240 gallon custom aquarium

FullerReefs · Mar 6, 2023

Ranglin6o said:
I'm running 2) 1 1/2" drain lines and 1) 1 1/4" return. I had to tune my gates to get the drains to quiet down a bit but enough to control my system with flow to 2500+ GPH

Nice, what do you use the flow meter for? What size of flow meter are you using? What return pump? Do you think you could have gotten away with 1" drains?

Ranglin6o · Mar 6, 2023

FullerReefs said:
Nice, what do you use the flow meter for? What size of flow meter are you using? What return pump? Do you think you could have gotten away with 1" drains?

I'm using the flow meter to see my return rate and fine tune my GPH in the system. I can use my Apex to set alarms incase something goes wrong as another form of safety. If GPH drops below/above a set parameter it could be no water in the return or even a massive leak.

I'm going to be running the Royal Exclusive Red dragon 3 100w 3100gph return and the Red dragon 3 mini for my manifold to run the external protein skimmer, bio reactor, and media reactors. All these will be on Apex flow meters as well!!

I could have run 1"but with only 2 drains it wouldn't keep up to my GPH rates I might need to turn over. In this case bigger is definitely better because you can always close valves to control flow.

FullerReefs · Mar 7, 2023

Ranglin6o said:
I'm using the flow meter to see my return rate and fine tune my GPH in the system. I can use my Apex to set alarms incase something goes wrong as another form of safety. If GPH drops below/above a set parameter it could be no water in the return or even a massive leak.

I'm going to be running the Royal Exclusive Red dragon 3 100w 3100gph return and the Red dragon 3 mini for my manifold to run the external protein skimmer, bio reactor, and media reactors. All these will be on Apex flow meters as well!!

I could have run 1"but with only 2 drains it wouldn't keep up to my GPH rates I might need to turn over. In this case bigger is definitely better because you can always close valves to control flow.

Thank you.

BZOFIQ · Mar 7, 2023

FullerReefs said:
Yes, like is there a rool to how much shorter is the full siphon is from the emergency/ trickle pipe?

1. Full siphon - you don't even need a stand pipe if you don't want it. You can put a inverted U (2x90) if you want and have space for it and/or add a screen but I feel there is no need.

2. Open channel - should be about the height of the weir or at least as high as the bulkheads between internal and external boxes. This will minimize splashing (and salt creep) and related noise as the water flows into the external box. You should add a "T" with a 90 degree elbow on top of the standpipe. The T gets capped on top and a small hole is drilled into the cap. This small hole allows air to escape and if the water goes above it, hole gets sealed and that secondary drain will go full siphon.

3. Emergency - Can be 1 inch shy of top of the external box.

The whole point is to use the valve at the end run of the full siphon (right by the sump) to dial-in the flow so that the water in the external box little more than trickles into open channel drain. This will provide for absolutely silent setup.

If you have a return pump that allows you to dial it by tiny increment (Abyzz/Royal Exclusive, etc) you can also do minute adjustment on the pump's controller.

The setup I created on my new build that everyone said would be hard to dial in (2 external boxes) is absolutely silent! If you follow what I stated above yours will be too.

BZOFIQ · Mar 7, 2023

FullerReefs said:
Have any picks of your plumbing?

Ask and you shall receive

FullerReefs · Mar 7, 2023

BZOFIQ said:
1. Full siphon - you don't even need a stand pipe if you don't want it. You can put a inverted U (2x90) if you want and have space for it and/or add a screen but I feel there is no need.

2. Open channel - should be about the height of the weir or at least as high as the bulkheads between internal and external boxes. This will minimize splashing (and salt creep) and related noise as the water flows into the external box. You should add a "T" with a 90 degree elbow on top of the standpipe. The T gets capped on top and a small hole is drilled into the cap. This small hole allows air to escape and if the water goes above it, hole gets sealed and that secondary drain will go full siphon.

3. Emergency - Can be 1 inch shy of top of the external box.

The whole point is to use the valve at the end run of the full siphon (right by the sump) to dial-in the flow so that the water in the external box little more than trickles into open channel drain. This will provide for absolutely silent setup.

If you have a return pump that allows you to dial it by tiny increment (Abyzz/Royal Exclusive, etc) you can also do minute adjustment on the pump's controller.

The setup I created on my new build that everyone said would be hard to dial in (2 external boxes) is absolutely silent! If you follow what I stated above yours will be too.

Thank you