My 115 Gal Cube build

[Reign1]

@Reign1 love what you did with that rock! I have a little branching on the way and am looking for inspiration.

Ahh thanks ..
what kind did you get Caribsea , morroca or other ? ..

 

[CBonito]

Are you just powering returns with your varios 4?

I have a varios 6 that I bought barely used at the last minute in place of the varios 4 I still have new in the box. I have 2 - 1/2" return outlets in the display and another 1/2" return for my refugium. With all my plumbing elbows, manifold etc, I am flowing a total of 520gph on I think the 4th speed per my flow sensor. Just so you know. I did this because I felt that I might not have enough pump with the 4 for my refugium too.

Just so you know...When I was trying to get an idea what pump would do what I wanted, I couldnt find much info.
This is real info.

 

[Reign1]

Are you just powering returns with your varios 4?

I have a varios 6 that I bought barely used at the last minute in place of the varios 4 I still have new in the box. I have 2 - 1/2" return outlets in the display and another 1/2" return for my refugium. With all my plumbing elbows, manifold etc, I am flowing a total of 520gph on I think the 4th speed per my flow sensor. Just so you know. I did this because I felt that I might not have enough pump with the 4 for my refugium too.

Just so you know...When I was trying to get an idea what pump would do what I wanted, I couldnt find much info.
This is real info.

Yeah I kinda kick myself for not getting the 6 .. I will have the Varios 4 just w/ a few elbows running 1x 1” rfg .. I also have the red dragon x that will run the uv on 1/2” returns .. if there is not much coming out I will likely get a 6 or 8 ..

 

[CBonito]

Yeah I kinda kick myself for not getting the 6 .. I will have the Varios 4 just w/ a few elbows running 1x 1” rfg .. I also have the red dragon x that will run the uv on 1/2” returns .. if there is not much coming out I will likely get a 6 or 8 ..

I'm not saying the 4 is bad or wont work. I'm just saying that in my system the loss from what is supposed to be I think 1750gph at 0 feet was reduced to probably a total of 600gph through all the plumbing. I'm not at all disappointed because I still have more than what I need and still have a 1/2" port on my manifold if I ever add something else like a UV. I got lucky and can run my entire system on one pump. I have the varios 4 as a backup just in case.

Sounds like you'll be fine too with just a single 1" with rfg. I wasn't sure what you were seeking to accomplish with the return pump. The 4 should work fine for you. And you'll like the RFG. They work shockingly well as advertised.

 

[Reign1]

I'm not saying the 4 is bad or wont work. I'm just saying that in my system the loss from what is supposed to be I think 1750gph at 0 feet was reduced to probably a total of 600gph through all the plumbing. I'm not at all disappointed because I still have more than what I need and still have a 1/2" port on my manifold if I ever add something else like a UV. I got lucky and can run my entire system on one pump. I have the varios 4 as a backup just in case.

Sounds like you'll be fine too with just a single 1" with rfg. I wasn't sure what you were seeking to accomplish with the return pump. The 4 should work fine for you. And you'll like the RFG. They work shockingly well as advertised.

Oh nah I was well aware after getting the 4 I should have gotten the 6 or 8 . I even thought it would be easy just to get a RD speedy 3 ..
BTW how do you like the flow meter ? I keep hearing mixed reviews. 1” I assume ?

 

[danieyella]

Ahh thanks ..
what kind did you get Caribsea , morroca or other ? ..

I got some "real reef" branching rock to play with

 

[Reign1]

I got some "real reef" branching rock to play with

Yeah I like those two .. Great guys that own it . We used to buy fish from them before they had the real rock ..

 

[Lucardious]

So a friend of mine gave me a screaming deal on this 30" cube build by Glasscages some years ago that was just sitting. It has never seen water and originally purchased to be a planted tank.
We arent doing that
So some of the challenges of this tank were :
Deep tank will have to evaluate this
limitations on sump (came with sump but about 15x15x15 and I wanted a large sump) as internal space measures like 29"
Stand is nice plywood but only has one cutout thus limiting access to sump area for service maintenance.
After pondering all this I finally decided to make a 2x4 rocketengineer style stand and will sacrifice plywood stand and use this as skin and to reinforce the frame. This will allow a 30" sump.

