New Tank

scruffels

scruffels

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hey guys been thinking about building myself a tank in the holidays. keep me out of trouble you know. so instead of studying exams been researching how to build a tank, what needs to go where, etc. designed one, would like to hear your comments and suggestions about it.
 
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First thing, is put a durso on your overflow or that pipe is going to make a terrible gurgling noise
 
Make sure you have a siphon breaker on your return pump or make sure your sump can handle the volume of water above the return pipe.
 
tank design looks cool... I was thinking of having something similar...

Warr7206 what is a durso, and what type of pump, litres p/h, should you get for something similar to the design above?
 
Hi Scruffels- the tank design looks good, except for the return. I would not drill a hole and return from the bottom - rather drill a hole at the top-tight (rear panel) of the tank, and have the pipe return here....

I second Warr on the Durso stand-pipes (have a look at http://www.dursostandpipes.com/)....
 
thanks guys. was going to put a durso stanf pipe in the little box. make it look alittle neater. that ok?
siphon breaker? what is that? probably a dumb question.
jacquesb i was trying to keep all the pipes away from the outside of the cabinet. the reason why you suggest that?
 
o the return tank. must it just be big enough to manage if the water in the reutrn pipe flows back into the sump if the power goes out?
 
Ok - yes - My reasoning would be tank glass integrity - IF you have glass of say e.g. 12mm - then by all means you can drill many holes in it - BUT, for a tank this size you are MOST likely going to go for e.g. 6 or maximum 8mm glass, right? Too many holes will decrease the strength of the glass, which could MOST likely cause the tank to crack (the bottom pane in any case)... Causing a HUGE water spill in your living area....

Regarding your second question - YES - it should be big enough to handle the water coming from the main display tank during a power-failure, BUT, this will also depend on the level your over-flow sits at - ie. how much water can flow over your over-flow when there's no water being pumped back into the tank....
The siphon hole MUST be in your return pipe (another reason for having the return pipe return at the TOP of the tank, and not the bottom), otherwise, when the power goes out, ALL the water could be siphoned out of the tank, by means of vacuum, through the return pump....

The best would be to have a return pump in the region of +-2000 to 3000 litres per hour. You don't want the water to flow TOO fast through your sump... Otherwise the filtration does not work as it should....
 
o ok 8mm was thinking i would need 10mm glass. ok so where would this siphon hole be in the return pipe? the bottom piece of glass must that be 10mm?
 
scruffels said:
o ok 8mm was thinking i would need 10mm glass. ok so where would this siphon hole be in the return pipe? the bottom piece of glass must that be 10mm?
Click to expand...

Siphon hole will be below the water level but just a couple of mm. So when the return pump is off the water will start sucking back but will stop when the siphon hole is reached.

Go as thick as possible with bracing. These tanks are very heavy when filled with water and rock.

Mine weighs in at 650kg
 
Hi Scruffels - the siphon hole should usually be at the bend when the return pipe goes back into the tank (right at the top), that the section of the return pipe that is below water level, does not suck water. The siphon hole is there that the vacuum that is usually in the pipe, gets broken through the pipe sucking air through the siphon hole...
 
how would you calculate the spare space you need in sump for incase power goes out? oh and does the durso stand pipe work on vacuum too?
 
scruffels said:
how would you calculate the spare space you need in sump for incase power goes out? oh and does the durso stand pipe work on vacuum too?
Click to expand...

If you use the siphon break you shouldn't need more than 50 litres extra space. Durso will not work on a vacuum, it works with gravity
 
must the return pipe outlet into the display tank be under the water level? i thought i just pours the water back into the display tank?
 
scruffels said:
must the return pipe outlet into the display tank be under the water level? i thought i just pours the water back into the display tank?
Click to expand...

Put it under the water level, or it will create loads of bubbles (doesn't look cool), noise and water splash
 
oh ok. great. learning alot. imagine the mess if i didnt join this forum.
k so you have to take into account the water that will overflow into the sump from the durso pipe. and the water that will fall back from the return pipe?
 
Hi Scruffels - the Durso works on a vacuum, but it has a siphon hole in as well....

As I said - the amount of water going down into the sump, will depend on how high the over-flow is - if it sits 1cm below the water surface - then the tank's water level will only drop by 1cm (but that said - that's is 1cm of the WHOLE surface area of the tank)....

I leave at least a third to half my sump empty in the design - to ensure that I have more than enough space in my sump for the amount of water that would go into the sump, down my over-flow.

I have a 2 metre tank, and a 1.2 metre sump.

My sump usually has just about +-140/150 litres of water in it.

My over-flow sits at about 1.5cm below the water level...
 
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