Squire's 90 Gallon Build, Now With Salt Water

[gridley]

I just read through your tank journal. From my completly inexperienced perspective it is looking good. I'm looking forward to following along.

[ensquire]

Originally Posted by bignose

Nice pump how does the controller work?

I will fire it up this weekend and let you know, It has a +, - button to ramp the power up and down and it has a feeding button that shuts it down for a short time

Originally Posted by gridley

I just read through your tank journal. From my completly inexperienced perspective it is looking good. I'm looking forward to following along.

Thank you, not a lot of experience here. Second attempt, so i hope I learned a few things from past mistakes.
I have been following your thread as well, great job on the stand .

[ensquire]

Hooked up the Waveline DC5000 tonite and I must say that I like what it does so far. Started it at it's lowest setting and started to ramp it up. There are 6 speeds and by the 4th light I was surpassing the Quiet One 4000. Up all the way and I had a large ripple going across the top of the tank.
The remote is a nice feature and there is a 10 minute feed mode that shuts the pump down.
If quiet operation is the goal then you might want to check this pump out, had to stick my head into sump space to try to hear it. The durso drain is far louder than this pump. I will have to see about fixing that drain noise a bit.

[ensquire]

I have been playing with the sump today waitng for a check valve for the return line. I have found 3 issues that I would like to try to solve and I need some help.

Issue #1) As mentioned before, I am having problems breaking the siphon on the return line when I shut off the power. Right now I have a dual Locline return nozzle in DT that I would like to run. One nozzle at the top and the other pointed down to get flow at the back. When I cut the power and if either one of the nozzles are below the water level it will drain and not stop until the water drops below the bulkhead. The bulkhead inside the overflow is 2 inches below the water level in the Display tank. I drilled a hole in the elbow inside the overflow and ran it into the DT, just below water level so that it is exposed quickly to draw air. Still the same problem, even when the line is exposed it draws air but not enough to break the siphon.





Solutions that I am thinking about:

1) Check valve somewhere. I'm going to add one anyway for redundancy, but I don't really like having this as the only safegaurd.
2) Rebuild return inside the overflow using flexline as it is now, but raising the elbow up higher so that it is higher than the water level in the tank.
Will this difference in height do the trick. I would still need the airline wouldn't I ??
3) Make this a Herbie instead and drill a return line.

[ensquire]

Issue #2) My durso drain setup is noisy, I know it isn't a conventional setup, but I thought the valve made it adjustable. The problem is the bubbles and noise. While they aren't extremely loud, I just think that I should be fixable. I have adjusted the top air valve and the lower gate valve. The noise from the Gate valve is quite loud if I throttle it back very much. Sounds like a deep fryer in a restuarant LOL I added a fitting to the bottom of the drain pipe, but it hasn't made much difference.
Is there a problem with the design of my standpipe?



Solutions:

1) Make it a Herbie. LOL I would like to make this work though. Just can't dial it in as good as I would like. The noise isn't deafening by any means. skin on stand would probably block it right out.

[ensquire]

Issue #3) Sump flow, I know the goal that all drain water should run through the skimmer before going to the return chamber. With that in mind I decided to see if my sump would make that possible. What I found is that either my pump is to big, or in combination with my drain problem, I can't throttle it back enough for the skimmer to handle the flow. My pump is a Waveline 5000 with 1300 GHP but I run it at half so probably 700 gph . The sump can handle full throttle but the skimmer can't. It's a SWC Cone 160. Not sure of handling capacity for skimmer . If I throttle back the drain enough for the skimmer to keep up, then the drain gets really noisy from all the air through the gate valve. So if I can solve the drain problem to some degree I can solve this one. Although I would like the most water flow thru the sump.
Can I live with not all the water not getting skimmed??
Can I mod the skimmer for more flow ?
Making this a herbie won't solve this one

[gregzz4]

Although The Grizz may be able to help you quiet down your Durso, I hate to say I mentioned awhile back in your build that Herbies are notoriously easier to deal with

I'm not by any means saying I told you so but it's something you should consider before you get too far along with your build

If you recall, I rebuilt my sump 3 times before I was happy with the noise and flow

It wouldn't hurt much right now to try some other plumbing, right ???

Herbies don't require downturned pipes or air inlets. Just a submersed main drain. Once the air is flushed, away they go with their full flow

I installed a gate valve on my main drain ( thought I would need it ) and I keep it wide open , with the pump bypassing in the sump as the pump is more than my overflow can handle ( my situation doesn't count here - my sump is only a few inches below my tank so there's not enough pressure to flush the drain )

I keep my main high enough that the box doesn't drain much when shut down and the emerg is close to over-full with a float valve above that to shut off the pump, just in case

Very simple
I haven't had to adjust it once since I started it last month and it doesn't go up and down more than a 1/4" in the overflow box

I wish I could say the same for the level problems I have with the other pump in my sump with the chaeto tank, uv, chiller, skimmer and reactors

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by ensquire

Issue #3) Sump flow

I wouldn't be so concerned about all the drain water going through your skimmer
If you sat down and calculated what it takes to cycle your whole tank through your skimmer, you'd agree
Keep your return water flow where you want it. 5 - 6 times or so per hour is fine.
My 75g, with 110g total water, flows about 650gph. I've been told that's lots, otherwise the socks and skimmer can't do their job effectively

The rest of your flow happens inside your tank

If you're thinking about 15-20gph flow, that's the total of everything with a full-blown SPS tank, not what runs through your sump, and not what a new tank needs

You and I only need about 10 times per hour to start with, give or take

[The Grizz]

When the tank is running Mike, where is the water level inside the OF box? From my experience with the durso the top of the Tee where it meets the 90 should be just below the bottom of the teeth on the overflow and your water level should be about the halfway mark on the tee to 90 section. I also cut down the top of the tee as short as possible and have cut the 90 end facing down shorter as well.

[ensquire]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

Although The Grizz may be able to help you quiet down your Durso, I hate to say I mentioned awhile back in your build that Herbies are notoriously easier to deal with

It wouldn't hurt much right now to try some other plumbing, right ???

Herbies don't require downturned pipes or air inlets. Just a submersed main drain. Once the air is flushed, away they go with their full flow

I installed a gate valve on my main drain ( thought I would need it ) and I keep it wide open , with the pump bypassing in the sump as the pump is more than my overflow can handle ( my situation doesn't count here - my sump is only a few inches below my tank so there's not enough pressure to flush the drain )

I keep my main high enough that the box doesn't drain much when shut down and the emerg is close to over-full with a float valve above that to shut off the pump, just in case

Very simple
I haven't had to adjust it once since I started it last month and it doesn't go up and down more than a 1/4" in the overflow box

I wish I could say the same for the level problems I have with the other pump in my sump with the chaeto tank, uv, chiller, skimmer and reactors

I'm right at the stage of still having these options, I just hate not being able to get this system right
I'll tweak it a bit, and try the Durso guru's advice (Grizz) and will see what happens.