Help me build a 36" rimless masterpiece
- Thread starter ricomike
- Start date
Pat02026
Non-member
no experience with the SWC 160 cone, but I ran the SWC 150 extreme on my 54 corner (about 100 total system volume) and it worked like a champ. Had a few hiccup restarts, from infrequent pump cleaning but aside from that it worked flawlessly all the time. And yes, it was a very quiet skimmer. After previously owning a bubble magus NAC7 as well, the BM and SWC are very comparable price, performance, and quality wise.
Well the 57 Illuminata came in today. There will be pics posted hopefully by this weekend to show what I am working with. The stand will need painting and the plumbing is going to be a steep learning curve for me. Not sure whether to try hard plumbing or go with flexible tubing. Definitely want to do a Herbie but have to figure out how to go about plumbing the return. Ideally I would like to somehow have the return come up over the overflow and exit through the already existing return pipe hole but it will be tricky to fit that in with two drains also having to fit in that small area.
mchartier
Non-member
Im getting ready to redo my return. Right now it goes over the back, I have a T at the top of the tank and then the flex nozzles that use the holes foe the returns, its not the prettiest. Im ordering some black 90 degree fittings and a length of PVC and just doing one return in the corner, the black should blend in to the background. once this is done I can put the cover on my overflow.
When you do this would you be able to take some photos and possibly list some of the plumbing you purchased? i am not even sure which length and diameter plumbing I need to get. It is my understanding that I will have the 3/4" for the main drain and 1" for the siphon. Haven't figured out how much shorter the main drain needs to be cut in comparison to the emergency. I would prefer to not have a waterfall sound into the overflow. I'm still uncertain to what extent a ball valve calibrates all this. Not sure which size ball valve. Also is purchasing a PVC cutter a must for this project or is the variation in lengths of PVC at Home Depot amenable to simply purchasing all of the various lengths I need and simply start going to town?
mchartier
Non-member
I'll take a pic of my current plumbing tonight. As for the valve you want a gate valve not a ball on the main drain. A gate valve is much more precise than a ball valve. I can control the height of the water level in the overflow with a valve on my return pump and also thru the gate valve on the main drain.
22engine
Non-member
I used gloss valspar black paint. Low VOC and odor. This way I could paint inside and not get dizzy from the fumes. My some wanted to help me. A quart is more than enough. I am building another stand now because I can't do the breeder and am doing a 45 gallon cube.
Never seen the pre bent conduit. Wish I did would have saved me a few trips
Never seen the pre bent conduit. Wish I did would have saved me a few trips
I am finding this Herbie plumbing all very confusing. I have read in various forums that people used a 1" pipe as their main drain and the 3/4" as there back up drain. While others have suggested to do the opposite. I am wondering what might be the reason to do one versus the other. Other than that from what I have read the ideal height is to have the emergency drain roughly 1/2 an inch below the overflow teeth and the main drain (siphon) ideally 6" or more below the emergency drain with a gate valve for the fine tuning. I have heard mention of union valves. Not really sure what those are or where to put them but they seem essential I hope to learn more. My other question is about the holes drilled in the bottom of the megaflow. Are they the same diameter? Is the only thing that creates the difference in pipe size the bulkheads you use. In other words could I put the 3/4" and 1" pipes interchangeably on either side as long as I use the appropriate bulkhead for the pipe. Also which side do the O Rings go on the bulkhead. On the wet/tank side or the underneath/sump side?
mchartier
Non-member
You want the 3/4" as your drain. All the flow will be going down that one pipe. You have the drain restricted with a gate valve to match the flow of your return pump. If anything blocks that main drain your emergency drain needs to handle all of the flow. So if you used the 1" you can push more flow, but what happens if it gets clogged by a snail or some algae? If not your gonna overflow you tank.
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Left is my main drain, not sure if you can tell but it is slightly submerged in the sump. The middle is my emergency drain, I cut it high so if there is an issue and it is in use I can hear the splashing. The right is my return, I use to run a calcium reactor and a carbon reactor off of the return but have since removed both and closed both valves going off of the return.
Hope this helps, let me know if you want any other pics.
Large Image Link (228 kB)
Left is my main drain, not sure if you can tell but it is slightly submerged in the sump. The middle is my emergency drain, I cut it high so if there is an issue and it is in use I can hear the splashing. The right is my return, I use to run a calcium reactor and a carbon reactor off of the return but have since removed both and closed both valves going off of the return.
Hope this helps, let me know if you want any other pics.
mchartier
Non-member
Lowes and Home Depot will not have the PVC gate valves, a plumbing specialty store may. I ordered the gate valve from Savko. http://savko.com/partlist.asp?pgid=1&ptid=1&pid=6
As for the conduit it would be in the electrical section but I never saw any pre-bent conduit at Lowes or HD
As for the conduit it would be in the electrical section but I never saw any pre-bent conduit at Lowes or HD
mchartier
Non-member
Yes it is Alpha 170, I love it, but it does need a CONSTANT water level.
This is my sump its a tight fit which is why I want to redo my return plumbing so I can move my return pump to open up a little more, also its a little dirty I'm due for a shop-vac cleaning of the sump this month. I tried running filter socks but with the twins now and the other two I need to minimize daily maintenance on it so I drain and vacum the sump every 4 months to get anything that collects in there.
Large Image Link (283 kB)
The Aqueon heater is a temp heater I am vinegar soaking one of my heaters.
This is my sump its a tight fit which is why I want to redo my return plumbing so I can move my return pump to open up a little more, also its a little dirty I'm due for a shop-vac cleaning of the sump this month. I tried running filter socks but with the twins now and the other two I need to minimize daily maintenance on it so I drain and vacum the sump every 4 months to get anything that collects in there.
Large Image Link (283 kB)
The Aqueon heater is a temp heater I am vinegar soaking one of my heaters.
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mchartier
Non-member
The Reef Life Support Systems R6-i Protein Skimmer ($349) has peaked my interest, it has a DC controllable pump uses about 25watts. Im kind of an equipment junkie always looking to see whats available. Something else to look at is the Avast Skimmer (they offer a kit that you build to save $$$ or they build it for you) John K has one and likes it, he's not fond of their swabbie option though.
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