Tank Design Rev B

[Shaqinwi 65]

So ... in my relentless pursuit of the "cleanest looking" tank design I come across an interesting concept that I made a few modifications to. It uses a single piece of glass spaced out 1/4" from the back wall as the overflow and a box mounted on the back for the drain tubes. Then all of the CLS tubes enter through holes in the back.

Here is a view of the tank without plumbing or the top so you can see what I mean.




Here is front and back with proposed piping. Notice that there is no space lossed to the overflow. (yes those are Fly Guy's spa inlet covers





I would add a wood cover to hide the plumbing. The nice thing about that would be the increased footprint leaving more room for equipment in the base and lights in the hood. It would also be a hidden path for wires to the hood.




So what do you think?

[OneDummHikk]

Looks very nice. And it is close to what I am going to be doing to my 12G nano except the stand is curved because of the bow front on the 12G.

I had been thinking about my overflow and I actually like your idea better than anything else I had thought of. Have any objections to me borrowing it?

[chrischris]

that look great alot of pipeing
what are you going to keep in it?

[Shaqinwi 65]

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

Have any objections to me borrowing it?

Go for it ... heck, most of the above ideas were "borrowed" from someone else just not done on the same tank.

I'm thinking about painting the back black and using black acrylic for the overflow. What were you thinking?

[Shaqinwi 65]

[quote=chrischris;1291459]that look great alot of pipeingquote]

I think the same thing when I look at it but when I try and decide which pipes to eliminate I want them all.

2 drain piles - 2 isn't necessary but good for redundancy.
2 sump returns - I could do 1 but I like splitting the flow to cover more tank.
2 CLS suction holes - so as to not starve my pump (Dart) inlet, and for some redundancy.
6 CLS returns - I am going to use a wave maker and I wanted to try and cover a lot of angles and locations so as to not have dead spots.

A lot of people use Locline and Tee it in the tank but I'm trying to have as little "non reef stuff" as possible in the tank for aesthetic reasons.

I figure I'd rather have a lot of pipe where it can't be seen than where it can.

Originally Posted by chrischris

what are you going to keep in it?

Right now I have no specifing plans but I want to build in the option to keep anything in the future.

[kwjones]

I think you're going to run into pump noise being transmited through the tank because of the braces in the back that you're running hard pipe through. I don't know if you could drill the holes a little bigger to allow you to put something in there to reduce the vibration. Notches might work a little better and would be easier to line with something to keep the vibrations down.

I like the overflow design. It's almost a "Zero Edge Coast to Coast".

Don't know if it's intentional or not, but your drawing looks like the hole on the right is in the front of the overflow instead of the tank wall behind it. 1/4" isn't a whole lot of room so I don't know how much water you can put through it. You might have to make it a little thicker and I think the size of the holes in the back of the tank are going to a be a factor for the flow rate as well.

Nice overall design. I like it and can tell you put a lot of thought into it.

[OneDummHikk]

Originally Posted by Shaqinwi 65

Go for it ... heck, most of the above ideas were "borrowed" from someone else just not done on the same tank.

I'm thinking about painting the back black and using black acrylic for the overflow. What were you thinking?

Mine will be clear on the back. With the tank only being 12" deep or so, I want to leave 6-8" behind the tank open to give it a look of more depth. And if I decide I don't like that look, I can always go back and paint it afterwards but I think a clear back is going to do better for me.

[OneDummHikk]

Originally Posted by kwjones

I think you're going to run into pump noise being transmited through the tank because of the braces in the back that you're running hard pipe through. I don't know if you could drill the holes a little bigger to allow you to put something in there to reduce the vibration. Notches might work a little better and would be easier to line with something to keep the vibrations down.

Maybe a rubber grommet from the auto industry? Just a matter of finding the right size. I think you can get them from HD/Lowes but any Autozone (or the likes) will have them also.

[kwjones]

That's kind of what I was thinking. Or maybe something like a uniseal.

[Shaqinwi 65]

Originally Posted by kwjones

I think you're going to run into pump noise being transmited through the tank because of the braces in the back that you're running hard pipe through.

Yes, the bracing on the back is my idea (didn't see it on any other tank pic) and here is my thinking. The engineer in me cringes at the thought of unsupported piping going into bulkheads through glass. A little pressure or an accidental bump or blow on a pipe 2 feet away from the bulkhead would create a tremendous twisting force on the glass. The braces eliminate that possibility plus they add structural strength to compensate for the 8 holes drlled in it. Are the braces necessary? Maybe not ... lots of other tanks don't have them. Will I sleep better because they are there? Definitely yes.

To eliminate the transmission of vibration (a legitimate concern) I was going to use flexible tubing from my pump. I was thinking about making the holes in the brace a light press fit with the tubes but I like the grommet idea better.

[kwjones]

What about a "locking" hinge mechanism with compressible material. In my mind I see the brace on the back of the tank with notches in it for each pipe. The notch could be lined with a compressible material like open cell foam. Then you could have a solid or notched bar that encloses the other side of the pipes with compressible material. It should keep the pipes pretty secure since the notches would prevent side to side motion and the bar would keep them moving front to back.