Feedback Appreciated: DIY 125G Tank and LED Lighting

[magnetar68]

I dunno about going to sac to pic this up

Of course I would never expect something like that. Going to SAC means renting a u-haul for 1/2 day. I don't mind doing that for a drive to SAC, but seems a little silly for a drive to OAK. Of course, the logic of it would be that the distance doesn't matter. If I am willing to get a u-haul to pick up a tank it should not matter how far it is.

 

[rygh]

Pretty safe bet that the cost of renting a uhaul (or tiny trailer if you have a hitch),
ends up being a VERY insignificant part of the overall cost.

Best to find a builder you are comfortable with, that can do exactly what you want.

 

[magnetar68]

Some rendered pics:

 

[rygh]

Wow, nice rendering!
Someone is spending some real time on the cad tools.

But I really worry that your plumbing will be pretty noisy.
It is critical to make sure no bubbles get into the main full-siphon pipe.
Unfortunately, with the durso-like top as I see it, I would expect it to suck in a lot of air.
It also may need to be deeper.
Could be wrong though. While I know it will work super-silent, deep with no top, since I have done that,
I really don't know what it will do with the fancy top.

Side note : To improve laminar flow, make sure to round-over the top of that overflow.

 

[magnetar68]

Actually, it's just a trial version of IDX Renditioner for Sketchup. It takes my Sketchup stuff and makes it look great right out of the box. These are the real-time views, so I did not even ray trace them. I am amazed at how simple it is to use.

Yes, I have specified that the overflow notch be rounded for smooth low.

Honestly, I have no personal experience with this setup, so I am hoping it will work out to be VERY quiet. My understanding is that as long as I can add three standpipes and the overflow is over 6" deep, I should be able to get a no noise setup. Although the exact dursos and height etc may need some work.

If you look at the one of the first posts, you will see this plumbing setup as a Herbie overflow where the full drain standpipe is an open pipe that is fully submerged. That will have no air and no noise. There may be some noise from the secondary durso, but it should be small.

The rendering above shows the a BeanAnimal setup. In the BeanAnimal design, the full drain low enough and the top is completely capped, so that it is at full siphon, so there is no noise. The durso is capped but does have an air tube that goes back to DT. The flow should be laminar down the sides of this pipe if the system is properly tuned with the gate valve on the full drain (and a gate valve on the return). If the water level in the DT gets too high, the tube from the secondary drain is covered and the secondary can go full siphon and take over the flow for the assumed to be clogged primary. The emergency drain then picks up the slack (in my case, since it is just an open tube, it will be rather loud).

I definitely need someone who has experience with a BeanAnimal to give me some guidance here. I think as long as the three standpipes are there and the overflow is deep enough, I should be able to get it right.

 

[rygh]

I may have to try that renditioner.
I have an old sketchup of my tank. Be interesting to see how it does.
Fun.

Ok, if the full drain tube is completely capped, then it should not be able to suck in air,
except for a few minutes at startup, so not an issue.
Although not sure you need the extra parts and pieces.

Since you have a third emergency tube, I also don't really see the need for a small air tube from the second
middle durso back to the DT. But does not hurt.

 

[magnetar68]

Here's my understanding of the tube:

The primary full drain is capped and has no hole or tube, so no air can do down it. This makes it a full siphon.

This handles most of the flow; the the secondary drain handles the rest. The secondary has a way for air to get in it (a hole with a tube in it). This creates laminar flow down the walls of the tube. As long as this flow remains low, there will be (nearly) no noise since the laminar flow is not turbulent.

If the primary gets clogged, then all of that flow needs to go down the secondary. And whatever the secondary does not handle, the third (emergency) drain handles. The problem is that you now have a lot of flow going down a durso with a hole in it. This will combine air in the flow and the flow will get turbulent and noisy.

The tube provides a mechanism for the air hole to get closed off. One important fact about the tube is that it is normally placed just above the water line in the DT. This means that in normal operating mode -- where most of the flow is going down the pirmary drain -- the tube allows air into the secondary. Since the secondary drain is higher than the primary, when it takes over as the main drain for flow after the primary is clogged, the water level will rise in the DT. Once this water level rises to the point where it covers over the open tube, the secondary durso no longer has a mechanism for air to mix and the secondary goes to full siphon, providing completely redundancy for the primary drain.

I want the third emergency drain to be completely open so it makes a lot of noise. This will be the signal that something needs to be addressed.

Again, I have no first hand experience with this system (yet :0), so I hope I am not misrepresenting it.

 

[rygh]

All "systems" are different, so hard to misrepresent it.
But from an engineering standpoint, it sounds like your plan will work well.
You actually have double redundancy, but that is not a bad thing.

My only suggestion:
Try it both with and without the durso-like top on the primary.
Without it, I would expect a smother transition to full siphon when you turn pump on.
Minor detail though.

 

[magnetar68]

My only suggestion:
Try it both with and without the durso-like top on the primary.
Without it, I would expect a smother transition to full siphon when you turn pump on.
Minor detail though.

My initial thought was that I was only going to run it in Herbie mode (no durso on the primary). In this mode I don't need to worry too much about the distance between the two drains. But since I have room, I decided to design it so I can try both and compare.

 

[magnetar68]

Here's an idea I have for a reefscape. It has a terraced sand bed. The front part is only about 1", but the back part acts as a deep sand bed. I realize that this will likely have issues due to flow and sand movement, but I was thinking about building a divider made of reef rock (Bulk Reef Supply Eco Rox)

Here's a short video that gives a better sense of the layout:

Reefscape Video