durso advice for a nano tank

[buleetu]

hi all

i have just built my nano tank,it is 18" square, it will hold 19 Gallons,i have a 45mm hole drilled in the top left corner 4" from top and 4" from the left,i will have a glass weir on the inside of the tank 120 mm left to right 100 front to back and 120 top to bottom,ill have a comb on its edge to stop detritus and that,is this big enough, i am going to use a durso stand pipe with a glass overflow chamber on the outside of the tank,the more room the better

will anyone look at my quick drawing and tell me what they think please??

could u tell me what size the stand pipe needs to be, i was thinking of have the bottom glass plate with the bulkhead 6"x 6" im not sure what size the bulk head should be,any ideas

cheers

 

[trido]

Looks like a fun little project. The size of the standpipe will depend on three things. The amount of flow you want, the size of hole you can drill for the actual bulkhead, and the size of the bulkhead.

Here is a reference page to help determine what you will need. Your local supplier may have different drill out sizes than these. http://dslinux.dyndns.org/~denise/aquar ... l#drilling
Half way down the page is where the information regarding flow rates and bulkhead drill out sizes are.

 

[buleetu]

hi trido

thanks for the help

i can get any hole drilled as long as it ends in 5,eg 5 10 15 20 25 ect....

im not sure how much flow i want, the tank is 18" square so i guess i wouldnt want to much blasting through the tank,but the most i can have the better i suppose with out blow things every where in the tank, the return pump i have is an ocean runner 2500, i reckon thats 2500 lph, i also have an OR 6500 but thats way too much for this tank, i have the bulkhead already too, it says 1 1/4 on it, i got the hole on the back of the tank drilled to fit that, its a 45mm hole, i will have to buy another bulkhead so i suppose i could go smaller or bigger if i wanted,does the bulkhead peice have to be smaller than the actuall stand pipe pipe bit,ye know the peice of pipe that goes to the tee,

so what do u think, will the weir on the inside of the tank be big enough,i mentioned it in the first post, im thinking of having the overflow chamber on the outside the same height as the tank,so it will be 6"x6"x18" will this be big enough

sorry for all the questions one after another like that,hope u can help

 

[trido]

You are making me work for these replies. I am not good at metric conversions. Fortunately, the internet is. I use this site http://www.worldwidemetric.com/metcal.htm For the return pump, The small one should work like a charm. That is roughtly 660GPH before head loss and you should get about 30+/-X turnover in the tank. For the over flow being external, good idea. the dimensions you posted should work fine. AS far as the bulkheads, a 45mm hole calculates out to about 1 3/4" Most bulkheads for this size are for 1/2 to 3/4" PVC. This will also work out just fine as a return bulkhead from the pump. AS far as the overflow bulkhead, I would get it drilled to accomodate a 1 1/4 PVC pipe allowing for 900GPH of gravity flow to the sump. And yes, the overflow pipe size should be one size larger than the bulkhead to allow proper gravity drain. IF the bulkhead is for 1", the the standpipe should be 1 1/4. If the bulkhead is for 1 1/2" then the stand pipe would be 2" and so on.

 

[buleetu]

hi again

cheers for the help, im not gonna be able to get the tank drilled again,its all made up now and i dont know any place in ireland that can drill glass while its in a tank shape, ,am i screwed,and the tank is looking so well,i made it my self ye know, i guess i didnt research enough, i was just thinking of having an over the back wall return pipe,that would feed into a spray bar type of thing all around the tank,or if that didnt work out just a straight forward over the tank shepards crook sort of thing,

do u guys over in america use cm and metres ye??we do here too its just i find it easyer to work in inchs

 

[trido]

Here in america we are somewhat archaic and measure in inches and gallons.

If your bulkhead isnt rated for 2000GPH it isnt a big deal. :lol: You can simply use an over the back return. Maybe buy a smaller return pump and use the one you already have for a CL.

 

[shavo]

trido is a nice huy, if you get on his bad side look out how are ya doing trido, thanks for helping this guys out, liked your advice
gentleman and a scholar!!

 

[Anonymous]

if your going to do a durso you might consider comming in from the side like this:

 

[Anonymous]

Also If the overflow is an hob you might try something like this. But you may not have the in tank space.

( at http://www.members.aol.com/beaslbob/tan ... erflow.jpg )

 

[buleetu]

thanks guys,

if i use the durso in the first picture (black and white) do i not need to have an overflow box, the durso just goes directly in the 45mm hole i have in the back corner

 

[buleetu]

this is the hole by the way

 

[Anonymous]

thanks guys,

if i use the durso in the first picture (black and white) do i not need to have an overflow box, the durso just goes directly in the 45mm hole i have in the back corner

You could just that hole if that is a hole in your tank.

But you may want the tank water lever higher that the bottom of that hole.

So you may want to run the pvc up to a higher level then down to form the durso.

that would also to some surface skimming as well.

.02

 

[Anonymous]

If you have the hole just do an external durso. You can also make an overflow box to skim the surface.

 

[trido]

If you have the hole just do an external durso. You can also make an overflow box to skim the surface.

