Clay&Cheys 130g peninsula... "Quintessence"

[i have crabs]

Originally Posted by Dez

Looking good so far. One quick question. What happens when the power goes out? With your return plumbing running mid and low in the tank, won't all that water siphon out when the power goes out and drain half your tank?

I would run the line from your return pump near the water surface. Even with a check valve, the check valve could fail with anything getting caught in there.

Des

thats what i thought when i seen your return line, makes me a bit scared for you,
other than that tank looks great

[Clay&Chey]

Unfortunately the tank was drilled with the hole in bottom for the return when we got it. Is there anything else a guy can do other than a check valve? Also a quick question about return pumps.... our quietone 6000 constantly hums pretty loudly. Its more like a resonant frequency hum but after a while it really grates on your nerves. Is this normal? Can this be avoided with say an external type pump... ie reeflo snapper gold or one similar?

[Dez]

Originally Posted by Clay&Chey

Unfortunately the tank was drilled with the hole in bottom for the return when we got it. Is there anything else a guy can do other than a check valve? Also a quick question about return pumps.... our quietone 6000 constantly hums pretty loudly. Its more like a resonant frequency hum but after a while it really grates on your nerves. Is this normal? Can this be avoided with say an external type pump... ie reeflo snapper gold or one similar?

Hi Clay,

I can see a few simple solutions. One thing you can do is replumb your return line. Valve off that hole in the bottom. Plumb your return line to the wall, up beside your emergency drain and back into the tank near the water surface, if you really wanted to go back into your tank in the opposite side of the overflow, then run the pipe beside your light (still hidden in your canopy and back into the tank. You will have more head loss this way.

Another solution is to run your pvc pipe from the bottom of the tank to the water surface - down side is esthetics. You'll have to do rock magic to cover the pipe. Or you can make an aragocrete pipe/rock to hide it all. This is kind of a lot of work, but worth it. I made a fake rock intake for my closed loop and am so glad I did.

The other option is to rely on a check valve (I wouldn't personally) If your power goes out and the check valve fails - hopefully it won't fail fully open, if it leaks it will hopefully be small. This option is scary in my opinion.

Another option is to make the tank 2 side viewable and have your return pipe running up the end viewing panel and then cover it up with cabinetry/canopy. This too is a lot of work and you have one less viewing panel. This is what I ended up doing with my tank and I struggled with it for a long time because I wanted 3 sides viewable but I didn't want piping above my tank and I didn't want to rely on a check valve.

I personally like the external pumps. If you are redoing plumbing now is the time to change out your pump. I hear the Dart golds are awesome. I run a regular old Dart and am happy with it. It's the second loudest part of my system (my wavebox is the loudest), but I don't even have my cabinetry on yet. If you can bear with the noise of the wavebox, then a Dart Gold should do you well - the only thing is like this whole hobby is - it's pricey. One thing your can try is lining the inside of your cabinetry with foam to dampen the noise. Also put a chunk of rubber under the pump, that might help.

I hope that this helps. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Des

[fishytime]

One thing you could do is buy another check valve and swap them out every six months or so to give the original a good soak in vinegar. The biggest cause of leaks is due to a build up of crud on the seal.

[Clay&Chey]

We gotta design ourselves a 1 way nozzle for the ends of my 2 return. something with overlaping flaps on the inside that are pushed open by the water flow. i like your swapping check valve idea but a quick question how do remove the checkvalve? my ball valve cut off is after the check valve. i could go check valve, check valve and the second check valve could be the one i swap out.... and if the permanent one gets loaded with crud so be it check valve 2 the rotational clean one will be up to the task.... i hope

[Clay&Chey]

Somemore random pics...

Our super fat lawnmower Blenny



Tankshot kitchen side



Lime Green Acro



Red Mille



Unknown coral. Anyone know its name



Our Bicolour



Our friendly Foxface



Domino Damsel



tips and polyps

[scherzo]

Great looking tank! Wish I could get my renos done and get one put in the same place as yours!

I would say that running your returns straight up and then splitting would be your best bet.

Have you done "simulated" power outtage yet? What happens?

[JDigital]

Nice tank guys... Glad those colonies are doing well for you!