I have the following equipment going on tank
Lighting :
Orphek Atlantik Icon ( I will likely add a couple OR bars or blades)
Flow :
2 Ecotech MP40's
Return from sump RO Varios 4
return from UV RD X turned way down

25 watt Aqua UV unit

30" Ice Cap sump

Skimmer RO Elite 150

Digging the Pocani structure! Targeting mainly SPS?
Did you add another 2x4 under the middle of the sump for support?

 

[twentyleagues]

Nice looking build!

 

[Reign1]

Nice looking build!

Thanks ..
water plumbing check .. Had issues w/ 1.5” bulkhead .. filled her up and water tested her .. will fill her w/ RO soon

 

[Reign1]

Keeping it rolling .. filled it up w/ RO/DI today .. placed rock in tank and almost there on my controller board .. some updates .. will likely salt it tomorrow

 

[Reign1]

I had bought a “Maggie muffler early on that was god awfully loud .. Went old school Durso. I have an air valve from a Beckett skimmer w/ silencer but top perimeter brace is blocking so will have to get a 1/4” threaded elbow to use it ..

 

[Reign1]

Digging the Pocani structure! Targeting mainly SPS?
Did you add another 2x4 under the middle of the sump for support?

Didn’t see this one .. yeah targeting SPS. Hope to have some chalices and encrusting corals on the bottom . Likely will have to add another light down the road w/ depth .. yeah I thought I had only 1 2x4 on bottom but after looking at pics have like 3 (it had been a while since I framed it) lol .

 

[twentyleagues]

I had bought a “Maggie muffler early on that was god awfully loud .. Went old school Durso. I have an air valve from a Beckett skimmer w/ silencer but top perimeter brace is blocking so will have to get a 1/4” threaded elbow to use it ..

If you are still unhappy with the sound level from the overflow you could turn that into a full siphon. It will take some minor replumbing to do it. Remove derso and turn that into full siphon. Use existing return as an emergency drain. Run a new return over the back. You need a gate valve on the full siphon under the stand to adjust, ball valves wont work. If you need some bad pictures let me know I can show you how mine is set up. My overflow is exactly like yours except on the other side. I have run full siphon drains on a few of my tanks they pretty much run dead silent. You can hear water trickling in the overflow through the weir, but you can even mitigate that by raising the level in the overflow by extending your emergency drain closer to the top. Currently my tank is in a room where it doesnt matter there are 4 big tanks with overhead sumps so mostly all you hear is water running, splashing and gurgling, but this tank is so quiet. if I shut off the other pumps and air pumps the room is almost dead silent, slight trickle from the sump on this tank, open stand.

 

[Reign1]

If you are still unhappy with the sound level from the overflow you could turn that into a full siphon. It will take some minor replumbing to do it. Remove derso and turn that into full siphon. Use existing return as an emergency drain. Run a new return over the back. You need a gate valve on the full siphon under the stand to adjust, ball valves wont work. If you need some bad pictures let me know I can show you how mine is set up. My overflow is exactly like yours except on the other side. I have run full siphon drains on a few of my tanks they pretty much run dead silent. You can hear water trickling in the overflow through the weir, but you can even mitigate that by raising the level in the overflow by extending your emergency drain closer to the top. Currently my tank is in a room where it doesnt matter there are 4 big tanks with overhead sumps so mostly all you hear is water running, splashing and gurgling, but this tank is so quiet. if I shut off the other pumps and air pumps the room is almost dead silent, slight trickle from the sump on this tank, open stand.

Oh fully aware of a full siphon and emergency setup.. believe me I went back and forth on this for a long time. Couple of things I considered 1. Stand is not tall from bottom of drain/bulkhead to sump minimal space .. like I ran just 45’s and pipe no room for valves. I was having an issue w/ bulkhead thread w/tape sealing found a really low profile union in case I was going to have to do again .. a gate or ball would not fit unless I got one of those irritation style gates w/ little glue area.. 2. The limit of space under and the want to have 2 smaller return pumps one as dedicated return second as uv/bottom return has left no room for extra plumbing under stand .. Again w/ so little space for drains coming in I would have to cut out top of sump for piping .. I got the sump on the cheap and don’t want to cut it and risk causing a leak (I do have all tools for cutting acrylic cleanly and nice as you will see me make a top later and also rebuild a ca reactor top) . How I have my sump plumbed I can remove it if it does ever fail and can get a matching RO sump ..
Reply was long winded but currently drain is not too loud and boss says it’s ok .. its in another room so if she is ok I am ok.. I can’t say the same about how I think the natural wood on my control board looks nice .. the boss nope now I am going to make a cover lol

 

[Reign1]

I have the same skimmer. It's working great. You'll have to play around with it to get it dialed in but once you do you will be happy. My water level is about 8". With these the instinct will be to run it wide open, but it's better to slow the water flow just a bit. It seems to make better bubbles this way. I have the valve a little more than half way closed and running the 2nd speed on the pump. It seems to like this a lot.

