Prepping for a ~260G set-up

[DN328]

TheWolfman or anyone running Bean Animal with durso? I had success running a Herbie style (with third e-drain) previously. With this external overflow, I want to see if running durso would be good for what I want.

Below are 1.5inch drains: full siphon at the bottom, e-drain straight pipe in the middle, with trickle drain furthest away in the picture. I put a 1/4" hole in the trickle durso so that it doesn't become a full siphon unless the water rises above. Any suggestions or concerns that I should be aware of?

Also, what would the advantage of durso style rather than just using what I used with the straight pipes as I did before? One thing that comes to mind is the durso would more easily enable a full siphon given the way its shape? The external overflow isn't at deep as my internal overlfow, so could that be an advantage?

Thanks.

 

[TheWolfman]

I had to Ditch the durso on the full syphon. I use the durso on the trickle and straight on the e drain. The full syphons just took too long to prime and it was loosing syphon on restarts eventually failing to prime. Once I removed the dursos on the syphons restarts were quick and perfect every time. If I had a deeper overflow box maybe I could have had them lower and it wouldn’t have been a issue but removing the durso and running open bulkheads on the syphon lines works great, and since it’s a shallow overflow only a few gallons actually go down to the sump on power failure. The durso on the trickle is beneficial because it silences that constant drain sound. This is how I have my overflow set up it’s very similar to yours except I’m running two 1.5” full syphons.

 

[DN328]

Thanks Wolf. That is a bit disappointing to hear, as I was hoping to use the durso for main siphon.

Would you having two 1.5" durso negatively impact the ability for both to become fully siphon - relative to the water flow and/or overflow size/depth? My back-up plan was to remove the full siphon durso and add a low profile strainer. BTW, you could also add the strainer to yours to prevent things getting lodged (I know your teeth would help that too, but small particles could build).

If I do end up removing the durso, I may just change the trickle to a straight pipe too (like the dry e-drain but slightly lower). Then it would be how I did it before. It was also quiet with straight trickle drain too.

 

[DN328]

Happy New Year Folks!

I figured I'd give some updates on the progress made. The pictures aren't that good, but hopefully you get a decent visual.

Water in Tank and Drain Plumbing:
The three 1.5" drains have been plumbed for a few weeks now, and I finally got a chance to test the "Bean Animal" using two Durso-style drain pipes for the primary and secondary pipes. the e-drain was just a straight pipe...BUT...


DID NOT GO WITH THIS:


Kept three drain configuration but just added the bulk head/strainer for main siphon and straight pipes for second and third drain. The main reasons were that the main siphon could handle the same volume, I liked the fact that I could see how much the second trickle drain was operating while I was adjusting (vs. the durso I could not easily see), and, finally, it was a little quieter from the drain all the way to the outlet at the sump.


Here's a shot at the return from the sump (pipe nearest in the picture):


Closed loop circulation (CLC) with "T" to use the CLC pump to drain water for WC. You can see the gree/yellow connector in the center top of picture:

 

[TheWolfman]

DN328 the build is looking awesome!! Plumbing is super clean. I like the change with the overflow box, good call.

 

[GouramiLove80]

That was a great decision with the overflow box. Everything looks really great! I can't wait to see the final product!

 

[DN328]

Thanks all. I really wanted the durso's to be the way to go given all that I have read throughout the years. I finally had a chance to try, but couldn't find a good reason why I'd keep it if the other way worked better, for my situation.

I went from 1" (last tank) to 1.5" and it's still very silent in my living room. The tank isn't cycled but I just had to stick the gold nugget and blue phantom back from their temp tank. I'll be dosing with Prime to keep help neutralize ammonia and nitrite.

 

[DN328]

Hi There, some more updates on what's been going on. I suppose I'm no longer in prepping, but more in built and now trying to run the tank LOL:

• Cycling has been going on for about 2.5 weeks. I tossed in a few shrimp and the ammonia has been up around .5 - 1 ppm. 0 nitrite to date, but there must have been a little since I'm starting to see 5 ppm of nitrate (it's definitely no longer yellow in the API liquid test)
• Inhabitants as I really wanted to get them back to what they're use to. I've had these guys for 5 years and they barely have grown it seems:
• blue phantom
• 
• gold nugget
• 
• I always wanted to try some plant in the sump so went with Peace Lilly
• 
• Finally, Caribsea African Cichlid Sand and my saved Malaysian driftwood. I know it's really plain compared to some of the great tanks on here, but I like the minimalist look and room for fish;-) I may add another 20lb bag, but I really don't want the standard 2"+.
• 

I really like how the overflow turned out with the straight pipes. I am using my old Waveline DC10000II return pump, at 2780gph without head pressure. I've got it cranked 80% with probably about 12ft of head pressure (vertical, horizontal and 90 bends) and it's really quiet. When return pump chamber water level changes due to evaporation, and I add water, I notice a change in the return rate. This increases/decreases the water that is trickling in the second pipe. You could say that it's operating as designed. I will connect my ATO so the water level remains constant. I think this will help the return flow stay consistent and keep it really quiet.

Thanks for reading.

 

[jaws7777]

Dude what a great build, not that I expected anything less from you. Super clean plumbing and sump. Glad to see you back in the game. I miss doing projects like this, I almost pulled the trigger on a 700 gallon. This was before the wold went to poop on a hand basket. Reading this thread reignited the itch. That cabinet is super sexy btw

 

[DN328]

Thanks man. I think that I was able to improve on function compared to the prior set-up. You know my OCD so I try to keep things tighty.

It seems only like a nano-tank compared to all the huge builds I see now and then here LOL. I don't have the space so I'm content with what I can do.