1,000 GALLON MULTI TANK SUMP SYSTEM.

[kamikaziechameleon]

Complete 700 GPH overflow kit with glass cutter, etc... $79.00

glass-holes.com

Already emailed em waiting for a ball park otherwise we've outlined a VERY cheap and not terribly laborsome way to do this. We can do it for 7-8 dollars an overflow(counting bulkheads). I'm waiting to see if glass-holes can do something in the neighborhood of 20 an overflow, Glass holes does have good prices on glass cutting hole saws though so probably grabbing those from them at the very least.

 

[Egon]

Already emailed em waiting for a ball park otherwise we've outlined a VERY cheap and not terribly laborsome way to do this. We can do it for 7-8 dollars an overflow(counting bulkheads). I'm waiting to see if glass-holes can do something in the neighborhood of 20 an overflow, Glass holes does have good prices on glass cutting hole saws though so probably grabbing those from them at the very least.

I have a few of the glass-holes overflows and I love them. That said I believe the hole saws are not very high quality. Probably because a typical customer is only using the saw once maybe twice depending on the over flow purchased. If your going to drill multiple holes look into a professional quality hole saw. You will get way more holes per saw and it wil be cheaper in the long run.

Edit: Go as large as you can on your drain size and put the same size hole in every tank (save on the saw) For 125 gallon tank's a 1.5 inch bulkhead would give you a lot of extra room for error. Its very difficult for a dead fish to clog a drain that size

 

[Bowtiewarrior]

I have a few of the glass-holes overflows and I love them. That said I believe the hole saws are not very high quality. Probably because a typical customer is only using the saw once maybe twice depending on the over flow purchased. If your going to drill multiple holes look into a professional quality hole saw. You will get way more holes per saw and it wil be cheaper in the long run.

This was actually a concern I had we would be looking to make 18 holes in 6 tanks, do you have one you would recommend?

 

[kamikaziechameleon]

Strange question. As it currently looks like we will be doing the polyethylene conener overflow boxes... How could we paint them? Black would look about 2 thousand times better. Would crylon fusion work?

 

[aldiaz33]

The current pump is 3700-4000 GPH and uses 500-700 watts (lots of juice!). After we build the new overflows for the 75 gals we plan on testing the flow of those tanks using this pump then we will be able to make the decision for the new pump or pumps.
As for heat, that is still a major concern we are currently debating on running 3-4 300watt heaters in the sump or insulating the room, putting a new wall up and running a space heater to bring the entire room to 78-82 degrees. We need to weigh the cost of each option to see what will be more economical down the line.

That is definitely a lot of juice to be running 24-7. I am using a Laguna Max-flo 4200 on my tank and I love it. I'm running it at about 9' of head and I think I'm getting around 2,000GPH. I tested it on my Kill-o-watt and it only draws 150W. If you are able to run 2 of them, you'll have ~4,000GPH at 9' of head at only 300 watts. Another option would be to go with an external pump (ie- Reeflo Hammerhead Gold). The Hammerhead does around 4400GPH at 9' of head and according to their figures should only draw 291 watts. I tested mine at those specs and it was actually pulling 331 watts. I know a lot of people are running the Hammerhead without any problems, but I went through 4 separate pumps with leaky seals and that's why I ended up going with the Laguna Max-flo. The Laguna is also whisper quiet compared to the Hammerhead. Sicce Synchra HF pumps also seem to provide solid flow per watt, although they are a bit more expensive than the Lagunas.

In regards to heating the tanks, how cold does it get in that room/basement?

I've found that insulating the tanks (especially having covers) will save you a ton on heating costs as well as reduce humidity. If the room is very cold and you have a lot of heat escaping from the tanks you might end up having some humidity/condensation issues. I also recently found out that running air stones in my tank when the ambient air temp is low (last night the room temp got down to 53F) really makes my heaters work overtime. Pumping cold air into warm water really cools the water down quite a bit. If you are running air driven sponge filters in the tank, that may be something to consider...heating the air in the room might be a good idea.

My apologies for the obnoxiously long post. =/

 

[kamikaziechameleon]

That is definitely a lot of juice to be running 24-7. I am using a Laguna Max-flo 4200 on my tank and I love it. I'm running it at about 9' of head and I think I'm getting around 2,000GPH. I tested it on my Kill-o-watt and it only draws 150W. If you are able to run 2 of them, you'll have ~4,000GPH at 9' of head at only 300 watts. Another option would be to go with an external pump (ie- Reeflo Hammerhead Gold). The Hammerhead does around 4400GPH at 9' of head and according to their figures should only draw 291 watts. I tested mine at those specs and it was actually pulling 331 watts. I know a lot of people are running the Hammerhead without any problems, but I went through 4 separate pumps with leaky seals and that's why I ended up going with the Laguna Max-flo. The Laguna is also whisper quiet compared to the Hammerhead. Sicce Synchra HF pumps also seem to provide solid flow per watt, although they are a bit more expensive than the Lagunas.

In regards to heating the tanks, how cold does it get in that room/basement?

I've found that insulating the tanks (especially having covers) will save you a ton on heating costs as well as reduce humidity. If the room is very cold and you have a lot of heat escaping from the tanks you might end up having some humidity/condensation issues. I also recently found out that running air stones in my tank when the ambient air temp is low (last night the room temp got down to 53F) really makes my heaters work overtime. Pumping cold air into warm water really cools the water down quite a bit. If you are running air driven sponge filters in the tank, that may be something to consider...heating the air in the room might be a good idea.

