150Gallon Plumbing Dilemma

[RoLLiN CoMaNdO]

I recently purchased a custom 150 gallon rimless tank from AGE inc. Super pleased with the tank, it's a 60Lx24Wx24H but I designed it and went with 2 20in synergy reef overflows on both sides of the tank and the return hole in the center of the tank. I built a custom sump out of a standard 55 gallon to go under the stand and for the overflows to drain into. I know how I want to plumb from my return pump up to the return hole. My issue is with how to plumb my overflow boxes down to my sump as I want a safe and quiet way for this to be plumbed. I know the bean animal is the preferred method for these overflow boxes but as I have 2 I just think having all that plumbing is a little much. That would be 6 pipes running down the back of my tank into the sump. Please provide any advice or guidance on this issue as I think there just has to be a simpler way.

 

[JoshH]

I'd say bite the bullet and go with 2 BA set ups. It seems like a lot of plumbing but it won't be THAT much more and you'll have the comfort the BA provides. If you really wanted to you could connect each drain to the other with a larger common pipe. As in main siphon's into one common pipe, the overflow drain into another common and both emergencies into another common pipe. But it would have to be a pretty large pipe and might not be as quiet as a true BA. Also it would take up a TON of space behind the tank.

 

[RoLLiN CoMaNdO]

I'd say bite the bullet and go with 2 BA set ups. It seems like a lot of plumbing but it won't be THAT much more and you'll have the comfort the BA provides. If you really wanted to you could connect each drain to the other with a larger common pipe. As in main siphon's into one common pipe, the overflow drain into another common and both emergencies into another common pipe. But it would have to be a pretty large pipe and might not be as quiet as a true BA. Also it would take up a TON of space behind the tank.

Yeah, that's another possibility but even you make the point... with all that work might as well go with the BA method. With the BA method I have to also figure out how to run the plumbing down from the overflows to the sump. With the method 2 go to my actual return chamber and one for the emergency drain into another chamber. I worry about pipes crossing and making this harder than it needs to be.

 

[JoshH]

So in this case you would have 4 drains that need to enter your sock area and 2 into the return for emergencies. I would bring all pipes straight down and the 4 that run to your socks bring them in to run infront of the 2 emergency drains then across the back to your socks. A rough drawing to give you an idea of what I mean.. Red being your emergency and blue being your main and secondary drains...

 

[RoLLiN CoMaNdO]

So in this case you would have 4 drains that need to enter your sock area and 2 into the return for emergencies. I would bring all pipes straight down and the 4 that run to your socks bring them in to run infront of the 2 emergency drains then across the back to your socks. A rough drawing to give you an idea of what I mean.. Red being your emergency and blue being your main and secondary drains...

I see what you mean. I appreciate the diagram as it helps me understand it a bit better. I also looked at your recent build and am hoping my plumbing can come out as cleanly as yours lol

 

[Matthew Frost]

Another option to help with congestion would be to plumb the secondary drain from the BA directly into a refugium if you were going to use one. The two primary drains into the filter socks, secondary drains into a refugium, emergency drains to the return pump chamber. Either way its a lot of plumbing.

 

[JoshH]

I see what you mean. I appreciate the diagram as it helps me understand it a bit better. I also looked at your recent build and am hoping my plumbing can come out as cleanly as yours lol

I'm a visual kind of guy myself so diagrams are always helpful to me. And I appreciate the compliments, at least you have lots of room which is the one thing I greatly lacked. And with a little effort you should have no issue coming out with a sharp clean plumbing job. The plumbing under my tank was my first crack at plumbing and a lot of planning went a long way. The option above letting the overflow drains end into a refugium is another great option which would make some of the plumbing shorter.

 

[madweazl]

Remove one of the overflows and cap the extra holes; I'm surprised AGE didnt recommend against doing the two boxes to begin with. Alternately, have a new external box made that spans the length of the two internals and then plumb a single beananimal from the longer external box.

 

[RoLLiN CoMaNdO]

Remove one of the overflows and cap the extra holes; I'm surprised AGE didnt recommend against doing the two boxes to begin with. Alternately, have a new external box made that spans the length of the two internals and then plumb a single beananimal from the longer external box.

AGE just built the tank I told them to, so no issue with them. I chose to have 2 overflow boxes for better surface skim so instead of having 20in of surface skim I'm getting 40in. This was all thought out and done the way I wanted. I could cap the holes in one overflow or some of them and figure out how to plumb it that way as well, but it won't provide the redundancy and quietness of the BA. It looks like I may just have to deal with a lot of pipes. It's going against the wall anyways so idk why I'm stressing it so much lol [emoji23]

 

[madweazl]

My concern wouldn't be the additional pipes, it is whether or not you'll ever be able to balance the water level in the boxes and the flow rates of the drains so it works as intended.

