Hillstream tank build?

[twentyleagues]

Well then, this week it’s time to start thinking about plumbing and ordering parts!

Yeah I'm really interested to see how you do this. Are you using external overflows since the glass is tempered?
I found a tank I was going to buy that would have been perfect for a river biotope 60x16x16 drilled on one end 2x 2". I was thinking of running two pumps one a "closed loop" the other to the sump. The boss put her foot down so no river tank for me.....lol.

 

[KansasSunfish]

Yeah I'm really interested to see how you do this. Are you using external overflows since the glass is tempered?
I found a tank I was going to buy that would have been perfect for a river biotope 60x16x16 drilled on one end 2x 2". I was thinking of running two pumps one a "closed loop" the other to the sump. The boss put her foot down so no river tank for me.....lol.

Wow, I never thought of making one pump close loop. Pretty clever. The end panels on the tanks are NOT tempered so I will be drilling. I was thinking two at 1.5 which would handle 2000-2500 gallons more than double what I need.

 

[twentyleagues]

Yeah if you put that much flow through the sump I don't think it would be all that efficient. I didnt want to use power heads in my design so the thought developed into two pumps one being a closed loop.

 

[BIG-G]

Have you chosen the pumps yet? I could see some of the variable speed DC type pumps would be ideal for this setup.

 

[brent245]

I like your idea with the top and bottom tank in a loop. I would do a DC pump to generate the flow, in a loop for the two tanks.

However for the sump, I wouldn't loop the sump into the system, that would be too much flow and too noisy. I would do a separate smaller pump for the sump, maybe 600gph.

you'll have to experiment with the overflow from the top tank to the bottom. It will need to be able to handle serious flow. Maybe 2 pvc pipes. 1 for a full siphon, 1 for excess overflow, and possibly even another for an emergency overflow.

Honestly I wouldn't even worry about a sump. With the volume of water you are flowing if you just had some foam pads like the those thick matten filter pads, and you designed them to easily be removed to be cleaned that would be all you need. Loaches aren't going to generate that much waste.

 

[brent245]

Something like this below, You may need to make the "sump area" at the bottom left larger to account for evaporation, otherwise you'll be refilling alot. I guess you could run the pump in the tank or externally.

 

[brent245]

Have you made any more progress with the project?

 

[KansasSunfish]

Have you made any more progress with the project?

I just got the bulkheads in the mail yesterday but in the meantime, I have been working on a custom concrete background for it, if people are interested, I will post pictures.

 

[brent245]

I just got the bulkheads in the mail yesterday but in the meantime, I have been working on a custom concrete background for it, if people are interested, I will post pictures.

Please do

 

[KansasSunfish]

Please do

Picture time! I used a diy lightweight concrete mix of Portland, sand, and polystyrene beads. Built a form just a hair smaller than the tank itself and molded the concrete to me part in part out of the water. I sprayed the form with vegetable spray and that worked very very well.