New 9x4x2 tank build starts in the morning - finally!!

[PeteLockwood]

I wouldn't have glued the pipe into the bulkhead, there's no reason to.

But that said, you can either try it reversed or cut the pipe somewhere and re join it using a simple connector. There's no reason to cement any of the PVC above the bulkhead (all my Dursos are just pushed together) so you can certainly try the reversed approach without making any permanent (cement-related) decisions.

 

[Just Toby]

Hi Jim,

Glad to see you put the thread right, it takes a much bigger person to do that, hope the back gets better soon. I popped two ribs out in a quad bike racing accident and now I have on off back pain for life...well the last 6-7 years so I know your pain.

I did add a siphon tube which is literally 2x16 mm external filter tubes hooked over the back and in to the weir, this works a treat as it takes massive flow, the only time it stops is at power cut or water change and then a quick suck re-starts it, this helps keep my duro quiet but I have not restarted mine for a while as the duro is doing a good job of bubbling around my k1 to make a moving bed. This Would not work if the duro simply cannot handle the flow but it is good as an extra backup.

If you can get to the back of the tank (which I think you can do) then you could drill the rear of the weir and add a drain at the top to take the extra flow and this would self start, if it is noisy then do not worry as adding a siphon as suggested makes it quiet and in a power cut you just get alerted to the noise when it restarts but nothing can overflow.

 

[Tor-Eriik]

Thank you jim, im sorry about your back, and i hope you get well in a short time ! Best of thoughts from here!

 

[jim barry]

Hi Jim,

Glad to see you put the thread right, it takes a much bigger person to do that, hope the back gets better soon. I popped two ribs out in a quad bike racing accident and now I have on off back pain for life...well the last 6-7 years so I know your pain.

I did add a siphon tube which is literally 2x16 mm external filter tubes hooked over the back and in to the weir, this works a treat as it takes massive flow, the only time it stops is at power cut or water change and then a quick suck re-starts it, this helps keep my duro quiet but I have not restarted mine for a while as the duro is doing a good job of bubbling around my k1 to make a moving bed. This Would not work if the duro simply cannot handle the flow but it is good as an extra backup.

If you can get to the back of the tank (which I think you can do) then you could drill the rear of the weir and add a drain at the top to take the extra flow and this would self start, if it is noisy then do not worry as adding a siphon as suggested makes it quiet and in a power cut you just get alerted to the noise when it restarts but nothing can overflow.

Thanks Toby. I like the idea of the syphon tube but if it did work and gave me the extra flow to allow me to start the second pump i would most certainly have a flood in a power cut and i was not around when the power came back on. I can't get to the back of the tank but i can get to the sides, but i'm not sure about drilling glass?
My back is still bad (had a bad back on and off for over 10 years, when it goes it goes! just got to live with it) but got my son to help so may give the extra drain idea a go later today.

 

[Just Toby]

Yes you do need to be careful drilling glass, it could be best to get the tank maker back, my friend did his sump by making a pool of water using plasticine and kept it topped up, on the side of the tank you would just need to run water on it?

 

[jim barry]

Yes you do need to be careful drilling glass, it could be best to get the tank maker back, my friend did his sump by making a pool of water using plasticine and kept it topped up, on the side of the tank you would just need to run water on it?

Well i ended up removing the return pipework from the right hand weir as this was the one connected to the pump that was not turned on. I placed a shorter length of pipe into the bulkhead and the rest of the plumbing back to the pump already had a ball valve on, so i redirected this from the pump chamber to the first chamber of the sump. I turned the ball valve half way and hey presto, i have a double drain! At first the water level rose so that it was using both the 40mm drain and overflowing into the 50mm durso and ran very quiet which is great. After an hour or so it ballanced itself out and the water level dropped and is now only using the 40mm drain. Still only have one pump running but it would appear there is more capacity in the weir now because of the 2 drains. I than hard plumbed over the top of the tank and back to the second pump. Going to switch on the second pump this morning and see what happens.

 

[Just Toby]

Good news, I expect this will work

 

[jim barry]

Good news, I expect this will work

Didn't work Toby :-(
I turned on the second pump and the drains couldn't handle it. So i have now turned the left hand weir into a Herbie design as well. Tank is running better than ever now! I moved the media into different chambers as well and got a better flow through the sump. The largest area is now a massive moving bed and is working great! Still only have one pump running though with 4 drains but the drains are throttled back so i may get away with starting the second pump. Got to finish plumbing over the tank for the second pump and will try it this week.

 

[Venom Stinger]

pictures?

 

[aldiaz33]

I doubt I would have the courage to start drilling or sawing bigger overflows on a brand new glass tank that I just spent several Gs on and never done it before either.
I talked to Danner and Reeflo, both told me not to restrict flow more than 10% because of the stress put on the pumps from back pressure.

I'm surprised they said this. Reeflo really said not to restrict the pump more than 10%? This doesn't sound right.

Let's take the Reeflo Hammerhead, as an example:

It does 5,500GPH @4' of head pressure.
It does 3,000GPH @20' of head pressure.

I'm curious what the rep would have said if you had asked them if you are not supposed to run the pump at 20' of head pressure, because that is essentially the same thing as valving the pump back ~45%.

I don't think the pump can tell the difference between pressure created by valving it back or having to pump water vertically 20'...it's the same thing. Maybe I am missing something, but I don't think that rep knew what they were talking about.

Didn't work Toby :-(
I turned on the second pump and the drains couldn't handle it. So i have now turned the left hand weir into a Herbie design as well. Tank is running better than ever now! I moved the media into different chambers as well and got a better flow through the sump. The largest area is now a massive moving bed and is working great! Still only have one pump running though with 4 drains but the drains are throttled back so i may get away with starting the second pump. Got to finish plumbing over the tank for the second pump and will try it this week.

According to this calculator, 50mm (2") drains should flow 9,000lph and 40mm (1.5") drains should flow roughly 5,100lph. That puts your total lph at 28,200. It looks like you are using schedule 80PVC, so your pipe is going to be narrower than schedule 40, so you would lose some lph there. Horizatontal runs and elbows would also slow flow quite a bit. I would guess that you will be fine now that all four bulkheads are being used as drains.

Hope it works out for you. Nice setup!