Ultimate 20G Setup Journal - Pic Intense
- Thread starter DSparks
- Start date
Sparks,
Yes, you can throttle back the Mag 7 with a ball valve. The only issue would be that you use more electricity than you need. No real worries.
How did you cut the tank down for the overflow? Did you use a tile cutter bit? Thanks. Or can you post a thread link that you used for the idea?
Cheers,
Chris
Yes, you can throttle back the Mag 7 with a ball valve. The only issue would be that you use more electricity than you need. No real worries.
How did you cut the tank down for the overflow? Did you use a tile cutter bit? Thanks. Or can you post a thread link that you used for the idea?
Cheers,
Chris
DSparks
New member
Thanks Chris. Looks like I'll go with the Mag 7. I'd rather over buy than end up with something underpowered.
To cut the glass I used a Rotozip Tile Cutter bit in my Dremel. Just keep the bit and glass cool by running water over them while cutting. I used a really small pump and airline tubing to keep a continuous stream pouring over the cutting area. It literally took about 5 minutes to make the cut. I was impressed with how well the Rotozip bit worked. One note of caution...the process is extremely loud. Wear earplugs if you have them.
To cut the glass I used a Rotozip Tile Cutter bit in my Dremel. Just keep the bit and glass cool by running water over them while cutting. I used a really small pump and airline tubing to keep a continuous stream pouring over the cutting area. It literally took about 5 minutes to make the cut. I was impressed with how well the Rotozip bit worked. One note of caution...the process is extremely loud. Wear earplugs if you have them.
Sparks,
Thanks for the update on the Tile Cutter. If I do the same I will get my earplugs.
BTW, I don't think you will find the Mag 7 overpowered. If you do, I would first try splitting the flow into the tank and not throttling back, but if you feel you need to throttle back by all means use a ball valve.
Nice tank. Good luck.
Chris
Thanks for the update on the Tile Cutter. If I do the same I will get my earplugs.
BTW, I don't think you will find the Mag 7 overpowered. If you do, I would first try splitting the flow into the tank and not throttling back, but if you feel you need to throttle back by all means use a ball valve.
Nice tank. Good luck.
Chris
DSparks
New member
Chris, that idea makes too much sense. No wonder I didn't come up with it. I'll already be tee'ing off to the fuge. I'll add another tee back to the sump if the flow seems too high. I can also modify this tee to make water changes a lot easier.
See, I knew you all would have great ideas. Maybe I should have had you all involved earlier in the process.
See, I knew you all would have great ideas. Maybe I should have had you all involved earlier in the process.
Sparks, Actually, I was thinking about teeing off another connection going to your tank. I would guess your pump will actually put out about 400 gph in your setup. That is only 20x your tank volume. I don't think you will find flow is to strong, but if it is too strong you can just tee off and put another inflow into the tank. That would make the flow to each inflow 1/2 the orginal flow and would lessen the strengh. Does that make sense at all?
Or like you thought you can just tee off and and divert the flow back to the sump. Many people do this and if it helps with water changes I would do that. Any thing to make them easier makes life better.
Good luck,
Chris
Or like you thought you can just tee off and and divert the flow back to the sump. Many people do this and if it helps with water changes I would do that. Any thing to make them easier makes life better.
Good luck,
Chris
clown fanatic
New member
WOW, def tagging along
fishes2889
In Memoriam
Sparks ,
absolutley brilliant !!!!!!! i love th eDIY work on this project...........count me in
peace
absolutley brilliant !!!!!!! i love th eDIY work on this project...........count me in
peace
DSparks
New member
Thanks vest, clown and fishes. I hope that I can keep enough updates coming to keep it interesting for you.
Chris,
Someone posted this chart in one of my threads over on NR. According to it the 400 gph will drop even more (to 360). So I think you have convinced me on the Mag 7.
