75g Acrylic tank w/ 40g sump (Journal build thread)

[rickztahone]

I've had my 56g white bowfront for sale locally, and before I even sold that one, I already bought another one, lol. The 56 just wasn't big enough for discus. So, I ended up going with a 75g 4ft. It is as big as I can go in that space (my only space according to my wife). I got it from a member on Scape and it is in great condition. Came with a stand. I may reinforce the stand as I am not that sure how good I feel about how it currently stands.

So, my goal is to do my first sumped tank. I have a 40g breeder lying around that will become my sump. I plan on going coast to coast with an overflow and doing a Bean animal setup. I bought some wood from the member as well and it looks pretty good in there. Tank isn't necessarily slated for a discus tank, but it is always difficult for me to venture away from discus. I give myself a time line of about 3-6 months to have this up and running. I am taking my time with this one. I may just make another DIY stand for this one as well.

So, if you liked my last journal, stick around for this one ;)

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC02268_zps87879ac2.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC02268_zps87879ac2.jpg.html)
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC02269_zps17f356cf.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC02269_zps17f356cf.jpg.html)

[Second Hand Pat]

You have a nice start to this Ricardo. :D How did you get the sump in the stand? Thru the top?

[rickztahone]

No, through the back. I had to remove a reinforcement plank. I'm not sure how this stand was holding up this 75, there are no 2x4's anywhere on it! lol. My stand on the 56g is WAY, WAY over built compared to this. My stand weighs about 6 times more, seriously.

So, I will eventually stick a reinforcement frame in there for peace of mind.

[alcastro]

Finally, is always great to start a new project, may i sugest small fish and grow them out. good luck bud, i am tired of cleaning my garage for my project hope to be done cleaning tomorrow.

[rickztahone]

Finally, is always great to start a new project, may i sugest small fish and grow them out. good luck bud, i am tired of cleaning my garage for my project hope to be done cleaning tomorrow.

lol, just barely? Are you suggesting small fish period, or small discus fish? I am thinking of some kind of schooling fish, but man I love growing out discus. May try angels? Hard to not like them after seeing Pat's gorgeous angles.

[alcastro]

Personaly i like how discus change as they grow, when you get tired of them start over, although all types of rams would be nice plus cheaper lol,

[rickztahone]

Personaly i like how discus change as they grow, when you get tired of them start over, although all types of rams would be nice plus cheaper lol,

I've been tainted with the Ram purchasing at the moment, and would like to avoid rams, lol.

[Larry Grenier]

Love acrylic tanks! Nice driftwood. What light is that?

[rickztahone]

Love acrylic tanks! Nice driftwood. What light is that?

it is an Aquatic life edge 24". I actually did an informal review on it Here (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?114086-Aquatic-Life-EDGE-LED-light-fixture-informal-review) if you'd like to check it out.

[blueluv]

Definitely like your acrylic aquarium. If you go with angelfish, what strain do you like ? I like blues, koi and pinoy leopards.

[rickztahone]

Definitely like your acrylic aquarium. If you go with angelfish, what strain do you like ? I like blues, koi and pinoy leopards.

I really like the pinoy smokey pearlscale sold by Carol (http://www.angelfishbreeders.org/CarolFrancis.htm)

[blueluv]

I really like the pinoy smokey pearlscale sold by Carol (http://www.angelfishbreeders.org/CarolFrancis.htm)

Wow! That is a gorgeous angelfish. If I had room for both a discus and angelfish tank. I would do an angelfish tank with a mix of pinoy smokey and platinum snakeskin.

[rickztahone]

Wow! That is a gorgeous angelfish. If I had room for both a discus and angelfish tank. I would do an angelfish tank with a mix of pinoy smokey and platinum snakeskin.

Yeah, with the last tank, I almost pulled the trigger on those, but Carol advised me against it. That is how I knew she was a great breeder. A breeder who doesn't care what people do with their stock would have sold them to me.

[blueluv]

Yeah, with the last tank, I almost pulled the trigger on those, but Carol advised me against it. That is how I knew she was a great breeder. A breeder who doesn't care what people do with their stock would have sold them to me.

Why did she advise you against it ?

[rickztahone]

Why did she advise you against it ?

My tank was too small. The tank I have currently is only 36" wide. She informed me that as angels grow they need their own space and they wouldn't do well in the long run. I hadn't told her I grow out discus, but what she said makes sound advice. It is the reason I have to currently sell that tank, because the discus could not thrive in such a small footprint.

[rickztahone]

Ok, being that this is a journal, I will take you guys through some of my "in the works" ideas. In order to share these with you, I should share the fact that I have never done a sump filter before, and I just recently have started with acrylic tanks. With that being said, I have put in a lot of leg work in researching sumps/overflows and plumbing and I think I may have most of the "principles" in check.

However, if you see anything wrong with my thought process, please voice it, as I am not going in completely blind, but I do not have any previous experience with all this.


Goals:

My goals are simple;
-I want to maxamize the space that I am limited to (4ft) by using a sump to get extra water volume. This has already been achieved by acquiring a 40g breeder that fits under the stand.

-I am set on a Bean Animal overflow - I will go in to detail later in this post on what that entails.

-I plan on going coast to coast with the internal box for skimming

-I need to find out exact details on how to lay out a sump, specifically how to place baffles, what thickness they need to be and so on. I plan on doing biological and mechanical filtration with sump.

-I'm hoping to only do sand and driftwood in this tank with possibly anubias and ferns tied to the driftwood. I have debated back and forth on a fully planted high tech tank again, but dealing with a new aspect of the hobby (sumps), I think I may just take it easy and tackle one at a time.

-I also need to reinforce the stand. I bought the whole setup used, and while the tank was in great condition, the stand could use some work. I was thinking of going completely DIY, but I have done that for the past 2 tanks, and I have gone north of $200 on both builds on stands alone, and I am learning (much to my dissapointment) that most people will not pay good money for a DIY stand, no matter how good it looks, or how much it cost you, lol.

-To investigate about having 2 returns to the tank

-To find out if the inside background can be painted



Explanation of sump build:

I will explain how I started my research. I knew I wanted a sump, which in turn meant that I had to figure out what type of overflow I would want. Well, turns out, there are A LOT of them out there, lol.

The tradtional one is a Durso Standpipe (http://www.dursostandpipes.com/make-your-own-durso-standpipe). The other I found is a Herbie Style overflow (http://gmacreef.com/herbie-overflow-reef-tank-plumbing-method-basics/). Lastly, the one that I liked most is the Bean animal overflow (http://www.beananimal.com/projects/silent-and-fail-safe-aquarium-overflow-system.aspx).

I will not go in to much detail about the other two, but the Durso was the one that most people used over the years. The other two are spin offs of the traditional Durso. The Herbie style still remains INSIDE of the tank and flows to the sump through the bottom glass. I have read that this setup can be made to run really quite, almost silent. I have read the same claim about Durso, but have also read that not everyone can make a Durso very quite all the time. For this reason, the appeal for the Bean Animal overflow is the one that appealed to me the most.

The Bean animal overflow incorporates an inside box that is siliconed, or welded (acrylic) to the top back part of the tank. This L shaped box has "teeth" at the top of the box, also known as a weir. This weir serves as a protection for your fish so that they do not take a ride down the filter pipes.

Now, inside of this internal box, you have to drill 3 holes in the back of your tank. These 3 holes are the ones that let water in to the actual overflow reservoir where you have your plumbing. This outside box is where all the action happens. With the bean animal overflow, it incorporates 3 potential drain pipes to the sump. This was the main appeal for me to chose this setup. My biggest fear and the reason I had never gone with a sump was the fear of flooding. This method makes it so that if you have a drain pipe failure, the next one in line can pick up the slack and keep working as normal. Basically, this setup has a drain pipe that is always at full siphon. One other, is barely siphoning anything, and lets in a little air by way of an airline at the top. The last one is simply an emergency line that will activate if one of the others fail. Which in turn would turn the one with the airline hose in to full siphon, and the emergency in to the relief.

To get a better sense of what I am talking about, take a look at this video of a guy running a bean animal style overflow:
How To: Coast to Coast/ bean animal overflow External plumbing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n5EszLPW-E)

There actually aren't many videos out there that depict the process so well as this video. I have gone through quite a few videos and most tend to not tell you everything you need to know and assume you know it.

There is one more video that was very helpful to me but this user used a very small width internal box like I plan to use. He used gutter guard and let the water spill through to the internal box. He does go over the need of siphon breaks at the end of the video as well which was new information to me at that point in my research.

Check out the video here:
BeanAnimal Overflow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y38tFbCwfhc&feature=youtu.be)


So with all of that being said, why the need for a "coast to coast" internal box? One of the main reasons for excessive noise is because the water flows over to the overflow side as a stream because most use very small surface area. The point of a coast to coast setup is that you take advantage of the fact that the water comes OVER in to the internal box by way of a lot of surface area. Think of it in these terms, lets say you have a large tank, say 125g. Now, imagine filling it up to the top right before it spills over and imagine there is a whole bunch of holes letting water out. The water coming out is coming out of the tank as a stream. Now, imagine that same tank overflowing. The water will overflow out of the tank almost as a sheet of water because it has so much surface area to do so. This is what we are trying to mimic with a coast to coast internal box. The box will allow a whole lot of water to enter to the overflow, but it will enter it by a sheet of water, rather than a stream of it. This reduces noise, and is very effective in getting a whole of water to your overflow.

