Poiro's 1.5 Upgrade

[poiromaniax]

Hey all,

So, after being in this awesome hobby for quite some time and paying many "school fees", I have finally decided that the time has come to upgrade.

I just bought BARBAREK's old 1.5M (that used to belong to PalmerC).

Im gonna have quite a few questions WRT plumbing and moving stuff over. I want to take it slow and make sure that everything is to my liking before I switch everything over.

This is going to be a mixed reef, softie dominated (mainly zoas) with some LPS and SPS thrown into the mix

Here are the specs:

Display: 1500X600X600 (12mm glass and bracing)
Sump: 1100X450X480 (1 baffle is broken, so I will replace it, but not too sure about where yet - it all depends on if I choose to plumb the skimmer directly from the overflow or if I run a feed pump?)
Skimmer: DNW 200 Recirculating
Other: Phosban reactor

Total system volume : 710L!!

Lighting:
2 X 150W MH
4 X 54W T5's

Flow:
Hailea 2500LPH Return
Koralia 4
Seio Prop 3500 LPH
Seio Prop 5000 LPH
Seio 2500 LPH
(Will add more when cash is more available )

Now, the only thing that worries me at the moment is that while we were carrying it, a small piece of glass on the base chipped (see pic 1 & 2) The chip is tiny (prob about 2cm) and is directly under the bracing - Is this going to be a problem?

Enough talk, heres some pics:





Tank head on (my other tank is in the way so cant get the whole thing in the frame)


Tank from the side


Sump


Skimmer

[Slagter]

Wicked dude!! This is going to be a lekker build. I look forward to the progress...

If that crack is under the bracing, I think you should be fine, I could be wrong, but I recon you should be ok. Maybe do a small test fill to see? But do it outside!!

[poiromaniax]

Thanks Sean!

I actually forgot the word i was looking for while writing that post, its not a crack but rather a chip. Doesnt seem to be too deep in the glass

[leslie hempel]

this looks like a nice project.. good luck

[Singularity]

almost every tank i have owned had some sort of chip like that, never had problems. Glad you finally found a 1.5 and skimmer

[poiromaniax]

Thanks les

@ Singu - shot dude, funny enough - i found the tank and the skimmer in the same place

[AfricaOffroad]

The problem with the crack/chip shown in the pics is that it now acts as a stress concentration factor. When the glass base bows under the imposed load, the outer section of the glass goes into tension. Glass is very weak in tension and the stress concentration factor increases the stress at that part of the sheet.

Fact of the matter is you have a serious weak point in your base. I personally would replace your bottom sheet.

[poiromaniax]

Originally Posted by AfricaOffroad

The problem with the crack/chip shown in the pics is that it now acts as a stress concentration factor. When the glass base bows under the imposed load, the outer section of the glass goes into tension. Glass is very weak in tension and the stress concentration factor increases the stress at that part of the sheet.

Fact of the matter is you have a serious weak point in your base. I personally would replace your bottom sheet.

Even if there is a brace ontop of it?

So far a number of people have told me that they have similar chips and they have no issues?

[poiromaniax]

Onto the first question:

Should I run the skimmer using a feed pump or tee off the overflow pipe, add a ball valve and run the skimmer from that.

Advantage of not using a feed pump (that I can think of)

Less heat transfer
Less power consumption
I can make a larger DSB
Can finely tune water input
Cleaner sump appearance
Lower cost involved (dont have to buy a pump)

Disadvantage:

Ball valves can get blocked, reducing skimmer efficiency
Higher cost of plumbing


Those are all I can think of and so far its looking like there are much more advantages. Can anybody offer some input?

[AfricaOffroad]

Originally Posted by poiromaniax

Even if there is a brace ontop of it?

So far a number of people have told me that they have similar chips and they have no issues?

If all sections of the crack terminate towards the glass edge you may be alright. If a splinter crack runs into the main sheet, I fear with the load imposed stress it may continue to grow, ultimately leading to the base failure.

[poiromaniax]

Thanks AA ( )

Might just ask luis (from Idol Marine) to come have a look tomorrow

[Neil H]

look there are many tanks with similar chips that are fine, but if i were building my dream tank i would replace the base ..... but if you happy to accept the risk then great

[Ridwaan]

Feed the skimmer with a 1500ltr pump.Feefing from overflow maked the water level lift and drop.
If u wamna feed from overflow,then add a bypass to fine tune until you get a stable water level in the skimmer....

[poiromaniax]

Originally Posted by Ridwaan

Feed the skimmer with a 1500ltr pump.Feefing from overflow maked the water level lift and drop.
If u wamna feed from overflow,then add a bypass to fine tune until you get a stable water level in the skimmer....

If i choose to feed from the overflow, what I would do is put a T piece in the plumbing and add a ball valve to fine tune the water - would that work?

Otherwise, would I be able to use my Octo pump from my TS1 to feed the skimmer or is it too small?

@ neil - what ive been told to do by a guru on an overseas forum is to fill the chip with superglue to avoid spreading

[PeterL]

You started off by mentioning that you wanted to take your time after paying "school fees" as some (like myself) still are. The situation is this, as NeilH said, and I concur, if I had the chance to rebuild my "dream" tank - I wouldn't take the chance - the cost of the base is neglagable relative to the cost of the losses potentially experienced if it fails a few months after setup and it doesn't take much for a chip to crack though.

A friend had a new tank, never been used before, got a chip in the corner somewhere along the line and woke up at 1am with his tank cracking horribly across adjacent corners...mad panic and rush to save all life and just VERY lucky to happen to have a spare tank standing in the same room, if it wasn't for that - he would have lost everything he had worked so hard in accumulating. IMO - replace the base and be 100% certain

[poiromaniax]

Im not gonna rush into it, I will ask one of the Idol Marine guys to come have a look and see what they say

[poiromaniax]

With the help of reefers, I have decided to run the skimmer with a feed pump. A fellow reefer with the same skimmer runs it using a 1000LPH pump with fantastic results, so I will use my OTP1000 from my TS1 to feed the monster.

More questions to follow

[Tobes]

If I was you I would add another piece of 10mm glass over that base inside the tank so that the weight/pressure is removed or minimised from the current base.

[poiromaniax]

Good plan Tobes. Gonna find out about that when one of the Idol guys can come check it out

[PeterL]

Keep us posted as to the end decision