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95g Wave Front Journal
- Thread starter jdeb101
- Start date
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jdeb101
Non-member
Time and money has made this a slow project for me, but I've been making some progress recently. I have most of the equip purchased already, here's the details so far.
-95g wave tank with custom built stand.
-40g breeder custom sump.
-Precision Marine RL125 skimmer
-Jaebo DC9000 return pump
-Jaebo WP25 & WP40 for flow
-2 200watt Eheim Jager heaters
-Will use the Reefbreeders Photon24 for lighting initially and see how it does. It may be a little undersized for the tank, but it appears to put plenty of light throughout the tank when it's cranked up to 100% on both channels.
More details on the sump...
It will be split into 3 sections from left to right - drain/skimmer | return | fuge. Drain is 1", returns 3/4", all will be hard plumbed PVC. To be honest I've made more trips I can count to HD,Lowes, etc to buy all the right parts but still a bit boggled on final plumbing layout. What I have in mind right now is drain just shoots straight down into filter sock into first chamber, no valves, no restricted flow at all. The return line will obviously give return to the display, however will have two T's, one to feed fuge and a spare for maybe easy water changes, or whatever else I decide to use it for later on. Both lines off the return will have ball valves in them. I may not bother with a valve right from the return pump since the DC9000 let's me adjust flow anyway.
My current roadblocks are finalizing the plumbing and deciding if I want to seal the inside of the stand at all. The stand was custom made and it appears to have a lot of nails that are not aluminum so I'm concerned with rust over time. Am I being to cautious?
In regards to the plumbing, I noticed the ball valves I purchased have a slightly smaller inside diameter than 3/4". Is this cause of concern in regards to flow being restricted?
-95g wave tank with custom built stand.
-40g breeder custom sump.
-Precision Marine RL125 skimmer
-Jaebo DC9000 return pump
-Jaebo WP25 & WP40 for flow
-2 200watt Eheim Jager heaters
-Will use the Reefbreeders Photon24 for lighting initially and see how it does. It may be a little undersized for the tank, but it appears to put plenty of light throughout the tank when it's cranked up to 100% on both channels.
More details on the sump...
It will be split into 3 sections from left to right - drain/skimmer | return | fuge. Drain is 1", returns 3/4", all will be hard plumbed PVC. To be honest I've made more trips I can count to HD,Lowes, etc to buy all the right parts but still a bit boggled on final plumbing layout. What I have in mind right now is drain just shoots straight down into filter sock into first chamber, no valves, no restricted flow at all. The return line will obviously give return to the display, however will have two T's, one to feed fuge and a spare for maybe easy water changes, or whatever else I decide to use it for later on. Both lines off the return will have ball valves in them. I may not bother with a valve right from the return pump since the DC9000 let's me adjust flow anyway.
My current roadblocks are finalizing the plumbing and deciding if I want to seal the inside of the stand at all. The stand was custom made and it appears to have a lot of nails that are not aluminum so I'm concerned with rust over time. Am I being to cautious?
In regards to the plumbing, I noticed the ball valves I purchased have a slightly smaller inside diameter than 3/4". Is this cause of concern in regards to flow being restricted?
Marshall O
Non-member
Seal the stand if you can. It can only help. And I wouldn't worry about the ball valve restricting flow. Likely not enough for you to notice.
OP
OP
jdeb101
Non-member
Thanks Marshall. I was going to just spray the inside of the stand with Rustoleum Sealant spray, but I would have to either a)find someone to help me move the tank off the stand, or b) spray it inside where my 40g is in the same room which concerns me. I could paint the inside but yet to find the best paint for this and not sure it will cover as well as spray. :/
jamesdong009
Anthony
Cool looking tank Joe. Let me know if you need a hand moving the tank if you decide to go that route. FWIW, I painted the inside of my stand will Kilz waterproofing paint to seal the stand in case of water spilling.
OP
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jdeb101
Non-member
Thanks Anthony, I'll look into the Kilz.
OP
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jdeb101
Non-member
Got some more things done over the weekend. Plumbing is complete and I ran a fw leak test. Now I'm just letting the water sit in the tank for a day to see if I notice any small leaks. I do actually notice that the bulkhead slip fitting the drain sits in doesn't completely seal so it does leak out a small amount. The leak causes a slow leak of the water inside the overflow into the drain pipe. Should I worry about this? If my understanding is correct, when power goes out water from display will drain down to teeth of overflow? So as long as sump can hold that amount + whats held in the overflow I should be ok?
I also noticed once filled, the back of the tank went unlevel almost a 1/2"! I'll have to throw some shims under the back to compensate.
Well here's a couple pics... btw, I love how much power this jaebo puts out and how silent it is!
My PM skimmer is pretty quiet as well.
I also noticed once filled, the back of the tank went unlevel almost a 1/2"! I'll have to throw some shims under the back to compensate.
Well here's a couple pics... btw, I love how much power this jaebo puts out and how silent it is!
My PM skimmer is pretty quiet as well.
OP
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jdeb101
Non-member
Well good news is the stand/tank wasn't level to begin with so I just need to shim the back of the stand up about 1/2". Here I was all upset thinking I would need to do some stand reconstruction, phew!
I think I'm going to throw a valve on the drain anyway, and next step is putting in the glass panels for sump. I'm leaning towards making each section (Fuge-Return-Drain/Skimmer) equally about 11 inches wide and using only 2 glass baffles between skimmer & return section. If I notice micro bubbles in display I can always later add the third baffle. Fuge/Return will have one baffle at a slight angle to allow the water to flow down the glass into the return section to minimize any micro bubbles there.
