Plumbing and starting a Zero Edge Aquarium

[TankYou]

So....long time lurker first time poster here.
For perspective I have been in the hobby about 2 years.

I may be picking up a zero edge tank tomorrow off of CL. It’s advertised as a 54 gallon, 44x30x10, with the zs3 35 gallon sump.

Have a two pronged question here, did some research on the boards, and don’t have all the info I really need yet on the topic...

Obviously there is an inherent risk when you keep an aquarium with water spillage, especially with a zero edge type of set up. I am interested in mitigating this risk as much as possible with some seasoned user’s advice.

What is the best way to build your return to avoid a flood if power goes out for a zero edge aquarium without relying on a check valve? I have seen this sort of beat to death before, either plumb your return so an air gap will develop pretty quickly when the tank starts to drain, or rely on probably a wye check valve and fastidiously clean and test it.

Is there a typical design for the return to get the needed air gap that has worked for others with this type of tank that still keeps the top of the water somewhat glassy? Have seen schematics posted about possible designs, but not really heard of how successful the designs were after implementation.

Also, I have seen an motorized ball valve that defaults to closed position with power loss (40-50$ to start, about what a wye valve costs), that can be used on the return, anybody use these before?

I would prefer not to rely on the check valves if it can be plumbed to prevent flooding with an air gap, so that would be my preferred route, but am interested in having a back up that would be the most reliable as well.

Of course any other lessons learned while owning this type of tank are appreciated. Have a handle on snails, don’t buy jumpers, and how to clean the glass, for now anyways

TankYou all!

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Welcome to R2R!

I'm sure someone in the #reefsquad has some experience with plumbing, I'm only good with AIO aquariums

 

[Tahoe61]

Welcome to R2R.

All I can say is I love these tanks, please start a build thread so we can follow.

 

[TankYou]

Welcome to R2R.

All I can say is I love these tanks, please start a build thread so we can follow.

That might be a great idea.


Any one out there with one of these tanks that feels they have a pretty good plumbing job?

The pump in this one is broken so I will have to add one, wanted to bullet proof it before adding water.

 

[lactose]

That might be a great idea.


Any one out there with one of these tanks that feels they have a pretty good plumbing job?

The pump in this one is broken so I will have to add one, wanted to bullet proof it before adding water.

Did you ever get the tank and/or do the build? I am going to document up my zero edge aquarium build with custom geos reef sump. I can't say mine is bullet proof but I have a pretty belt and suspenders way of dealing with the siphon that calms my nerves (and it is in my home office with my PCs and other stuff). I have anti siphon holes, the pipes go up high before low and the sump has quite a bit of space for covering a lot (but not all of the overflow) etc.

 

[TankYou]

Did you ever get the tank and/or do the build? I am going to document up my zero edge aquarium build with custom geos reef sump. I can't say mine is bullet proof but I have a pretty belt and suspenders way of dealing with the siphon that calms my nerves (and it is in my home office with my PCs and other stuff). I have anti siphon holes, the pipes go up high before low and the sump has quite a bit of space for covering a lot (but not all of the overflow) etc.

Long story, I did end up purchasing the tank, drove about two hours to get it, we moved it out of the guy’s sliding glass door, had to remove the door to get the stand out. Loaded it all up, halfway home I realized the tank was ok, but the stand wasnt going to fit in the room or in the basement I wanted it in because it was 38 inches wide. The largest typical door is 36 inches, and I do not have a sliding glass door.

It is still in my garage, barren and empty. I plan on building a stand for it, but it sucks because the stand makes the tank, black acrylic with the overflow built in and pretty much leak proof. Nothing I could build would be so nice. All in all it was an epic fail on my part.

Your ideas make sense with bringing the returns up and having an anti siphon hole with some extra sump volume to absorb the water until siphon breaks. I didn’t think of bringing them back down to minimize water distortion. that was a concern I had of disturbing the glassy surface, and how to not blow sand with keeping the return so low.

I had researched the motorized ball valves to use for anti siphon to not rely on the wye valves, but I couldn’t find one that closed with power loss.

Would love to see you post your set up and any pictures you might have, either of set up, or up and running. We need more info on these type of tanks in the forums.