to the top of the sump. Now turn on the pump and let everything circulate again. Whatever the water level is in the return section of the sump, mark that with a line or a piece of tape. <b>That is the high water mark</b>, and you must never exceed that. If you top off and the water level is higher than that mark, if the pump turns off for any reason, you are guaranteed to have a wet stand or floor.
 
wow...i need ot read this last page yet but wanted to post! the stand is great. good idea on the pocket screws on teh stand...easy way to make it cleaner. and bicuits ont eh doors are the best way to go.

i need to get a pocket jig and a biscuit jointer. i'm gonna be building a lot of stuff in the near future for fun.

Lunchbucket
 
Awsome Sinistard, just awsome. I thought my new stand turned out good, but that stand is just fantastic, you do some great wood work.

Your setup is looking great and well planned out, I hope it all works as planned.

toounces is right though, how do you get to all those ball valves once the tank is filled and against the wall? Do you have a way to get to them from the other side of the wall?
 
Lunchbucket said:
wow...i need ot read this last page yet but wanted to post! the stand is great. good idea on the pocket screws on teh stand...easy way to make it cleaner. and bicuits ont eh doors are the best way to go.

i need to get a pocket jig and a biscuit jointer. i'm gonna be building a lot of stuff in the near future for fun.

Lunchbucket
Click to expand...

Thanks, your set up is one of the ones that has been an inspiration while I have been working on this project.

toonces said:
how do you reach all those ball valves behind the tank once water is in it?
Click to expand...

I was a bit worried about this as well but after testing it with the tanks and plumbing fitted I can reach all the valves from the front or side. I can get to the 2 closed loop returns from the sides and the rest from the front. The ones behind the fuge are a bit hard to get to but it can be done and if I can't get to them from the front I will be able to from the side. The ones above the sump are easy to reach.

rjwilson37 said:
Awsome Sinistard, just awsome. I thought my new stand turned out good, but that stand is just fantastic, you do some great wood work.

Your setup is looking great and well planned out, I hope it all works as planned.

toounces is right though, how do you get to all those ball valves once the tank is filled and against the wall? Do you have a way to get to them from the other side of the wall?
Click to expand...

Thank you. I'm glad everyone likes my stand.

My only fear right now is that the sump is not going to be sufficient. It looks like I am going to have to get a bigger one made or make one myself.
 
melev said:
Acrylic (4' x 8' sheet 1/4" clear) and Weld-On #4 w/ applicator bottle will run you about $100 to $115. You'll need a table saw (or pay them to cut up your pieces), a router and a smooth work surface. Here's what I use to build: http://www.melevsreef.com/tools.html

A larger sump would be wise only because what you have now won't really do anything. At this point, you have to run it so shallow you can't submerge a heater in there, and it may even be too shallow to avoid the pump sucking in air as it tries to pump water back up to the tank.

You really do need to fill it up and test it out to know for sure. This is going to be really close. Once you have everything filled and running, unplug the pump and watch the sump fill up as water drains. If your sump still has space, add more water until it is almost to the top of the sump. Now turn on the pump and let everything circulate again. Whatever the water level is in the return section of the sump, mark that with a line or a piece of tape. <b>That is the high water mark</b>, and you must never exceed that. If you top off and the water level is higher than that mark, if the pump turns off for any reason, you are guaranteed to have a wet stand or floor.
Click to expand...

Well I filled the tank to leak test and test the sump size. Good news on the leak test none of my glued fittings leaked and I only had a small leak on 2 of the threaded bulkheads which will be easy enough to fix.

Now as far as the water level. With the pumps running the water level was around 1-1.5 inches from the top of the tank. I could get the sump around half full and not have it overflow when the pumps were turned off.

I'm not real happy with this and should have planed better for it and not tried to "save" money by going with the 10g for the sump. I guess this is what happens when you are not sure whats going to happen before you get going, live and learn. I think it would work if worse came to worse but it would be a huge pain to change it down the road so I am going to go ahead and bite the bullet and do something about it now.

I am going to check into making my own. I am going to call around tomorrow to check on prices of supplies. I will probably have to get the pieces cut since I don't have a table saw. Is it possible to cut acrylic with a circular saw?

If I end up making it I'm going to make it 20x15x13. This would give me around 17gallons so I would have around 10g of water in the tank and still have room if the pumps fail. I may check into how much it would cost to have one made as well.

Thanks melev for all the help with this and I may have a few more questions for you if I end up making my own sump.

Oh and I still need to get some pictures of the closed loop I just need to get all the water out of the tank so I can take off a few parts to make it easier to see.
 
I used a 20H for my sump/refuge on my 90g and it is working well for me without taking up all the room in my stand.

You are saving a lot of money having your tank 44" instead of like mine which is 48 1/2". I had a lot of lost wood since my stand and hood have pieces that are basically 50" in length. I could not get 4x4 sheets and had to get 4x8 sheets. But now after building my stand and hood, my wife is like... with all that left over wood, can you make this and that. :eek1:
 
rjwilson37 said:
I used a 20H for my sump/refuge on my 90g and it is working well for me without taking up all the room in my stand.

You are saving a lot of money having your tank 44" instead of like mine which is 48 1/2". I had a lot of lost wood since my stand and hood have pieces that are basically 50" in length. I could not get 4x4 sheets and had to get 4x8 sheets. But now after building my stand and hood, my wife is like... with all that left over wood, can you make this and that. :eek1:
Click to expand...

LOL, I know how you feel. Now that my wife knows I can make something that looks nice she whats me to make all kinds of stuff. She just moved jobs and wants me to make a couple stands for here new place and needs them done soon but I really want to get my tank done. I need to stop work on the tank to work on her stuff :rolleyes:
 
i have a 10gal for my sump!! i can't fit anything else down there :D too much equipment.

mine runs less then 1/2 when running and is about 3" from the top when everythign is shut off.

one thing i did was put your return lines HIGH in the water column. that way when the power gets shut off they break siphon sooner...try it

Lunchbucket
 
Funny Stuff!

Here is what I am using for my sump/refuge and it has worked well for me.

20Hsumprefuge.jpg
 
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Mine has been up and running for some time now, since I used it on my 55g tank. I did not want to lose out on all the pods and life that it was holding which is why I moved it over to my new 90g setup. I do count on my Stop Check valve working, because the extra backflow if it did not work, could get me in trouble. I just may put a syphon break at the top of the return flex tube just below the water line.

sump092705.jpg


20hfuge070405.jpg
 
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now thats an established sump/refugium lol. i had a similiar setup for a while but decided against using the same tank for a sump and fuge. mainly because the flow blew the substrate into the corners and the chaeto always tried to run over and below the baffles to get to and clog the pump.
 
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