DurTBear's 10 gallon frag tank

[DurTBear]

Here is the thread I started on RC:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1468883

I was hoping some of you guys can help me out since this is my first frag tank and experience with plumbing tanks. As you can see from the thread, my tank is getting pretty full and I'd like to start a frag tank using the 10 gallon tank Matt gave me. Thanks Matt! I'd like to use a bigger tank but this one will fit underneath my 20 gallon in the stand so I'm starting with this.

Anyway, I'm just thinking about the plumbing right now but I don't have any experience. Would the following be sufficient? Overflow->3/4" pvc->slip union->3/4" pvc->a couple 45deg fittings to angle the piping into the frag tank->90deg fitting for the outlet. And do you submerge the outlet underwater in the frag tank or have it right at the surface (would this make noise?).

For the return, should I use pvc as well? Or can you just use flexible vinyl tubing and hang it on the main tank with a u-tube? I'm thinking pvc would be better and I could have a ball valve in the line to adjust flow.

 

[FinalPhaze987]

sweet frsg tank...its got more coral in it than ive seen in some large setups..

i would go with pvc for the return...they do make a flexable pvc if that works for you..

hopefully Gresham chimes in...he knows alot about flow rates with piping

 

[DurTBear]

LOL...there are still so many corals that I still want! God this hobby is so addicting!

Hmm...flexible pvc is a good idea. I'll look into that. How would you plumb it back into the main tank? Do you have to attach a bracket to it to hold it in place?

 

[DurTBear]

Slowly collected all the plumbing parts for the frag tank. But I'm new to plumbing so what's the best way to attach pvc to the Eheim 1250 return pump? I guess part of the output is threaded so would you just match the size and buy a threaded-to-slip adapter? The output seems kind of small to me.

 

[badbread]

Finally got around to setting it up? Sweet! I thought my tank was packed until I saw yours.

 

[DurTBear]

Haha! Yeah, hopefully I'll have some more time in the coming weeks to finally set it up. Been really busy and next thing I know, 2 months has gone by with no progress. In that time, the corals in my tank sure haven't been shrinking so time is of the essence!

 

[badbread]

If you need another 10g tank I have one I'm not using, good luck!

 

[DurTBear]

Thanks Jay! We'll see what happens with the 10 gallon tank I currently have. If all goes well, maybe I can plumb another one into the system!

 

[DurTBear]

Here's the latest update: I have most of the plumbing parts and have started to plumb the overflow. Unfortunately, my measurements were incorrect so instead of putting the tank underneath the existing stand, I'm just going to place it on the ground next to the display tank. Anyone see any problems for doing this?

Here is the start of plumbing the overflow:

Using a slip union for easy disconnect (as you can see I'm an expert at getting primer all over the place):

Does anyone have any clever way of hooking up the Eheim 1250 to 1/2" pvc? Went to HD and they didn't have any adapters for the output of the Eheim to 1/2" pvc. I guess I could use vinyl tubing and connect it to pvc using a threaded barb. Not sure if that's the best way. Any ideas would be welcome:

 

[DurTBear]

Well...I think I have a solution. I should have just used an Eheim 1260 which seemingly has a 1/2" output nozzle. But I found a female 3/8" to 1/2" adapter from Ryan Herko Flow Solutions which I will use. I'll put a 3/8" nipple coming out of the output and attach the adapter to it. It's probably not perfect since the threads on the metric side don't fit the standard size perfectly. But I figure it will be submerged underwater anyway so it shouldn't be a problem (famous last words...knock on wood...).

 

[Elite]

Any reasons why you can't put a lot of teflon tape and use 1/2 PVC connector? Doesn't work??

 

[DurTBear]

I'm not sure I understand your question. But I'm new to plumbing so please forgive me. The output on the pump is 3/8" so even if I overloaded with teflon tape, I don't think there's any way I could ever attach it to 1/2" without the adapter.

 

[Elite]

Oh I didn't know 4/8 is a lot bigger than 3/8.. I thought if you use a lot of tapes, you would be ok..

 

[badbread]

Teflon tape kind of seals in the threads with a waterproof layer, I'm not sure how well it would hold up on missed matched threading.

 

[DurTBear]

Well...it's taken it's first breath and is officially alive! But as I anticipated there are a few issues. The Lifereef nano overflow box is pretty loud in my opinion. Specifically, the drain makes a loud gurgling sound. When I slow down the drain by placing my hand in front of the drain line, that seems to fix that problem so I'm wondering if I should install a gate valve on the end to control the drain. Also, the drain line really bubbles a lot into the frag tank. Is it a problem having a 45 degree elbow at the end? Should it just go straight down? I'm also investigating the possibility of using a reverse Durso to remedy this problem (here's a link of what I'm thinking: http://projectreeftank.com/2008/05/26/reverse-durso-to-quiet-a-noisy-drain/). But I don't have experience with one so if anyone has any input, I would really appreciate it. Anyway, here are some pics:

The full setup:

Lifereef nano overflow:

End of the drain line with a grill from a Koralia glued on the end to prevent snails from going up the drain line:

Eheim 1250 with the appropriate 3/8" -> 1/2" adapter attached to the return line:

Return line going into the main dispaly tank. Made sure to drill a hole near the surface of the water to prevent siphoning back into the frag tank in case of power failure. Works great!

This is the problem--the drain line really bubbles when it's up and running as you can see:

 

[70Cuda]

my return to fuge is similar. Noticed you glued your 45 elbow thing. All of my last return peices were left unglued on last piece so I could move and adjust direction as wanted. I also have a valve that can adjust flow. The extra flow if i restrice flow to fuge is diverted to sock so this could be entirely differnt situation as dont know if its a good idea to restrict flow and not have anywhere for it to go.

 

[DurTBear]

Not gluing the end pieces would have been a good idea. I wish I had thought of that!

 

[70Cuda]

Ask around as not sure but if you tweak it a little and make a t with 2 returns wont the flow be reduced making for less bubbles. Hope someone else chimes in on this. Jim, my hubby, mentioned if you have air getting in the system somehow with water levels and such as that would also make for the bubbles. That would also account for the loud gurgling sound you hear is there a way you can purge the system if you have a massive air pocket.

 

[nasotang]

Is the flow into the frag tank from the lifereef overflow, and the water returned to your DT from the eheim?

Have you tested what would happen if your eheim froze? Will the frag tank overflow?

 

[DurTBear]

Yeah, the flow into the frag tank is from the lifereef overflow and the water returned to my DT is from the Eheim.

I've simulated a power outage and a restart and everything works fine. The frag tank will not overflow because I drilled a hole in the return line (in the DT) near the surface of the water to prevent siphoning back into the frag tank. The overflow also automatically restarts since the siphon in the U-tube is maintained (the reason why I went with Lifereef...it's a good/simple design).