Lets see what's in your stand! mechanical photo's

Ulu

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Dec 13, 2018
1,843
3,135
164
The Sunny San Joaquin
K Kfactor That is one of the cleanest setups ever. It also shows a sense of artistry and balance. I can see the money invested, but I can really tell the great effort and time invested in the planning. The system building is just a fraction of the time involved.

People underestimate the value of good planning, and even more, the investment it represents. The results usually tell the story.
.............................................

Compare that to my quickie 30g setup above, made from Tupperware, scraps of PVC, bulb siphon with hose, and a pond pump with garden hose.

I threw that together in a couple hours from things I had on hand at very little cost. Mine worked, but it is decidedly temporary and with zero effort to asthetics or convenience.

I have one garden hose valve (drain throttle) and use a short inlet u-tube drain to prevent back-siphon. Zero unions. No sock: just polyfloss lava, gravel, and bio-foam. No safety drain! No check valves! No drilling of the tank.

It's cheap & it works, but it is a pain to clean or do water changes (and so ugly!) But I built it on the fly with zero planning, using only my experience from building my other sump systems.

Mine is only safe because if the drain plugs, the pump runs dry before the tank floods over.
If the pump stops, the short-pickup drain siphon breaks to prevent the sump from flooding over.
If the tank level falls below the drain siphon, it cannot regain siphon, so to prevent re-starting the siphon I must keep the water topped off from excess evaporation, within one gallon in this 35g system. It only loses a pint a day, because the lids fit well.
.....................................

ALSO: Folks, we should quit using the ugly purple primer. Clear primer works fine and doesn't stain the pipes.
Puple primer is only purple for the convenience of the plumbing inspector.

He doesn't want to bend over to look closely enough to see if clear primer was used.
 

twentyleagues

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Apr 5, 2017
6,674
9,876
463
Flint town!
K Kfactor That is one of the cleanest setups ever. It also shows a sense of artistry and balance. I can see the money invested, but I can really tell the great effort and time invested in the planning. The system building is just a fraction of the time involved.

People underestimate the value of good planning, and even more, the investment it represents. The results usually tell the story.
.............................................

Compare that to my quickie 30g setup above, made from Tupperware, scraps of PVC, bulb siphon with hose, and a pond pump with garden hose.

I threw that together in a couple hours from things I had on hand at very little cost. Mine worked, but it is decidedly temporary and with zero effort to asthetics or convenience.

I have one garden hose valve (drain throttle) and use a short inlet u-tube drain to prevent back-siphon. Zero unions. No sock: just polyfloss lava, gravel, and bio-foam. No safety drain! No check valves! No drilling of the tank.

It's cheap & it works, but it is a pain to clean or do water changes (and so ugly!) But I built it on the fly with zero planning, using only my experience from building my other sump systems.

Mine is only safe because if the drain plugs, the pump runs dry before the tank floods over.
If the pump stops, the short-pickup drain siphon breaks to prevent the sump from flooding over.
If the tank level falls below the drain siphon, it cannot regain siphon, so to prevent re-starting the siphon I must keep the water topped off from excess evaporation, within one gallon in this 35g system. It only loses a pint a day, because the lids fit well.
.....................................

ALSO: Folks, we should quit using the ugly purple primer. Clear primer works fine and doesn't stain the pipes.
Puple primer is only purple for the convenience of the plumbing inspector.

He doesn't want to bend over to look closely enough to see if clear primer was used.
I cant ever find clear. Also I have about 50 cans of purple. Lol oh and I like the color purple!
 
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gasser

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2006
88
31
51
55
Oklahoma
Here is my 600 gallon reboot. The old sump setup was up and running for 15 years. A pipe failed and came out of a bulkhead draining the tank killing most of my fish.
So I completely replummed the whole tank, got new more efficient sumps, new valves pump etc... interior is basically the same but I added an extra return pipe and changed from large gravel to a finer sand. 1364527
1364528
13645291364530
It’s in the process of being cycled.

I’ve changed the bucket polishing filter to a much larger container that also looks a lot better. This setup is so much better than what I had before. Has an auto water change setup/drip setup I improved from my original design.
Had a mixed African tank before. Now trying to decide what I’m going to restock with. Local water is extremely hard, pH is 8.8
 
Last edited:

Kfactor

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 10, 2019
13
12
3
38
K Kfactor That is one of the cleanest setups ever. It also shows a sense of artistry and balance. I can see the money invested, but I can really tell the great effort and time invested in the planning. The system building is just a fraction of the time involved.

