Kessil

Finally upgrading! Input on how to do it right please?

Jay think of it this way... instead of a round pipe you have a pipe with a square cross section. a 2" x 2" square you could put 4 - 1" x 1" squares in that same area. I.e. you simply can't add the width of the pipes :)
 
Since its SF - I would add a lip for the tank stand too, it might help with an earth quake, but the glass could crack too, but at least it won't slide of the stand....I had a 20 glass do that in LomaP. quake a whiel back. All Acrylic for me now. : )
 
Thanks for the tip, I'll do that as well. What's worse is that it's in Union City, I can see the Hayward fault hills from the porch about 1/2 mile away....
 
sfsuphysics said:
Jay think of it this way... instead of a round pipe you have a pipe with a square cross section. a 2" x 2" square you could put 4 - 1" x 1" squares in that same area. I.e. you simply can't add the width of the pipes :)
Click to expand...

Thanks teacher Mike! :p
I kind of got what you were saying before but now it makes total sense.

So a question on the overflows and returns. There is plenty of room behind the tank for plumbing and stuff so I am going to have the drilling done through the back pane of glass. I definitely want to do 2 overflow lines just to be extra careful should something ever clog one of them.

• Will 2 1" bulkheads suffice?

But, before you answer that, I guess I should figure out what kind of returns I am going to do as well, as that's dependent on the overflows as well.

• Does sump volume come into play when determining turnover rate? I'm assuming yes? In that case I should shoot for something like 700GPH since there will be around 70 gallons of water in the system.

Assuming I'm shooting for about 700GPH the return pump would probably be fitted with a 3/4" pipe right?
• What size single horizontally mounted bulkhead could handle 700GPH?

• What are the benefits of drilling holes for the returns?

Thanks again guys, I really appreciate all the feedback!
 
I don't know if you already came up with the idea for helping the carpet situation, but I was thinking of a solution to this for the future, since it's kind of late for me now. I was thinking of building a kind of a fake hardwood floor section with spaces in between the wood to allow for draining, and then place a tray underneath them to collect the water. Hard to type it out, since im not an engineer or designer or anything, but take 2x4's make a square frame to fit the area you want covered, place a tray underneath (maybe at an angle to drain a place where you can empty the water if too much drains in). Cut notches into the frame to fit rows of 2x4's so you can slide them in. Sand it and seal it, and you have an almost elegant hard wood floor section that raises your tank a little and no problems with weight on that type of floor. Hope that makes sense.
 
Two 1" overflows will work great @700 gph, plenty of wiggle room there.

AFA turnover I usually shoot for 6-8X per hour, 10 will work just fine.

If you run your return over the edge of the tank it gives you the option of drilling your siphon break up high to minimize the chance of flooding.
 
• Will 2 1" bulkheads suffice?
For 700gph should be fine.

• Does sump volume come into play when determining turnover rate? I'm assuming yes? In that case I should shoot for something like 700GPH since there will be around 70 gallons of water in the system.
If you feel the need to go by some multiple number of volumes turn over, then absolutely.


Assuming I'm shooting for about 700GPH the return pump would probably be fitted with a 3/4" pipe right?
If you're pushing the water with a pump it doesn't matter, smaller will add head height and reduce the flow, but yeah 3/4" should be fine

• What size single horizontally mounted bulkhead could handle 700GPH?
Is this the return? or the drain? If you're using 1" pipes for drains put a 1" bulkhead in, if you're using 3/4" pipes for a return use that size bulkhead.

• What are the benefits of drilling holes for the returns?
*shrug* cleaner look is about the only thing I can think of.
 
Update time:

So the tank is now at Dolphin pet Village waiting to be drilled, they are going to drill 2 1" bulkhead holes on opposite back ends of the tank.

We finally found tile to match the rest of the tile in the place and are hopefully going to be installing it this weekend.

I am going to run the returns over the top lip of the tank, I like the idea of having the siphon breaks way up high, thanks for the tip!

*****************************

So the GF's dad is a little concerned about all this water being on the 2nd floor of a condo. Last night he expressed some concerns and I wanted to get your opinions on it. To date, I have been doing everything I can to be sure this system is as failsafe as possible.

Some of his concerns:
• The weight of the tank and the sump, assuming salt water weighs 8 lbs. per gallon (rough total water volume estimate would be 65 gallons w/sump included) = 520 lbs. of water + 50 lbs of rock = 570 lbs. + all the other stuff ~30lbs. we are talking around 600 lbs of weight.
• Are there any concerns about 600 lbs. of weight distributed in a 36" x 18" area? Personally I think that is the least concern but want to see what others think.

