125gal Tank Project Underway
- Thread starter ameno
- Start date
ameno
Active Member
Now that the tank is actually running water thru it I thought I'd share a few of the horror stories of some of the stuff that didn't go exactly as planned.
First while I was adding the 1.5" flex pvc to the overflow the bulkhead started leaking (pretty bad) so I grabbed some containers and luckly my closed loop just has a valve in it were the pump will go so it works like a quick dump drain. so I started dumping water into a 15 gal container and then filled the skimmer and sump area before I got the water level down to tightin the bulk head, Then I had to figure out how to get all the water back in. all I had was a 1.25" hose about 8' long, it is really hard to siphion thru that big a hose, I almost drowned several times on di water. but finally got all the water in. then in the process of all this I spilled a whole bottle of the purple pvc stuff on the floor. not the floor around the tank is purple. Then when I started the sump pump the flow wasn't fast enough to keep up, that's when I noticed I forgot the siphon break in feed line, so I'm sitting there plugging and unplugging the pump and trying to get my wife to drill a hole real quick, then I got back my sences and relized I had a valve on the pump discharge. So finally now everything has been running great for several days.
A few lessons learned
1. Do the piping before you put in water
2. Don't spill the purple stuff
3. don't forget the siphon break when you start up the pump
First while I was adding the 1.5" flex pvc to the overflow the bulkhead started leaking (pretty bad) so I grabbed some containers and luckly my closed loop just has a valve in it were the pump will go so it works like a quick dump drain. so I started dumping water into a 15 gal container and then filled the skimmer and sump area before I got the water level down to tightin the bulk head, Then I had to figure out how to get all the water back in. all I had was a 1.25" hose about 8' long, it is really hard to siphion thru that big a hose, I almost drowned several times on di water. but finally got all the water in. then in the process of all this I spilled a whole bottle of the purple pvc stuff on the floor. not the floor around the tank is purple. Then when I started the sump pump the flow wasn't fast enough to keep up, that's when I noticed I forgot the siphon break in feed line, so I'm sitting there plugging and unplugging the pump and trying to get my wife to drill a hole real quick, then I got back my sences and relized I had a valve on the pump discharge. So finally now everything has been running great for several days.
A few lessons learned
1. Do the piping before you put in water
2. Don't spill the purple stuff
3. don't forget the siphon break when you start up the pump
ameno
Active Member
latest update
I had to modify the stockman by having the slots bigger, made a lot of difference, no noise now and good flow. I wish I had of went with a larger return for the pump, I made it 1" and should have used 1.5", I wanted around 1000 gph flow and with the 1" I'm getting around 900 gph, I'll see how this works out. I may change this out later. The tank has been cycling now going on three weeks and the last check.
Amonia-0
no2 -0
no3 -10
sg -1.026
ph -8.2
I'll keep an eye on this a few more weeks and see if anything changes before I add anything to the tank, In the meantime I'm building the canopy and stand. Lots of work and haven't gotten to far yet.
I added a 6500k spiral bulbed for the fuge and some cheato, cheato is doing great but the sand is turning a orange brown color in the fuge, I'm hoping this is noraml and will go away eventually.
I notice the silicone in the fuge has turned yellow, even before I added light, I have not had this happen before, not sure why, I did use silicone for aquariums so it should be ok, just never had it turn color before.
I'll try and post more pics once I get father alione on the canopy.
I had to modify the stockman by having the slots bigger, made a lot of difference, no noise now and good flow. I wish I had of went with a larger return for the pump, I made it 1" and should have used 1.5", I wanted around 1000 gph flow and with the 1" I'm getting around 900 gph, I'll see how this works out. I may change this out later. The tank has been cycling now going on three weeks and the last check.
Amonia-0
no2 -0
no3 -10
sg -1.026
ph -8.2
I'll keep an eye on this a few more weeks and see if anything changes before I add anything to the tank, In the meantime I'm building the canopy and stand. Lots of work and haven't gotten to far yet.
I added a 6500k spiral bulbed for the fuge and some cheato, cheato is doing great but the sand is turning a orange brown color in the fuge, I'm hoping this is noraml and will go away eventually.
I notice the silicone in the fuge has turned yellow, even before I added light, I have not had this happen before, not sure why, I did use silicone for aquariums so it should be ok, just never had it turn color before.
