New 75gal Reef Tank Step-By-Step Setup DIY

[Geoff]

those capped Tees are used for priming the CLS.

have you calculated how much flow your overflow can handle? i think you are going to be running into some problems if you plan on running that much flow through the overflow. you may need to make the wiers deeper to handle the increased flow. if you have to do this anyway, than i would make all of your pumps come out of the overflow. you might end up just making the entire overflow out of eggcrate. this will give you maximum flow without any worries of critter suck.

you would then need to put internal elbows on the open drains. these elbows will control the water level in the tank since the overflow is not completely holey. this is how i plan on controlling water height on my rebuild.

G~

[PowerManJ316]

I have used the RC calculator and I with my overflow, it should handle about 2000 gph. I plan to downsize all four pumps of the CLS to keep the flow about the same, just using more pumps so that I have more control over them.

[PowerManJ316]

One last thing before I head to Lowe's...I read that having the wate flow enter the branch of the tee is not recommended. In my setup water would enter in the branch and exit the bottom run while the top run would be used to prime the CLS. Is this an "ok" setup since the top run will only be used for priming?

[Geoff]

i think it is not recommended to use a branch line for the inlet if you are planning on using the other two outlets for flow. this will create an imbalance with the flow. if you are just going to be using one of the branches for priming purposes than it should not be a problem.

G~

[tdwyatt]

btw, in plumbing copper pipe, "t's" are occasionally used as elbows at the ends of horizontal runs to prevent "hammer", the air bubble in the top of the T will retain a little air in the section that acts as a buffer for the sudden stopping of water (as when a faucet is turned off or a auto9matic valve is closed). "Hammer" is what you often hear when a washer turns off the water in a house that has not made allowances for this event. I imagine it might be an issue in tanks with large diameter pipe and an Oceansmotion or similar automatic valve device, but that is only speculation on my part. I personally suggest using flexpipe for all the runs on a cls up to the bulkhead on the tank.

[three90s&125sump]

Originally Posted by tdwyatt

I personally suggest using flexpipe for all the runs on a cls up to the bulkhead on the tank.

I wish I would have listen to him when he told me that. Now I have to redo my entire CLS. I will be using Y connectors instead of T connectors and I will be eliminating all but 1-90 degree elbow. I strongly suggest to ANYONE making a CLS that you do the same.

[PowerManJ316]

Here are some pictures of the tank all setup. I still need some bulkheads, but I am going to run freshwater for a while since I have two african cichlids. I have to test the sump to make sure there are no leaks also.

[Geoff]

you might want to paint the back of the tank before you get to involved.

G~

[three90s&125sump]

What is the tank stand sitting on?

[PowerManJ316]

Originally Posted by Geoff

you might want to paint the back of the tank before you get to involved.

G~

Is there any purpose to painting the back...or just so you can't see through it? I was considering painting it black, because I want to also use black lava sand and I thought it would like nice with a darker background, a couple of bright corals and my bright lionfish!

[PowerManJ316]

Originally Posted by three90s&125sump

What is the tank stand sitting on?

If you look a couple of pages back in this thread there is a close up. The two sheets of pink stuff is styrofoam and the two planks of wood are just old (solid) doors. I wanted to raise the tank off of the ground a few inches but I did not want to modify the stand at all. Thus I build a small mantle underneath it. I am eventually going to put a nice baseboard all the way around the mantle to cover up the old doors and pink styrofoam and give it a real nice fake hardwood look to it. The styrofoam I used A) to reduce vibrations from the wooden floors into the tank and B) to help level the tank. It actually worked very well. The floors naturally seemed to slope away from the wall to the center of the room. Once on the styrofoam, the tank is nearly perfectly level.

[Geoff]

Originally Posted by PowerManJ316

Is there any purpose to painting the back...or just so you can't see through it? I was considering painting it black, because I want to also use black lava sand and I thought it would like nice with a darker background, a couple of bright corals and my bright lionfish!

no other reason than aesthetics. i think black works best for reef setups. blue seems to look best for FOWLR tanks.

G~

[PowerManJ316]

The sump is completed. I think it turned out pretty decent. I went a little heavy on the weld on in a couple of places, but after all not many people are going to see it. There is one small leak i found on the side the needs to get patched but otherwise this puppy is all done!

[PowerManJ316]

In need of some advice guys...
I really don't like the look of the overflow inside the tank. I think it takes up too much space. I was debating completey removing it and just using two 1.5" elbows plugging directly into the two bulkheads for the overflow. While my CLS will be putting out well over 1000gph, I will only have 200-300gph through the sump, and thus going through the overflow if I remove the box. The two elbows supply efficient linear inches for this flow according to the calculator. What do you think?

[ChrisPrusha]

Originally Posted by PowerManJ316

The sump is completed. I think it turned out pretty decent. I went a little heavy on the weld on in a couple of places, but after all not many people are going to see it. There is one small leak i found on the side the needs to get patched but otherwise this puppy is all done!

Sump looks great!!