my new 180 long build
- Thread starter tropills
- Start date
sign guy
Active Member
I would put your skimmer in the first chamber so you dount kill any of your copods with it. then have you a low baffle leading into the fuge area. it should be about an inch higer than your sand level. your baffle at the end of the fuge should be set at the hight that your skimmer way back in the first chamber works best. for this reason youll need to be set on a certen skimmer when you build your sump. then through a bubble trap in with the last baffle so your pump sucks in no bubblesremember that the last baffle befor the pump will be the hight of your water level in your fuge and skimmer chambes. slso if your wondering about the low baffle that is just before the fuge, its to allow the water intering the fuge to rise up and through the chato, keeping it loose and clean. chato dose much better when its loose, it will be able to feed all vines of the chato insted of just the outside of it. ill check back latter and try and give some measurements
tropills
Member
Just placed my first order for some new stuff, 150lbs oolitic sand (already have 180lbs in the 125) 150lbs reef rock (base),already have 300+ from the 125) new mag 12 & 18 ,ASM g3 skimmer, couple pails seachem reef salt, ton of pvc fittings and pipe for drains and returns. and so it begins,
tropills
Member
Originally Posted by TriGa22
This is a great thread and being able to see your tanks I know that this is going to look fantastic.
thanks ,its real fun just looking into all the new equiptment thats out there now also, and having the wife interested in this new tank build makes it that much better. looking to hopfully have it running by the end of january I hope.
This is a great thread and being able to see your tanks I know that this is going to look fantastic.
thanks ,its real fun just looking into all the new equiptment thats out there now also, and having the wife interested in this new tank build makes it that much better. looking to hopfully have it running by the end of january I hope.
tropills
Member
OK I just did a little more research for my returns, and by using the mag 18 with a 1.25 return to the DT through my DIY manifold with 6 outlets emptying through 6 , 22 degree elbows I should be pushing around 1250gph give or take 20gph . so it looks like the bigger the better for returns. correct me If I'm wrong..
murph145
Active Member
what are u trying to accomplish with the returns?? id say sounds like u want flow but IMO returns arent made for flow reasons either setup a CL or some power heads id stick with only 2 returns of 3/4" each ... if u start having that many returns there will be little flow coming out of any of them and to get them to all run the same amount will be tricky since the most water will flow throiugh the closest one to the first exit...
id say scrap the 6 returns stick with 2 3/4" returns with maybe a Y outlet on each to give it some spread.... then think about your flow using the CL or powerheads....
why do u want to use a MAG pump anyways thats in sump correct?? i run the Panworld 100px-x and it works great as my return pump it actually matches the flow necessary to return.... for a 180G tank with standard overflows your looking at flowing around 1000 +/- gph through the sump you should get a nice pump rated around 1200-1300gph and it will work great
heres a pic of my sump area on my 180
this kinda shows the sump drain which flows the the right to my yellow return pump (panworld) then threw the check valve to the return labeled up above then split into 2-1/2" returns that go back up the inside of the over flow box and return threw the spray nozzels
this is just a bigger shot showing my whole sump the overflow drains into the far left into the filter bag as u can see and in that compartment i have my skimmer my phosban reactor and i have the pump that feeds my chiller and UV filter... between the baffled i run 2 bags of chemi pure carbon which i change every month.... then the last compartment is where i keep my macros and they are held away from my return pump area by some egg crate
hope u see that a little better
this next pic is of my back of the tank it kinda shows the closed loop setup
i have 2-1" drain wholes positioned on each side of my overflow box in the middle of the back panel so it sucks from both sides... they T up into a 2" PVC T then straight down into my Sequence reeflo Dart pump that returns it straight up in a 1.5" PVC pipe to my Oceans Motion 4 way that has 4-1" outlets that it closes and opens two at a time to create random flow which works great IMO
id say scrap the 6 returns stick with 2 3/4" returns with maybe a Y outlet on each to give it some spread.... then think about your flow using the CL or powerheads....
