forget the sump, New stand ideas???

A

aggieMEDIC

*****edited*****
I took out all the pics of the old stand and sump ideas and making this a build log but it will be REALLY slow.
*****
ok so i 86'ed the complicated sump idea and am just going with a new stand. see below
 
Well, the basic idea of the sump, besides to increase water volume, is to put all the equipment you don't want in your display into...

So, heaters (Or heaters in your overflows, where I keep mine), skimmers, probes, ATO outputs, etc...

Baffles, of course, are a good thing, to help eliminate microbubbles...

Is there anyway you could drill holes in the dividers, and run some PVC from one side to the other? Maybe put books or something in front of the plumbing so it's not visible? (Or even better, put a display refuguim in the middle portion!)

I've never run a system with 2 sumps (Which is basically what you're describing, regardless that one of them would be a fuge)... I THINK you'd be fine doing that, but I can't say for sure. Any inequality in the pumps should be made up for by the water overflowing and coming back to the sumps, but something about that design just makes me nervous, can't exactly put my finger on it...
 
It's going to be tough, but you definitely want the two units connected with PVC plumbing to level out the water. You can always put a false back in the center section to keep the look of the shelves intact without having to see the PVC all the time.
 
i am starting to think the false back idea is really good to hide the plumbing between sumps i made a drawing with paint using serks display fuge idea in the center marc your thoughts

i was thinking if i put the sumps higher up and the bulkheads at the bottom they could feed into the fuge in the middle then have that flow into the center portion with the return pump.

maybe???
 
Just thinking out loud at 2AM, so take this with a grain of salt, but...

Have 2 sets of bulkheads on each sump... One set directly connects each sump... The other set of bulkheads goes to/from the refuguim...

Have the water from the display go to 1 sump, and the return pump in the other...

That way you'd get some water flowing through the refuguim, but could regular the amount by letting most of it go through the direct plumbing...

Maybe make the holes for the direct connection just a hair lower then the holes for the refuguim bulkheads, so the majority of water would go that route... (My initial thought was ball valves, but any valve and a gravity-fed return line are bad mojo, IMHO)

BTW... I highly recommend getting Google Sketchup for this kinda stuff... It's a simple, free 3-D CAD program from Google... Using it made the design of my dual sump MUCH easier, as I was able to tinker with it in 3-D before physically doing anything...

http://sketchup.google.com/
 
funny you should mention sketchup, i saw an old post of yours where you designed it and used sketchup so of couse i downloaded it and here is my plan i hadn't thought about the need for slower flow thru the fuge so i may have to t- off somewhere and make it go directly to the return side


here is a pic

i dont know if i can put the sketchup file on here for others to edit but i can email if need be
 
From your drawing it appears the tank is not drilled so you will be using outside overflows.

As this will require the tank / stand be placed away from the wall, it would seem logical to run the connection piping on the back of the sump tanks rather than drill the center wood supports (should be simpler align the holes).

Will need to ensure the tank / stand is offset from the wall the bulkhead / elbow projection or overflow projection whichever is greater.
 
I am on a long drive today got some more ideas so i got to play with the prog a little more.

had another idea to slow down the flow in the fuge. so i will post pics below the fuge return will take place of the middle section under the tank

will probably do more on the next 3.5 hrs back to austin man i love having a laptop in the car


for thoise of you wondering - no i am not driving
 
Very pretty drawings.

The key is making sure the central box will hold all the water that drains from the display and the two side sumps. The return section is pretty small, thus the return pump make suck it dry before enough water can drain back down into the sump.

An auto top off will help with the evaporation that will drop the water level in that zone.
 
If i dont put the bulkhead in the bottom of the two side sumps and put it 2-3 inches off the bottom then those could hold some of the water right?

or what if i put a "return section" if you will in each of the side sumps that drains into the fuge area? if i made it a 6" baffel then it would hold at least 6 inches of water all the time then flow over the baffel into the return section to drain into the fuge area



im starting ito think it might be easier to just build a new stand

marc question for you... since i am using overflows i can determine how much water will drain if the pump stops right
i did the math and determined that 1 inch of water loss out of the display tank will drain out X gallons, did the math its just not in front of me right now. i would only need to determine how much could drain based on the height of the overflow, and need to make sure i have that much extra room in the sump/fuge area right?
 
A new stand is really what I would do, which would resolve a lot of this.

The bulkhead height in each side sump will help dictate the water level, but as you know, water will always seek its own level. So if you have the bulkheads low, the water level in the outer boxes will be as high as the water level in the central box, until enough water evaporates to only have it up to and no higher than those (outer box) bulkheads.

To figure out how much water will be in the display, take L" x W" x 1" divided by 231 to determine how many gallons will drain if 1" of water goes down the overflows. If the tank drains 2", it would be double the water in gallons. Keep in mind that the outer boxes may also drain for a bit, either to match the innner box's water level or to drain down to the bulkhead of the outer boxes (assuming the center box is lower that those bulkheads).

It will be very important for you and your family to verify that both overflow U tubes are working properly every day. It only takes a second to verify all is well, but you don't want to have one running at 50% or less or the tank may overflow.
 
I agree a new stand would be pretty easy to build and cheap and would be so much easier to do a sump. There is no water in the tank (correct?) so there will be no issue moving it onto the new stand.

With all the bulheads and multiple sumps, etc. It's just a complication and will allow Murphy (of Murphy's Law fame) to do somehing bad!
 
so i finally convinced the spousal unit that a new stand would be cheaper and safer. so she wants to place it behind the couch and against a wall. so i need some stand advice and any plans anyone has, my first thought is 4x4 3 per side it will be 7ft long (yes even though the tank is only 4 ft we want to fill the space behind the couch - plus this leaves room for an upgrade wink wink) 2x6 on the sides with 2x4 crossmembers. any ideas. thanks
 
It sounds exceedingly overbuilt, but at least it'll last a long time. Will the sofa be on wheels so you can access the tank as needed?
 
***edit added pics***


no it is not on wheels but it is a very light couch i can pick it up by myself

i agree it sounds a bit excessive you think 2x6 legs and 2x4 braces and crossmembers would be sufficent?

a buddy of mine in houston, his dad has a complete woodshop at the house so we are probably going to build it there then i will bring it back to to house.

we are going to make the stand 6'6" x 1'6" x 2'9". It will fit behind the couch that way and leave room for an upgrade later. I was thinking about designing it to be able to expand to 24" deep to put a deeper tank on it, i am thinking construction using bolts, then face the cabinet but i probably wont put "nice" doors on it yet since they will be hidden by the couch i am thinking just something to protect the couch from splashing.

since i am at work i will try sketch up tonight and see what i can come up with.

any thoughts?
 
Rob, I like the half-lap notches at the top. I'd suggest doing the same thing with the uprights at the top and bottom. Notch those around the top and bottom frames and when you glue and screw them together, they'll be bulletproof.
 
thanks scott i was having trouble getting sketchup to do that part
i had been thinking about that if doing so should i use 4x4's instead of 2x6? or should i go as far an 4x6?

any other input?
 
No, that's the neat thing about locking it in like that- you count on the notch to add strength instead if the actual dimension of the lumber.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top