monkiboy's 265g build thread

[smallreef]

Oh I love that!

I think I need me one of those attachments, and I thought I had most of them...hhhrrrmmmm one more one us toy?

[DCReefer1964]

what was that mr. schedule 80, you have something to say? no? i didn't think so. now i've got enough umph to slice you up proper, wahahahaha...

 

When are you planning on putting that thing to work ? Sir NO new post     

[Origami]

what was that mr. schedule 80, you have something to say? no? i didn't think so. now i've got enough umph to slice you up proper, wahahahaha...

 

Wow! I've never seen one of those. That's sweet. What's the size limit on what it can cut?

 

Sent from my phone

 

 

[monkiboy]

Wow, that thing is nice.

 

 

Oh I love that!

I think I need me one of those attachments, and I thought I had most of them...hhhrrrmmmm one more one us toy?

 

 

When are you planning on putting that thing to work ? Sir NO new post     

 

 

Wow! I've never seen one of those. That's sweet. What's the size limit on what it can cut?

 

Sent from my phone

 

 

i know! i'm pretty excited to play around with it and if i dont lose any fingers i'll be happy. tom, i read two reviews that said it was able to cut through 2" sch80 in three seconds but i'll report back without getting too crazy

[steveoutlaw]

Hopefully you won't have any issues, but when I used a poor man's hand cranked cutter it would flare the pipe ends a little.......just enough to keep you from being able to slide the fittings on.  Just a something to check before you do too much cutting.

[steveoutlaw]

Of course, you could always cut the pipe like Bob did.

[monkiboy]

Hopefully you won't have any issues, but when I used a poor man's hand cranked cutter it would flare the pipe ends a little.......just enough to keep you from being able to slide the fittings on.  Just a something to check before you do too much cutting.

yeah, i've always used a ratcheting hand cutter but 1.5" sch80 is too much for it and the darn thing gets annoying rather quickly and i've got a lot of plumbing to do so time for an upgrade.

 

my ratcheting cutter would also egg the pipe but what i found is replacing the blade would provide a like-new clean burr free cut again. the new powered pvc shears work without issue thankfully and hopefully the blade won't need replacement for a while.

 

 

 

Of course, you could always cut the pipe like Bob did.

 

dude....haha!

[AlanM]

My ratcheting hand one does the same thing and flares the bottom of the cut edge, which made it harder to dry fit things, but I found that once I put the solvent on it slid right in like butter. 

 

The only consequence of the flare at that point was that it would kind of scrape a thin ribbon of dissolved PVC into the fitting while inserting that I had to pick out if I wanted the pipe to be unobstructed.

[Origami]

Over the last few years, I've tended to use my 12" chopsaw for big pipe, but it's a bit of a mess with all of the little PVC shavings. Since they don't degrade, you need to do it where you can sweep it up or have a good vacuum attachment.

[monkiboy]

if i told you how long just this took you might not believe me so i won't bother mentioning it. i think i need to relax a bit because figuring out the optimal plumbing job for this tank and revision after revision is getting taxing but i'm having a blast with my power tool PVC shears, haha.

 

i haven't even begun messing with solvent yet but this is looking pretty close to final version.

 

need to get the air line tubing added to the secondary drain, figure out how to secure the pipe to the stand to support it and final length or horizontal runs and positioning of the sump underneath to make sure i don't have issues with air lock on the bean animal.

 

[monkiboy]

ps - if i had to do it again, i would have made the external a bit deeper to allow straight line drains instead of having to mess around with 2 45° to get over the ledge of the stand. it annoys me but the two 45s also aesthetically look nice but it's not 100% and i know it.

[smallreef]

Very cool! Yeah I agree with the ease of straight runs, but it does still look nice, and it may help with the falling water sound?

[BowieReefer84]

You will have an easier time tuning with the gate valve closer to the sump

[AlanM]

You will have an easier time tuning with the gate valve closer to the sump

Yep.  I'd put the gate valve under those 45's as close to the sump top as possible.  Then the pipe can kind of fill up with water from the top down to the valve.

