Glass cages 310G 7 foot reef tank and fishroom build out

[lbacha]

What pumps are you using for your closed loops. I had Joe drill my tank for loops as well. Now I’m just waiting for the tank to arrive

 

[Sayyjimm]

Did you just buy it because they made it for me and I wanted the 48” overflow so he made me another and ordered a shorter box on the inside so it didn’t hit returns. I will show you how I’m gonna do it I’m starting plumbing shortly. I chose a 2” bulkhead so with the strainer it will still get 1.5” flow

Yes but I have him building a stand and canopy for it should have it buy middle July can’t wait.

 

[Mwatts12]

Good lookin stuff man. Great job

 

[1000rrstunna]

What pumps are you using for your closed loops. I had Joe drill my tank for loops as well. Now I’m just waiting for the tank to arrive

vectra l2

 

[lbacha]

vectra l2

Thanks, pretty sure that is what I’m going with as well. How many do you have in your tank

 

[mattgsa]

Really nice build

 

[1000rrstunna]

Thanks, pretty sure that is what I’m going with as well. How many do you have in your tank

I’ll have two one closed loop one for uv and one varios 10 for the main return And manifold. I’m playing with my closed loop under sand bed…. I’m just wondering how much that vectra l2 will push I want to do 4-5 of 3/4” loc line nozzles blowing many ways this is the start in white pipe before I use the black from brs and black fittings from flex pvc online

I’m also wondering about taking the return from 1.25 to 1.5” to help with volume and keeping it up till I get past the manifold and first set of returns then shrink back to 1.25 or 1” to the last nozzle. This pump does 4300gph at 3ft head… it’s pressure rates too but I don’t wanna kill the pressure

Plumbing SUCKSSSS LOL

 

[lbacha]

I’ll have two one closed loop one for uv and one varios 10 for the main return And manifold. I’m playing with my closed loop under sand bed…. I’m just wondering how much that vectra l2 will push I want to do 4-5 of 3/4” loc line nozzles blowing many ways this is the start in white pipe before I use the black from brs and black fittings from flex pvc online

I’m also wondering about taking the return from 1.25 to 1.5” to help with volume and keeping it up till I get past the manifold and first set of returns then shrink back to 1.25 or 1” to the last nozzle. This pump does 4300gph at 3ft head… it’s pressure rates too but I don’t wanna kill the pressure

Plumbing SUCKSSSS LOL

I’m planning two loops with 1.5” intakes on one side wall and 1.25” RFGs on the sand bed on the other side. The Vectra L2s should be perfect as they already come with unions that match my plumbing diameters

 

[1000rrstunna]

l also have some 1" sea swirls I forgot about new in box.
im gonna run those

 

[1000rrstunna]

Light rack is up! My power brick shelf/outlet box worked out awesome on a 20a circuit with two outlets to spare ! Thanks to ideas on this forum it came out simple light and effective.

 

[1000rrstunna]

I really hate the plumbing but don’t wanna do level runs with a drop at end or am I overthinking it ? Opinions pleaseeeee waitin on the gate valve for main drain before I glue. I’m an idiot and put the closed loop intake in the path of drains which is part of the reason I’m having some issues. I could run the sump the other direction but drain runs will be 8ft… ugh !

 

[Peanut]

looking good!

 

[Sayyjimm]

I would flip our sump around and layout hard pluming like this. Water is much easier to drain then pump.

 

[1000rrstunna]

I would flip our sump around and layout hard pluming like this. Water is much easier to drain then pump.

Thats how I originally had it. but I was thinking the long drain lines were a mistake. i have a very powerful pump with a high head pressure the varios 10.

 

[1000rrstunna]

After a lot of swearing I got here…. Thoughts ? It’s dry fit after the first 45 on each drain. Still gotta stuff two more u ions in by the sump wish me luck

 

[lbacha]

Looks good, just a tip (might be from experience) but you need to be careful about dry fitting like that. Typically the pipe only goes in 1/3 to 1/2 of the way in when you dry fit. This mean when you go to finally glue up you plumbing since you have all those fittings you could be as much as a couple inches off. You may need to recut a couple of those PVC pieces to compensate so make sure when you are ready, glue as you go and remeasure to ensure you don’t run into issues. A trick I have found is to have a couple fittings that have been cut down so you can fit the pipe all the way in. Use them for dry fitting (this way you can cut the pipe to the correct lengths) and then use new fittings when you glue up. I did this in the past and it worked well. Now I just glue as I go with lots of unions so it is easy to fix mistakes.

 

[billyocean]

Looks good. Ibacha is spot in with the dry fitting being a little short. Also, if you don't have any, grab some of this silicone grease and apply to the union threads and a little to the gasket. This will make the union screw together really easily and won't be a pain to take off should you need to after SW runs through it for a while.
DANCO Waterproof Silicone Faucet Grease | Silicone Sealant | Plumbers valve Grease for O-rings | 0.5 oz. | 1-Pack (88693) https://a.co/d/hGmC4p6

 

[1000rrstunna]

Looks good, just a tip (might be from experience) but you need to be careful about dry fitting like that. Typically the pipe only goes in 1/3 to 1/2 of the way in when you dry fit. This mean when you go to finally glue up you plumbing since you have all those fittings you could be as much as a couple inches off. You may need to recut a couple of those PVC pieces to compensate so make sure when you are ready, glue as you go and remeasure to ensure you don’t run into issues. A trick I have found is to have a couple fittings that have been cut down so you can fit the pipe all the way in. Use them for dry fitting (this way you can cut the pipe to the correct lengths) and then use new fittings when you glue up. I did this in the past and it worked well. Now I just glue as I go with lots of unions so it is easy to fix mistakes.

I left most of it a bit long I also have a extra stick so I can re create longer lengths as necessary too… I try to really stuff them in though and always kinda look down and see if it’s close to bottoming out.

I just hope it’s gonna work well… I screwed up putting closed loop drain there instead of the other side like an idiot

 

[1000rrstunna]

Now I need to plumb the uv… it wants 2100 gph should I do it off the closed loop ? Or off the return or a separate pump in skimmer chamber pumping to return chamber. Only concern is if the uv flows more than the tank it will overfill the return chamber and then cause water level fluctuations. And if the returns don’t flow 2100 gph then what ? Am I overthinking ? I just don’t want too much reaction time so I don’t nuke everything in the water column

 

[lbacha]

Now I need to plumb the uv… it wants 2100 gph should I do it off the closed loop ? Or off the return or a separate pump in skimmer chamber pumping to return chamber. Only concern is if the uv flows more than the tank it will overfill the return chamber and then cause water level fluctuations. And if the returns don’t flow 2100 gph then what ? Am I overthinking ? I just don’t want too much reaction time so I don’t nuke everything in the water column

What size UV did you go with (I’m setting up almost the same size tank and went with an Aqua UV 57). I plan on a lower flow for parasite removal as I want a lot of fish I’ll have it plumbed in my sump. I’m planning for a large refugium outside of my sump that will dump right into my return chamber. This way pods and micro organisms make it into the display from the fuge.