why do u want to use a MAG pump anyways thats in sump correct?? i run the Panworld 100px-x and it works great as my return pump it actually matches the flow necessary to return.... for a 180G tank with standard overflows your looking at flowing around 1000 +/- gph through the sump you should get a nice pump rated around 1200-1300gph and it will work great
heres a pic of my sump area on my 180
this kinda shows the sump drain which flows the the right to my yellow return pump (panworld) then threw the check valve to the return labeled up above then split into 2-1/2" returns that go back up the inside of the over flow box and return threw the spray nozzels
this is just a bigger shot showing my whole sump the overflow drains into the far left into the filter bag as u can see and in that compartment i have my skimmer my phosban reactor and i have the pump that feeds my chiller and UV filter... between the baffled i run 2 bags of chemi pure carbon which i change every month.... then the last compartment is where i keep my macros and they are held away from my return pump area by some egg crate
hope u see that a little better
this next pic is of my back of the tank it kinda shows the closed loop setup
i have 2-1" drain wholes positioned on each side of my overflow box in the middle of the back panel so it sucks from both sides... they T up into a 2" PVC T then straight down into my Sequence reeflo Dart pump that returns it straight up in a 1.5" PVC pipe to my Oceans Motion 4 way that has 4-1" outlets that it closes and opens two at a time to create random flow which works great IMO
tropills
Member
murph thanks again, my thinking for the 6 returns was to just have nice gentle flow, nothing real forceful , I am going to have 3 seio 2600 in the tank for my main flow, the reason for the mag drive is I really like the simplicity of them and my sump is not drilled, the heat they generate is not really enough to worry me about tank temp. so anyway back to the returns ,I should come off the pump and install a Y then split to each side of the tank ?? I read up on some of squidds calculations that's where the return size came from 1.25, he said the larger the return the less head pressure, and with the drains that I have with a mag 18 I'll have approx. 1200gph with 1.25 returns, and with .75 returns I'll only have approx 950 gph, these #s are at 4 feet of head pressure.as for adding a closed loop the only spots the tank is drilled is for my drains, thanks Greg
murph145
Active Member
i gotcha im no sump/flow expert myself i know squidd knows alot about that stuff.... 6 returns i guess will work ok i havent scene that from the sump before ... how are you going to make sure they all have equal pressure and flow coming out of them??
drilling a sump is really simple i did mine as long as its acrylic?? is yours going to be acrylic??
drilling a sump is really simple i did mine as long as its acrylic?? is yours going to be acrylic??
tropills
Member
Originally Posted by murph145
i gotcha im no sump/flow expert myself i know squidd knows alot about that stuff.... 6 returns i guess will work ok i havent scene that from the sump before ... how are you going to make sure they all have equal pressure and flow coming out of them??
drilling a sump is really simple i did mine as long as its acrylic?? is yours going to be acrylic??
I have a couple glass tanks laying around so I'm going that route. not real concerned about having equal pressure out of each return hole, I mean we are all trying to randomise the flow in our tanks anyway so why not let it flow the way it wants ??? Greg
i gotcha im no sump/flow expert myself i know squidd knows alot about that stuff.... 6 returns i guess will work ok i havent scene that from the sump before ... how are you going to make sure they all have equal pressure and flow coming out of them??
drilling a sump is really simple i did mine as long as its acrylic?? is yours going to be acrylic??
I have a couple glass tanks laying around so I'm going that route. not real concerned about having equal pressure out of each return hole, I mean we are all trying to randomise the flow in our tanks anyway so why not let it flow the way it wants ??? Greg
acrylic51
Active Member
Originally Posted by tropills
ok re-vamped the fuge/sump, moved the baffles and removed one, kinda like the one on my 55 on my 125, works good so why chage it right.
Why not split a line off your drain on the skimmer side to feed your skimmer raw tank water instead of having everything dump on the 1 side of the sump?
ok re-vamped the fuge/sump, moved the baffles and removed one, kinda like the one on my 55 on my 125, works good so why chage it right.
Why not split a line off your drain on the skimmer side to feed your skimmer raw tank water instead of having everything dump on the 1 side of the sump?