Flow into SCWD-------SCWD TD Output-------Efficiency-------Switching Duration
150 gph----------------90 gph---------------60%-------------22 seconds
180 gph---------------120 gph---------------65%-------------16 seconds
240 gph---------------180 gph---------------75%-------------12 seconds
270 gph---------------210 gph---------------80%-------------10 seconds
330 gph---------------240 gph---------------80%--------------9 seconds
400 gph---------------360 gph---------------90%--------------7 seconds
600 gph---------------540 gph---------------90%--------------5 seconds
720 gph---------------660 gph---------------90%--------------4 seconds
Chris,
Someone posted this chart in one of my threads over on NR. According to it the 400 gph will drop even more (to 360). So I think you have convinced me on the Mag 7.
Flow into SCWD-------SCWD TD Output-------Efficiency-------Switching Duration
150 gph----------------90 gph---------------60%-------------22 seconds
180 gph---------------120 gph---------------65%-------------16 seconds
240 gph---------------180 gph---------------75%-------------12 seconds
270 gph---------------210 gph---------------80%-------------10 seconds
330 gph---------------240 gph---------------80%--------------9 seconds
400 gph---------------360 gph---------------90%--------------7 seconds
600 gph---------------540 gph---------------90%--------------5 seconds
720 gph---------------660 gph---------------90%--------------4 seconds
DSparks
New member
Hi all. Last night I was looking around the OceanMotions website. I'm starting to wonder if a Squirt is not the right way to go.
Advantages:
*There wouldn't be any flow loss with the Squirt, whereas the SCWD will cause a loss of flow.
*Four alternating outputs instead of just the two on a SCWD.
Dis-advantages:
*I have two brand new SCWD's still in the box. They were sent to me free of charge when I had a problem with the first SCWD I purchased.
*Possibly the plumbing. I'm not sure if I would have room to get everything plumbed without creating a mess of pipes. Any experiences with a similar situation out there?
Advantages:
*There wouldn't be any flow loss with the Squirt, whereas the SCWD will cause a loss of flow.
*Four alternating outputs instead of just the two on a SCWD.
Dis-advantages:
*I have two brand new SCWD's still in the box. They were sent to me free of charge when I had a problem with the first SCWD I purchased.
*Possibly the plumbing. I'm not sure if I would have room to get everything plumbed without creating a mess of pipes. Any experiences with a similar situation out there?
DSparks,
Someone needs to talk to the SCWD company. You cannot have water dissapper. )-: 150 GPH in and 90 GPH out. What happens to the 60 other gallons per hour? Do they go to the water gods? I know the chart is right off the web site of the company that makes the SCWD, but it is not correct. I know what they are trying to do, but the correct why to present the data would be to tell the friction loss associated with various flows. Preferable the friction loss would be head loss per foot.
You will find the Mag 7 has alot less flow than you think by the time you set it up. I assume it is being used to pump from an open sump to the the tank above?
Good luck with your SCWD or Squirt decision. By the why the Squirt has some friction loss associated with it. It may be so low it is neglegable and it probuably is. But any time water flows through something there is a friction loss.
Keep us posted.
Cheers,
Chris
Someone needs to talk to the SCWD company. You cannot have water dissapper. )-: 150 GPH in and 90 GPH out. What happens to the 60 other gallons per hour? Do they go to the water gods? I know the chart is right off the web site of the company that makes the SCWD, but it is not correct. I know what they are trying to do, but the correct why to present the data would be to tell the friction loss associated with various flows. Preferable the friction loss would be head loss per foot.
You will find the Mag 7 has alot less flow than you think by the time you set it up. I assume it is being used to pump from an open sump to the the tank above?
Good luck with your SCWD or Squirt decision. By the why the Squirt has some friction loss associated with it. It may be so low it is neglegable and it probuably is. But any time water flows through something there is a friction loss.
Keep us posted.
Cheers,
Chris
DSparks
New member
Chris, you are correct. The Mag 7 will be returning water from an open sump up to the tank (about 4 feet), with either a SCWD or Squirt inline. I'm going to have my wife pick up a Mag 7 for my birthday. Thanks for the help on this. I would have went with the Mag 5 and probably have not been satisfied.
I'm not an engineer, so I can't speak with any authority. I've always assumed the loss in flow with SWCD's was due to the energy required to turn the mechanism that switches the outputs. I can say that I did see a difference in flow amount when I added a SCWD to my 10 gallon while testing plumbing. How much of a drop I can't say since there really wasn't a way to accurately measure for it.