[monkiboy]

thanks for the input folks. i was relying on the bean animal thread and it seemed that they didn't deviate from their original design unless folks had significant drops or large horizontal runs and that was when they suggested to put the valve by the sump.

 

i did more searching and reading this morning and found this post by beananimal:

 

 

The short answer: Just above the sump will be fine (and is in fact prefered)....
 
The longer short answer: On a typical setup, the valve works just fine anywhere on the standpipe, as the drop is not enough to cause cavitation. On longer drops (basement sumps) the valve must be toward the end of the standpipe to prevent cavitation. In some cases (even on a typical setup) lower the valve can also eliminate siphon starting (airlocking) issues.

 

so seems like you guys were right! see this is why you don't glue your first assembly, haha!

 

[AlanM]

I'm airlock city with my BeanAnimal.  Every time the return pump goes off it takes me forever opening and closing the valve to get the air to purge.  I wish I had made a larger volume of water in the overflow box so it wouldn't burp as quickly.  As it is I can't fill the siphon line with air without running out of water in the overflow box, so I can't ever really purge the pipe in one go.  Very frustrating and the reason I'm trying to re-do my plumbing.

[steveoutlaw]

Poppycock - I have my ball valve right under my overflow box and it's a piece of cake to tune.  You'll be fine right where it is..........and save your knees some grief.  Plus, once you get the drain tuned, you don't really have to touch it again.

[londonloco]

Poppycock - I have my ball valve right under my overflow box and it's a piece of cake to tune.  You'll be fine right where it is..........and save your knees some grief.  Plus, once you get the drain tuned, you don't really have to touch it again.

Ditto......both my gate valves are above the sump:

 

 

silent and starts up every time.

[monkiboy]

thanks for the replies. i decided to keep the gate valve for the full siphon were it was.

 

i took apart the temporary sump for the upstairs tank in order to make room for the new sump. moved it to the side and rearranged plumbing to work. it was almost all braided hose so it was pretty easy but took some muscle moving that stupid sump around and into place.

 

 

 

figured out where i wanted the sump for the drains and for ease of removal of the skimmer head for maitenance and got to plumbing.

 

i dont know if i'm just slow, or i overthink things but i was plumbing this darn thing, getting the other sump out the way, water change, filling up again, doing the return for the new system, etc for just over 12 hours today. basically non stop from 3pm to 3am. i was determined to get the 265 moving water and letting it run over night.

 

i finished the returns and all my plumbing was done!

 

 

 

then as water began to drain into the sump i begin to see a big problem emerging...

 

the fu**ing sump is LEAKING---ahhhhhhh!

 

 

needless to say, i drained as much water as i could out of the thing, put a towel down there, cleaned up my tools and gave up.

 

this isn't how i planned to end my evening and feel completely defeated. at the very least, the plumbing is done but now i'll need to wake up in the morning, clean up the mess, drain as much i can again, get the skimmer out, the sump out of there and order up a new one.

 

i leak tested the tank (before it was cut in half and converted to a sump) twice but since then it's been to a few places so how this happened, i am not too sure about.

 

the added expense of a new sump was not in the cards but oh well. at least this time it'll be exactly what i need. it just irritates the heck outta me because i just had it reinforced, cleaned up, edges smoothed, and baffles redone and not it's scrap material.

 

pardon the rant. thanks for reading.

[smallreef]

Where is it leaking from ? Looks like the corner seam or the bottom? Are you sure it's not something that can't be re-Weldon 'd?

[YHSublime]

Bummer man, I know that sump has been through some times, I wouldn't expect leaks. However, I'm glad you find comfort in knowing now you can get what you really want instead. Maybe when you get a chance to step back and look at it again, you can take a look like Kim said, and see where it is leaking, and if it's fixable? It's discouraging nearly being finished, and then roadblocks like this, keep at it, nothing is stopping this build from being short of amazing.

[DCReefer1964]

Real bummer!!!!!!

[DCReefer1964]

thanks for the replies. i decided to keep the gate valve for the full siphon were it was.

