Niko's Reef Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 I recently purchased a 75gal that was predrilled. I'm confused about the setup. Never had a predrilled tank. It has 2 bulkheads on the top and 1 in the back. The back 1 was running to the sump. I understand that part. That's how it was running when I saw it. What I don't understand is what the top bulkheads are for. Please school me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 More input required to school you. With respect to sump/refugium plumbing, there must be at least one line draining from upper tank to lower tank and then there must be at least one line from pump in lower tank (SUMP) to upper tank. Are all bulkheades the same diameter. On the bottom bulkhead, was there a skimmer box for the drain water to sump. Help me help you. I need more information. Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 Patrick, Thanks for your response. Sorry for not being more elaborate. Makes sense about the sump requiring 1 line in and 1 line out. It's a sea clear system 2 that has the original filtration system removed. All the bulkheads have the same diameter. The bottom bulkhead is in the left chamber. The other two bulkheads are identically measured on the left and the right of the top glass inserts. Not too sure about a skimmer box, but I didn't see 1. He was in the process of breaking it down by the time I saw it. At that time, all he had was a customized sump with 3 compartments. I'm not using that sump, but an Eshoops instead if that makes a difference. Hope that helped with some of the questions you asked. Niko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Most likely those are going to be where water comes from the sump and back into the main tank. I have holes like this in my custom biocube, if you check my build thread you will see it. It could also be for running in chillers or any other accessories depending on how the previous owner thinks 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 I would put my money on one drain line and two return lines. Are there overflow wiers? Personally I would use the two top bulkheads as drain lines and use one return line with increased flow. This will allow a 8x turnover rate and eliminate the chance of flood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 Thanks for the responses Bio and Sascha. Was thinking that's what they were for, just thought it would be in the back. I'll check your build thread out Bio to see if it's similar. I was trying to google it, but couldn't really find any with the bulkheads on top. Sascha, he told me that it had to do something with it preventing it from flooding. I just was kind of overwhelmed at the moment he was talking to me, with the purchase decision. I'm more of the type of person who has to see something to understand. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 Oops. Forgot to answer the overflow wiers question. No, there is none. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Thanks for the responses Bio and Sascha. Was thinking that's what they were for, just thought it would be in the back. I'll check your build thread out Bio to see if it's similar. I was trying to google it, but couldn't really find any with the bulkheads on top. Sascha, he told me that it had to do something with it preventing it from flooding. I just was kind of overwhelmed at the moment he was talking to me, with the purchase decision. I'm more of the type of person who has to see something to understand. Thanks. Google closed loop plumbing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dshel1217 Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Niko, I live close by to ya let me know if you need some help setting up. Dont know whats up with your settup but two heads are better then one. Pm if you need a hand. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 Thanks Sascha for all your help. I will look it up tomorrow. Knew I had to be doing something wrong. Dave, I appreciate that. I'll more then likely take u up on that offer. This setup will be all new to me. I'll pm u n a few weeks when I'm ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 As Bio3 pointed out there is a multitude of ways to plump systems depending on the considerations of whoever sets it up. If there is no wier or overflow box for the lower bulkhead fitting I would plug it and not use it. Without an overflow if there a failure in the plumping or power failure potentially water could drain out to the level of the lower bulkhead fitting. Closed loop systems work fine but are more expensive to plump, more difficult to work on and in the case of a prolonged power failure are more likely to go anaerobic quicker. Very good idea to see how some other aquarists have set up thier systems and why. I like to keep everything as symple as possible and as easy to work on as possible and give consideration to what may happen if something fails or if there is a power failure. The key to long term success is not having a fancy filtration system but consistently maintaining said system for the decades your animals are capable of living. A system that is complex and difficult to access especially if something critical fails is much more of a challenge to be maintained adequitely over time. Considering the location of the one bulkhead fitting without an overflow I would point out using a checkvalve to prevent a flood in the case of an pump and/or power failure is a very bad idea as there are worms and sponges that grow inside plumping and they will prevent the checkvalve from working. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 Thanks Tim. I totally agree with you on all your points. This setup makes me truly nervous. I want to keep it as simple as possible. The guy that sold it to me mentioned I could plug it, or use a checkvalve. I never seen a setup like it, so I'm lost. Didn't know what would be best. I got the plumbing, a different sump, and different lights yesterday. I wasn't planning on purchasing anything yet, but I found a deal that I was really comfortable with. This pushed up my time frame quite a bit, but I still planed on taking my time setting it up. After reading your post though, I think I need to pump the brakes hard. I need to do a lot more research online, talking to people, and seeing different setups similar to it. I appreciate all the input and volunteering to help me set it up. I was nervous about posting this topic and felt silly. I'm so glad I did. I've gained a lot of info from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 Bio, It is indeed similar to your setup. Looks like you have 2 bulkheads with the same diameter, and 1 that is bigger. Is that correct? Amazing build you did on the cube by the way. I'm going to try to get some pics and figure out how to add them on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted July 9, 2012 Author Share Posted July 9, 2012 Still haven't figured out the posting pic thing, but I added the pics of the tank to my gallery. <div></div> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted July 9, 2012 Author Share Posted July 9, 2012 That's weird. It was showing the pics this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 That's weird. It was showing the pics this morning. Most likely an issue with the server downtime yesterday. We had to restore backups of the images so there was a window of time in which uploads were lost. You'll need to re-upload. Sorry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chippwalters Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 The Bean Animal overflow uses 3 bulkheads. You might want to Google it and learn about how it works. I suspect it's one inflow and two drain overflows. The second overflow is a safety outflow which can be setup to drain just above the main overflow. This way, if the main overflow gets clogged, the water will rise to the second overflow and drain out properly through it. Just a guess, but I've seen this done a number of times-- and it's a pretty good for peace of mind where overflows are concerned! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 Thanks Chippwalters. Makes sense to me. I'm going to have to do some research on it when I got back from honeymoon. I'm going to try to repost pics as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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