setting up my 180

[TimmyG]

Hi everyone I'm working on getting my 180 up and running and was looking for some input.
It is a std AGA 180 I have built the 41" tall frame for the stand and am working on some of the plumbing.
I have two pumps, a sequence 3600 and an Ampmaster 3000.
As it stands I'm planning on using the sequence on my, over the lip, CLS.
THe pump has 2" in and 1.5" out. So far I have the plumbing from the tank feeding the pump dry fit. It is 2" pvc over the top from each side down to a "T" and through a ball valve and union and into the pump.
And I'm thinking about stepping up the output from 1.5" to 2" and gong into a 3 way PVC fitting and have 3 1" lines going to the tank, one to each side splitting to 2 outlets and one going down behind the rocks and splitting into 2 outlets and blowing at the rocks. What's everyones thoughts so far?

This is a sketch of what I'm talking about

[TimmyG]

this is a pic of what I have so far.

[ChrisPrusha]

Looks good to me!

[ski1297]

Sounds good to me. What are you going to put in the tank?

[tdwyatt]

Have you tested the system to see if your drains for those pumps can keep up with the pump returns?

I assume the pumps will be priming off a sump.

Are you using any other overflows that go up and over the sides to the sump?

Congrats on getting started!

[TimmyG]

Originally Posted by tdwyatt

Have you tested the system to see if your drains for those pumps can keep up with the pump returns?

I assume the pumps will be priming off a sump.

Are you using any other overflows that go up and over the sides to the sump?

Congrats on getting started!

Thanks Tom and everyone else too :-).

The std aga drains and returns will be going through the sump/fuge with a mag 18 for that task. This way if one pump fails I will still have some flow.

The feed for the sequence will be the 2 2" pipes going over the top next to the aga overflow boxes at about 1/2 way down. That is what I have assembled in the pic. but I plan to use black pvc on the parts in the tank.

The main thing I'm not too sure about is the return plumbing.


Does anyone have any opinions on which pump would be best pump for the CLS? I have the ampmaster 3000 and the sequence 3600.
It seems that most like the sequence better but I am hoping to set it up so I can switch them with ease if needed.



My plan is to be a DSB mixed reef with SPS and a few LPSs and softies, very few.

[Geoff]

have you thought about doing a coast to coast semi-overflow for the CLS inlets? this is what i am doing on my rebuild. that way you have the whole length of the tank to pull water into the inlets. with just a single 2" inlet hanging in the tank, that is a massive amount of suction there. using the C to C overflow you will be distributing this over a much larger area. the risk of cloggs and other critters getting suck on the inlets is significantly lessened.

G~

[TimmyG]

Geoff, That sounds interesting, but I'm not sure I follow you.
Do you have more info on this?

Thanks,
Timmy

[Geoff]

Originally Posted by TimmyG

Geoff, That sounds interesting, but I'm not sure I follow you.
Do you have more info on this?

Thanks,
Timmy

i will see if i can explain what is in my head.

make a trough out of acrylic that goes from one overflow to the other. the open end is facing upwards. cut weirs in it that are about 1/2" lower than the lowest weirs on the top of the overflow. this will insure that if something goes wrong the CLS's will not overheat. now place your over the back inlets into this trough. little chance of inlet blockage. it can also act as a great place to put frags to grow out. yardboy has something like this, but his C to C overflows come out from a center main overflow drain for the sump. check out his web page for a diagram.

G

[three90s&125sump]

I don't see a way for you to prime your pump on the CLS in your diagram. I just thought I would throw that out there incase you didn't think of it. I don't know if your pump is self priming or what. Other than that 180s are good tanks to work with ratio wise. Much better than the 90s.

[TimmyG]

Thanks Geoff, that's very interesting. The only thing I see that may be a problem with that is with a pump the size that I'm going to use that it might suck air being that close to the surface.

As for priming, On the last CLS I had I just take an old power head and hose and stick the hose up into the drain and fill it with water.
It works like a charm.

[Geoff]

should not be a problem if the inlets are down enough in the water. also if you split the inlets into two again. that makes 4 that halves the flow again into one inlet. there are other ways around it also. you can always add it later if you want. you can wait and see how mine works in a month before you make up your mind. i also plan on running an ampmaster 3600 on it.

G~

[tdwyatt]

I am running two 1&1/2" drains for an ampmaster 3000 and it is not enough withut a throttle for the ampomaster. If your water all runs into a sump, and you use a bulkhead for the main pump through the sump wall, it will run without a prime. if you run your overflow for the cls coast to coast, with 2 " drains it will not need a prime either, so long as the water is deep enough that it will always keep part of your overflow wet (Geoff's suggetion for the deeper section). You'll need to use a valve to shut off the supply to the cls to remove it for maintenance, repairs, etc, and a true union as well just prior to and after the pump, I cannot see them in the photo or the drawing.

How are you going to do auto top off, or calcium supplementation? Or plumb in your skimmer? Refugium?


JM2CW, HTH

[TimmyG]

Tom, I'm still working out the details of how I want th do the sump.
I was planning on using my 75 that is set up now but I may have other future plans for that tank.
The way I'm setting up the plumbing I'm allowing room for a max footprint of 36X21. So a 30 or 40 breeder will most likely be what I use for a sump.
You don't have one lying around do you?

I've got some ideas for the sump and fuge but not sure till I see what tank I end up with.

And I may end up building one of Geoffs skimmers. I know the one I'm useing won't be able to keep up with this tank. I hope to add a calcium reactor one day but the good old kalk will have to do for now.

These pics may help show what how it is so far.
one is a close up of the pump and the other shows the feed to thepump going ovrer top. The piece of white pve going down wil be replaced with 2" black.

[xtopher]

I don't know, it has been ME that the over the top drainage systems work but are much more hassle than just spending the $50 and getting the tank drilled. IMO you will be happier and have far less worry if you drill. just my 2 cents