 

i took apart the temporary sump for the upstairs tank in order to make room for the new sump. moved it to the side and rearranged plumbing to work. it was almost all braided hose so it was pretty easy but took some muscle moving that stupid sump around and into place.

 

 

 

figured out where i wanted the sump for the drains and for ease of removal of the skimmer head for maitenance and got to plumbing.

 

i dont know if i'm just slow, or i overthink things but i was plumbing this darn thing, getting the other sump out the way, water change, filling up again, doing the return for the new system, etc for just over 12 hours today. basically non stop from 3pm to 3am. i was determined to get the 265 moving water and letting it run over night.

 

i finished the returns and all my plumbing was done!

 

 

 

then as water began to drain into the sump i begin to see a big problem emerging...

 

the fu**ing sump is LEAKING---ahhhhhhh!

 

 

needless to say, i drained as much water as i could out of the thing, put a towel down there, cleaned up my tools and gave up.

 

this isn't how i planned to end my evening and feel completely defeated. at the very least, the plumbing is done but now i'll need to wake up in the morning, clean up the mess, drain as much i can again, get the skimmer out, the sump out of there and order up a new one.

 

i leak tested the tank (before it was cut in half and converted to a sump) twice but since then it's been to a few places so how this happened, i am not too sure about.

 

the added expense of a new sump was not in the cards but oh well. at least this time it'll be exactly what i need. it just irritates the heck outta me because i just had it reinforced, cleaned up, edges smoothed, and baffles redone and not it's scrap material.

 

pardon the rant. thanks for reading.

Who did the acrylic work. I agree Weldon should fix the leak. Just apply it to all the seams, but I know you perfection is everything. For this exact reason my build has halted, plan and plan again. If you need my assistance LMK Sir.

[monkiboy]

Where is it leaking from ? Looks like the corner seam or the bottom? Are you sure it's not something that can't be re-Weldon 'd?

i haven't removed the sump yet and taken outside to test and confirm but i would imagine it's from where the two holes were drilled in the bottom for the overflow from this things original purpose as a reef tank. there was a small sheet of acrylic laid over them on the inside and i imagine it wasn't completely sealed.

 

i'm not certain if it can be re-weldon'd (nice word) but working with virgin and non virgin acrylic materials always has a chance for failure.

 

i'm interested in doing a new one but all my plumbing is done to make this work so i'm somewhat inclined to make this work if it can be done reliably. i called jeff (naga) who has been helping me with this build and we tentatively have a plan of action to seal the bottom of it with a strip and then use foam to level the sump out on the floor. we then seal with a structural sealant and give it a go.

 

 

Bummer man, I know that sump has been through some times, I wouldn't expect leaks. However, I'm glad you find comfort in knowing now you can get what you really want instead. Maybe when you get a chance to step back and look at it again, you can take a look like Kim said, and see where it is leaking, and if it's fixable? It's discouraging nearly being finished, and then roadblocks like this, keep at it, nothing is stopping this build from being short of amazing.

 

i appreciate the words, sir. it's just difficult to see that light right now but knowing me it won't be too long and i'll be up and at 'em again!

 

Real bummer!!!!!!

 

yeah, tell me about it. 4am after 12 hours of work start watching it go and then water just seeping from the darn sump. i nearly lost it.

 

 

Who did the acrylic work. I agree Weldon should fix the leak. Just apply it to all the seams, but I know you perfection is everything. For this exact reason my build has halted, plan and plan again. If you need my assistance LMK Sir.

adam (artfully acrylic) made the sump from the previous tank. jeff (naga) fixed a few issues for me, removed the baffles and re did them for me and reinforced the sump and smoothed out the sharp edges. i think weldon 3 or 4 would work with enough weight but the two holes were drilled in the bottom of the overflow and access to them from inside is near impossible because of how small the openings are to get in there so we'll likely have to go from the bottom to repair this, unfortunately but i think that will provide the best change anyways. thanks for the offer on assistance, i'll keep that in mind!

[79chopperdr]

Just read all 21 pages. Very neat build. Keep up the good work!