This has been the most difficult thing to work through in both my setups. It's really hard to judge how much flow is the "right amount". Then you have to choose the right pump to deliver that flowrate after head loss and plumbing. Considering all of those factors it seems to be horseshoes and hand grenades anyway.
I'm not an engineer, so I can't speak with any authority. I've always assumed the loss in flow with SWCD's was due to the energy required to turn the mechanism that switches the outputs. I can say that I did see a difference in flow amount when I added a SCWD to my 10 gallon while testing plumbing. How much of a drop I can't say since there really wasn't a way to accurately measure for it.
This has been the most difficult thing to work through in both my setups. It's really hard to judge how much flow is the "right amount". Then you have to choose the right pump to deliver that flowrate after head loss and plumbing. Considering all of those factors it seems to be horseshoes and hand grenades anyway.
Nice tank and stand. I'm going to have to go back thru this thread a couple of times to try and copy some of your ideas if you don't mind?
I was wondering about your external overflow. Could you show more pictures of how you set that up and how you glued it to the tank? Also, how did you cut the top of the tank, where the overflow teeth are? And/or is the back of the tank black acrylic? Confused?
nice setup man...will be following this one
I was wondering about your external overflow. Could you show more pictures of how you set that up and how you glued it to the tank? Also, how did you cut the top of the tank, where the overflow teeth are? And/or is the back of the tank black acrylic? Confused?
nice setup man...will be following this one
DSparks
New member
ktkreggs, here are more pics of the overflow. It'll try to give you some more details about how I built it.
A 1/4" black piece of acrylic was cut to fit the back of the tank. Slots were routed across the top where the water will drain into the external overflow box. Take special care not to route the slots too deep or the water level in the tank will be too low.
The trim at the back of the tank was cut off, and a Rotozip Tile Cutting bit in a Dremel tool was used to grind a notch out of the glass where the overflow slots will be.
Four pieces of glass form the box. The bottom piece of glass needs at least one hole cut or drilled for the bulkhead. I found that siliconing the box together separate from the tank and then siliconing the box to the tank as one piece was the best way to build the external overflow box.
Next the black acrylic was siliconed to the back of the tank. It's difficult to keep even pressure on the acrylic while it cures. I ended up rolling up some hosing to create a spring and placing it inside the tank close to the bottom. This, along with clamps at the top, created enough pressure to get good adhesion.
The last step was to install the plumbing. Everything I needed was available at Lowes, and in total couldn't have cost much more than $15.00.
Here are a few more pics for reference. I'll try to hunt down some better threads on building an external overflow.
A 1/4" black piece of acrylic was cut to fit the back of the tank. Slots were routed across the top where the water will drain into the external overflow box. Take special care not to route the slots too deep or the water level in the tank will be too low.
The trim at the back of the tank was cut off, and a Rotozip Tile Cutting bit in a Dremel tool was used to grind a notch out of the glass where the overflow slots will be.
Four pieces of glass form the box. The bottom piece of glass needs at least one hole cut or drilled for the bulkhead. I found that siliconing the box together separate from the tank and then siliconing the box to the tank as one piece was the best way to build the external overflow box.
Next the black acrylic was siliconed to the back of the tank. It's difficult to keep even pressure on the acrylic while it cures. I ended up rolling up some hosing to create a spring and placing it inside the tank close to the bottom. This, along with clamps at the top, created enough pressure to get good adhesion.
The last step was to install the plumbing. Everything I needed was available at Lowes, and in total couldn't have cost much more than $15.00.
Here are a few more pics for reference. I'll try to hunt down some better threads on building an external overflow.
DSparks
New member
ktkreegs, here's another thread on an external overflow.
Impur's 29 Gallon External Overflow
While our approaches were a little different, the end results ended up very similar.
There is one other thread I'd like to find for you. It's the original external overflow (at least the first one I had ever seen). It's also on a 20H, like mine.
Impur's 29 Gallon External Overflow
While our approaches were a little different, the end results ended up very similar.
There is one other thread I'd like to find for you. It's the original external overflow (at least the first one I had ever seen). It's also on a 20H, like mine.
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