After seeing the pics you posted I would agree with this method for the most part.
You could, however build an external overflow box with glass as you originally intended. If I understand correctly, you can get the bottom of you overflow cut to size and drilled to your specifications as long as the bulkhead hole ends in a "5 or 10". If you build a small surface skimming box for the inside ot the tank you could get away with not even using the bulkhead you already have and use a larger bulkhead in the over flow to give you the flow rate you need for the return pump you want to use. If that link I posted is correct, that raw hole will allow 1800GPH to pass through.

So, To answer the fisrt post

could u tell me what size the stand pipe needs to be, i was thinking of have the bottom glass plate with the bulkhead 6"x 6" im not sure what size the bulk head should be,any ideas

If you use a small internal surface skimming box (maybe 4"x4"x1.5") with the teeth you described and dont put a bulkhead at all in the tank.
That should be a fine size for an over flow if you want. The stand pipe will need to be 1 1/2" with a bulkhead sized for 1 1/4 pipe. This will give you a gravity drain of around 900GPH. YOu may want to size this even one larger if you want to grow SPS and dont want a second pump. I hope this helps.

 

[buleetu]

can this work, the measurements arent exact its just a general idea

 

[Anonymous]

can this work, the measurements arent exact its just a general idea

Yes that can work.I would not use the check valve. The water flowing in the pipe will match whatever is being returned to the tank. Well until the pipe can't handle any more anyway. all the valve will do is add resistance and therefore limit the capacity ofthe pipe.

The skimmer box to me is important. With just the hole the level of the entire tank drops during power outage. So much more water is drained to the sump. But a skimmer box helps limit that overflow by just draining the water in the box.

If you will excuse this really really crummy sketch, here is an in tank durso. By going first up then back down the pipe fills the function of the skimmer box. And limits power out overflow to what is in the pipe.

 

[Anonymous]

Also.

If you made the external box large enough with some kind of partition, it would make a nice hob refugium as well.

.02

 

[buleetu]

do u mean have the durso connected directly to the bulkhead in the tank? with no overflow chamber on the back of the tank?,im not 100% what u mean



the reason i have a ball valve in there is to create resistance for the water, i wont be having a reducer betweeen the stand pipe and the bulkhead so the ball valve will be like the same thing as a reducer giving the water a chance to back up in the pipe but not overflow the chamber or tank

like in the pic below

 

[Anonymous]

do u mean have the durso connected directly to the bulkhead in the tank? with no overflow chamber on the back of the tank?,im not 100% what u mean

I think you understand completely. With the durso in tank, the durso itself regulates the tank level. The plumbing outside the tank is then just pvc pipe to the sump. By running the pipe up then down you can have a higher tank water level then if you just had the pipe through the hole then the downaward elbow. Then tank level under power out would be higher than then the hole with only the water in the pipe draining.

the reason i have a ball valve in there is to create resistance for the water, i wont be having a reducer betweeen the stand pipe and the bulkhead so the ball valve will be like the same thing as a reducer giving the water a chance to back up in the pipe but not overflow the chamber or tank

like in the pic below

The restriction is unnecessary IMHO. With the return pump on water rises in the tank. And contunues to rise until the water overflowing (draining) to the sump matches. So there is no need for any restriction in the drain pipe. If the pipe itself can not keep up with the return pump, then you have to limit the flow returning to the tank not restrict the water draining to the sump. All a restriction can do in the drain is raise the tank water and lower the sump water. If the pump does not sucking air soon enough then the tank can flood.

Additionally, under power outages the return and overflow lines can and will drain to the sump. If you do not limit those flows the sump can flood. The durso limits the overflow drain. The return lines also need to "suck air" before the sump floods. So if your returns are not already above the water line you need things like small holes to break up the siphons through the return lines.

All of which I wish I had known before I had three floods :lol:


.02

 

[trido]

beaslbob has very valid points regarding the drainage, restrictions and return. I would use an internal surface skimmer box instead of the internal durso for several reasons though.
1. you wont have to use a bulkhead in the tank itself thus restricting the amount of flow you can use as discussed above. A 45 mm. hole only accomodates a 3/4" bulkhead and doesnt allow for the size of return pump desired.
2. A surface skimmer box skims the oil slick off the surface of the tank which looks better and allows for more efficient skimming.
3. The surface box will help keep snails and fish in the tank and the durso wont.
4. the surface box will determine the level of the the tank water and will likely allow much less water to fall into the sump during a power outage.

the reason i have a ball valve in there is to create resistance for the water, i wont be having a reducer betweeen the stand pipe and the bulkhead so the ball valve will be like the same thing as a reducer giving the water a chance to back up in the pipe but not overflow the chamber or tank

like in the pic below

I believe that you are mistaken the bulkhead as a restrictor. You dont want to restrict the drain if at all possible. Some do but most dont recommend it. The drain rate will match your return pump perfectly with no help at all if your overflow pipe is large enough. The idea of the durso stand pipe is only to reduce noise in the overflow. If you do some reading here http://www.dursostandpipes.com/ you will learn alot about how it works and how to build one.