Rcpilot - 29g Frag Tank

[Rcpilot]

Sorry. So many questions. :oops:

Found a local hardware store to cut the glass pieces for $2.90 each, but the edges will be sharp.

I don't care of the sides and bottoms are sharp since I'll never touch them again after this is done. They will be covered in silicone anyway.. But that second baffle is going to be exposed and I don't want to slice my thumb off if I should ever happen to bump it.

Can ya knock the sharp edges off the glass with a sanding disk? Or should I take those glass pieces to a glass specialty shop and have them knock the sharp edges off?

 

[daugherty]

yes use a coarse stone like one that you would use to sharpen a knife with and it will dull them up

 

[yote]

I've never tryed to dull the edges of glass.But I would do something to dull em.
The last thing you wanna do is have to fish your thumb out from between those baffles.

 

[Rcpilot]

I got sanding stones. :mrgreen: I'll give it a go and if it looks dangerous or if it don't work, I'll take them to the specialty shop and have them knock the edges off.

Thank you, Sirs. :Cheers:

I'm gettin' excited.

Gotta get the holes drilled. I found another place that'll drill the holes for $5 each. I know I need a 2 3/8 hole for the overflow.

Was thinking about drilling 4 holes in the back wall for 3/4" return lines. Quick and dirty is just run it up and over the top of the tank, drill a hole in it so it doesn't siphon when the power goes out. But it sure would be neat to have some holes in the back so I can diffuse the water a bit. It's more bulkheads and holes though $$$$$$ :grumble:

 

[bobby]

I also had mine cut at a local hardware store. I never dulled mine and have never been cut. Then again I rarely ever have my hand in the sump. To dull you just take a piece of sand paper and go across it a few times.

 

[Rcpilot]

The last thing you wanna do is have to fish your thumb out from between those baffles.

DOH!! That WOULD suck.

"Honey!!! Can ya get me a long pair of hemostats, a ziploc baggie and a couple paper towels!! NOW PLEASE!!" :shock:

 

[Rcpilot]

How do you keep the return pump from siphoning in the event the power goes out?

I was wondering about putting 3/4" bulkheads in the top of the aquarium and connecting them to the return pump. The bulkheads are threaded on the inside, so you can connect that line-loc stuff to them and direct the flow. So if the power goes out, how do you stop the line-loc from siphoning all your tank out into the sump and on the floor?

I've seen people drill a hole to break the siphon. But how to you rig this up on the return bulkheads and line-loc ? Where do ya drill the hole?

 

[yote]

If your drilling the return bulkheads below the water line,then its still gonna back siphon until the water gets to the holes.But you could just keep the return nozzles close to the surface,say 1/2 inch or so.You can install a check valve too,but I think those are fairly expensive.

 

[Rcpilot]

How about this?

 

[Rcpilot]

It's gotta be cheaper and easier to just run the return pipes up and over the top of the tank - then drill a hole 1/2" below the water line.

Frag tank - don't over-complicate it Chris. :frustrat:

 

[Ted]

It's gotta be cheaper and easier to just run the return pipes up and over the top of the tank - then drill a hole 1/2" below the water line.

Frag tank - don't over-complicate it Chris. :frustrat:

+1 rc thats the way to go

 

[yote]

Your right Rc.It will be cheaper AND easier to run the return up and over the back.
But you dont need a 1/2" hole to break the siphon.An 1/8" will work just fine.

 

[Rcpilot]

Yeah, thats what I meant. I said "drill a hole 1/2" below the water line"

Tried to go to Home Depot today and look for the diamond hole saw and the bulkheads. Couldn't even find a spot in the parking lot that wasn't 200yrds from the front door. Toooooo crowded for me. My wife was like - Let's just go in, how bad can it be?

When the Home Depot parking lot is so full you gotta walk 200yrds just to get inside - it's too crowded. :grumble:

I'll try again in a couple hours.

 

[dcantucson]

Yup! It's like that here too. The change of seasons really gets people out shopping for their DIY stuff. "Gotta do it before winter" mentality.

 

[Rcpilot]

This is an idea for a FUTURE auto top off. It's totally automatic and has several layers of redundancy.

I'll have a 5g RO/DI reservoir under the stand. This reservoir will house a small powerhead that pumps water into my main sump. There's a regular float switch in the middle of the reservoir. This float switch trips the solenoid valve and opens it. It also trips the RO pump. That makes the RO unit pump fresh water into the reservoir. When the reservoir float is satisfied, the solenoid valve and pump shut off.

There is a low water switch in the reservoir. If the reservoir ever gets low on water, that switch will shut off power to the powerhead and stop it from pumping.

There is also a high water switch in the reservoir. If the main float fails and the RO unit should happen to continue pumping into the reservoir - this high water switch would shut off the RO unit.

There is a normal float in the sump. This float turns the powerhead in the reservoir ON and OFF. That will pump fresh RO water into my main sump and keep it topped off.

There is a high water switch in the main sump. If anything bad ever happens and my sump happens to fill beyond the regular overflow level - that switch will shut down the entire system. All pumps, all RO pump, RO powerhead, main sump pump - EVERYTHING goes dead. This switch would not trip if power was simply out and my sump filled up. Thats normal.. This switch would only trip and shut off power if my sump was flooded to the point of overflow. In that situation, I want all electrical stuff turned off to avoid the fire risk.