That explains why I want to go with coast to coast. Now, the part I am having a difficult time visualizing is the fact that I have to make a basic L shaped acrlyic piece, and since my tank has a top pane of acrlyic, I am not sure how I go about welding it in place. I asked over at reef central and they tell me that welding the acrylic on the outside only will suffice. I believe they are correct, and in effect, this would allow me to make the weir actually go all the way towards the top of the tank and actually hitting the top pane which would make it next to impossible for a fish to get caught in the filtration.

I am still in need of figuring out exactly what components I need to purchase in order to make all of this work. The link I provided is pretty straight forward, but since I hadn't actually gotten the tank when I did my research, I didn't mind it too much knowing that I would have to come back to it. I need to figure out how far apart the baffles in the sump need to be as well as how thick and other things of that nature. Again, this is a learning process for me, so maybe we can learn all of these things together? :)


Helpful links:

The following links have helped me understand the whole sump, overflow and general plumbing situation. Hopefully you can read through them and gain some knowledge that you did not previously have:

-Understanding Sump (http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/saltwater-aquarium-equipment/understanding-sumps-15943/)
-Everything you always wanted to know about sumps I (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-01/gt/)
-Everything you always wanted to know about sumps II (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/gt/index.php)
-A great sump thread here in our very own SimplyDiscus :) (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?49139-sump-journal-sorta)
-Bulkhead sizing (http://www.diyfishkeepers.com/forum/showthread.php?329-Hole-saw-size-for-bulkheads)
-A place to buy all kinds of PVC fittings (http://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/)
-Another video from the gentleman earlier mentioned (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK9ul6vH3QI)
-How to weld acrylic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaFHS4ESw7Y)
-DIY acrylic (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-04/jg/index.php)
-Sump calculator (http://reefcentral.com/calc/sump.php)
-Humongous bean animal setup (http://www.glassreef.com/basics_overflow.php)
-another good sump read (http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html)


Conclusion:


As you can probably tell, I am not going in blindly on this. I have done a bit of research and I feel that I should be able to do this successfully. Again, if you see any flaws, or anything that make my life easier, please let me know.

I will of course do step by step like I do in most of my builds so that you guys/gals can learn along the way as well.

Fauna is still undetermined, but of course I have to be leaning towards discus because they have the biggest calling for me, but I may just do something else, just to venture from the norm. Any suggestions?

[rickztahone]

I believe I will change the way I will approach the inner overflow box. I am going to do the traditional route and use bulkheads through the backwall to get the pvc elbows in the inner box. This way, there is no outside box I have to worry about. The reason I chose to go the traditional route, is that I believe this may be less noisy overall. The reason I wanted to go with an alternative setup in the first place, was to reduce the amount of space used behind the tank. I could have made the overflow box longer rather than wider and it would have sat flush to the wall. In the traditional manner, the pvc would be the one hitting the wall, and a little more space taken. Either way, the traditional route has one less thing that can go wrong.

[rickztahone]

For those familiar with sumps, is there a general concensus on good quality submersible pumps? I saw a couple at Jehmco but really can't ascertain if they are good reviewed products by fellow hobbyists or not. I'm looking at something in the 750gph at 5' roughly. This was advised in another forum, but I am not sure if that is the number I should be shooting for? If I go with discus, I'm not sure if that would create too much current. I know the saltwater people use more flow in their reef tanks.

[Second Hand Pat]

Ricardo, look at a mag-drive 7. I run one of those in my 75.

[rickztahone]

Ricardo, look at a mag-drive 7. I run one of those in my 75.

If it works for you Pat, it works for me. Another quick question, on return lines, does it matter what type of outflow adapter you use? I ask because from what I am reading, you really do not want to restrict water flow through the pipes, this means no 90 degree elbows and such. Wouldn't putting one of those flat nozzles on outlet restrict the flow significantly?

I swear, I've been researching sumps/overflows/plumbing for months now and some of it still goes over my head. I think I may be over-thinking most times.

[Second Hand Pat]

I have two 90 degree angles on my return line on my 90 but this tank does not have a mag-drive. Not sure of the pump on this tank. Can you lost a picture of a flat nozzle?

[rickztahone]

Ok, if any of you are still following, the following are steps and research I have taken to be more informed before I buy anything the first time around.

People underestimate research, but it is research that has saved me a ton of money over the years in this hobby. There is nothing worse than getting home, ready to set something up and when you are half way through the build, you realize you got the wrong piece, or didn't account for something and you need to stop to get it or fix something.

This is why I put so much research time in to my builds. Again, being that this is my first sump build, I am being even more tedious than usual.

At first, the task of a sump seemed daunting, but after putting in quite a few days of research, I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

So, moving to some of the things I found out:


With the Bean Animal overflow system, he depicts 3 True union ball valves in his design. I have since learned that all 3 or not actually needed, only the full siphon line needs the valve.



Additionally, the valve should be a Gate valve like This one (http://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/1-12-pvc-socket-gate-valve-spears2022-015.html) for better precision adjustment rather than the true union ball valve.



Schedule 40 plumbing is fine for everything to do with plumbing, but Schedule 80 valves are much better. The 80's sometimes will not fit well with the 40's but typically when they are threaded type pieces



90 degree elbows should be avoided whenever possible and 45 degree ones should be used more often. Pockets of air get trapped in this horizontal runs that you want to avoid, they are the main culprits in causing noise.




PVC unions should be implemented closer to the pump so that it isn't hard plumped and you can take it apart for maintenance




Additionally, I have found a website that explains sump builds pretty well. While researching, I noticed that many people talk with the assumption that you know where everything goes and that it is a given. That is not true most of the time with me, lol. So, I found this article: Reef Aquarium sump tank design (http://gmacreef.com/reef-aquarium-sump-tank-design/) that does a great job of showing you what you are aiming for. Additionally, this same article leads you to many other great ones, which I will share with you here:



-Suitable Pipe Materials for Plumbing Reef Aquariums (http://gmacreef.com/reef-tank-pipe-material/)

-How to plumb and install a Return Line from a Sump to the Tank (http://gmacreef.com/return-line-plumbing-reef-aquarium-sump/)

-Selecting the Proper Return Pump for your Reef Tank (http://gmacreef.com/reef-tank-return-pump/)


I found another article which shows you how to make adjustable baffles here (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_3/cav3i1/Baffles/bafflesart.htm)




Hole saw sizes for bulk heads here (http://diyfishkeepers.com/forum/showthread.php?329-Hole-saw-size-for-bulkheads)




A good read about "rules" as far as where to drill holes on your tank here (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=20727935&postcount=5070)




A great store to buy Loc-Line from here (http://www.modularhose.com/)




A place to find every single piece of pvc you could possibly need here (http://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/)



As you can see, some leg work here, but hopefully some of these will help you get a little closer to possibly going to a sump in one of your future tanks.

I will start ordering soon. I need to buy acrylic for my coast to coast first as well as for my baffles. I will have the baffles cut each section in to thirds.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them here, and maybe we can learn together :)

[MKD]

this is awsome project Rick. are you cutting and gluing acrylic?? what are you using ??

[pkumar]

Terrific compilation of useful information! Thank you! I am planning a new tank build myself, and have been baffled (no pun intended) with trying to find a concept or direction to pursue with the plumbing. Your work is very, very helpful and plan to follow your build with great interest. I think this is my first post in a couple of years! Thanks again. - Prashanth

[dprais1]

for what it's worth....

I ran a durso and it was always noisy. I loved having a sump but it wasn't worth it because of the noise. My 75 reef ready tank now houses two juvenile red foot tortoises.

I ran a mag 5 on a 75 gallon tank and it was a little bit too weak
I switched to a mag 9.5, good flow but would blow even heavy sand around and provided some really strong focused current.

I think a mag 7 would have been perfect. if I remember correctly there are two mag 7. I think the aquarium type has a 3' cord and the pond model a 6' cord? The price and everything else appears the same. go for the 6' cord.

IMO you can spend hundreds of dollars playing with baffles and ceramic media, k1 media, bio-spheres, bio-bale and all the latest filter media. And all you will have is a really expensive sump. I think one or two 4" of the very coarse poret foam will provide more than enough surface area for all biological filtration you will ever need. ever.

Get some filter socks or you can rig up a sheet of the filter sock material before the return pump and your water will be crystal clear.

[rickztahone]

this is awsome project Rick. are you cutting and gluing acrylic?? what are you using ??

Yeah, I found a company in Santa Monica that specializes in tinted acrylic. I will get the acrylic from them, and I will make the baffles and coast to coast overflow myself by welding it in place. Hopefully successfully, lol. If this project is anything like the other, I'm sure it is going to snowball in to this whole other thing somehow, lol.


