Chizer & Bunoi 67 gallon

[lastlight]

I'm working on no sleep here show what I know! Yeah that is a very nice look i'm going to do the same thing if I ever build another tank <- insanely unlikely right? Maybe it doesn't work if the colour (paint of whatever) isn't directly onto the glass. Or maybe I should get some sleep =)

Originally Posted by lastlight

if I ever build another tank <- insanely unlikely right?

I think it's a competition between you and FishyFishy. You guys should start the tanked show here in Calgary.

Update

Paint is now done. What do you all think?





Now Chizer, pose for the picture.



Oh no, I think Bunoi is going to spend her days underneath the tank stand.



I also picked up a 9 outlet powerbar. This plus the RK PC4 and I'm all set.



It's 36" long and fits on the top back wall (inside the stand) nicely.



And then I finished the plumbing. I installed true union ball valves for each bulkhead. I wanted to make it modular in case something happened in the future. I also did a bulkhead leak test and it's all good. Who would have thought it would take so long to glue stupid pipes together. It took twice as long because I was so anal about making sure that the glue was clean and tidy.



And it's all held together with tie straps.



Tomorrow I have to go pick up some more plumbing parts. I'll post inside pics then and then it's time for the water test and then swap.

Update

I somewhat finished the plumbing. I need to make some more adjustments.

Returns - everything has been glued together, but the down pipe connected to the 45 is not.



See the herbie drain? That's only 1.5" difference between the primary and emergency. There is a problem with that which I'll get to.



The main siphon has a union then a gate valve.



Here you can see the emergency drain. I also have my tube holder for the dosing pump and ATO.



And then the return pump. It goes from the return pump using flex tubing into the inside of the barb (it does not leak as it runs inside quite a bit and there is no way to pull that tube out now. Then it goes to a barb fitting, flap style check valve to a union.



And the finally the sump. Only enough room for my protein skimmer and a zeo reactor.

Leak test was a complete success.

The return pump is so noisy. I need to get a mouse pad or a piece of foam under there. That is also 8" of water in there.



This picture shows the water level when the pump is on. You can see that I decided not to drill any siphon break holes into the pipe as the end sits above the water level at all times.



And when the water is off, this is where the water level is at.



So I am having problems with the herbie setup. The emergency drain is currently 1.5" taller than the full siphon drain. The water is gurgling into the emergency drain.





Do I make the emergency drain taller by another 1 inches?

Also, I can hear the water splashing from the weir into the box. Do I need to raise the full siphon drain as well? sphelps help, I forgot what you said when you came over.

Tomorrow I am going to start washing the oolite sand and will let it run with the fresh water, to settle. It's brand new sand. Then I will drain the tank and do the transfer. My 90 is currently sumpless but is bare-bottom.

Does it make sense to transfer it all at once, or should I fill this tank with salt water and migrate it slowly? I was thinking that I could siphon all the clean water for the transfer. There shouldn't be any issues with parameters this way??

[gregzz4]

I ended up putting a piece of this filter material under my 1262 to silence it. I chose the green for it's cushion feel over the others available. It's a bit more than an inch thick and I use it under 4 different pumps with great results

If it were me, I'd lower the full siphon pipe. This will give you more flow due to more head pressure
My main drain is only about 4" tall and my emerg is a couple inches from the top

48x18x18 is closer to 67g

[Skimmin]

Hey there. Just like to start out by saying NICE TANK! Smart idea with the stand as well. It looks pro. To the Herbies. There's a happy spot you'll have to experiment to find. Every system is a bit different due to flow rates and weir heights. I found with mine that keeping the overflow water level higher it would make it quieter. Also I'm not sure if you're using fresh or saltwater in your test but things will change with saltwater and once the pipes start to 'slime up'. I ended up with some enkamat in the back of my overflow to help keep everything quieter as well. Are you using two drains as primary and one as an emergency? Once set up, you may have to have your primary drain 3-4 inches lower then your emergency just to get a decent head pressure above the drain. Once you cut your primary drain down lower the overflow should fill above the drain pipe at least an inch or two to keep the suction/gurgling sound away. Its all about throttling and matching the flow of your return pump. Herbies are great and I wouldn't go any other way. Just some set up involved.

Also if you want to chat a bit more in depth about it or you have any further questions shoot me a pm and I'd be glad to call you or vice versa

[sphelps]

First off don't lower the full siphon pipe yet (primary, one with gate valve). This won't increase head pressure or flow, this is set by the gate valve and nothing else. Lowering the height will only drain more water to your sump and that's a pretty big overflow you got there. You may need to lower it if it's creating a vortex and sucking in air but I don't think that's an issue.

Seems to me the issue is your back up or emergency drain is too low. Try this procedure.

1. Stick a coupling on there or swap out the pipe with a taller one. Start with something too tall that extends an inch or so above the top of the tank, you can cut it to the right size after the next step.
   
2. Tighten the gate valve a little to raise the water level in the overflow, it's too low if the weir is dropping down too much causing waterfall noise. Water level in the overflow can be around 1/2" to 1/4" below tank water level, but set it as low as possible provided the noise is gone. The overflow should be completely silent now, if not check if the primary is creating a vortex and sucking in air, if it is the primary pipe needs to be shortened.
   
3. Now with the overflow water level set, mark the back up drain pipe 1/2" above the overflow water level and cut it there. I recall you have three drain pipes, so consider running two back ups at this height, it'll help for next step.
   
4. Now test the back up, with pump operating at desired or max output shut the gate valve completely but be ready to open it if needed. If the back up drain(s) can handle the flow without the tank overflowing you're good. If not you have to shorten them until they can, 1/4" at a time but note if you have to cut it more than once you'll need to lower your overflow water level in step 2.

[lastlight]

I've had my emergency that close to my primary. They key is making really fine adjustments to the gate valve so that the trickle going down the emergency is small enough that it is silent... like a thin coating of water on the walls of the pipe going down.

[midgetwaiter]

Originally Posted by sphelps

First off don't lower the full siphon pipe yet (primary, one with gate valve). This won't increase head pressure or flow, this is set by the gate valve and nothing else. Lowering the height will only drain more water to your sump and that's a pretty big overflow you got there. You may need to lower it if it's creating a vortex and sucking in air but I don't think that's an issue.

Actually lowering or removing the primary drain standpipe will make life a lot easier in this configuration and it has everything to do with "head". Everybody remembers their first go at trying to adjust a herbie style overflow, even if you did shell out the bucks for a gate valve it can be a complete PITA to try and maintain with the primary standpipe that high.

However if you were to remove the primary drain standpipe and close the valve controlling that drain until the water level in the overflow stays within and inch or so of the top it so it's quiet as well it becomes much easier to do minute adjustments. The reason for this is the pressure built up in the box remains constant when it is at at given level, with a high drain pipe you get much less drain pressure and it fluctuates somewhat making it difficult to adjust. The force of the water is "static head", not to be confused the the "head pressure" we try and work out when sizing a return pump.

Some things to consider in this configuration; When the pump shuts down you will drain the entire overflow box, make sure you have room to catch the water. Also you are at a slightly increased risk of clogging the drain, make sure you open it up once in a while to flush built up gunk. You should be doing that in either configuration though.