And make sure you dont install the t-fitting for the wedge valve upside down like I did, or you'll think the skimmer is a point of sale. Can't believe I did that even with the arrow marked on it, but i did.

May have to take you up on this offer. dang thing keeps overflowing every time I fire it up now that I have it salted with about 20lbs of LR . I took the water level down in sump to 7" and have the pump set to 1 but still overflowing. I may mess with the skimmer drain next so hopefully i can run it. How many weeks did it take you to be able to use w/o overflowing?

 

[CBonito]

May have to take you up on this offer. dang thing keeps overflowing every time I fire it up now that I have it salted with about 20lbs of LR . I took the water level down in sump to 7" and have the pump set to 1 but still overflowing. I may mess with the skimmer drain next so hopefully i can run it. How many weeks did it take you to be able to use w/o overflowing?

About a week if I remember correctly. Try increasing the sump depth. I am sitting in a little over 8 inches of water right now. I set the water level in the skimmer a bit lower than one would, and I waited...and it started to work fine. This skimmer seems to take a little while to build up a good foam head and things are kind of counter-intuitive. but once it does it will be fine. Just requires patience.

I think due to my refugium, mine will only pull stuff for part of the day, so I run it on a timer for like half the day.
Mine is actually oversized for my system for now, so it's to be expected. The more the tank is stocked, the better it will start to work.

And you're right about the Maggy Muffler. It's only quiet with the water flow turned down...when I increase my flow to 500+ gph through the tank, it starts to sound like a toilet. hahaha So much for that one. I only have one drain, so I'm stuck with that. About all I can do is experiment with the standpipe height in the overflow, but I guess whenever I have enough incentive...

 

[Reign1]

About a week if I remember correctly. Try increasing the sump depth. I am sitting in a little over 8 inches of water right now. I set the water level in the skimmer a bit lower than one would, and I waited...and it started to work fine. This skimmer seems to take a little while to build up a good foam head and things are kind of counter-intuitive. but once it does it will be fine. Just requires patience.

I think due to my refugium, mine will only pull stuff for part of the day, so I run it on a timer for like half the day.
Mine is actually oversized for my system for now, so it's to be expected. The more the tank is stocked, the better it will start to work.

And you're right about the Maggy Muffler. It's only quiet with the water flow turned down...when I increase my flow to 500+ gph through the tank, it starts to sound like a toilet. hahaha So much for that one. I only have one drain, so I'm stuck with that. About all I can do is experiment with the standpipe height in the overflow, but I guess whenever I have enough incentive...

Oh my sump depth was set to 9" but it was overflowig crazy. I now have it to 7" still pretty bad likely needs to break in. Yeah i put the Maggie muffler and was like "nope" even just a regular standpipe was quieter. Now I have the Durso and it is even better. I will play with it some more but my overflow box has water level 3/4 of the way up the weir with the RO 4 set on 2. I will also have to turn this down more then I turn on my other pump. You running 1 1" drain ? Mine is 1 1.5"

 

[Reign1]

I took the day off today to have some personal time and take my elderly mom for her eye injections.
Earlier spent some time went to hardware store to try to use the Atlantik mount .. even after I found the right bolt the mount won’t sit centered due to my perimeter bracing and overflow box.. oh well I’ll have to figure something out .
This eve spent time getting my Apex going and did some cable management ..
my MXM is not being recognized and my Atlantik didn’t want to set up .. will play w/ it tomorrow ..

 

[CBonito]

I took the day off today to have some personal time and take my elderly mom for her eye injections.
Earlier spent some time went to hardware store to try to use the Atlantik mount .. even after I found the right bolt the mount won’t sit centered due to my perimeter bracing and overflow box.. oh well I’ll have to figure something out .
This eve spent time getting my Apex going and did some cable management ..
my MXM is not being recognized and my Atlantik didn’t want to set up .. will play w/ it tomorrow ..

This is cool! You should be able to do some neat stuff here.