Boom's 180 Gallon Tank Project

[Boom]

byte, if I understand what your saying, it's that the drain from the tank to the sump (your calling it the return line?) is larger, and the actual return line, from the sump back into the tank, is smaller, and should be t'd off to return some water back into the sump? Is that correct?

If so, that is exactly how I have it set up.

But the point is that not enough water is draining from the tank fast enough, so I need a bigger bulkhead for the drain. In my view, it does me no good to divert a large amount of already filtered water back into the sump. I want the filtered water, all 1400 gph, back in the tank. To do that, I need to match the flow out of the tank with the pump's flow back into it. This way I am maximizing the filter system to it's full potential. If I only have, say 800 gph draining out of the tank, due to the restriction of the 1 1/4" bulkhead and plumbing, then all I am filtering is 800 gph. On a 180 gallon tank, I'd rather have as close to the full 1400 gph as possible. BTW, I'm using a pump rated at 1900 gph, I figure 1400 gph is a generous calculation for loss due to head height and elbows.

When I bought the bulkheads, I asked for a 1 1/2" and a 1". I was given (and paid for) two bulkheads that looked to be that size. I then installed them. When I went to connect the rest of the 1 1/2" plumbing I had bought to the bulkhead, only then did I realize the bulkhead was actually 1 1/4". My bad for not checking it before installing it. Lesson learned.

At that point I chose to exchange the 1 1/2" plumbing parts for 1 1/4" parts to match the bulkhead that was already installed, instead of swapping out the bulkhead. I said earlier in this post that I hoped it wouldn't cause me problems with flow rate. Obviously that was the wrong choice. Lesson learned.

So now having done even more research, I've learned 2 things that I hope will solve my problem. 1st is that (according to the above attached "calculator") a 1 1/2" bulkhead and plumbing should in fact be big enough to move the amount of water I want to. And 2nd, is that if I use even larger plumbing (say 1 3/4") for the durso standpipe, that it will create more down force and push water thru that 1 1/2" bulkhead even faster. That info is from here: Bulkhead flow rate (see OTTY's replys)

The point of the ball valves and the secondary return line going back into the sump, is simply for fine tuning once I've matched the flow rates as close as possible to begin with. Not to divert a huge amount of water back into the sump, which would be highly inefficient filtering.

I hope this makes sense. And by all means, if I am way off track on this reasoning, someone with some good sump plumbing experience please correct me.

Boom :boom:

Edited November 2, 2008 by Boom

[geleen]

Ok but you would have to drill larger holes now,or am I wrong? How difficult will that be. You may have to build a jig to keep the bit from moving . You will have only 1/8 of material to work with.

John

[jvision]

If you need to make bigger holes (which I don't think you will), you can use the grinding bit on a router (Dremel). I only had a 1.5" bit, but needed a 1.75" hole, so I drilled it, then Dremeled it - no problems!

[Boom]

I MAY have to make the hole bigger. When we originally drilled it, we "reamed" it out a bit so there was a bit of play already. I'll have to get the new bulkhead and try it. If I do have to make the hole a bit bigger, I will use the Dremel and I have some tile cutting bits that should work fine for the glass. They cut ceramic and porcelaine tile like butter, so they should work.

Does it sound like I'm on the right track for the flow rate though?

[jvision]

Does it sound like I'm on the right track for the flow rate though?

I think so

[Boom]

O.K. So not alot of progress over the past few days. I have redone some of the plumbing by making the durso standpipe bigger (1 1/2" up from 1 1/4"). I havn't changed the bulkhead out yet, and not sure if I'm going to. I'll have to test it again to see where I'm at.

I added some more trim work to the stand yesterday, and finished milling the wood for the cabinet doors. I decided to use some walnut veneer for the panels in the cabinet doors, and I glued them together tonight. They are clamped up and I'll take them out tomorrow afternoon when I get up. I hope they turnout, it's my first time veneering!

I've also been playing around with some inlay ideas. I want to add a few touches just to make the woodwork really unique, but I don't want to take away from the nice character of the wood, so nothing too overwhelming. I've also been playing around with different finishes on the plywood parts which will be the shelves.

After tomorrow you won't here from me for a week. I'll be busy Friday packing and Saturday morning we leave for mexico. I'll be back to do more updates when I get back. Then it won't be too long before this sucker gets moved down to my basement!

Boom :boom:

[DaveDude77]

Oh well, I guess we'll have to wait a week. Seems like such a long time.

