I love my AGA MegaFlow, I do...
But sadly, it comes with only (2) 1" drains and (2) ¾” returns.
That's not really megaflow, by any sense of the word. 1" at 600 gph sounds decent enough for FW, but by the time their quiet (ie: flow matches the air intake) their barely pushing 3x for this size tank. That would be reasonable for a wet/dry alone, but not for any other options (ie: more flow, fully stocked, closed loop, reactor, UV, etc). Since the tank will be up against the wall, I don’t want to do this again.
What I really want is more flow (ie: the name MegaFlow) with the ability to scale back rather than start with the bare minimum. AGA MegaFlow seems quite common, so I thought I would post what I did in some detail, in case it helps others.
So what to do...
I could drill larger holes myself; sure I’m a handyman, but I just sank 1K into glass, not going there. Have someone else drill them; plenty of shops willing to drill, few willing to replace my 1K. Then there are DIY overflows; did this before for a 135, worked quiet well, but given I have 4 'good' holes, seemed odd to leverage a siphon. Not to mention if I’m going to have extra piping on the back, might as well use that for returns, which don't need gravity.
So I decided upon; use all (4) holes for drains + add (2) 1” return lines.
(4) drains all 1” piping to match largest bulkhead, using sweeps to maximize flow:
(2) standpipes in each overflow, with increased pipe size to 1” and 1¼” for max flow:
I wanted both; no noise and surface skimming, most tend settle for one or the other. Given I have (2) standpipes per overflow, the larger (1¼”
is a Durso, as it’s hard to get a Durso quiet with 1” pipe, believe me I tried. The smaller (1” is an open pipe, no durso, just slightly lower in the water level, with a ball value ½ closed. Together this equals surface skimming, no noise, and the larger durso handles any the extra flow. You’ll notice the cap is kylon, so you don’t see it through the teeth (my wife thought that was anal as well – grin).
Here’s the (2) 1” return lines up the back, black so you don't see them against the wall:
The returns empty into (6) ½” adjustable spouts across the top:
Each return line comes from its own pump. I used two smaller pumps, redundancy, less total wattage, cheaper, and quieter. Each pump can be scaled back with the T and ball-value for future usage of the extra flow. Note the sweeps aren't cemented in, just primed:
The sump is taken directly from seeing rallymans’ and the stickies, nothing beyond that here. Basically I also had an idea 55 lying around as well, sounded like a perfect use for it. Note, this is an older pic, prior to the cementing in of unions, ie: you want unions:
For media I used scrubbies (~400 of them), and I outsourced the sorting and stacking:
I also had a little 'help' in adjusting flow and ball-values:
Lastly, sump in operation doing a fishless cycle:
End result: I'm able to run (2) Quiet one 4000 pumps wide open (~1400 total gph at my height/angles) and the overflows have no problem out flowing them. In fact I've throttled back ball-values on the drains quite a bit (both to experience and to get perfect silence) still tons of flow. Getting somewhat closer to what megaflow should have been to begin, with simpler larger drains.
Note: This was solely focused on the plumbing, but if your interested in seeing of the stand or tank your welcome to hit the other thread.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102187
Ed
But sadly, it comes with only (2) 1" drains and (2) ¾” returns.
That's not really megaflow, by any sense of the word. 1" at 600 gph sounds decent enough for FW, but by the time their quiet (ie: flow matches the air intake) their barely pushing 3x for this size tank. That would be reasonable for a wet/dry alone, but not for any other options (ie: more flow, fully stocked, closed loop, reactor, UV, etc). Since the tank will be up against the wall, I don’t want to do this again.
What I really want is more flow (ie: the name MegaFlow) with the ability to scale back rather than start with the bare minimum. AGA MegaFlow seems quite common, so I thought I would post what I did in some detail, in case it helps others.
So what to do...
I could drill larger holes myself; sure I’m a handyman, but I just sank 1K into glass, not going there. Have someone else drill them; plenty of shops willing to drill, few willing to replace my 1K. Then there are DIY overflows; did this before for a 135, worked quiet well, but given I have 4 'good' holes, seemed odd to leverage a siphon. Not to mention if I’m going to have extra piping on the back, might as well use that for returns, which don't need gravity.
So I decided upon; use all (4) holes for drains + add (2) 1” return lines.
(4) drains all 1” piping to match largest bulkhead, using sweeps to maximize flow:
(2) standpipes in each overflow, with increased pipe size to 1” and 1¼” for max flow:
I wanted both; no noise and surface skimming, most tend settle for one or the other. Given I have (2) standpipes per overflow, the larger (1¼”
is a Durso, as it’s hard to get a Durso quiet with 1” pipe, believe me I tried. The smaller (1” is an open pipe, no durso, just slightly lower in the water level, with a ball value ½ closed. Together this equals surface skimming, no noise, and the larger durso handles any the extra flow. You’ll notice the cap is kylon, so you don’t see it through the teeth (my wife thought that was anal as well – grin).Here’s the (2) 1” return lines up the back, black so you don't see them against the wall:
The returns empty into (6) ½” adjustable spouts across the top:
Each return line comes from its own pump. I used two smaller pumps, redundancy, less total wattage, cheaper, and quieter. Each pump can be scaled back with the T and ball-value for future usage of the extra flow. Note the sweeps aren't cemented in, just primed:
The sump is taken directly from seeing rallymans’ and the stickies, nothing beyond that here. Basically I also had an idea 55 lying around as well, sounded like a perfect use for it. Note, this is an older pic, prior to the cementing in of unions, ie: you want unions:
For media I used scrubbies (~400 of them), and I outsourced the sorting and stacking:
I also had a little 'help' in adjusting flow and ball-values:
Lastly, sump in operation doing a fishless cycle:
End result: I'm able to run (2) Quiet one 4000 pumps wide open (~1400 total gph at my height/angles) and the overflows have no problem out flowing them. In fact I've throttled back ball-values on the drains quite a bit (both to experience and to get perfect silence) still tons of flow. Getting somewhat closer to what megaflow should have been to begin, with simpler larger drains.
Note: This was solely focused on the plumbing, but if your interested in seeing of the stand or tank your welcome to hit the other thread.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102187
Ed