Terrific compilation of useful information! Thank you! I am planning a new tank build myself, and have been baffled (no pun intended) with trying to find a concept or direction to pursue with the plumbing. Your work is very, very helpful and plan to follow your build with great interest. I think this is my first post in a couple of years! Thanks again. - Prashanth
That is wonderful! If I can help only one person, then my job is done :). Keep following, I will try posting more cool plumbing. If you really are interesting in some awesome plumbing though, check out This thread! (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1663066)


for what it's worth....

I ran a durso and it was always noisy. I loved having a sump but it wasn't worth it because of the noise. My 75 reef ready tank now houses two juvenile red foot tortoises.

I ran a mag 5 on a 75 gallon tank and it was a little bit too weak
I switched to a mag 9.5, good flow but would blow even heavy sand around and provided some really strong focused current.

I think a mag 7 would have been perfect. if I remember correctly there are two mag 7. I think the aquarium type has a 3' cord and the pond model a 6' cord? The price and everything else appears the same. go for the 6' cord.

IMO you can spend hundreds of dollars playing with baffles and ceramic media, k1 media, bio-spheres, bio-bale and all the latest filter media. And all you will have is a really expensive sump. I think one or two 4" of the very coarse poret foam will provide more than enough surface area for all biological filtration you will ever need. ever.

Get some filter socks or you can rig up a sheet of the filter sock material before the return pump and your water will be crystal clear.

Pat was the one that recommended the Mag 7 and it is at the top of my list. The only other one at the top of my list is the eheim 1260 because so many seem to recommend it for quite operation. Plus, many have claimed owning them for many years without problems, just like the Mag7

[farebox]

Project sounds real good. When I went with an sump, kept everything simple. Checked the video on Joise's 300 gallon open tank. Since my tank wasn't drilled went an pre-filter siphon box from Lifereef.com. All the plumbing was supplied and correct water pump. All I had to do was install.

[rickztahone]

Project sounds real good. When I went with an sump, kept everything simple. Checked the video on Joise's 300 gallon open tank. Since my tank wasn't drilled went an pre-filter siphon box from Lifereef.com. All the plumbing was supplied and correct water pump. All I had to do was install.

Nice. I remember seeing your post farebox. While my tanks aren't drilled now, I have full confidence in drilling acrylic. It is one of the reasons I was searching for an acrylic tank to begin with. Had it been glass, I would have had more hesitancy to drill, but I probably would have still done it.

One of the key reasons why I chose to go the drilling way over the U-Tube was because of my concern and paranoia about flooding my place. I know you say that your system runs well, but the fact still remains that the chances of a flood from a U-Tube are greater than a drilled tank if done properly. Again, I do not doubt that your system is up to par, but I wanted to take the system that had the absolute least probability of flooding. That is the beauty of the bean animal systme. Even if 2 drains fail, you still have a 3rd drain that will work as a full siphon. The chances of 3 drains failing is very very slim.

I will keep this thing rolling. Got 2 200w Jager heaters today for the sump from Jehmco and they were only $20 a piece! Can't beat that.

Now, if I could only sell either of my current tanks locally.........then I could really get this show on the road, lol.

[dprais1]

drilling an acrylic tank is super easy and fast. even if you do it really carefully and go turtle-slow it still only takes a minute. I drilled holes in my 46 bowfront and couldn't be happier with the results.

[DiscusRob]

Learned a lot from this guy back in my reef days, he is pretty much considered an artist for his work and diy videos and plans for sumps, plumbing, and overflows. Just thought you might want to check it out:)

http://www.melevsreef.com/category/articles/diy/sumps

[rickztahone]

Thanks to Rick and his $20 controller thread (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?117110-20-00-Controller-how-to-wiring-(easy)), I was able to get my controller fully wired. I am yet to test it with my heaters plugged in, but I do not doubt it will work.

Had I not had to order a new Dremel because my other one broke, the project would have been right at, or close to $20 with the parts that Rick desribes. However, I chose to buy a project box and a couple of female plugs for aesthetics which pushed the project just a little bit higher. Overall, I am very happy about how it came out. I wish I would have had a smaller plastic disc to not over cut my slots for the female plugs, but I used what I had at hand.

Here are some pics from the progression of that project:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7354/16355675639_3876482141_o.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/16355675639/)
DSC02507 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/16355675639/) by SimplyDiscusPhoto (https://www.flickr.com/people/130869527@N06/), on Flickr
First I masked taped the project box and measured out where the controller would end up. I used the masking tape to preserve the finish on the project box.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8562/16540875612_356ac34cac_b.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/16540875612/)
DSC02508 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/16540875612/) by SimplyDiscusPhoto (https://www.flickr.com/people/130869527@N06/), on Flickr
Measured out the squares for the female plugs

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8561/15919377374_f9fdc78618_b.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/15919377374/)
DSC02509 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/15919377374/) by SimplyDiscusPhoto (https://www.flickr.com/people/130869527@N06/), on Flickr
Female plugs installed

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8671/16354480160_69a266f33b_b.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/16354480160/)
DSC02510 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/16354480160/) by SimplyDiscusPhoto (https://www.flickr.com/people/130869527@N06/), on Flickr
and controller installed

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7435/15921754023_2f46995670_b.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/15921754023/)
DSC02511 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/15921754023/) by SimplyDiscusPhoto (https://www.flickr.com/people/130869527@N06/), on Flickr
Now, to get started with the wiring. I used the same extension cord for the 4 pieces of wire the project calls for.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7310/15919377104_61f8c91206_b.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/15919377104/)
DSC02512 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/15919377104/) by SimplyDiscusPhoto (https://www.flickr.com/people/130869527@N06/), on Flickr
This part was a bit tricky because I wanted my controller to be oriented so that the plate that closes on the project box opens at the bottom. In order to do this, the screws that need to be screwed/unscrewed would be inaccessible. So, what I ended up doing was labeling each wire with the number it corresponds to so that I do not get confused while wiring this controller up. It worked just fine in this manner.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7323/16355675379_8edce3fb0c_b.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/16355675379/)
DSC02513 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/16355675379/) by SimplyDiscusPhoto (https://www.flickr.com/people/130869527@N06/), on Flickr
Everything tidied up and ready for power

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8585/16541973955_62924c8cca_b.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/16541973955/)
DSC02515 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/16541973955/) by SimplyDiscusPhoto (https://www.flickr.com/people/130869527@N06/), on Flickr
And we have power!

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7290/16541973915_3525055fcd_b.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/16541973915/)
DSC02516 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130869527@N06/16541973915/) by SimplyDiscusPhoto (https://www.flickr.com/people/130869527@N06/), on Flickr
Back side of box

Very easy to follow instructions, and very cheap to boot. Thank you to Rick for the thread step by step :)

Next, in the project is acquiring the acrylic to weld as a coast to coast overflow, and for the baffles in the sump. I will also be doing the plumbing at the same time. The most expensive part of the plumbing will be the gate valve ($50 ouch), and the actual pump, which I was just recommended one that is pretty cool. It allows you to throttle back and also has a feeding setting button where it will turn off, and turn back on after 10 minutes without you having to disconnect or connect anything back up.

Keep following for more updates.

[pcsb23]

Subscribed.

Looking good Ricardo, if you do decide on angels go for proper ones :evilgrin:

[rickztahone]

Subscribed.

Looking good Ricardo, if you do decide on angels go for proper ones :evilgrin:

I plan on reaching out to Bill or getting some directly from Carol Francis (http://www.angelfishbreeders.org/CarolFrancis.htm). I've spoken to her in the past and she is such a great person to speak to. I hope to do business with her if I ever make up my mind :)

[rickztahone]

Ok, I finally sat down with some graphing paper and planned out my Bean Animal outside overflow box:
85351
This shows roughly what it will look like. I only plan on tweaking the siphon line a little and raising it closer to the Open channel line

Next I tried to plan out my sump, but baffles still baffle me (yeah, I went there with the cheap pun). I do not believe Baffle C and Baffle D are correctly oriented, so some advice from those in the know please chime in.
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I plan on putting ceramic media in panty hose and sitting on top of the egg crate help up by pvc short stacks. As I mentioned, I believe the baffles may be backwards, and I am not sure if the baffle heights give off the correct water level I want. If anyone sees anything glaringly wrong, please let me know.

[MKD]

Very nice Rick. As far as sump, i think baffles C&D are high or middle chamber to big which doesnot give much water volume to fill up 1+ inch of main tank and cycle back to sump. Last chamber will run out water quick not include evaporation. If you fill sump up to height of baffles, then you dont have much room in case back flow from main tank when pump off or out of power. Make sure your return nozzle above water line before pump on and check valvle may help too.

Are you going to fill up middle chamber with media? If it was me, i make middle chamber smaller or lower baffles. Plus move sponge to milddle chamber on the above eggcrate, it will be easy to take out to clean it. Also i'll put 1 more sponge before pump to make sure crystal clear retun water and prevent stuffs may damage pump.

