New cube build - NUVO INT 50

[typhune]

I’m getting ready to plumb mine. Did you end up glueing the pipes to the bulkheads in the overflow box? And did you leave them at the lengths that they came out of the box?

I glued from the bottom up, the the top pipes in the overflow are not glued to the bulkheads. And yes, left them at default length. Primarily due to the height of the comb. Sweetspot is where water is just barely flowing into the secondary drain. Relatively silent.

 

[Cole_lol]

Thank You! That’s what I was thinking also. The directions say to not have any water in the secondary. You look at the Bean Animal setups and they say the water should flow down the secondary.
Thanks for helping clear that all up!

 

[typhune]

Thank You! That’s what I was thinking also. The directions say to not have any water in the secondary. You look at the Bean Animal setups and they say the water should flow down the secondary.
Thanks for helping clear that all up!

Happy to help at any time. Feel free to PM me.

As far as tuning the system, I did a lot of research. For the bean animal,
1. set your return pump to the flow you want it, Mine's running about 380 gph, which is about 7x
2. Tune your gate valve until it's just barely overflowing the second drain. This takes patience. Each adjustment takes about 5 minutes to manifest in the back overflow, so don't rush it and over correct.
3. If you can lightly nudge the tank and you don't hear it gurgle down the secondary, but still see it slightly overflowing in, you should be good.

I hit issues where I was trying to play with the distance between the siphon and the secondary, and it would never seem to stay well. Found it best to work this way.

 

[Cole_lol]

Edit - I forgot you already had pics up!

Would you minds sharing a picture of the plumbing to your sump?

 

[typhune]

Probably should add the obligatory "diatom" picture... pretty nasty over the past 4 or 5 days...

 

[James001]

What size pipe did you glue to your return bulkhead I am having a hard time figuring how to run that as a barbed flexible pipe.

 

[typhune]

What size pipe did you glue to your return bulkhead I am having a hard time figuring how to run that as a barbed flexible pipe.

3/4" and 1" Schedule 80 PVC. I think you'll need to glue in a short piece of PVC to the bulkhead then glue a slip to barbed fitting into that. Something like this: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/gray-male-pipe-adapter-spigot-x-barb.html

Doesn't really matter if you use 40 or 80, it only affects the inner diameter. Just make sure you get the right size slip/barb fitting.

 

[thom_smith]

Apologize for reviving a somewhat dormant thread however I recently picked up a Nuvo Int 50 and find sump selection is challenging. Have scoped out Bashsea, Fiji, Icecap, Innovative Marine, Reef Octo and Trigger. Stand dimensions certainly limit options to 20" or smaller. The only one I have completely ruled out is the Innovative Marine. It's just too chlosterphobic and completely locks me in limiting options. But then the Fiji Cube 20 and Trigger Triton Cube 20 kind of stand out above the rest. Honestly, aside from the ability to drop a Klir fleece filter in the Fiji I see many advantages in the Trigger Triton. The Trigger Platinum sacrifices significant skimmer space to fit the fleece. And I also don't want to sell a kidney to get this tank going. I even checked out the blemished products and the smallest that have is a 26" Platinum. So I keep coming back to the Fiji Cube 20 and this post. The Fiji looks like a nice sump but for the third input and virtually useless refugium chamber. But I like the fleece idea and have 7" Klirs on my big tank. The fleece works well for me because I sometimes got lax and didn't swap the socks as frequently as I should. And then they become nutrient machines! So still considering the Fiji. How significant are the flow restrictions between chambers and how have you overcome them? Do you have the the older generarion or V2 and does the V2 address these flaws? If you were to build this setup again would you consider the Fiji or a hard no?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Any updates with your tank?