There is a low water switch in the main sump. This protects my main return pump in the event the sump goes dry.

There's also a high water switch in the frag tank. If my overflow ever gets clogged, I don't want my return pump to flood the tank, so the high water switch would trip to shut down the whole system.

There is a control panel with LED lights. This panel has main switches that can be used to manually shut it all down. The left side would be green LED lights. This would indicate power to all systems.

The right side would be 2-color LED's. The lights would remain green as long as the RO pump and powerhead were off. When the RO pump or powerhead in the reservoir turn on, the LED goes red.

This is just an idea for a FUTURE improvement to the tank. It's complicated. My friend drew this diagram for me and would build the system.

All the relays and valves can be controlled with small power supplies plugged into the wall. Or you could use a larger 10amp power supply and run it all that way. The 10amp power supply would be much cleaner.

 

[Rcpilot]

If I use a bulkhead thats threaded on the tank side, can I just screw a strainer into it and forgo the overflow box?

Of course, the bulkhead needs to be drilled higher in the tank.

 

[daugherty]

i would go woth the box myself and drill the hole farther down the closer you get to the edge of the glass the bigger chance you will have of breaking it

 

[Rcpilot]

Yeah, that's the rub.

Since the 1.5" bulkhead requires a 2 3/8 hole, I was gonna lay it out so the top of the hole is 2 3/8 from the top. That puts the center of the hole like 3.5" from the top +/-. Safe enough

But I would need a 3-sided overflow. I found one, but it's $40 shipping. Thats so far out of my budget - not gonna happen.

Does anybody know where I can get an overflow that will glue to the back wall in the center of the tank (equal distance from left and right sides)? Even a 4 sided overflow that I might cut down?

If I drilled the hole as close to the top as possible, I could get away without the overflow box and the tank water level would be like 2" below the top rim.

Anybody got a link to a cheap overflow?

 

[daugherty]

what about trying to make your own overflowbox from a sheet of acrylic. but i guess that since it is just a frag tank it will not really matter if the tank is missing a few inches of water to if it were a display tank it would just look tacky.

 

[Rcpilot]

I sold $320 worth of purple death, zoas, pink palys, candy canes and mushrooms to one guy this afternoon!!! He was a newbie reefer and was stocking a new 120g tank. He wasn't happy with the LFS selection of corals or their prices. (thats cause he went to Fish Den - everybody knows their prices are high and their corals suck - but I wasn't about to tell him to go to another store) He found my ad on craigslist and called me. He said it was really nice to come to my place and do "one-stop-shopping" for all the corals he wanted.

My 10g frag tank is pretty much empty now. :bounce:

Parts I just ordered:
(1) 2 3/8" diamond coated hole saw bit
(2) 1.5" black ABS bulkheads
(2) 1.5" PVC unions
(2) 1.5" PVC ball valves
(10) 1.5" PVC 90's
(4) 1.5" PVC 45's
(4) 1.5" PVC 22's
(1) 1.5" vertical screen intake
(6) 3/4" 90's
(4) 3/4" 22's
(8) 3/4" 45's
(1) 4-way diffuser - (1) 1.5" inlet and (4) 3/4" outlet
(4) loc-line NPT 3/4" male
(4) 6" loc-line 3/4"
(4) 3/4" bushings to female thread
(4) 3/4" ball valves
(2) round nozzle loc-line
(2) 3.5" flat diffuser loc-line
(1) 4x4x8 overflow (700GPH)

:faint: Holy crap!! That was $150! My budget just blew up all over itself. :faint: And I still need a return pump. I might buy a CHEAP pump from Catalina Aquarium for $40. It's rated to 1000GPH, but I figure it'll be down around 600 or 700GPH after the head rise and all the fittings.
http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_28&products_id=1071

I decided to drill the return line. It will be 1.5" size and will come into the tank about 3.5" below the water line. I'll run a 90 up and had for the top of the tank. Then 90 over to horizontal. I bought a 4-way diffuser. It's 1.5" inlet and the discharge had (4) 3/4" holes for 3/4" PVC. I'll run 4 lines around in the tank and use female threaded bushings on each end. Then screw the loc-line adapters on and use 6" pieces of loc-line to direct my flow around the tank.

I bought an acrylic overflow that will fit right over my overflow bulkhead with the screen.

I'm buying the PVC locally because it's cost prohibitive to ship in small quantities.

Gonna drill my own holes. Screw it. I was gonna pay somebody to drill the holes, but they want $20 for the first hole and $5 a hole for each additional hole. I paid $9 for the hole saw. That included the shipping cost too. I figure it can't be that hard and I wasn't about to pay some joker $25 to drill 2 holes for me when I can have the bit sent to my front door for $9.

I'm going to buy the rest of the wood for the stand tomorrow and start building it on Monday. Still need to get the baffles cut for the sump. That'll be about $7 or $8. Need a tube of silicone and some PVC glue/primer.

Now I gotta start cutting up corals and get more frags going in the 10g tank. :grumble: