Planning First Big DIY Systems

[Ulu]

Ime, the tank bottom will conform to the stand when its filled. All tanks, especially glass tanks, seem to flex at least a little bit between empty and full. The old 150 i have, with 5/8" bottom, seems to bow upwards nearly an inch in the middle when i empty it, but will settle into any flat surface once its at least half full. Scared me a bit when i first got it but now i think nothing of it.

In short i think your bedding compound may be unnecessary given the flatness of your stand and its unlikeliness to move at all, being so sturdy and well rooted.

Thank you. This comforts me a lot.

This is the biggest glass tank I've ever filled by over double my current 55 gallon.

I've played around with different tanks on different stands, and I measured how they deform when they are full. The 55 did not really deform that much, though there was a little bowing and bagging.

The thirty standard was the worst and the 30 talls barely deform at all.

I have no doubt that the glass can take the stress because I have tested large glass windows and blow them to Smithereens with air pressure. My biggest concern is that stresses will develop in the silicone vertical joints, and it will start seeping in 10 years when I'm too old to fix it.

It seemed to me that when I looked at the commercially made 125 stand it only supported the tank on the ends and in the very middle and it basically sat on three pieces of one by four. Each point of support was only approximately 1.75 sq inches. When their literature says I must have a properly designed stand, it seems like this tank only requires 6 equal points of support.

If this 125 blows I'm going to end up buying new furniture and new carpet at least. While I could afford to do that without a lot of pain, what would cause me pain is the look on my wife's face as she says, "I told you that tank was too big!"

 

[Backfromthedead]

Thank you. This comforts me a lot.

This is the biggest glass tank I've ever filled by over double my current 55 gallon.

I've played around with different tanks on different stands, and I measured how they deform when they are full. The 55 did not really deform that much, though there was a little bowing and bagging.

The thirty standard was the worst and the 30 talls barely deform at all.

I have no doubt that the glass can take the stress because I have tested large glass windows and blow them to Smithereens with air pressure. My biggest concern is that stresses will develop in the silicone vertical joints, and it will start seeping in 10 years when I'm too old to fix it.

It seemed to me that when I looked at the commercially made 125 stand it only supported the tank on the ends and in the very middle and it basically sat on three pieces of one by four. Each point of support was only approximately 1.75 sq inches. When their literature says I must have a properly designed stand, it seems like this tank only requires 6 equal points of support.

If this 125 blows I'm going to end up buying new furniture and new carpet at least. While I could afford to do that without a lot of pain, what would cause me pain is the look on my wife's face as she says, "I told you that tank was too big!"

Its my belief that the majority of tank blowouts you see are due to being poorly supported--such as when you see long tanks precariously perched on cinder blocks. This kind of thing might work for awhile, but to me is doomed to fail eventually. While i always hear that you only need the 4 corners supported, something in me is certain that its much much better to have a solid, flat surface under the whole tank.

Now the kind of failure youre talking about--ten years down the road perhaps--will most likely not be a sudden and dramatic blowout, but start as a small leak and grow, giving you some time before turning into a catastrophic flood.

 

[Ulu]

So far those are the only kind of leaks that I've had: eventual seepage from tanks that got to be 15 years old and more.

But I put that tank on the stand with the intention of filling it to let it settle in, and then I made the mistake of putting a feeler gauge under the middle.

So now I'm a little dejected that it didn't fit perfectly down to the angstrom. I go sit down on my computer to watch Joey Mullen and what happens to the King of DIY?

BOOM! (Evidently there was a pebble under the bottom glass.)

His tank explodes in the middle of the night. The bottom cracks out and he loses the whole thing.

I have not slept as well since I saw that video.

 

[Backfromthedead]

So far those are the only kind of leaks that I've had: eventual seepage from tanks that got to be 15 years old and more.

But I put that tank on the stand with the intention of filling it to let it settle in, and then I made the mistake of putting a feeler gauge under the middle.

So now I'm a little dejected that it didn't fit perfectly down to the angstrom. I go sit down on my computer to watch Joey Mullen and what happens to the King of DIY?

BOOM! (Evidently there was a pebble under the bottom glass.)

His tank explodes in the middle of the night. The bottom cracks out and he loses the whole thing.

I have not slept as well since I saw that video.

Well nothing against "the king" but if you're leaving pebbles under the tank maybe you're in a little too much of a hurry lol.

But i cant talk all day, ive definitely had my share of ambitions fall short due to ill preparation and cutting corners. Such is life though.

In summation, get water into that tank man!

 

[Ulu]

Yes today is Plumbing day. I have to rout out the wall just a little more for the pipes.