I'll try and post more pics once I get father alione on the canopy.
ibew
Active Member
Originally Posted by grubsnaek
tru i hear ya. i will do some more research on them. i did find a site that sells them already made. im not that good with the hands. so purchasing them seems the way to go.
hey you care to share that info jpochan@yahoo.com
tru i hear ya. i will do some more research on them. i did find a site that sells them already made. im not that good with the hands. so purchasing them seems the way to go.
hey you care to share that info jpochan@yahoo.com
ibew
Active Member
Originally Posted by ameno
yea I actually went back and made the notches bigger and took the hose off the top and it works great now. Stockman has another design that's an easier DIY but it's not quite as compact as this one.
how big are the notches and what did you use to cut them in also how big is the top of the hole and is there a pipe inbetween the 2 caps
yea I actually went back and made the notches bigger and took the hose off the top and it works great now. Stockman has another design that's an easier DIY but it's not quite as compact as this one.
how big are the notches and what did you use to cut them in also how big is the top of the hole and is there a pipe inbetween the 2 caps
ameno
Active Member
I cut the notches to were I had around 1/8" Of pvc left were the pipe is, at the lower end. And they run up past the curve on the cap around 3/8" past the curb. The top has a 3/8" tubing connector on it. My wife had someone at her work cut it for me on a milling machine, but I have heard of people doing it with a router, I think it would be hard to do though. the caps are 2.5" for a 1.5" stand pipe. it just slides over the pipe and I have a coupling in the pipe that works as a stop for the stand pipe. Hope this helps, I'm away from home so I can't really get more pics or exact on the diminsions, just trying to remember what I did.
ibew
Active Member
Originally Posted by ameno
what I've got is an elbow a short piece of pipe then the coupling then a short piece of pipe that the stockman baffle slides onto.
where and what is the stockman baffle im just getting lost on the inner part of the 2 end caps and how it attaches to the elbow
what I've got is an elbow a short piece of pipe then the coupling then a short piece of pipe that the stockman baffle slides onto.
where and what is the stockman baffle im just getting lost on the inner part of the 2 end caps and how it attaches to the elbow
ameno
Active Member
the stockman, is a baffle, it's the part on top with the hole and slots. I come out of the side of the tank with an elbow thats attached to the bulkhead, I have a short piece of pipe on the elbow going up vertical, then the coupling, then another short piece of pipe that's the stockmen (top piece, the 2.5" caps) slid onto.
ibew
Active Member
Originally Posted by ameno
the stockman, is a baffle, it's the part on top with the hole and slots. I come out of the side of the tank with an elbow thats attached to the bulkhead, I have a short piece of pipe on the elbow going up vertical, then the coupling, then another short piece of pipe that's the stockmen (top piece, the 2.5" caps) slid onto.
ok so the pipe doesn't continue through the stockman it ends at the first cap on the bottom and you just glue another cap on top and drill a hole
the stockman, is a baffle, it's the part on top with the hole and slots. I come out of the side of the tank with an elbow thats attached to the bulkhead, I have a short piece of pipe on the elbow going up vertical, then the coupling, then another short piece of pipe that's the stockmen (top piece, the 2.5" caps) slid onto.
ok so the pipe doesn't continue through the stockman it ends at the first cap on the bottom and you just glue another cap on top and drill a hole
ameno
Active Member
Originally Posted by grubsnaek
let me get this straight. you took an end cap cut a hole in for the pipe then cut notches in it. glued another end cap to it and drilled a hole at the top and thats it. is it quite. if so thats easier than the ones i made from the stockman site.
That's it, thats all there is to it, the trick is getting the notches big enough to let enough water in and getting the hole cut to fit snug over the pipe, I ended up adjusting mine up some off the coupling, to get the right balance, but it's snug enough that it stays in place. The notches and the hole is the only hard part, it would be hard to do without a milling machine. and yes it's quite, can't hardly hear it running. If I remember right didn't you end up with (2) 1" holes up by the top of your tank?
If so I would go with an externial dursco design. With that design there's not really any adjustment for water level but it's a really clean looking design, I probably would have done mine that way if I had thought about it at the time.
let me get this straight. you took an end cap cut a hole in for the pipe then cut notches in it. glued another end cap to it and drilled a hole at the top and thats it. is it quite. if so thats easier than the ones i made from the stockman site.
That's it, thats all there is to it, the trick is getting the notches big enough to let enough water in and getting the hole cut to fit snug over the pipe, I ended up adjusting mine up some off the coupling, to get the right balance, but it's snug enough that it stays in place. The notches and the hole is the only hard part, it would be hard to do without a milling machine. and yes it's quite, can't hardly hear it running. If I remember right didn't you end up with (2) 1" holes up by the top of your tank?
If so I would go with an externial dursco design. With that design there's not really any adjustment for water level but it's a really clean looking design, I probably would have done mine that way if I had thought about it at the time.
ameno
Active Member
Thanks slowly getting there, TurningTim is setting his tank up with the externial dursco. The way it works is with a dursco (I'm sure you've seen this type that is internial or in a overflow box) you have a pipe with a tee and an elbow turned down and then the pipe continues up with a hole at the top. well with this setup all you have in the tank is the 90 ell. turned down, then on the other side of the bulkhead, outside your tank you do the tee and cap with a hole in it.