The Miracle Tank

[sfin52]

Me too.

I'm glad I'm not the only one

 

[fishguy242]

ok sorry i won't talk for a lil while let ya all catch up;Bookworm

 

[Fin]

@Fin your tank looks great. Im Lost in some of the stuff you and @JoshH are talking about. I'm trying to keep up.

Me too. :P

 

[JoshH]

@Fin your tank looks great. Im Lost in some of the stuff you and @JoshH are talking about. I'm trying to keep up.

Me too.

More than welcome to ask questions :) /\ Clearly @Fin won't be able to answer cause he's lost but I'll try my best

 

[sfin52]

@Fin what type of lighting after you running

 

[sfin52]

A check valve for returns stops water from flowing back into the sump correct? The deeper the return the more water will backflow.

@JoshH was talking another way of stopping back flow?

 

[JoshH]

A check valve for returns stops water from flowing back into the sump correct?

@JoshH was talking another way of stopping back flow?

So typically you install a check valve on your return line as close to the pump as possible and when the flow is shut off, the check valve closes and it stops the back flow. HOWEVER, check valves are notoriously unreliable at sealing properly and preventing flow from making its way back to the sump.

Melves Reef came up with sort of a backwards check valve setup that Fin has implemented. In this setup the check valve is installed backwards, above the return height. When the return is running it presses water up against the check valve keeping it closed. The second you turn the return pump off, the pressure drop allows the check valve to open and this lets air into the return breaking the siphon and preventing water from draining back into the sump.

https://www.reef2rainforest.com/201...nstrates-the-anti-siphon-reverse-check-valve/
The method I use is a little simpler in that I have my return line and instead of a 90° elbow to tie the return line into the retun bulkhead, I will use a T. The top of the T has a slip to thread reducer to reduce the top of the return T down to 1/4". From the top of the T coming out of the reducer I'll have a threaded elbow to RODI fitting. From there it's a simple straight RODI line with a 1/4" valve and then another 90° elbow to bring the line down into the overflow. Once the return is up and running water will flow out of this line and back into the overflow, you can tune the flow to almost a trickle and when you turn the return off, it will instantly allow air into the line breaking the siphon. Here's a very crude drawing of how it's setup.....

Both of these methods are essentially just siphon breaks to prevent excessive back flow into the sump from the Display. You can also drill a hole into your return line itself however these need frequent attention and can be tricky to get right as you need the proper size hole to let enough air in to break the siphon but you don't want too much of a hole that you're letting too much flow out of the hole. Hense the route I took, which takes a 1/4" hole in the line and let's you easily adjust it to match the size you actually need to break the siphon without having to drill multiple holes.

 

[sfin52]

So typically you install a check valve on your return line as close to the pump as possible and when the flow is shut off, the check valve closes and it stops the back flow. HOWEVER, check valves are notoriously unreliable at sealing properly and preventing flow from making its way back to the sump.

Melves Reef came up with sort of a backwards check valve setup that Fin has implemented. In this setup the check valve is installed backwards, above the return height. When the return is running it presses water up against the check valve keeping it closed. The second you turn the return pump off, the pressure drop allows the check valve to open and this lets air into the return breaking the siphon and preventing water from draining back into the sump.

https://www.reef2rainforest.com/201...nstrates-the-anti-siphon-reverse-check-valve/

Yours is a step further and you allow a small trifle of water to go into the over flow. When the pump kicks off the drain allows air into the system breaking the siphon

 

[Fin]

It's so nice to have someone answer your questions for you. It saves a ton of time! :)

@Fin what type of lighting after you running

ATI T5/LED Hybrid Powermodule. Eight 48" T5 bulbs & Three 150W LED clusters. Also two Kessils mounted on the sides of the canopy.

 

[fishguy242]

It's so nice to have someone answer your questions for you. It saves a ton of time! :)


ATI T5/LED Hybrid Powermodule. Eight 48" T5 bulbs & Three 150W LED clusters. Also two Kessils mounted on the sides of the canopy.

"let there be light"!! nice

 

[JoshH]

Yours is a step further and you allow a small trifle of water to go into the over flow. When the pump kicks off the drain allows air into the system breaking the siphon

Exactly! I added to my original post as you were responding lol it's a lot of typing.

 

[najer]

Exactly! I added to my original post as you were responding lol it's a lot of typing.

Very informative guys, when the bulkhead went on Sunday I had to remove the spraybar in the display to stop the siphon, I need to do something to stop it if required.

 

[Katrina71]

I'm feeling a little intimidated about plumbing again.

 

[Katrina71]

Baby steps. Baby steps.

 

[Katrina71]

I did find white locline. @najer I'd love a spraybar on each side of the weir with 3 RFGs. That would be sweet. You know I've been thinking about that since day one.

 

[Katrina71]

A spraybar will happen in some manner period.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I am thinking of how many different forms of flow and lighting you might have and I am thinking it is pretty pretty darn cool.

 

[najer]

I did find white locline. @najer I'd love a spraybar on each side of the weir with 3 RFGs. That would be sweet. You know I've been thinking about that since day one.

I have been thinking a lot about my plumbing in general since the weekend oops and thought about the rfg idea again, I am going to look at fittings today to see if there is a 3/4 slip fitting T that I can glue them into.
If I use the small ones I think I can do it with 5 or 6, I think the big ones are just physically big to look at and live with.
Or I ditch the spraybar and get a split Y fitting with two of the big ones!
Check out my back glass, that is 3 days without the spraybar, I will put it back on today to get some proper circulation.

 

[brett_schn]

I looked at AIO. I’m new to the game, but saw that it would be too restrictive. Too few options.

Yeah I get it. I’m used to a 10g tank with hob filter and nothing else growing sps lol

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Spray bars work great if u dont mind the view. Lemme know when ur ready to start picking out zoas for an island or whatever. @thejuice24 and I are gonna start prying his wife into letting me slide over for a frag fest saw marathon. No rush, and tbh I dont even know if u want zoas in there?

Lmk