 

[Ulu]

I only got about half the wall mods for my outdoor sump done yesterday. Empty tank progress has been repeatedly delayed to service running systems: currently 7 tanks +5 sumps.

And once again delayed as I set up new sand filter. Then boffed it and it plugged..

I turned it off too long, and without a check valve it back-siphoned. Then you must tip it and vibrate it, and purge it to get it unclogged. (dontgothere) This is because the included anti-siphon valve was kaput and I did not use it. My intent was to put a bypass T on the powerhead, arranged so it wouldn't back-siphon. Somehow in the mystic joy of my Zen Experience I neglected to do so. Phooie!

End result = some sand in the sump.

I also re-configured the lids, on the same sump, to fit the new setup. I also rearranged things to be more concealing for my pet sumpfish, Mojo. Mojo is one mean mofo and he was always fighting. Now he's in solitary confinent with two pumps going. This 20 has been his home for 2 months.

 

[Ulu]

I still have to set up a feed hose but the exterior drain lines are essentially built & glued.


I'm going to silicone the ABS bulkheads into the tank. Then I'm going to caulk the two through-wall pipes in solid before I hang these.

The gray unions will allow me to aim the pipe where I want it, and allow me to take the pipe down from the house easily for modifications.

The single Union valves will allow me to aim the valve handle wherever I want it and they will each essentially sit in a bucket full of water which spills over into my floss baskets. This should eliminate valve noise as well.

The design of these allows me to have a deep trap so Air can't back up into the house. it should also be pretty quiet. with the drains exiting near the top of the tank these pipes will always be 100% full of water above the valve.

Anything that goes down this pipe and is big enough to present a clog Hazard will get stuck right at the valve. If the tank starts to backup the second drain will kick in wide open. The offencive glugging noise will alert me to the fact that my primary drain is clogged.

 

[Ulu]

It is 105 today and I have all the lids off the patio tank and sump. I'm working the sump as a swamp cooler, to cool the water.
It's not over 90 and the fish will be fine.

The bulkheads are sealed to the 125 tank, and the wall plumbing is attached and sealed to the inner and outer wall faces.

I'm letting the sealant cure overnight.
Tomorrow I will hang the exterior plumbing and the return line.

I bought 1" PVC for the return line, because the new pump accepts 1" pipe threads. That new pump is still sitting at the LFS, so tomorrow I have to go spend some more.

By the way, the 125 and the 55 patio tank will both share one 30g sump. They won't cascade though. There will be two pumps. I want to replace that sump with my office 55g, and buy a new 75 for the office. Not quite room for a 90 though . . .

I have 2 of the imagitarium stands for the 55, but I'd have to build a different stand to hold both at once.

 

[Ulu]

The return pipe is 1" and my test pump is only three quarters so I had to make an adapter. it looks complicated because I made it out of something that I recycled from Felix's tank.

I could have gotten by with 3/4 pipe, maybe, but I wanted this stuff to be substantial; both because it's out of doors, and it's possible my dogs might try to chew on it, especially if it was a hose.


I didn't want a bunch of tight elbows to stifle my flow, so I bought these 1 inch PVC electrical conduit sweeps. I think this will be much better than either straight pipe with elbows or flexible hose.

EXCEPT that I did not include a Bellows or rubber hose isolator. this is going to be a little noisy and it's going to transmit noise directly to the house.

For the final fitting I will split that white PVC pipe and insert a short hose. I will do that when I buy my pump for this system.

The pump you see here is only for cleaning and testing purposes. This is a $50 Harbor Freight pond pump that theoretically pumps 365 GPH but was giving me something close to 200 on Felix's tank.

But I was definitely pumping more head on Felix's tank as this is only 42" overall. I was pumping it about 50" through a 3/4 pipe.

EDIT... those conduit sweeps are cheap. it only cost a little more than one fitting and a bit of pipe and glue. I think this is going to be sweet.

 

[Ulu]

This is a comparison of the old return pipe used with this same pump.



I think we're going to see a big increase in flow folks.

These are not the complete pipes in either case and both will have/would have had two more fittings and a couple bits of pipe.

There was also 10 in PVC pressure hose on the old one which I am still using on the Oscar tank. I adapted that up to its new one inch pump.

I suspect that the new tank will soon have its own 1 inch pump but first I will test the system with this one.

Before I go any further I have to let some glue cure and wash out the new tank with water and sodium carbonate.

This will get rid of any organic acids that's polluted this tank while it was in shipping storage or laying around in my garage getting covered with Sawdust and the occasional dying insect.