People underestimate the value of good planning, and even more, the investment it represents. The results usually tell the story.
.............................................

Compare that to my quickie 30g setup above, made from Tupperware, scraps of PVC, bulb siphon with hose, and a pond pump with garden hose.

I threw that together in a couple hours from things I had on hand at very little cost. Mine worked, but it is decidedly temporary and with zero effort to asthetics or convenience.

I have one garden hose valve (drain throttle) and use a short inlet u-tube drain to prevent back-siphon. Zero unions. No sock: just polyfloss lava, gravel, and bio-foam. No safety drain! No check valves! No drilling of the tank.

It's cheap & it works, but it is a pain to clean or do water changes (and so ugly!) But I built it on the fly with zero planning, using only my experience from building my other sump systems.

Mine is only safe because if the drain plugs, the pump runs dry before the tank floods over.
If the pump stops, the short-pickup drain siphon breaks to prevent the sump from flooding over.
If the tank level falls below the drain siphon, it cannot regain siphon, so to prevent re-starting the siphon I must keep the water topped off from excess evaporation, within one gallon in this 35g system. It only loses a pint a day, because the lids fit well.
.....................................

ALSO: Folks, we should quit using the ugly purple primer. Clear primer works fine and doesn't stain the pipes.
Puple primer is only purple for the convenience of the plumbing inspector.

He doesn't want to bend over to look closely enough to see if clear primer was used.
Thanks for the kind words it took me a while to plane it out and what not and to me as long as your happy with your setup and how it runs that’s all that counts as well
 

Kfactor

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 10, 2019
13
12
3
38
Here is my 600 gallon reboot. The old sump setup was up and running for 15 years. A pipe failed and came out of a bulkhead draining the tank killing most of my fish.
So I completely replummed the whole tank, got new more efficient sumps, new valves pump etc... interior is basically the same but I added an extra return pipe and changed from large gravel to a finer sand. View attachment 1364527
View attachment 1364528
View attachment 1364529View attachment 1364530
It’s in the process of being cycled.

I’ve changed the bucket polishing filter to a much larger container that also looks a lot better. This setup is so much better than what I had before. Has an auto water change setup/drip setup I improved from my original design.
Had a mixed African tank before. Now trying to decide what I’m going to restock with. Local water is extremely hard, pH is 8.8
One day I want to have somthing like this i would like to pick your brain and ask u a few questions
 
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JK47

Retired MFK Admin
MFK Member
Aug 4, 2008
11,112
3,478
2,555
Washington
The exact opposite of the one above and the bane of JK47 JK47 .....lol
View attachment 1364400
Maybe when I get the fishroom cleaned up I'll post where all that goes.
Kudos for tackling it yourself. Sexy plumbing is hard and expensive. Once you start it’s hard to go back
Here is my 600 gallon reboot. The old sump setup was up and running for 15 years. A pipe failed and came out of a bulkhead draining the tank killing most of my fish.
So I completely replummed the whole tank, got new more efficient sumps, new valves pump etc... interior is basically the same but I added an extra return pipe and changed from large gravel to a finer sand. View attachment 1364527
View attachment 1364528
View attachment 1364529View attachment 1364530
It’s in the process of being cycled.

I’ve changed the bucket polishing filter to a much larger container that also looks a lot better. This setup is so much better than what I had before. Has an auto water change setup/drip setup I improved from my original design.
Had a mixed African tank before. Now trying to decide what I’m going to restock with. Local water is extremely hard, pH is 8.8
Mint setup! I like it a lot. Well done
 

gasser

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2006
88
31
51
55
Oklahoma

JAYBIRD1011

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Jun 5, 2017
329
578
115
60
Wilmington NC
Nuthin’ fancy! 1 Rena Filstar 2, and an Eheim pro 2. On a 75 Frontosa tank.1365105

After I get all of the rescaping done these will be hidden. The Eheim leaked once so I glued 3 short pieces of pvc together to put at bottom of buckets to lift the canisters up off the bottom.
 
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