My 20L upgrade...

r00onmac

r00onmac

New Member
I hope this system and its specs looks familiar to a certain Mod on here... i really liked the idea he had and it worked well for my residence hall restrictions (because i could hide a large water volume under the tank in the stand)

Similar to Reefman23's tank it is a 20L with a rubbermaid (soon to be 29 ) underneath...

return is a quiet one 3000 and it runs through a SCWD to the outlets....







itll be cycling like this until i move on the 15th of august... and hopefully by then the cycle will be over so that i can stock it up...
 
R

reefman23

New Member
Good job rOOonmac! It is an honor to be the inspiration for someone's tank!! If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask. I am more available now that I have internet.

Jesse

p.s. Can you post a full tank shot?
 
r00onmac

r00onmac

New Member
Jesse,
Are you still using 3/4" outlets in your return? how is the velocity of the flow coming out? i have 2x 3/4" outlets connected to 3" flare nozzles and the velocity is almost nothing... i think i am going to have to bring the nozzles and 3/4" loc-line to a LFS and trade down to 1/2" or something to get more velocity... i was envisioning serious bursts of flow with the scwd switching 500gph back and forth every 9 seconds but it appears like they are merely pushing 500 gph out like nothing and it creates no surface movement or any noticeable stirring in the tank....

ill probably leave it for the cycle and then when everything is setup if it doesnt create enough movement to rattle my torch or frogspawn then ill move down to 1/2"


what do you think?
 
R

reefman23

New Member
I am running a total of (4) 3/4" outlets... so two at a time. Almost all the flow comes out of the one outlet on either end of the tank, not so much out of the outlet in the front corner. In the future I will be taking it down to just the one outlet on either end with a loc-line adaptor.

Here is a small problem I see with what you have going on. You mentioned you are running a QO 3000. So at a 4' head you should be getting about 600 GPH. After the SCWD loss you should be at about 520-540GPH. HOWEVER, you said that the current switches only every 9 seconds or so which tells me that you are only getting around 250 GPH into the tank. Somewhere along the line you are loosing alot of flow. You should get a switch in the current every 6 seconds or so

Here is a link to the SCWD website that gives flow rates and such... http://www.3iqventures.com/literature.html

I am running the QO 4000 on my system and I get a pretty good flow through the tank... about 600-650 GPH... the current switches about ever 4-5 seconds.

Your best bet is to find out were your flow is going, and if need be, upgrade to the QO4000... I got mine from www.bigalsonline.com for $56 shipped.

HTH,

Jesse
 
r00onmac

r00onmac

New Member
well i just bought the 3000 and dont plan on upgrading if i dont have to...

my return tubing is too long (about 4 feet long when i really only need 3 feet or so) but i am not going to cut it until i get the tank for the bottom and actually see how long it needs to be...

i havent officially timed the switches yet, just a guess.... ill time it in a little bit when i get home and see how long the switch actually takes... its possible that because i used flexible 1" tubing for my return that the excess length and bending as a result is cutting down the flow... i agree that the switching should be pretty quick.. but as it is i think im going to downgrade to one 1/2" loc-line out of each side of the tank with the nozzle that attaches to a 1/2" loc-line... hopefully ill be able to make back some of that $50 i spent on these fittings and get a fish or something...
 
R

reefman23

New Member
Here is a good way to maximize flow from your pump... Use a return line that is twice the diameter as the outlet on the pump. Then downsize the diameter as close to the tank as you can... for you this would be at the SCWD. Then run the 3/4" line off the SCWD into your tank. At the last point, restric the tube down to, like you said, 1/2" outlets.

For example, I run a 1 1/2" pvc return line, then downsize right at the SCWD to 3/4" diam.

Jesse

If all else fails, skip the SCWD and run one return line back into the tank. Then use a powerhead or two in the tank. You will still have the benefit of running a sump/fuge type filtration with the additional water volume.

I hope that I am helping you,

Jesse
 
r00onmac

r00onmac

New Member
ok... i am running 1" up from the sump/fuge... i dont think this is where my problem is except for the fact that it is flexible and has the natural bend that it comes with because it was coiled up for so long... i may buy a 1.5" ID pvc piece to run the flexible tubing through to keep it as straight as possible...


i do run 3/4" from the scwd and then i will kick it down to 1/2" at the last point to increase velocity...


i am gettin ~7 seconds of solid flow from each side.... its tough to measure because as you know the scwd doesnt shut off one side and start the other cleanly... it kind of trickles on one side as the other side trickles off then stops then trickles back on again.... that is still almost 100 gph i seem to be losing somewhere... hopefully its the flex in the tubing on the way up, ill try and find a way to eliminate that - even if it means disconnecting it to heat it and help straighten it...
 