• Her dad suggested we invest in more house insurance should there ever be a leak or catastrophic failure. Her current policy covers something like $30k in damage, which I think is plenty. Any concern there?
• (The reason I say $30k is plenty is back in the day when I had a 75g tank at my parents place and didn't set up my overflow box correctly I spilled about 20g of water onto the carpet which seeped down and started pouring out in the basement below. The only casualty was the ceiling tile and some wet cloths. Also we had tenants above us in our old house with one of those portable washing machines, the airhead tenant forgot to unplug the sink and the entire washing machine emptied onto the floor and into our kitchen. I think the total repair bill for the cieling was something like $3000.)

• On that note, how common is it for glass tanks to catastrophically fail? I can't say I have ever browsed upon a glass tank just bursting and dumping it contents all over the place ever in all the years I've browsed online forums. Usually it starts with a crack or a leak or something, right?

• He was asking if the floor is concrete or wood...
• The condo was built about 4 years ago, and is a tri-level building. I assume it was built with concrete floors as wood seems more like something to do in a house. If so, I wonder if there is a way to seal off the area the tank will be in should there be a major leak.

Thanks again for all your help,
Jay
 
Jay,

if it was built 4 years ago it might actualy have metal joists and studs instaed of wood (way more cost effective). I wouldn't assume you have concrete floors unless you know you do, it is common in condo building to pour a concrete floor however it is far from required except for the bottom floors foundation.
 
Thanks Imus, I'm going to rip up a corner of carpet tomorrow to see what it looks like underneath. I'm hoping it's concrete but we'll see.
 
Just ripped up some of the carpet. I think it is concrete. Underneath the carpet the tack strips are nailed into a board that reminds me of dry wall. I'm guessing it is some type of cement board to tack in the carpet tack. Anyone know what it could be?
 
Concrete poured on a level other than the first? I wouldn't count on it. As to the cement board, strange to use that as a flooring unless the contractor got uber cheap and simply had some laying around. You'd use that for tiles and the what not.
 
So I finally figured out what was under the floor. I drilled a tiny little hole in this cement board stuff, it went in about 1/2" and stopped hard. I called the builders of the place and it is indeed a concrete floor, the boarding is some type of soundboard to keep noise down between floors.

Big weekend coming up!!!
Finally got the tank back from Dolphin Pet Village. Tyler did an amazing job! Two 1" sanded holes on opposite back sides of the tank encased by a couple beautifully cut and silicone'd black ABS plastic overflow walls. This cost me more than twice of what the tank cost but he did a great job and I am very happy with it.

We are building the stand tomorrow and then hopefully getting the tile work done.

Tonight I am going to experiment with the epoxy sand bed in a few deli containers to see how it comes out and to figure out my mix. I'm also going to try and get the standpipes done. I am going to try the gurglebuster method I think. Just need to find out if it is ok to have a 90º elbow on the bottom of it.
 
Depending on what type of epoxy you use you may want to monitor heat, some epoxies can get so hot they catch on fire, even standard West System can get quite hot.
 
As for lighting I need some advice.

I've decided to go with a single MH bulb and maybe 2-3 T5's.

Would 250w be to much for a 18" tall tank?? I understand a MH bulb is only good for about a 24" square of light. That being said, would the 6" on each side of the tank just receive very little light, would they be like really shaded and dark? Would those areas be ok for things like acans with the supplemental T5 lighting?

Would it make more sense to go with the 175w MH?

Here is the setup I am looking at, Icecap 175w MH retrofit or the same in the 250w version.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idProduct~ICSPK23~tab~1.html



Thanks again all, really appreciate all the input.
 
tuberider said:
Depending on what type of epoxy you use you may want to monitor heat, some epoxies can get so hot they catch on fire, even standard West System can get quite hot.
Click to expand...

i read a few posts on RC talking about the heat generated using this epoxy. The general consensus says to do a thin layer (about 1/2") and after fully curing, using room temperature water. One 240 gallon tank out of 26 pages failed and cracked when the person sprayed cold hose water on the still curing sand. The plan is to test in the deli containers with an IR heat gun to see how hot it gets.

Thanks Jeremy!
 
badbread said:
Would 250w be to much for a 18" tall tank?? I understand a MH bulb is only good for about a 24" square of light. That being said, would the 6" on each side of the tank just receive very little light, would they be like really shaded and dark? Would those areas be ok for things like acans with the supplemental T5 lighting?

Would it make more sense to go with the 175w MH?

Here is the setup I am looking at, Icecap 175w MH retrofit or the same in the 250w version.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idProduct~ICSPK23~tab~1.html
Click to expand...

I'd avoid the spiderlight reflector, too many shadows, making Jay an unhappy man.

I think you could get by with a 175w, I did on my tank for a while (17" deep) I also had a single 250w on my tank for a few years and it was fine except the chalice don't seem to like it now with 2 250s they really don't like it :D

If you want pm me I have a few lighting components lying around I can sell for a decent price that are good quality.
 
Thanks Jay! I'm playing around with potential overflow ideas for the 40 gallon I'll be getting.

Have fun with the water test. I love my hofer gurgle buster that I added to my Lifereef hang on overflow. Once you get it tuned correctly, you won't hear a thing!
 
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