My apologies for the obnoxiously long post. =/

I'm currently wondering what or solution will be but that we will know after we do a tank and test an overflow. I was looking at Little Giant Inline pond pumps they have a great wattage to flow rating. Anyone have experience with them? I'm still not locked into one pump though so people can keep posting helpful endorsements like yours. And don't worry about the long post, did you see the OP?

Glass-holes got back to me and they only sell their patent pending overflows that are nice but i'd rather do a deep corner one and allow the drains to build head, plus have that stepped intake.

Looks like we are doing the corner overflows for sure, gonna get one of these:

http://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/rotary-tools/18-volt-cordless-cutout-tool-67042.html

For those mid level intakes, Will be putting this together in a short order.

Still wondering how to make the plastic black instead of its natural white. Any ideas are appreciated.

 

[Oughtsix]

I would highly recommend staying away from that Harbor Freight 18v cutter! You definitely are not planning on using one to cut glass are you? The RotoZip like tools are at their best when cutting drywall and there are better solutions for drywall too.

For cutting holes in wood, drywall etc a harbor freight hole saw set or fostner bit set would be your best bet unless you need huge holes. For huge holes I would get one of their adjustable 2 wing cutters. For holes in glass there isn't much that will work other than diamond hole saws.

If you really want black overflows (I would too) wouldn't ABS pipe be the easiest solution? It probably wouldn't cost much more than the Krylon Fusion that might/might not work well for your particular plastic.

Since lowest operating cost is your goal (It would be mine too) I would go with a submersible pump. All pumps put out heat. A submersible pump will put the heat into the water instead of the air like and external pump would.

A good point was made about tanks covers! Most heat is lost to evaporation. Water sucks a lot of heat out of the surroundings when it evaporates.

I also recommend going big on your overflow holes. You can always reduce them down with a fitting if you need to... but it is much harder to make the holes bigger, especially when the tank is running!

I have always used the cheap diamond hole saws with good results. I don't think I have ever drilled 18 holes with one but I don't think it would be out of the question. Remember to never push down on it while you are drilling. The weight of the drill should be plenty of force. Use a good stream (from a hose) of water to wash the waste away and keep the cut cool. Keeping the hole saw cool will help it last longer.

P.S. where you thinking of using the RotoZip type saw for the slots at the top of the overflows? It isn't to great for those either. It will work but the rotary saws are usually kind of hard to control and get any kind of straight line with. Do you have a table saw you could use for the slots instead?

I would consider dual pumps if you were using dual supply lines. It seems like it would be easier to balance all the flow valves with fewer valves per supply line. For a single supply line it seems like a single pump would be easiest. Figuring the size of pump needed seems like it will come down to some trail and error.

For heating the water submersible electric heaters can be considered pretty much 100% efficient. 100% of the electricity will pretty much go into the water. Electricity is just an expensive way to heat through. Do you have natural gas available at your place? Natural gas and solar are the only ways I can think of to save on cost of heating (Insulation will always save on the amount of heat lost in the system.)

Because of the large amount of moving water and it's surface area a cover on your sump might save you a lot of heat loss.

 

[Bowtiewarrior]

I would highly recommend staying away from that Harbor Freight 18v cutter! You definitely are not planning on using one to cut glass are you? The RotoZip like tools are at their best when cutting drywall and there are better solutions for drywall too.

For cutting holes in wood, drywall etc a harbor freight hole saw set or fostner bit set would be your best bet unless you need huge holes. For huge holes I would get one of their adjustable 2 wing cutters.

If you really want black overflows (I would too) wouldn't ABS pipe be the easiest solution? It probably wouldn't cost much more than the Krylon Fusion that might/might not work well for your particular plastic.

Since lowest operating cost is your goal (It would be mine too) I would go with a submersible pump. All pumps put out heat. A submersible pump will put the heat into the water instead of the air like and external pump would.

Not a chance, I know what Harbor freight tools can do to a person.. we plan on using a decent hole saw for the glass. The cutter is to put the nice grooves you see in all the pre-fab overflows.

 

[Oughtsix]

Not a chance, I know what Harbor freight tools can do to a person.. we plan on using a decent hole saw for the glass. The cutter is to put the nice grooves you see in all the pre-fab overflows.

Ok, I figured that out after my initial shock!

Do you have a table saw you can use for making the grooves? If you clamp the plastic between two pieces of scrap wood they will keep the plastic from cracking / chipping.

Another option would be to layout and drill a line of holes (Use a brad point bit) then use a jewlers saw or other fine tooth saw to cut out the extra plastic.

I actually love my stupid $49 HF oscillating saw.
http://www.harborfreight.com/variable-speed-multifunction-power-tool-67537.html
I have been using the heck out of that stupid thing. It was perfect for cutting down a piece of ABS pipe that was between floor joists during a recent bath tub install. It fit where a sawzall was way to big. It is perfect for cutouts in dry wall. Great for clearing cement from grout lines before grouting. Perfect for trimming door jams while installing flooring. It is one of the few HF tools I bought to use on a single project and found so many other uses for. Get the fine tooth half circular blade if you want to use it for cutting the grooves after drilling the line of holes.

I don't know about the plastic material you have but a propane torch does a nice job polishing ABS after cutting it for a finished look.

 

[cockroach]

Now that is how you go monster.