The Miracle Tank

[sfin52]

My son stefan thought he would be smart and funny and start snapping me with a towel. I told him his uncle's and I used to snap each other till we bled and one gave up. I let him get me four times before I retaliated. He tried to use a towel to protect him self. Hands are a great target.
This is the aftermath

I win. Lol

 

[brett_schn]

I wish I would have known how much work this tank is
My next tank is going to be an AIO for sure

 

[fishguy242]

i tried to talk my wife into moving big tank from dr into lr said she could see all her pics through,tv would fit perfect,to set up pool table in dr ,she said...NO..

 

[sfin52]

 

[Alan_J_MN]

I wish I would have known how much work this tank is
My next tank is going to be an AIO for sure

I looked at AIO. I’m new to the game, but saw that it would be too restrictive. Too few options.

 

[Fin]

Could be worse. Parts of New Orleans is 6 feet below sea level.

Well aware of that. My grandfather used to run one of those drainage pumping stations back in the 60's. I got to go inside with him when I was a little kid. Pretty neat inside one of those things.

 

[sfin52]

Well aware of that. My grandfather used to run one of those drainage pumping stations back in the 60's. I got to go inside with him when I was a little kid. Pretty neat inside one of those things.

What a memory. Now a kid couldn't do that with a grownup

 

[fishguy242]

Would work ...right

 

[sfin52]

Would work ...right

Yes

 

[sfin52]

I wish I would have known how much work this tank is
My next tank is going to be an AIO for sure

Nothing great happens with out work sweet and tears

 

[fishguy242]

hey i tried,can't push it been in dr since feb 20th ,very little complaints

 

[sfin52]

@Fin your tank looks great. Im Lost in some of the stuff you and @JoshH are talking about. I'm trying to keep up.

 

[Katrina71]

Me too.

 

[sfin52]

Me too.

I'm glad I'm not the only one

 

[fishguy242]

ok sorry i won't talk for a lil while let ya all catch up;Bookworm

 

[Fin]

@Fin your tank looks great. Im Lost in some of the stuff you and @JoshH are talking about. I'm trying to keep up.

Me too.

 

[JoshH]

@Fin your tank looks great. Im Lost in some of the stuff you and @JoshH are talking about. I'm trying to keep up.

Me too.

More than welcome to ask questions /\ Clearly @Fin won't be able to answer cause he's lost but I'll try my best

 

[sfin52]

@Fin what type of lighting after you running

 

[sfin52]

A check valve for returns stops water from flowing back into the sump correct? The deeper the return the more water will backflow.

@JoshH was talking another way of stopping back flow?

 

[JoshH]

A check valve for returns stops water from flowing back into the sump correct?

@JoshH was talking another way of stopping back flow?

So typically you install a check valve on your return line as close to the pump as possible and when the flow is shut off, the check valve closes and it stops the back flow. HOWEVER, check valves are notoriously unreliable at sealing properly and preventing flow from making its way back to the sump.

Melves Reef came up with sort of a backwards check valve setup that Fin has implemented. In this setup the check valve is installed backwards, above the return height. When the return is running it presses water up against the check valve keeping it closed. The second you turn the return pump off, the pressure drop allows the check valve to open and this lets air into the return breaking the siphon and preventing water from draining back into the sump.

VIDEO: Melev's Reef Demonstrates the Anti-Siphon Reverse Check Valve!

Marc Levenson demonstrates the installation of a backwards / reversed check valve as an siphon break on return plumbing for your aquarium.

www.reef2rainforest.com

The method I use is a little simpler in that I have my return line and instead of a 90° elbow to tie the return line into the retun bulkhead, I will use a T. The top of the T has a slip to thread reducer to reduce the top of the return T down to 1/4". From the top of the T coming out of the reducer I'll have a threaded elbow to RODI fitting. From there it's a simple straight RODI line with a 1/4" valve and then another 90° elbow to bring the line down into the overflow. Once the return is up and running water will flow out of this line and back into the overflow, you can tune the flow to almost a trickle and when you turn the return off, it will instantly allow air into the line breaking the siphon. Here's a very crude drawing of how it's setup.....

Both of these methods are essentially just siphon breaks to prevent excessive back flow into the sump from the Display. You can also drill a hole into your return line itself however these need frequent attention and can be tricky to get right as you need the proper size hole to let enough air in to break the siphon but you don't want too much of a hole that you're letting too much flow out of the hole. Hense the route I took, which takes a 1/4" hole in the line and let's you easily adjust it to match the size you actually need to break the siphon without having to drill multiple holes.