The Tank Is Coming Back Together :-)

[jerseyguy1996]

Well its been two months since I moved and I am finally starting to get the tank back together. This time I decided to do it right. No more HOB overflow for me. I went with the Calfo Overflow design described here:

http://www.beananimal.com/projects/s...ow-system.aspx

It is an AGA 50 which meant it was not drilled. The diamond hole saw that I bought off of ebay did a pretty good job. 3 holes in the 50 and one hole in the 20L sump and it looks like it could still cut a few more holes if I need to.

Local glass store supplied me with a few strips of 1/4 inch glass for the overflow chamber. $30 bucks....not sure if I got ripped off or not....I was just glad to find a place local that I could get glass if I need it.

The pictures of the project are below. Hopefully I will be able to start filling it today.









The hole that is drilled in the sump is my attempt at making water changes easier. The thought is that the normal water level will be just at the bottom edge of that hole. When I want to do a water change the thought is that I will be able to just add new water to the tank which will raise the water level in the sump and cause the old water to overflow out through that hole and down the pipe.





This is the other end of the pipe that is coming out of the sump. I want to be able to just hook a garden hose to the end of that pipe and drape it out the front of the house to the street drain.



The house that we bought is really old.....1920's old.......and I was worried about the old floor holding the weight of the fish tank. I built some support piers out of cinder blocks that go into the crawl space under the floor where the tank is going to rest. It is probably overkill but I will sleep much better knowing that those support piers are their. Besides now that I have those in place I will feel completely comfortable sticking a much larger tank their in the future

[Staplesofficewar]

At first I thought this would be noisy, then I went back and realized that it is a siphon overflow - silent! I run the same type of drains on my 46 bf.

Also,
When you pour your new ASW into the display tank for your water changes, the display will drain an equal amount of "extra" water into the sump. Im not convinced that the water flowing into the sump will be all "old" water, since it will mix some when you add it.
When I do my water changes, I first install a filter sock on my drain, then use a turkey baster to blast my live rocks. I let it run like this until the water is mostly cleared back up. I then unplug my skimmer and return pump and drain an amount of water equal to my water change from the sump. I use a small pump to assist in removing the water, and I also suck up any junk laying in the sump. I put my new water in the sump, clamp my return line a little to keep all that new water from flowing in all at once and turn my return pump back on. After a little while, I remove the clamp and turn on the skimmer.

Good idea with the Supports! When we lived in an old house (don't know how old, but the foundation was field stone) I put my tank against a wall the was directly above the foundation walls. I also made sure that my tank sat perpendicular to the floor joists and not parrellel.

Nice work so far! Keep the images coming

[Staplesofficewar]

As a side note:

I would get rid of that ball valve that is used to set the flow in the primary drain and use a gate valve instead. They are designed for flow control applications where as the ball valve is used for on/off allpications.

[jerseyguy1996]

Originally Posted by Staplesofficewar

As a side note:

I would get rid of that ball valve that is used to set the flow in the primary drain and use a gate valve instead. They are designed for flow control applications where as the ball valve is used for on/off allpications.

I was kind of worried about the ball valve but as it were, Lowes only sold the double union as a ball valve. I ran it for a couple of hours outside and it was really easy to tune even with the ball valve. Nice constant flow through the full syphon without completely emptying the overflow chamber with just a trickle of water flowing down the second pipe. No airbubbles entering the sump whatsoever.

[Staplesofficewar]

Should be OK then. I only have 1 emergency backup, 95 percent of my flow goes through the siphon.

[Brocnizer]

It looks nice! My next tank will be drilled.

My eshopps overflow has worked perfect for months but I still worry a little when I go on a vacation

[jerseyguy1996]

Originally Posted by Brocnizer

It looks nice! My next tank will be drilled.

My eshopps overflow has worked perfect for months but I still worry a little when I go on a vacation

That was always my problem. My little diy hob overflow never once failed during the 2 1/2 years that it ran but I still always felt the need to check it everynight before I went to bed to make sure it was still maintaining a syphon. I never felt 100% comfortable with it.

[fchidsey]

[quote][Should be OK then. I only have 1 emergency backup, 95 percent of my flow goes through the siphon/QUOTE]

mine runs the same way totally silent no problem with the ball valve and its been up for a month now. i would venture to say the 1 inch with the ball valve runs about 99 percent of the return to the sump hardly anything comes out of the secondary and the thrid is only used during a start up after a power failure.