Enjoy Mexico, I don't know about Edmonton, but we just started getting snow here in Calgary yesterday so perfect timing on your part.

[Boom]

Oh, I forgot.... I also "assembled" the glass lids for the tank. You know, attached the two pieces of glass together with that plastic strip "hinge" and put the other plastic strip on the back piece of glass. HOLY C$#P what a PITA THAT was. That was easily the toughest part of this project so far! I had to use a rubber mallet and pound them onto the glass. Thankfully nothing broke!

Also, I didn't get out into the garage today to unclamp the door panels. I slept till 3:10 pm so I had no time!

Boom :boom:

[Drydock]

Boom,

If you are going to go for a bigger diameter drain, I would go 2". Just my opinion.

One thing i just thought of was your return pipe. I have a short length of flexible pipe coming out of my pump, before I go to PVC to prevent the pump transmitting vibration to the main tank. During your test, did you notice if that was an issue?

[Boom]

I for sure won't have room for a 2" drain. I'm thinking now I may just leave it at 1 1/4". But I'll decide after I test it again, which won't happen now till after Mexico.

I didn't notice any vibration at all from that pump, it runs pretty smooth. But I have thought about it and kept the adapter for flex tubing to attach to the pump in case I want to change it. I was also thinking of putting some suction cups under the feet of the pump to attach to the bottom glass of the sump. It will be one more thing I will keep an eye on.

[jvision]

I have my pump resting on some foam to cut down on any vibration... also, my return lines are all flex.

[Boom]

I'm back!

Mexico was awesome. We went snorkeling in the ocean and saw lots of really cool fish, eels, a ray, puffers, starfish, etc etc. Also went and checked out some fish stores one afternoon, they were CRAP. No selection. You'd think they would have some decent salt water stuff being as they can catch it in their back yard. Nope! Nothing special. Did see a Fluval 405 filter on sale for $6000 pesos. Which is about $600 U.S. !!

Anyway, I'll be getting back into the garage tomorrow and will post updates ASAP.

Boom :boom:

[DaveDude77]

-ham- Yeay!, Booms back. Can't wait for the next part of the build.

Glad you had fun and are all refreshed Boom.

[Boom]

Alrighty folks, lets get back to this. I've made some progress over the last 2 days.

Looks like I left off tinkering with the plumbing and flow rates etc etc. Well, I got the 1 1/2" durso standpipe in, and decided to leave the bulkhead and lower plumbing at 1 1/4". I retested it yesterday and it seems to work perfectly now. So the plumbing is done and ready to be permanently attached once set up in the basement.

I did have to tinker with the size of the breather hole in the top of the durso standpipe. I also placed a T at the bottom of the drain line where it empty's into the sump. I played around with the size of the holes in this T. It seemed to make a difference in the flow rate into the sump, which also affected the size of the breather hole I needed. I'm pretty sure it's dialed in properly now, and I ended up with a 1/4" breather hole.

I built the two shelves that will go on the sides of the stand, and cut and attached the cherry trim to them. There are many way to attach shelves into a cabinet space, but the wife and I decided that these shelves will not be adjustable, so I decided to go with pocket hole screws on the underside of the shelf. I didn't get a detailed picture of these, but if your interested in what they are, just google it and you'll find an explanation.

Before I left for my trip I had veneered the panels for the inside of the cabinet doors. I choose a walnut veneer to accent / contrast the cherry wood on the stand. It was my first time veneering and I am very happy with how they turned out. I spend yesterday completing construction of the cabinet doors, and assembled and finished them.

Here is a pic of how they look. The one on the left has no stain on it, the one on the right does.

And here is what they look like both stained and put in place on the stand. They will still need to be attached with hinges and have pulls (handles) put on them. I will be using european style cabinet hinges, which are a pain to install, but work really nice and are fully adjustable, unlike most other hinges. Most new kitchen cabinets use these type of hinges.

I ended my work today after draining the tank, and staining the rest of the inside of the stand. The only piece missing from the stand is the bottom piece of cherry trim, which I'll wait till it's in the basement to attach so that it can fit nicely over the carpet. I will be cutting out the carpet under the aquarium / stand, but want it tight to the rough stand so that the trim will go over the carpet and hide the cut line.

I still have to do 2 or 3 coats of clear finish in the stand before I bring it down into the basement, but I hope to have it moved down by the end of this coming weekend.

Boom :boom:

[Slough Shark]

Really very nice Ryan. It's nice to see mixing your hobbies pay off.