400 gallon project

untamed · #1 02-15-2010, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tracey2

Thanks for the info, so when you do a water change you just close the valve to sump 2, empty sump 1 and fill again? So you don't have to shut return pumps or anything off?

Yup, that is exactly it.

As soon as I stop the flow between the sumps, sump 1 fills up capturing 50 gallons. As soon as it fills, I stop the flow INTO sump 1 and that sump is now completely isolated even as the return pump continues to run. (water just flows directly into sump 2 through the Herbie emergency drain).

I then dump sump 1, and refill it with new SW which is pumped in from the mixing tank. Then put the sump back into circulation. One advantage of this system is that I get to drain away any stuff that has settled in Sump 1 when I dump it. It is a good way to get rid of detritis.

Tracey2 · #2 02-15-2010, 08:00 PM

Perfect, I am setting up a new tank and your thread has given me all kinds of ideas, thanks for sharing.

#3 02-15-2010, 08:36 PM

great tank and some great idears in this thread.

Bill

Tracey2 · #4 02-22-2010, 10:55 PM

Is there any reason if I didn't have the same space you have that I couldn't bypass the sw mixing container and have that be sump #1. So I would just close sump 1, rinse and drain, add salt and ro water and then turn it back on? Love your setup, thanks for your help.

untamed · #5 02-23-2010, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tracey2

Is there any reason if I didn't have the same space you have that I couldn't bypass the sw mixing container and have that be sump #1. So I would just close sump 1, rinse and drain, add salt and ro water and then turn it back on? Love your setup, thanks for your help.

Yes, that would work. But it advisable to mix SW for 24hrs or more before you use it. This would leave that sump out of commission for that length of time. You would also have to design that sump to be a good "mixer" as well as a sump.

That sump would also tend to be clean since you would probably kill anything living in there each time you dumped FW into it. That would probably be a good thing.

Tracey2 · #6 02-27-2010, 01:07 PM

Thanks for your help. Can I ask how tall your sumps are? One of my sumps is 60x24x24, 36" will be under my DT and 24" in my fishroom/closet, I was planning my stand 36" tall with a door on one end to access the part of the sump under the DT but if I use the 2x6 like you have on top I will not have alot of clearance, could I do the top frame in 2x4 for a 270g tank?

superduperwesman · #7 02-27-2010, 03:04 PM

Did I ever tell you how nice your tank is...?

Amazing!

untamed · #8 02-27-2010, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tracey2

Thanks for your help. Can I ask how tall your sumps are? One of my sumps is 60x24x24, 36" will be under my DT and 24" in my fishroom/closet, I was planning my stand 36" tall with a door on one end to access the part of the sump under the DT but if I use the 2x6 like you have on top I will not have alot of clearance, could I do the top frame in 2x4 for a 270g tank?

I'm not an engineer, so I don't know for certain what you can and cannot do.

I believe it is the span of the top frame that drives the choice. In my case, that span was 4 feet and I used 2x6's on edge about 12" apart from each other. This turned out to be plenty of support. (overbuilt)

I don't know the dimensions of your 270 gallon tank, but I would guess that the width is less than 4 feet. So maybe you could use 2x4s. You could also use more of them..maybe every 6" or 8".

My stand is 40" high, btw.