marks69

Why did you decide to go closed loop? Do you have the drain and return designed yet?

Please post lots of pics as you go along.

Craig

it's not a true closed loop. i hate the look of stuff in the tank, so wanted to move as much equipment out as i could. i figured if i can pump enough, and move it to the right area i can have the closed loop effect, but only run the one pump. i don't want too much water going through the sump though. so I'll t off the intake, install a ball valve, and send some around the sump to the intake of the pump. this way i can run the pump full tilt, get good flow in the tank, and still have my sump match the skimmer for water volume. the returns are 3/4" lock line, so i can pretty much point them where i want. i have 2 fan ends and 2 round, so i can play with them a bit.

the skimmer is going to sit on a 1.5" platform. i wanted to make sure that i could change skimmers in the future. i made the bubble trap 12" high, and the skimmer i ordered wants 9.5-11".
the ref that i did yesterday was nice and firm today, so tomorrow i'll fill it all up and see how i did. didn't know till i was almost done that a drop of veggie oil would make the glass cutter work better.
now if i can jsut keep the 4 year old from helping, next weekend i'll get it plumbed up and mabye filled with water. i have all my live rock in a tote down in the basement. so far we've seen 3 brittle star's, a thing that looked like a millipeed. haven't seen it online yet but i'm looking. also found a bunch of snails and worms.

Heads up on your return pump idea - it won't work. If that pump ever fails due to a power outage, your tank will drain to the lowest bulkhead in the back of the tank. I know this because the 280g reef tank I purchased was drilled in the back and the previous owner did exactly what you are planning and flooded his living room & hardwood floors. I strongly encourage you to get a separate pump for a true closed loop. Put ball valves on all those bulkheads so you can close them off if need be.

Your floating refugium and baffles look like 1/8" window-pane glass. It is very brittle, so breakage is to be expected. Unless I'm wrong, of course. If the glass is 1/4" thick (or thicker), then it will be fine. If it is the 1/8" glass from Home Depot / Lowes, I strongly recommend that you replace it with some thicker glass purchased from a glass & mirror store. They can cut to exact sizes, and polish the edges so it won't be sharp - that way you will never get sliced when reaching into your sump. All baffles should be 1/4" less wide than the internal space of your sump, leaving an 1/8" gap on each end for the silicone to fill. This prevents pressure on the outer walls that could crack under pressure.

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i was going to install a check valve on the returns to prevent that. brs has one that can be take apart for cleaning. the glass is all 5 mm, or 1/4 " the bottom piece of the ref is 3/8". the glass is all cut a little small. if i go true closed loop i would have to drill another intake, and i don't have room in my stand for 2 pumps. i am putting ball valves on all the returns so i can adjust. when i come out of the pump at 1", i'm going to 1 1/4" pipe up to the middle of the lower returns, then i'll t into 2 lines, then each line will t to work each side.
thanks
mark

You will need a check valve on all four lines. Take this set up outside and test it out for yourself. If only one fails, you'll have an overflow event. This truly is not an option. Even check valves fail over time, especially if something like vermetids begin to grow their calcified tubes where the flapper is meant to come down.

You can put the closed loop pump on a shelf behind the tank if you prefer, but you will definitely need a big drain hole, like a 1.5" bulkhead to feed the pump.

I agree with melev...although I use a check valve on my return, it is still set up in a way that it can't drain the whole tank.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/...wiss-made.html
here's the check valve i ordered. i'll put this inside the stand, just after the pump, with a ball valve above it. that way i can close off the motor and check valve for cleaning. i'll split the line after.
thanks
mark

You've not stated what size pump you are using yet, but the other thing to consider is if you have a lot of flow going through your sump, you'll not be able to avoid microbubbles. This is why the return pump should be nice and slow, and the closed loop can be much more powerful since air is never in that section of plumbing.

Let us know how it works out.

well i finally got to work on the tank this week. spent a couple of hours two nights and about 4 today. i have all the plumbing done now(except the check valve, still on order). filled the tank, turned the pump on(little giant 4, 1350gph) and nothing happened, played with it a bit and wosh. i had one of the locline pointed straight up, shot up about 3 feet. atleast i was hanging on to the ball valve at the time.lol
everything worked out fine with the plumbing, except one of the bulkheads leaked where the pvc meets the abs. i had one bulkhead left over so i was only out a 90 and a coupler. i ran 1" for all the returns, then dropped to 3/4 at the bulkheads.
so tonight i finally got some saltwater in the tank. hopefully tomorrow i'll have the rest of the di water made up, and can finish up. my check valve should be in on the 5th, with my last 50 lbs of rock. the brs reef saver so it should be a nice day.
i'm going to put in the deep sand bed tomorrow, just need to get some egg grate to put under the sand, then i can fill it up with the 240 lbs of sand, and around 200 lbs of rock. i'm just going to run on powerheads for a few days, so i won't have to drain the sump for the check valve installation. here's a couple of pics of the plumbing. most is sched 40, the store was mostly out of 80 in the sizes i needed, but he gave me a great deal. my skimmer is supposed to be on the way, so mabye by next weekend i'll have a tank.lol

finally got some new pics. tanks been filled and running for a week now. today i started on the top and moved some rock around, installed the lights. i bought a couple of small damsels on thursday night. a little early but still at 0 everything, 10 nitrates.
today i picked up a few more snails. hopefully my skimmer will show up mon or tuesday. it's been a long wait for the thing, i ordered it early march, got to like backorders.
here's a couple of pics

That plumbing looks good. What's that horizontal pipe in your sump going to?

Remember, a new blog entry is just that. It stands alone, compared to a build thread that people are more used to.

i just extended the pipe through the bulkhead, i had a piece left over and wanted to put a 45 on and was too lazy to cut it.lol

You are probably restricting the inlet to that pump, so when you get a chance, trim it down or replace it with a strainer instead. Every fitting that restricts the inner diameter needs to be carefully considered, and eliminate whatever is unnecessary.

i was just using it when i had a sandstorm. i had a sponge from an old mag9 and needed something to fit inside it. now i'm running just 1.5" 45 and a 3" piece of pipe.
thanks
mark