180 gal with DIY 50 gal sump

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Couple of picts of my 180g tank.



I finally got this working, sort of. The problem is that I cannot get the flow set correctly. Either I get too much flow from the pump and drain the pump compartment too low. Or, I get too much water in the sump and the level in the display tank goes down. I know you are supposed to adjust the valves to get everything just right, but I just bounce from one condition to the other.

My top left overflow is set approx 0.75 inch below the top right overflow. Water is 5/16 inch over the right overflow and 1 inch over the left overflow. I've got the overflow valves adjusted so there is not any noise. I've got the pump valve about half open.

Also, if I unplug the Mag12, the display tank drains down to the top of the left overflow. When I start the pump with the valve open half way, no water go to the display tank. I can hear the pump running but there is not any water flow. If I close the pump valve so that all flow goes to the display tank, in just a few seconds I have flow in the display tank out of all three nozzles and the overflows start working properly. Now I've got to start messing with valve settings again.

Could someone lay some knowledge on me? Right now I don't trust this enough to leave it running if I leave the house.

 

[patdown]

Finished!

 

[AfroCichlidfan]

I am doing a similar set up in my 180 gallon Peacock and Hap tank I was wondering what is the diameter of the PVC you are using and what size sump (gph) are you running. I fear the 2/3 in diameter PVC is too small, and want do build another to compensate for my error.

Thank you
Tom

 

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The overflow outer tubing is 2.5 inches and the inner tube is 1.25 inches. The 1.25 diameter continues down to the wye (2nd pict in first thread) and increases to 1.5 inch from the wye until it goes into the blue top container, which holds the filter sock. All return piping is 1.5 inches. The Danner Mag 12 is supposed to flow around 1050 gph at 4 foot of head with 1.5 inch tubing.

Go to the DIY Projects and Ideas/DIY Filters and read Chompers stickies. Lots of good info.

Good luck. BTW, I used two 1.25 inch bulkhead fittings and hose barbs coming out of my filter socket container. When I got everything running, I had both overflow valves completely open and overflowed the filter sock container. I have since added a 1.5 inch bulkhead fitting. I haven't tried it out yet because my Danner Mag 12 quit on me. I have an email in to Danner with the problem. I was supposed to get my first fish tomorrow.