Hth
Tony

[rickztahone]

Very nice Rick. As far as sump, i think baffles C&D are high or middle chamber to big which doesnot give much water volume to fill up 1+ inch of main tank and cycle back to sump. Last chamber will run out water quick not include evaporation. If you fill sump up to height of baffles, then you dont have much room in case back flow from main tank when pump off or out of power. Make sure your return nozzle above water line before pump on and check valvle may help too.

Are you going to fill up middle chamber with media? If it was me, i make middle chamber smaller or lower baffles. Plus move sponge to milddle chamber on the above eggcrate, it will be easy to take out to clean it. Also i'll put 1 more sponge before pump to make sure crystal clear retun water and prevent stuffs may damage pump.

Hth
Tony

I was thinking the same thing about C&D. I was thinking of lowering them as well. However, I did want a large middle section for a lot of cermic media. I was thinking of doing K1 initially but changed my mind due to price and scared of lack of design. I was thinking of possibly doing like Joey did and make a baffle with 2 pipes with slits, but again, I'm really on the fence about it.

I'm not sure if I understand your 1"+ remark. The Bean animal overflow setup makes it so that I do not have to worry about the tank water level. Only the sump level with decrease which is why I want a large return pump section as well. The back flow will only be about 5g from my calculations which this setup will be able to handle. Also, no check valve needed because of the way the bean animal setup is done. The coast to coast weir can not give off more water than the 5g I mentioned prior.

[MKD]

To me 5 gallon is pushing it beacuse water evaporate really quick and pump will run dry in couple days. Unless you top it off or frequent wc.

Base on your pic, last chamber water volume up to baffle 15×15x10H minus 4"H for pump before get dry. So you have 15x15x6"H ~ 5.7gallon fill main tank and return pipes.

Side note : back flow can come from returned hose depends on position.

[rickztahone]

To me 5 gallon is pushing it beacuse water evaporate really quick and pump will run dry in couple days. Unless you top it off or frequent wc.

Base on your pic, last chamber water volume up to baffle 15×15x10H minus 4"H for pump before get dry. So you have 15x15x6"H ~ 5.7gallon fill main tank and return pipes.

Side note : back flow can come from returned hose depends on position.

I am thinking of doing an ATO so that would eliminate the worry of running dry.

[kris2341]

Barely happened by this, great work rick! Now for me to head into class....

[rickztahone]

So I had to adjust my external overflow measurements/sizes. I'm doing the measurements here at work so I could only get a pdf file to load rather than a viewable jpeg, my apologies.

The goal here is to have the water level line even in both the internal overflow box and the external one. In order to do this, I have to tweak the full siphon line in order for the water line to stay in the center of the drilled holes in the back of the glass. You do this with a ball valve, or in my case, a gate valve which has more precise control. The goal is to throttle back the full siphon just enough so that the OC (open channel) line will get a very small percentage of water flowing down that pipe. The pipes below the bulkheads will be 1.5" for the OC and emergency but not the full siphon. This setup should be able to push about 1,200GPH. I will not be flowing that much through this tank, and accounting for head loss, pvc bends and baffles and such, I am looking to be right around 500-600gph.

My sump design is all ready to go as well. I just need to go out and buy some 1/4 acrylic and buy the weld on #4 & #16

85632

85633

[rickztahone]

So I ended up scrapping the DC 4000 pump idea. I just read too many mix bag reviews and I'd rather not deal with that. I ended up with an Eheim 1260. I was going to go with the Eheim 1262 because it was only $5 more (currently on sale online) but I figured it would be too much flow. Inintially, my plan for the DC 4000 was to ramp it down from its 1k rating. With the Eheim, being that it isn't adjustable, I figured I'd dial in what I am actually aiming for in GPH. This being a 635wpg, I figure after head loss at roughly 3' and plumbing plus sump restrictions I am looking at roughly 500gph. This would put me at roughly a 6 turn over rate for my tank.

I don't like that it is a 5/8 barb connection and am hoping that it will be a threaded top pump so that I can soft plumb and then transition over to hard plumb over the tank.

[rickztahone]

Forgot to add these pics of my progress on the sump:


86497
This is where my Bean animal overflow will reside. The line running across the back of the tank is the line where the bottom internal panel will be.

86501
86500
86499
86498

[rickztahone]

I purchased the blade to cut the acrylic and it turns out it won't work how I thought it would on my table saw. My curren Skill Saw will only take a 6" disc, so I asked my brother in law to see if he can source a 10" discus Skill Saw. He's a construction worker and my father-in-law is a foreman so I'm sure between the both of them I can source a Skill saw that will take a 10" blade, lol.

Still, it sucks to have to wait even more time to get this show on the road. I have most of the stuff I need, but not having the plumbing in place is really slowing down this project.

Things I still need to purchase:

3D background
Paint for inside stand and 2x4's to structurally make this thing more sturdy.
DJ Electrical stip and probably some kind of flush mount electrical sockets.
I still need to actually buy all of the pvc pieces, but I have had them saved in the cart all this time and know what I need. That's around $100 in plumbing
Still need to buy the 2 hole saw bits for bulkheads

In short, still not even half way there. Not sure why I am putting so much work in to this tank as it will simply be a grow out, but I tend to always overbuild, overspend and simply overcomplicate these darn builds, lol.

Had I been smart, I would have paid for tank/stand, used my xp3's I already had on hand, no background, BAM, grow out tank! lol. Somehow I always seem to overcomplicate stuff.

[Solid]

This is going to be one heck of a grow out tank!! Can't wait to see it come together.

[rickztahone]

This is going to be one heck of a grow out tank!! Can't wait to see it come together.

:laugh:

Most of my tanks have started as grow out tanks, but with a full display end game in mind. This one apparantly is no different. Even with my 56g bowfront, I knew where I wanted to go with it, it was just unfortunate that I started with a tank too small. You'd think I'd know better considering how many times I have told people to not start off with 55g tanks, lol.

Either way, I eventually plan on having a sand bottom, DW (which I already have) and low light plants (this has a very low chance of being done though) and floaters to block some light and create shaded areas. Not necessarily a biotope display but definitely a low light tank possibly with some kind of tannins.

If I get my hands on a large Skill Saw, I plan on getting these pieces cut for the baffles and overflows. I already have the weld on 4 and 16 on hand. I hate having parts just sitting around, lol.

[rickztahone]

I feel like I've sketched out this overflow box a million times! Here's one more and I'm pretty sure these will be my final measurements when I cut the acrylic.
86930

[blueluv]

How is it going with the build ? When will you have it up and running ?

[rickztahone]

How is it going with the build ? When will you have it up and running ?

at the rate I am going I'm sure I will be done by 2018 :laugh:

I have the acrylic/solvent/blade to do the overflow but reefers on another forum have got me paranoid about attempting this build on my own. I am having reservations about going the DIY route now.

The way I figure it though, I have already bought the acrylic and I doubt anyone will buy it for anywhere near what I paid for it, so I may as well just try. I need a weekend off of work to try this though.

Thanks for following up Chris :)

[nate c]

what are the reef guys saying ? that is of any concern.

[rickztahone]

what are the reef guys saying ? that is of any concern.

Simply put, I should leave the acrylic cutting and welding to the pros. I feel I have done enough research to at least attempt doing it, but again, I have reservations because this will ultimately be pumping over 90g of water through it, and the last thing I want is a tank fail over a DIY part I built.

[DiscusRob]

Simply put, I should leave the acrylic cutting and welding to the pros. I feel I have done enough research to at least attempt doing it, but again, I have reservations because this will ultimately be pumping over 90g of water through it, and the last thing I want is a tank fail over a DIY part I built.

Ricardo, did you ever check out the link I sent you several pages back, the guy is a master with acrylic and diy sumps, and he has no problem answering questions, if you haven't yet, check him out, send him an e-mail. your call Brother. Just trying to help.

[rickztahone]

Ricardo, did you ever check out the link I sent you several pages back, the guy is a master with acrylic and diy sumps, and he has no problem answering questions, if you haven't yet, check him out, send him an e-mail. your call Brother. Just trying to help.

I've seen through that site for sure. That is one of the reasons I felt I could do it as a DIY project. I guess I am just siking myself out here a bit. I will bite the bullet here soon enough I'm sure.

[kris2341]

which part are you having the most trouble with rick? is this the sump making or the mounting of the overflow to the tank?

(BTW unless you really REALLY want all your plumbing through the bottom of the tank, run the bulkheads out of the back of the overflow, not under it. if they are off more than a few milimeters you'll have some sealing issues especially with 3 sets of bulkheads)

havent been keeping up with the thread and im in class, but the easiest overflow to work with would be one that is just a coast to coast mounted inside the existing tank rear wall, it no longer has to deal with much pressure or even be water tight... it just takes up interior space however, but it is the best route for you in my opinion as you have a lot of material on hand.

[sdrexler078]

I was worried when I first started my 230 but I did it and I'm glad I did myself and not take it anywhere. It brings joy knowing you accomplished it. The key is to take your time and buy extra sheets acrylic to practice

[nate c]

^like

[rickztahone]

Well, good news and bad news situation.

