125 Gallon Reef Tank Build PICs & ??

[trent5501]

Hello all- So here is what i have so far... 125 gallon tank, dual overflows ( all four will be used as drains. It has a 3/4'' and 1" in each overflow.) 40 gallon sump/refuguim. All four drains will go in the first chamber and the protein skimmer will be in there as well. Second chamber will be refuguim and third will be pump return external. Heres my first question. I buit my return line and I want to see if it will work and what size pump you all think I should run. Also the middle t will actually be a scwd wave maker going down to the pump. I have not glued anything... im just seeing what will work. 1st couple of pics will be return line and the rest will for you viewing.

[trent5501]

More Pics

[trent5501]

Im thinking of going with the reeflo Snapper because they can be valved back...

[ATinPGH]

That's going to be a lot of flow through your refugium. Most put the return section second and the refugium third with a portion of the return regulated into the refugium.

[trent5501]

How do you put a external pump second? It has to go in the last chamber because that's the only space for it to attach via bulkhead...

[trent5501]

Bump Anyone??

[powerlogix]

Free bump, that's a nice stand and canopy combo.

[trent5501]

Thank you just got done painting it today!

[d.dog]

looks good i like it

[trent5501]

Also I will be running 1" PVC flex line from the pump up to the return line. It will feed 4-6 3/4" lock lines. It all depends on what size pump i get. Here is a thought what if I ran the two 1" lines into the sump as the mian drains and one of the 3/4" in the sump as a emergency. Then I could use the other 3/4" drain in a closed loop?? I just don't want too much flow through the sump. With two one inch drains that will give me 1200 gph and that means it will pass through my sump 8 times an hour.?.?.? I know I'm asking alot of questions but I just want to make sure I get this right.. Btw im doing this from my phone so please excuse the typos...thanks

[NanoReefWanabe]

you could build a raceway style sump if you havent built your sump yet...a 40b is a good size for this too...

[NanoReefWanabe]

as for the drain lines..since your tank has dual overflows and you want to run the bean system i believe you have to put the main siphon and the emergency in one overflow box and the residual drain in the other box...you can use the other 3/4" for what ever you want...

as for flow...you can get what ever pump you want...in a system this large though you should not be counting on your return pump to provide flow through your tank...use a closed loop or power heads for that...there is a lot of conflicting stories on whether it is better to have lots of flow or little flow through your sump...i am pretty sure it doesnt matter...there used to be an issue with noise but with bean's and herbie drains the noise and splashing is gone...so flow through the sump can be what ever you want...the filters and skimmers etc for reef tanks are more designed as a means of dilution rather then total extraction...since none of our equipment is 100% efficient the more you can dilute it the better..also you will be able to tune the main drain @ 1" you will be abke to drain anywhere from 0-1500ish gph

this is how i look at it you can have your return tuned to your skimmer in essence skimming 100% of the water at 70% [ball park i have no idea how efficient the equipment is] and skim that water 5x an hour...or IMHO the better way is to have the water volume skimmed 10-15 times an hour at 70%....in other words i dont care what the skimmers turnover rate is i would rather skim the same water 10 or more times an hour instead of 5...

[trent5501]

Originally Posted by NanoReefWanabe

you could build a raceway style sump if you havent built your sump yet...a 40b is a good size for this too...

I have already built my sump. Here is a pic.

[trent5501]

Originally Posted by NanoReefWanabe

as for the drain lines..since your tank has dual overflows and you want to run the bean system i believe you have to put the main siphon and the emergency in one overflow box and the residual drain in the other box...you can use the other 3/4" for what ever you want...

as for flow...you can get what ever pump you want...in a system this large though you should not be counting on your return pump to provide flow through your tank...use a closed loop or power heads for that...there is a lot of conflicting stories on whether it is better to have lots of flow or little flow through your sump...i am pretty sure it doesnt matter...there used to be an issue with noise but with bean's and herbie drains the noise and splashing is gone...so flow through the sump can be what ever you want...the filters and skimmers etc for reef tanks are more designed as a means of dilution rather then total extraction...since none of our equipment is 100% efficient the more you can dilute it the better..also you will be able to tune the main drain @ 1" you will be abke to drain anywhere from 0-1500ish gph

this is how i look at it you can have your return tuned to your skimmer in essence skimming 100% of the water at 70% [ball park i have no idea how efficient the equipment is] and skim that water 5x an hour...or IMHO the better way is to have the water volume skimmed 10-15 times an hour at 70%....in other words i dont care what the skimmers turnover rate is i would rather skim the same water 10 or more times an hour instead of 5...

Lets start with the drains, I dont think that beans system is right for dual overflows with two drains in each box... I would like to use both 1'' drain to lines so that both overflow are working the way they were built to. What is the problem with this style drain pipe? I built two 1'' and two 3/4". here is a pic.

[trent5501]

Pic of drain pipe.

[NanoReefWanabe]

bean's system will work fine with dual boxes...tuning dual overflows is not fun, they arent failsafe, and those pipes will likely be loud as they will be air water mix