R

reefman23

New Member
The natural curve of the tubing isnt affecting the flow. Even 90 degree bends in PVC lines dont really affect flow. You only lose about 20 GPH by adding 4 90*'s to your line.

If it helps you out... turn on the bathtub/sink faucet as hot as it will go and soak the vinyl tubing in it for a few minutes. that'll soften it up and help it to keep a straighter shape.

Maybe the SCWD that you have is restricting the flow more than it should be. It is making any noises of any kind? Do you have any ball valves or anything else inline?

Jesse
 
r00onmac

r00onmac

New Member
no ball valves... its possible because i bought it used... whats the best way to test it?

ill soak the whole thing in some white vinegar this weekend... maybe it has buildup inside... i suppose it could also be the switch from 1" ID to .5" ID so quickly... i dont really have a step down system... i put a short piece of .75" ID tubing and then heated the 1" over it... let it cool and zip-tied it down...
 
r00onmac

r00onmac

New Member
as an update for jesse or anyone else following this build:

i removed the 3" flare nozzles from the loc-line and it became obvious that the flow IS switching around 6-7 seconds... its just that with the low velocity the 3" nozzles were producing water would continue to trickle out...

ALSO the scwd is ABOVE the ends of the loc-line.. i expect that once i mount it in its permanent home (below the black lip of the aquarium) the water will effectively switch from side to side even more clearly and i may see 5-6 second switch times...
 
r00onmac

r00onmac

New Member
Been a while... tank is up in the new apartment,, its finished cycling according to my LFS test (i dont trust mine)

i put a 2 gallon bucket with dsb as where the water flows down into from the overflow... that fills the bucket and falls over the edge of the bucket into the 45 gallon rubbermaid sump i have (about 20 gallons in it now but ill be adding more over the next few weeks until is almost a full 40 gallons or so) and then the return pump is pumping up the water to the tank..

velocity is still low because i havent bought the 3/4" to 1/2" adapters or nozzles yet but i expect things to improve significantly when i do..


as soon as the sand storm settles from adding the DSB bucket yesterday ill be transferring my current livestock, waiting a while and then checking out pygmy angels... i think ive settled on a flameback angel... tiny and fairly well behaved...
 
TimSchmidt

TimSchmidt

New Member
I would put in ball valve around all your pumps and swithces so you can take out your items and clean them every so often. Extra work now save a TON of time later on.
 
R

reefman23

New Member
Nice job! It is coming along. What wattage is the MH? What lamp are you running? How long has it been on there?

Jesse
 
r00onmac

r00onmac

New Member
its the 150 retro kit from illuming... i got it back in feb and it was over my 5.5 this whole time. i JUST replaced the bulb (same 14k phoenix brand) like an hour before the pic was taken so its still burning in...
 
R

reefman23

New Member
Very cool. when I first lit my Phoenix lamp it was SOOO blue... within the week it had set in to that nice crisp blue look. Are you planning on moving it down closer to the tank with time?

Jesse
 
r00onmac

r00onmac

New Member
i had thought about it.. i dont know if i will lower it thought


i added a candy cane goby last night because it looked so damn healthy at the store and ive really had an itch to get more fish into this system since i transferred everything over...

he disappeared immediately into the rockwork and i couldnt find him at all, but was hoping he was getting some of the CE and live brine i was feeding the tank... just by chance i was checking out my overflow and found him in the back section and after some crafty finger work pulled him out andput him back into the display where he promptly disappeared again... well see if he stays this time..

if he jumps out the back he will land in the sump because that tub is something like 20" wide and goes from the front of the stand back to the wall.. if he jumps out the front hes done for... all of this speculation is in vain if i cant get him to start eating CE or mysis anyway but i wanted to try a goby and found him to be beautiful...
 
r00onmac

r00onmac

New Member
been a looooon time since ive been on nanotank.. but i feel the need to keep people updated because this is where i started..


i removed some of the outlets.. i now have 2 flare nozzles pushing ~600 gph full force back and forth across the tank... i also took some rock out to create a more open flow path... i got some NICE rics, but i dont have any close up pics so itll have to wait... ive mowed down my xenia like 2x since my last posts and its still growing like a damn weed...


fts taken today with my phone...

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top