The bad news, I completely failed at making the baffles for the sump, lol. I didn't have enough material to give it another try and I'm ditching the idea of making the sump out of acrylic. I am trading up my acrylic for a glass 40g breeder and I will have someone cut my pieces of glass locally to make the sump.

The good news. The overflow setup was not that difficult. I welded the rear overflow box yesterday. I am yet to attach it to the tank, but when I do, I will be running leak tests like crazy, lol. I may have a pic up later in the week. I still need to weld the inside overflow box which I made 38" long. That should give me a whole lot of surface skimming. I still need to drill the rear holes on my tank wall.

[Discus-n00b]

Sounds good. Make sure you measure the glass baffles correctly, you don't want them putting so much pressure on the sides of the sump it explodes lol.

You may have already posted but how are you doing your return with this overflow, just to the side of the overflow? I'm sketching out my plans now and I'm stuck debating the return in a C2C setup. I can go all the way through the box and tank into the tank, up and over without holes, or squish the overflow box in and put 2 returns to either side. Hmmm

[rickztahone]

Sounds good. Make sure you measure the glass baffles correctly, you don't want them putting so much pressure on the sides of the sump it explodes lol.

You may have already posted but how are you doing your return with this overflow, just to the side of the overflow? I'm sketching out my plans now and I'm stuck debating the return in a C2C setup. I can go all the way through the box and tank into the tank, up and over without holes, or squish the overflow box in and put 2 returns to either side. Hmmm

Yeah, I'm going to have to make sure that whoever cuts the glass will do it exactly to measurements. I thought I had measured correctly yesterday whem measuring from wall to wall to make a baffle yesterday, and it was 14.5", or so I thought. It ended up being 14 5/8" which of course was 1/8 longer than the piece I had just cut! At that point in the day, I was over trying to make my own sump baffles. I started drilling and experimenting on the left over acrylic pieces. Needless to say, I need another tank to make a sump.

I think I will be doing just one return on either side of the inner overflow box. Additionally, I was thinking of just shooting over the back of the tank and making a pvc spray bar the width of the 75g. I am still undecided though. I don't think I will split the line because many have warned me that with a BA setup, it is very difficult to get any type of even flow from both lines and I don't want to have to put gate valves on both returns at this point when I can just do a single one. We will see though. I would personally like to have 2 spray bars with less intensity but if it is a pain to regulate, not sure that I want to do it.

[rickztahone]

On second thought, I may try the baffles again. I still have enough to try to make 3 baffles instead of the original 5 which included socks. I can deal with a sockless sump and just rely on poret foam and filter floss.

[Discus-n00b]

It might actually be better that way. From what I understand you will eventually get tired of changing the socks and they become nasty traps. Might be worth a shot if you have the stuff anyway.

[rickztahone]

It might actually be better that way. From what I understand you will eventually get tired of changing the socks and they become nasty traps. Might be worth a shot if you have the stuff anyway.

Yeah, I read that about changing the socks often. However, as you know, we change a lot of water in our tanks. Tank maintenance isn't a huge deal to me, which means I would not have minded changing out socks too often. With that being said, I will probably have to clean my filter floss more often now as well as the poret foam. So long as I have a sump to filter, I feel good about the idea. I will give it another shot some time this week.

[Discus-n00b]

Hence why I buy the 12ft rolls of the blue/white poly filter on Amazon at a time LOL

[rickztahone]

Hence why I buy the 12ft rolls of the blue/white poly filter on Amazon at a time LOL

got a link to the one you buy? I've kept saying I was going to start shopping around for poret foam. I need 2 different sizes though, the more porous one, and the more fine one like the pads you find in Rena filters. I really like those pads.

[Discus-n00b]

Well its not Poret foam, would double more as filter floss than anything. But I get these big rolls 12ft total and just cut them to fit whatever filter I am putting them into.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045VN23C/ref=gno_cart_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1YTQUKKLAHTT7

[rickztahone]

Well its not Poret foam, would double more as filter floss than anything. But I get these big rolls 12ft total and just cut them to fit whatever filter I am putting them into.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045VN23C/ref=gno_cart_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1YTQUKKLAHTT7

I suppose you are right, more like filter floss, but it still has a place in the filter section. Not too expensive either. I still have a whole bunch of filter floss as well. Do you know the material I am talking about though with the rena filters? I love those on my XP2/3

[rickztahone]

Bean Animal overflow on the way!
874068740787408874098741087411

The process that was the most difficult was getting square cuts. Some areas are really lacking in precision, but it should all work ok in the end. I plan on making a triangle cut out for support for the external box. Before you ask why white, just know that I LOOKED for a clear acrylic, but the only 1/4" acrylic available was in white. I don't mind it though, I like white stuff on my tank. The internal overflow will be covered by a background anyways.

[rickztahone]

Measurements are

External box:

16"L x 8"H x 4"W

Internal box:
36"L x 4"H x 2"W

[Discus-n00b]

Why 8" H? Just curious if there is a specific reason associated with the Beananimal. I think mine is drawn up as 5W x 7H in sketchup right now so I'm fairly close. How far down inside the tank, really how far under the water line is your internal box going to be mounted? All you want is a paper thin skim over the top right?

Oh and ;) lol White doesn't look bad though. At least pre-algae haha
http://www.tapplastics.com/product/plastics/cut_to_size_plastic
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/default.aspx?catid=442&parentcatid=443

[rickztahone]

Why 8" H? Just curious if there is a specific reason associated with the Beananimal. I think mine is drawn up as 5W x 7H in sketchup right now so I'm fairly close. How far down inside the tank, really how far under the water line is your internal box going to be mounted? All you want is a paper thin skim over the top right?

Oh and ;) lol White doesn't look bad though. At least pre-algae haha
http://www.tapplastics.com/product/plastics/cut_to_size_plastic
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/default.aspx?catid=442&parentcatid=443

I will have a cover on the outside box so hopefully no algae. I have a whole bunch of scrap to make covers and all.

As far as the 8" height? If you check out the sketch, I gave myself 2" of safety zone at the top just in case. Some only run 1" but I wanted to be safe and I don't mind having the extra space.

[dprais1]

Well, good news and bad news situation.

The bad news, I completely failed at making the baffles for the sump, lol. I didn't have enough material to give it another try and I'm ditching the idea of making the sump out of acrylic. I am trading up my acrylic for a glass 40g breeder and I will have someone cut my pieces of glass locally to make the sump.




Seems like a lot of wasted effort to measure the baffles correctly. I would just drop the tank off and tell them what you want. They can measure much better....and if they cut it wrong they need to re-cut it without charging you to do it again.

[Mgus]

Yeah, I'm going to have to make sure that whoever cuts the glass will do it exactly to measurements. I thought I had measured correctly yesterday whem measuring from wall to wall to make a baffle yesterday, and it was 14.5", or so I thought. It ended up being 14 5/8" which of course was 1/8 longer than the piece I had just cut! At that point in the day, I was over trying to make my own sump baffles. I started drilling and experimenting on the left over acrylic pieces. Needless to say, I need another tank to make a sump.

I think I will be doing just one return on either side of the inner overflow box. Additionally, I was thinking of just shooting over the back of the tank and making a pvc spray bar the width of the 75g. I am still undecided though. I don't think I will split the line because many have warned me that with a BA setup, it is very difficult to get any type of even flow from both lines and I don't want to have to put gate valves on both returns at this point when I can just do a single one. We will see though. I would personally like to have 2 spray bars with less intensity but if it is a pain to regulate, not sure that I want to do it.

You should've seen the pile of broken glass I had when cutting my baffles. Luckily I got a bunch of free glass. It took me a few tries to get it right. The nice thing with the glass if it's a bit short you can just use some extra silicone. Thanks again for the help with the overflow. Looks like things here are coming along nicely.

[rickztahone]

Seems like a lot of wasted effort to measure the baffles correctly. I would just drop the tank off and tell them what you want. They can measure much better....and if they cut it wrong they need to re-cut it without charging you to do it again.

That was completely my fault and it was the end of a long day. I missed the mark by 1/16", lol. Luckily, I only ruined one panel, so I will move forward with the other 3 later this week and if that fails, THEN I will get someone to make me a sump or go glass.


You should've seen the pile of broken glass I had when cutting my baffles. Luckily I got a bunch of free glass. It took me a few tries to get it right. The nice thing with the glass if it's a bit short you can just use some extra silicone. Thanks again for the help with the overflow. Looks like things here are coming along nicely.

Yeah, that is why I wanted to give the glass a try, but I can't source free glass around me, or at least I haven't checked CL lately. No problem with the overflow help. Lately I have been looking at a lot of plumbing stuff and it just so happens that this type of problem comes up often on these type of set ups. Have you considered drilling your tank rear panel?