I think I'm going to throw a valve on the drain anyway, and next step is putting in the glass panels for sump. I'm leaning towards making each section (Fuge-Return-Drain/Skimmer) equally about 11 inches wide and using only 2 glass baffles between skimmer & return section. If I notice micro bubbles in display I can always later add the third baffle. Fuge/Return will have one baffle at a slight angle to allow the water to flow down the glass into the return section to minimize any micro bubbles there.
Marshall O
Non-member
Am I reading this right that you want to put a valve on your drain piping? If this is the case, that is something you never want to do unless you have a separate dedicated emergency drain.
OP
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jdeb101
Non-member
You are reading it right Marshall. the valve will be fully open while tank is running, however if I ever cut power for the return the drains valve will allow me to stop the tank from draining. I noticed during my leak test that water was leaking slowly through the slip fitting of the bulkhead or durso pipe. This valve will allow me to prevent that water from draining to the sump. Not sure it honestly will be necessary but I figured good to have jic.
the valve will be fully open while tank is running, however if I ever cut power for the return the drains valve will allow me to stop the tank from draining. I noticed during my leak test that water was leaking slowly through the slip fitting of the bulkhead or durso pipe. This valve will allow me to prevent that water from draining to the sump. Not sure it honestly will be necessary but I figured good to have jic.
Marshall O
Non-member
Oh no, this sounds like a recipe for disaster! What if your power goes out when you're not home? You need to adjust your returns (raise them up close to the water surface) so it minimizes how much siphons back. Plan for failure, don't hope for the best!You are reading it right Marshall.
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jdeb101
Non-member
Sorry, I'm probably not explaining it clearly. I plan on keeping returns closer to water surface (or maybe drill a couple small siphon break holes). What happens is - regardless of that, the durso pipe that sits in the overflow box will continue to slowly leak water that is sitting in the overflow. So in other words, the return nozzle may break the siphon however the durso will still leak ONLY what is contained in the overflow box, I'm guessing no more than a couple gallons of water.
Regardless, I still need to find out exactly how much collectively siphons and leaks down into the sump in case of power failure and be sure the sump can take the extra volume.
The valve in the drain probable won't ever really need to be used and I'm still not 100% sure I will plumb it in. I was just thinking it'd be nice to be able to stop the drain if ever needed and it also may be a good thing to hang a filter sock from.
OP
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jdeb101
Non-member
Just small update...
Leveled the tank and the paint on the back of tank was pealing a bit, so I repainted it black (Rustoleum Latex Flat Black). Took 3 coats, but looks nice. Next is gluing the baffles into the sump, which hopefully I can get done Friday. After that I think it may be ready to run! I will fill once more with tap just to ensure everything is ok and test sump holds what drains in case of power failure.
Can anyone else think of a step I'm missing before I begin to add sand & rock?
Leveled the tank and the paint on the back of tank was pealing a bit, so I repainted it black (Rustoleum Latex Flat Black). Took 3 coats, but looks nice. Next is gluing the baffles into the sump, which hopefully I can get done Friday. After that I think it may be ready to run! I will fill once more with tap just to ensure everything is ok and test sump holds what drains in case of power failure.
Can anyone else think of a step I'm missing before I begin to add sand & rock?
OP
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jdeb101
Non-member
Almost ready for water!! 
Baffles are in place, just waiting another day for them to fully dry before I do one more test run with tap water. I went with just two baffles between drain and return area. Hopefully this is enough to dissipate any micro bubbles that may occur.
I also got a bunch of dry rock over the weekend and started playing around with rockscape. This is my first attempt, I'm not 100% sure I really like it though. Originally I was going to do a tall island on left side of tank but I'll have play around with it more..
I didn't end up adding valve on drain line, I figured I can always easily add it later if I feel it will be any use.
Baffles are in place, just waiting another day for them to fully dry before I do one more test run with tap water. I went with just two baffles between drain and return area. Hopefully this is enough to dissipate any micro bubbles that may occur.
I also got a bunch of dry rock over the weekend and started playing around with rockscape. This is my first attempt, I'm not 100% sure I really like it though. Originally I was going to do a tall island on left side of tank but I'll have play around with it more..
I didn't end up adding valve on drain line, I figured I can always easily add it later if I feel it will be any use.
OP
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jdeb101
Non-member
Thanks! Yes that's a metal clamp, I put it on there only for my initial leak test jic but intend on removing before filling with sw.
I think it's snug enough on there that no clamp is needed. I can only find the plastic clamps online.
jamesdong009
Anthony
Looking good Joe. Have you tried using 2 rubber gaskets on the bulkheads and adding some silicone grease? This has always work for me and have not noticed any leaks.
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jdeb101
Non-member
Thanks Anthony, but I think you're referring to the rubber gasket seals for between the bulkheads and glass? That is not where the leak is occuring. The durso drain pipe just sits in the bulkhead slip fitting, I have not glued it in place (maybe I need to?). So what happens is the water slowly leaks between the drain pipe and bulkhead, down into the sump. What's also happening is the pipe will come loose from the bulkhead and float, lol. So I'm pretty certain I need to seal the pipe into the bulkhead somehow, but scared to make it so permanent. Hopefully that makes sense... but here's a picture of my durso if it helps any.
Marshall O
Non-member
It sounds like your bulkhead is too large by maybe 1/4". It should fit nice and snug inside the bulkhead. You will get some water that still leaks, but it should be minimal. I refuse to glue mine, but I have never had any issues as far as excessive draining or floating!