 

[Greybeard]

Hi

Nice looking tank. I put together a 60"x30"x18" system last summer, also rimless... not too far different from what you've got going. Even used a 55g for a sump... but mine is set up peninsula style, so the overflow/returns are all on one end. I went with CustomAquariums H2Overflows on a Planet Aquarium tank.

Anyway, What kind of flow are you looking to have? You've got 1 return line, looks to be a 1" line... I don't think you said, and scale is hard to judge, but it can't be much bigger than that. Ok, so a 1" pipe, at 12 f/s flow rate, is going to allow 2,200 gph. I don't think you're going to find a pump with a 1" output that will push much more than that. One 20" synergy is good for 2,500 gph, and, IMHO, that's a bit conservative. Unless you're going over the top with additional returns, you don't _need_ the 2nd overflow box. Of course, that doesn't mean you can't use it... but I seriously doubt you're going to need it.

Here's an idea... Cap the down tubes from one of the external overflow boxes, and run a 1.5" pipe from one external overflow box to the other one. You maintain the very, very long surface skimming area that you have, and only have 1 set of 3 down tubes run to the sump.

Something like this:

Just a suggestion... worth what you paid for it It would make the plumbing easier, and you'd have only 1 BeAnAnimal style overflow to tune... Simple.

Keep posting, I'm looking forward to seeing how this one comes together.

 

[RoLLiN CoMaNdO]

Hi

Nice looking tank. I put together a 60"x30"x18" system last summer, also rimless... not too far different from what you've got going. Even used a 55g for a sump... but mine is set up peninsula style, so the overflow/returns are all on one end. I went with CustomAquariums H2Overflows on a Planet Aquarium tank.

Anyway, What kind of flow are you looking to have? You've got 1 return line, looks to be a 1" line... I don't think you said, and scale is hard to judge, but it can't be much bigger than that. Ok, so a 1" pipe, at 12 f/s flow rate, is going to allow 2,200 gph. I don't think you're going to find a pump with a 1" output that will push much more than that. One 20" synergy is good for 2,500 gph, and, IMHO, that's a bit conservative. Unless you're going over the top with additional returns, you don't _need_ the 2nd overflow box. Of course, that doesn't mean you can't use it... but I seriously doubt you're going to need it.

Here's an idea... Cap the down tubes from one of the external overflow boxes, and run a 1.5" pipe from one external overflow box to the other one. You maintain the very, very long surface skimming area that you have, and only have 1 set of 3 down tubes run to the sump.

Something like this:

Just a suggestion... worth what you paid for it It would make the plumbing easier, and you'd have only 1 BeAnAnimal style overflow to tune... Simple.

Keep posting, I'm looking forward to seeing how this one comes together.

Yes, no question one of the overflow boxes could get the job done on this size tank. The concept you propose is interesting, though I wonder how much it would cost to get it cut even if it could be done. Yeah my return is a 1in and will actually by Y'd out with 3/4in Locline. Purchased a new Sicce SDC9.0 to be the return pump for this setup as well.

 

[RoLLiN CoMaNdO]

My concern wouldn't be the additional pipes, it is whether or not you'll ever be able to balance the water level in the boxes and the flow rates of the drains so it works as intended.

Yeah, I see that it could be a potential issue but I think that gate valves or ball valves on the primary drain will determine my water level in the boxes and how much is draining into the sump. Just probably some time playing with it and fine tuning.

 

[Greybeard]

Yes, no question one of the overflow boxes could get the job done on this size tank. The concept you propose is interesting, though I wonder how much it would cost to get it cut even if it could be done. Yeah my return is a 1in and will actually by Y'd out with 3/4in Locline. Purchased a new Sicce SDC9.0 to be the return pump for this setup as well.

What cost? Drill 2 holes in the ends of the external overflow boxes where they face each other... they're acrylic, right? Easy as pie. Screw in a couple bulkheads, a bit of pipe, some glue... done deal.

Sicce 9.0 (nice pump!) listed at 2500gph. Add a bit of head pressure from plumbing, one set of down tubes should carry the load with no problem.

 

[Forsaken77]

Yeah, that's another possibility but even you make the point... with all that work might as well go with the BA method. With the BA method I have to also figure out how to run the plumbing down from the overflows to the sump. With the method 2 go to my actual return chamber and one for the emergency drain into another chamber. I worry about pipes crossing and making this harder than it needs to be.

You could also make your sump with socks on each end, a skimmer on one side, then a fuge, Marine Pure or rock chamber on the other, and return in the middle to go straight up. Or you could put 2 skimmers instead of the fuge/rock. That way your plumbing goes straight down from the overflows and straight up for the return. No criss-crossing.