[Mgus]

I don't think I'll drill this tank. I've kind of been winging it with everything on this tank. The sump was the only thing I've put a lot of planning into so far. I got the tank for really cheap and set it up to close to the wall thinking I was only gonna use canisters. The tank has a few big scratches. So if things go smooth I might replace it with an acrylic tank in a year or two and use the old tank as a sump. The wall behind it is an unfinished closet that would make a great filter room. I've only been keeping discus since November and this is my first large tank. If all goes smooth hopefully il be upgrading to a new tank in a year or two. Iv already put way more planning into my future tank lol. Gonna try to do everything right the second time around.

[rickztahone]

I don't think I'll drill this tank. I've kind of been winging it with everything on this tank. The sump was the only thing I've put a lot of planning into so far. I got the tank for really cheap and set it up to close to the wall thinking I was only gonna use canisters. The tank has a few big scratches. So if things go smooth I might replace it with an acrylic tank in a year or two and use the old tank as a sump. The wall behind it is an unfinished closet that would make a great filter room. I've only been keeping discus since November and this is my first large tank. If all goes smooth hopefully il be upgrading to a new tank in a year or two. Iv already put way more planning into my future tank lol. Gonna try to do everything right the second time around.

And the discus bug bites again, lol. Do you happen to have any additional pics of your sump? I couldn't quite tell from your pics in your thread how they are set up

[Mgus]

http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/ah120/gustafsonlandscape/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-03/628279D8-FD00-4AE3-B2CD-5C6DC957DCD3_zpscxcoogxm.jpg (http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/gustafsonlandscape/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-02/6AE21C72-E530-497C-9D6http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/ah120/gustafsonlandscape/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-02/6AE21C72-E530-497C-9D69-DAFB8102841C_zpsmkozad1u.jpg

On top of the the bio balls I have a couple pieces of foam that the drain hose drains out on. The first baffle I left 3/4" short of the top of the tank incase the foam clogs. It then runs through the refugium and through the bio balls into the pump section.

[rickztahone]

Very cool. What is the footprint of the return section? Looks a bit small. By my calculations, my return will be ~10g and I bought an ATO, but I bought the ATO on a whim when thinking of completely ditching discus and doing a SW setup. Discus prevailed, and now I have an ATO, lol. One reason that I chose to not do an under in the first section is because with a Bean Animal setup, the drain line needs to roughly 1" submerged. From your pics, it looks like the under of the first section is variable water level?

The new plan I have will be an over for the first baffle. All 3 drain lines will empty in to the first section, the first baffle being an over will keep the water level consistant at that height. The middle section will remain the media section. I debated having a refugium as well but don't know how I feel about having an extra light under my stand. The last section is simply an under and over to the return section, again, for no variable water level, only lowers due to evaporation. You are getting some crazy clearance over your 3rd baffle though! Is that about an inch or is it just the angle?

Lastly, I would caution you about using a heater in the last chamber. Remember, that is your variable water evaporation section and you don't want it to run dry. You can place it in the fuge though.

[Mgus]

The return is only 6" wide probably holds around 3-4 gallons. I think there's about a half inch of water running over the third baffle. My cuts weren't very straight could be 1/4" on one end and an 3/4 on the other. I'll move the heater to the fuge. It's been running for a day and a half and a gallon of evaporation in the tank drops the level in the return section about an inch and a half. What does ato stand for?

[rickztahone]

The return is only 6" wide probably holds around 3-4 gallons. I think there's about a half inch of water running over the third baffle. My cuts weren't very straight could be 1/4" on one end and an 3/4 on the other. I'll move the heater to the fuge. It's been running for a day and a half and a gallon of evaporation in the tank drops the level in the return section about an inch and a half. What does ato stand for?

It stands for Auto Top Off. I got a cheap one that can be run with an aqualifter. It is a JBJ brand like ----This one---- (http://www.marinedepot.com/JBJ_ATO_Automatic_Top_Off_System_Water_Level_Contr oller_Electric_Powered_Dosing_Pumps_Top_Off_Plug_I n_Units-JBJ_Lighting-JB5111-FIDPETPU-vi.html). Simply put, it fills your return chamber with RODI water when the water goes below a certain point. Very convenient if you ask me. With that being said, I won't put much effort in to using it. When raising discus, I always do huge 100% daily water changes, so evaporation will not affect me for a while. After making my own overflow, I am confident I can make my own ATO reservoir to fit along-side my 40g sump.

[rickztahone]

The return is only 6" wide probably holds around 3-4 gallons. I think there's about a half inch of water running over the third baffle. My cuts weren't very straight could be 1/4" on one end and an 3/4 on the other. I'll move the heater to the fuge. It's been running for a day and a half and a gallon of evaporation in the tank drops the level in the return section about an inch and a half. What does ato stand for?

oh, also, that is 6" for the return by what else? Is that a 30g sump? 6"x12"10"?

[Mgus]

It's a 20 long. Return section is 6x12 I think the baffle is 9" tall. I'm also running a 36watt uv. The ato sounds great I might have to look into them in the future. I would've liked to have gone with a bigger sump but I had the 20 laying around empty.

[rickztahone]

That size return puts you at under 3 gallons. I would highly recommend an ATO or for you to make topping off a part of your daily routine, just in case.

I've never personally run a UV and not sure of the benefits of it in a FW tank, but I know a lot of SW people use it. Let me know how it turns out. How is your overflow doing? Is it quieter still?

[Mgus]

I had the overflow nice and quiet with the air hose in it then I had to go and mess with it. It's a little noisier now but not like it was I just have to find that sweet spot for it. From what I've read with the uv in fresh water with a slow flow rate it will kill algae bacteria and protazoas. My main reason for it is to kill any bad bacteria. My work schedule can be kind of crazy and sometimes I can go a week without doing a water change. I try to do 2-3 a week but sometimes work gets in the way.

[rickztahone]

I had the overflow nice and quiet with the air hose in it then I had to go and mess with it. It's a little noisier now but not like it was I just have to find that sweet spot for it. From what I've read with the uv in fresh water with a slow flow rate it will kill algae bacteria and protazoas. My main reason for it is to kill any bad bacteria. My work schedule can be kind of crazy and sometimes I can go a week without doing a water change. I try to do 2-3 a week but sometimes work gets in the way.

so I'll repeat what I said, make sure you make topping your return section a part of your daily routine :)

[rickztahone]

Well, this weekend was very productive for me. Build the full on overflow and welded it in place. Also cut the baffles and got those welded as well. It was time consuming, and frustrating at times, but overall not super difficult.

Before you mention it, yes, I am aware that I used WHITE acrylic, lol. It was what I found in the scrap section and since I will not be able to see the inner overflow box because of a background, it doesn't really matter to me too much.
This will be a slew of pics, so bear with me for the build pics:

1.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03673_zpsyhbwavnl.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03673_zpsyhbwavnl.jpg.html)
Had to drill out a total of 4 holes on my tank. 3 were pass through holes for the Bean Animal overflow. The last one was as a drain system for faster water changes. I drilled it at roughly the 30% mark.

2.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03674_zps31hhk4yy.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03674_zps31hhk4yy.jpg.html)
I started with the inside overflow box. Measured it to have roughly 3/4" from the top bracing. Inner overflow box is 38" long

3.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03676_zpsp5fx1vri.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03676_zpsp5fx1vri.jpg.html)

4.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03677_zpstzewbgm7.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03677_zpstzewbgm7.jpg.html)
Next was the outer overflow box that holds the plumbing. This outer box is 16" in length, 4" deep and 8" tall. In order to weld this in place I placed the tank on its front panel. This was the easier of the two to install simply from an access point of view

5.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03678_zpslbzacima.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03678_zpslbzacima.jpg.html)
Both overflows in place

6.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03679_zpsn2nwxhei.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03679_zpsn2nwxhei.jpg.html)
Both overflows were welded with Weldon #4, but after it dried, I went over all seams with Weldon #16 as well which is this process shown

7.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03680_zpswazswhe1.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03680_zpswazswhe1.jpg.html)

8.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03683_zps1vs31ouu.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03683_zps1vs31ouu.jpg.html)
Plumbing dry fit in overflow box

9.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03684_zpsir2hpx07.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03684_zpsir2hpx07.jpg.html)
Left is full siphon, center is emergency and right is open channel. All lines look exactly the same except for the upturned elbow for emergency. In retrospect, had I drilled the bulkhead holes a little more to one side, I would have been able to fit all lines with the pvc facing in one direction. It would have made the build overall cleaner, but this will still work.

10.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03685_zpsfxe2yoc1.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03685_zpsfxe2yoc1.jpg.html)
A better shot of what I am talking about.

11.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03686_zpsx64xoxla.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03686_zpsx64xoxla.jpg.html)

12.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03687_zpsn8drnyso.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03687_zpsn8drnyso.jpg.html)
I wish the plumbing didn't stick out so much, I made the pvc that attaches to the bulkheads 4" so that the elbow line would be parallel to the pass through holes which seems to be the quietest set up.

13.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03688_zpsxhlpwwyz.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03688_zpsxhlpwwyz.jpg.html)
You can see the bulkhead here. It is probably more like 45% now that I see it here.

14.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03690_zpsrzgopkgo.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03690_zpsrzgopkgo.jpg.html)
Better shot

SUMP

15.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03691_zps5zdbthou.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03691_zps5zdbthou.jpg.html)
All baffles done. I swear if I were a construction worker, I'd be fired the first day. I messed up 2 panels by measuring wrong. I was down to these baffles only. Had I messed either one of these up, that would have been it for this project, lol. In the end, I didn't end up with the 5 baffles I wanted, but I am still satisfied with how it turned out. Left section is the drain section, next is the media section. The little tabs you see is where the egg crate will rest to stop the media from going through. I will probably add 2 more tabs for poret foam as well. Still undecided on that. Last section is obviously my return section. Eheim 1260 and 2x Jager 250w heaters. The heaters will plug in to a temp controller. The last section is 17"x10"x15 ~11 gallons. I will have an ATO as well but may not be necessary with such a large section.

16.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03692_zps6xtfhazw.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03692_zps6xtfhazw.jpg.html)

17.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03693_zpsebzq8wye.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03693_zpsebzq8wye.jpg.html)

18.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03697_zpshzqa33bt.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03697_zpshzqa33bt.jpg.html)
I made a cover for the outer overflow box. I'm not sure if this section will be noisy, but if it happens to be, then hopefully this will quiet it down a little bit.

19.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03698_zps0zekxzjt.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03698_zps0zekxzjt.jpg.html)
Added some tabs on this cover for easier access.

20.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/DSC03699_zpsvfktptm2.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/DSC03699_zpsvfktptm2.jpg.html)


And there you have it. Next up is purchasing the plumbing. I have it in the shopping cart already, just have to make sure I am not missing anything. Things missing will be background, 1" bulkhead low profile strainer. I need to paint the bottom of the tank as well. This will be bare bottom for growouts for a while but then I will add sand and DW.

I hope you enjoyed :)

[Solid]

Looks awesome Rick! Love the cover on the overflow. Great to see this moving along!

[marinum]

great job :thumbsup:

[Mgus]

I like the long skimmer box. The water change hole is a great idea. Great looking set up can't wait to see it up and running.

[DiscusRob]

Looking really good, can't wait to see water moving in it.

[Discus-n00b]

Looks good. Boy that euro bracing sure doesn't give you much room to work in the tank does it?

Will the heaters be able to heat the water fast enough before the return takes it?

[alcastro]

Looks good Rick, you are 3/4 through your test, remember to skip those hard questions get back to them later lol but no after thoughts.

[rickztahone]

Looks awesome Rick! Love the cover on the overflow. Great to see this moving along!
It was an afterthought actually. I had some extra scraps lying around and decided to make a cover. Came out better than I thought.


great job :thumbsup:
Thanks!


I like the long skimmer box. The water change hole is a great idea. Great looking set up can't wait to see it up and running.
Yeah, I figured since I got over the intimidation of drilling my tank, might as well add an easy way to do water changes as well :)


Looking really good, can't wait to see water moving in it.
First is the leak test, but then I will see how this whole system holds up. Keep tuning in ;-)


Looks good. Boy that euro bracing sure doesn't give you much room to work in the tank does it?

Will the heaters be able to heat the water fast enough before the return takes it?
Yeah, it was a pain to get in there for the inner overflow box. I am hoping that the heaters will have enough time to heat the water that is passing through. I thought about it as well, but I figured that the Hydor heaters I've had in the past only get minimal water contact time as well and they do a solid job of heating the water. Hopefully it works out.


Looks good Rick, you are 3/4 through your test, remember to skip those hard questions get back to them later lol but no after thoughts.

lol, yeah, I'll make sure I side-track those tough problems. In all fairness, the hard part is behind me now. A few more things I need to do, but the bulk of it is done.

[Mgus]

I think the heaters will be more than enough. I have 2 200w heaters in my sump and they are keeping my temp at 84 no problem in a 125

[rickztahone]

I think the heaters will be more than enough. I have 2 200w heaters in my sump and they are keeping my temp at 84 no problem in a 125

Great to know. I will be roughly at 90g of actual water running through the system so it is good to keep these things in mind. In retrospect, I wish I would have gone with 200w ones. I believe these are the 250w variety. Either way, they will be on a controller and I hope it works out well. This whole system will obviously be tested before any live creatures get put in to it :)

[rickztahone]

Here's the sump with the egg crate in place. After I took these pics I decided to glue a piece of pvc under the bottom-most eggcrate just in case there is bowing with the weight. The bottom chamber will be Media in bags. The one above that will be for Poret Foam. The last tab section is simply there to hold the poret foam in place. I was hoping to find something a little thinner in profile and more flexible for this, like the Rena ones, does anyone have any ideas?

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/Sump%20front%20view-2_zpsqy6si44n.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/Sump%20front%20view-2_zpsqy6si44n.jpg.html)
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/Sump%20front%20view_zpsdnyvxvya.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/Sump%20front%20view_zpsdnyvxvya.jpg.html)
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/rickztahone/Sump%20Top%20View_zpsle5bgxqn.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/rickztahone/media/Sump%20Top%20View_zpsle5bgxqn.jpg.html)

[rickztahone]

I started work on the support for the stand. Bought some 2x4's and am putting the skeleton in through the back. This allows me to get rid of the back cheap supports it had already. I like being safe rather than sorry. I took some pics but haven't loaded them yet. I made a hole in one of the bottom supports to route electrical. This will allow me to put outlets on both sides of the stand and have no wires showing.

[alron2]

Looks great! What happened to the socks. or did miss them?

Ron

[rickztahone]

Looks great! What happened to the socks. or did miss them?

Ron

In my mantra of "measure twice, cut once", I got a little lax on my philosophy and cut two pieces of acrylic a little too short. This was the only piece of acrylic I had and the only one I wanted to buy, so I simply used 3 in the end. In all respects, I don't mind this setup. I will simply add some filter floss to catch detrius and change it out every few days. I have a lot on hand.

[rickztahone]

8783687835
Worked on the stand a bit today. Got my skeleton done. Drilled some holes with a hole saw through all the bottom pieces. This way I can route electrical without having cords all over the place. I'll have a power strip on each side. The hole you see on the outside of the stand will be filled with a black grommet for a cleaner look. All wires will also be run through that.

[Kal-El]

Looks Great Rick... Are those plywood that's painted black?

[marinum]

wow, What about the size have wooden beams?

[rickztahone]

Looks Great Rick... Are those plywood that's painted black?
Well, remember that this is one of those generic particle wood stands. I didn't feel comfortable with just that holding up my tank. So I decided to reinforce it by making a skeleton.

wow, What about the size have wooden beams?
I'm not quite what you are asking?

[alcastro]

You did a great job Rick, I rould not trust that particle board either.

[alron2]

I would suggest you add another 2 X 4 on each corner forming a T corner like in home construction. Nail it to the existing corners and put it between the top and bottom lateral beams. I like it where you can use it to hold up a car.

Ron

[rickztahone]

Painted the stand and added the thin plywood pieces. Still need to paint them but I need to wait for the 2 DJ switches to show up to get the measurement to cut out. They should come in this week. After I install that, I can screw the panels in.


8784787848

The inside will be painted white and the back gaps you see on the sides will stay that way. Easier access to the dj strips when I need them.

[marinum]

I'm not quite what you are asking?

the size of the wood that you have used to support ;-)

[rickztahone]

the size of the wood that you have used to support ;-)
I used all 2x4's

[marinum]

thanks :thumbsup:

[rickztahone]

progress report (without photos :():

I finally ordered my background! Yay!
I got my DJ strips in and I painted the inside of the stand earlier today. I just have to screw the panels in place and route any items I need to run and I should be done. Next step will be plumbing. I should be able to glue it all up soon.

[Mgus]

What did you get for a background? I almost started a thread about backgrounds yesterday trying to figure out what to get.

[rickztahone]

A whole bunch of update pics:880168801788018880198802088021880228802388024 88025

[rickztahone]

88026880278802888029880308803188032

[rickztahone]

Obviously that is a whole lot of pictures lol.

The first few pictures show me working on the behind the scenes electrical work. Hole saw to cut the 2x4's and routed the extension cord through there. I wanted to run each dj strip unit on its own outlet just in case. I have not filled up all 8 slots, but have used up 5 so far. I hope to not have to add more stuff down the line when the tank is full. I anticipated anything I may need and even have an emergency air pump plugged in JIC.

Further down you see the panels up with the dj strips in as well as the grommets to hide a bit of the wires.

Grommet on the outside of the stand for aesthetics

With the 40 breeder in place, I must say, it is quite cramped! I still have enough room to get to the switches, but just barely.

I layed out the pump and heaters without the sump to get an idea of the space they occupy.

Made my own spray bar. I may have to buy some street elbows because I am not liking how low the spray bar is getting. I also made 2, one with larger slots, the other with smaller ones just in case the one with larger slots is too much. Left small gaps on the second one for rigidness.

I also added an extra piece to the sump. This eggcrate section will allow me to use filter floss to capture most incoming nasties before it hits the first media section. Following that will be an area of just poret foam and under that will be media bags with ceramic rings.

Welded some hard plumbing as well. Still need to finish up the runs but I got tired. Should be done in the next week or so though. Background comes in on the second and I still have to paint the tank bottom.

Hope you enjoy! If you have any questions, just ask ;)

[alcastro]

Great job Rick, question last pic. To left on the wall there is a pipe tee out to two flex hoses. Are those for fill the tank

[rickztahone]

Great job Rick, question last pic. To left on the wall there is a pipe tee out to two flex hoses. Are those for fill the tank

yeah, out of sight I have a temperature mix valve and it feeds that single output. Water comes out of tap at a cool (or not so cool) 82F. However, with these new discus I will age my water and not do straight tap. I want to eliminate all variables here and aging is a sure fire way for me to do that. Good eye :)

[alcastro]

We need to set that up in my house, second round on tequila shot lol

[rickztahone]

We need to set that up in my house, second round on tequila shot lol

:laugh: It isn't that difficult. You can buy the temp mix valves off ebay for $20 or so, can't quite remember but I've had it for many years. The flex lines were a lot more expensive than the valve though and the pvc was super cheap. I will end up cutting most of the pvc up since I will have the true union ball valve now to do the draining in to the drain which is the line to the right of the tap water return. I will pump up the water to the DT from a storage barrel.

[rickztahone]

Painted the bottom with the trusted Rustoleum texture paint. I had never done this but I bought 2 different colors of brown. One darker than the other. The idea was to try to simulate small little sand hills to give it depth. It actually looks a lot better in person than it does in the pics. The key was to not go heavy handed on the darker color. I'm happy with the way it came out. I also received the background. I cut it (wasn't easy!) to accommodate for the overflow. Hopefully in the end I will not be able to see any of the white coming through. I can not install the background until I've bleached the tank though. I should be able to do that soon though. I need to bleach the sump as well. Stay tuned ;)

88166
88167
88168
88169
88170

[rickztahone]

88327883288832988330

[jimstreet]

Great build! I really like that background, what is it?

[rickztahone]

Great build! I really like that background, what is it?

It is a background I got off Amazon but it is made by universal rocks I believe.

[rickztahone]

So I have been working here and there on the plumbing and it is taking me for ever! To make matters worse, we added a softner to the house and now I have to pull my tap water from outside the front lawn. This means I have re-route incoming and outgoing water. It is a pain, but I was checking out the lay out and I am sure I can make it work. It is just more work than I had initially anticipated. This means that I have to weld a line, add a T, add an emergency shut off, route it about 25ft and it isn't a straight shot. These discus better appreciate all I am doing here!

[alcastro]

What do our wives think when we do stuff like this, I built a fish room that will problebly not have an end, lol

[rickztahone]

What do our wives think when we do stuff like this, I built a fish room that will problebly not have an end, lol

My wife simply rolls her eyes, lol. She's hoping this build part will never end, because she prefers when I don't have fish. She says that WC's are such a waste of time, lol. This is why I have simplified the formula a little.

[Discus-n00b]

It always ends up with the original plans in the trash LOL.

[rickztahone]

Can anyone help me out here? I am planning on buying this hose to fill my aging barrel:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ME11FS/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=UO4Z3YNWDDIR&coliid=I2WDAPSUILFQ7S&psc=1

However, I am not finding some kind of nozzle or something that has a "U" type shape, or flexible enough so that it hangs on the lip of the aging barrel. Do any of you have suggestions?

I am thinking PVC but not sure how to connect the hose to the pvc without potentially leaving a weak spot in the refill setup in the future.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[rickztahone]

Also, finally placed the media in the sump. Filled up 3 large bags with ceramic media. All of this media, plus more was in 3 Rena filters and it doesn't even fill the section for media, lol.

I just need to get a water storage barrel and a hose and I will be set and ready for discus again.

88792

88793

88794

[rickztahone]

Finally finished the build. Check out the finished thread here:
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?120637-75g-and-40g-sump-finally-done!-Bean-Animal-overflow

[Mgus]

Looks awesome Ricardo. Really sleek clean look. Any idea yet on what strain and size fish in you'll be putting in there?

[Jack L]

I have two 90 degree angles on my return line on my 90 but this tank does not have a mag-drive. Not sure of the pump on this tank. Can you lost a picture of a flat nozzle?

late to thread i know... but FWIW I have 4 return nozzles now, there were 2 3/4" rounds. i couldn't see much of a difference between the normal nozzle and a flat nozzle on output. i settled on 2 round and two flat outputs

[Jack L]

for what it's worth....

I ran a durso and it was always noisy. I loved having a sump but it wasn't worth it because of the noise. My 75 reef ready tank now houses two juvenile red foot tortoises.

I ran a mag 5 on a 75 gallon tank and it was a little bit too weak
I switched to a mag 9.5, good flow but would blow even heavy sand around and provided some really strong focused current.

I think a mag 7 would have been perfect. if I remember correctly there are two mag 7. I think the aquarium type has a 3' cord and the pond model a 6' cord? The price and everything else appears the same. go for the 6' cord.

IMO you can spend hundreds of dollars playing with baffles and ceramic media, k1 media, bio-spheres, bio-bale and all the latest filter media. And all you will have is a really expensive sump. I think one or two 4" of the very coarse poret foam will provide more than enough surface area for all biological filtration you will ever need. ever.

Get some filter socks or you can rig up a sheet of the filter sock material before the return pump and your water will be crystal clear.

late to thread i know, but FWIW
i converted a NOISEY guggling Durso to a herbie and it was a huge sound improvement, pretty much went silent.

[Jack L]

So I have been working here and there on the plumbing and it is taking me for ever! To make matters worse, we added a softner to the house and now I have to pull my tap water from outside the front lawn. This means I have re-route incoming and outgoing water. It is a pain, but I was checking out the lay out and I am sure I can make it work. It is just more work than I had initially anticipated. This means that I have to weld a line, add a T, add an emergency shut off, route it about 25ft and it isn't a straight shot. These discus better appreciate all I am doing here!

my plants wouldn't grow well in softened water (even easy Val). i now use RO and add back minerals and buffering and it seemed to do better. i keep debating on trying softened water with adding back some KH for the plants instead of RO, but for now using RO.

[CrazyAngels]

Also, finally placed the media in the sump. Filled up 3 large bags with ceramic media. All of this media, plus more was in 3 Rena filters and it doesn't even fill the section for media, lol.

I just need to get a water storage barrel and a hose and I will be set and ready for discus again.

88792

88793

88794

Hey bud like what you've done here. great setup. I've started using Biohome filter media that some guy in England was pitching and lucky for us it's available now in the states through a distributor up in San Jose. Something for you to consider if you need more. here is the link. https://greatwaveeng.com/product-category/media/

[Jack L]

Can anyone help me out here? I am planning on buying this hose to fill my aging barrel:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ME11FS/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=UO4Z3YNWDDIR&coliid=I2WDAPSUILFQ7S&psc=1

However, I am not finding some kind of nozzle or something that has a "U" type shape, or flexible enough so that it hangs on the lip of the aging barrel. Do any of you have suggestions?

I am thinking PVC but not sure how to connect the hose to the pvc without potentially leaving a weak spot in the refill setup in the future.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

that about something like this, and feed the hose through the pipe, the trap would act as a hanger and the hose would just not have a nozzle, unless you want one

http://www.homedepot.com/p/DBHL-1-1-2-in-x-1-1-4-in-PVC-P-Trap-HP9738/100345656

[CrazyAngels]

Ricardo, as for something to hang, I'll take a picture of mine when I get home tonight and email it your way. simple and effective. been using it for the past 5 years to fill all my tanks.

[Jack L]

Hey bud like what you've done here. great setup. I've started using Biohome filter media that some guy in England was pitching and lucky for us it's available now in the states through a distributor up in San Jose. Something for you to consider if you need more. here is the link. https://greatwaveeng.com/product-category/media/

i really question how much media is really needed. a seller is never going to tell you the straight answer. but my thought as long as you are running nitrate and not amonia or nitrite, you have enough media. i bet i could run my sump empty and it would still be enough.

with just a filter sock, a tiny overflow prefilter(as a screen for shrimp) and a 2x3x14" sponge in sump, in my 170 gallons of water with PLENTLTY of bioload based on detritus, it kept up just fine. i tried to find solid info on how much biomedia is needed, but the the summary was no one knows, its cheap and doesn't hurt to overdo it, so people do.

but its more to maintain and waste of cash if not needed. i recently added matrix as they claim it will support both type of nitro bacter and in theory eat nitrate. so far that hasn't happened, but in their defense the matrix is getting a lot of water flow. i'm going to put in another sack of it in a low flow area of sump and see if it makes a difference

[Jack L]

p.s. very cool setup and log of progress.

i had that same background, it looks even better with a bit of algea on it

[RAP66]

Absolutely awesome. You're thread has answered all my questions and I'm even more convinced that this is the kind of setup I want to add to my new tank.

Thanks

-Rich