The Underwater Fields of Anfield Road - Under Construction

[Scouse]

Well last night i made giant leaps for octokind an stuck all me pipework together and had the first full on water test, whhooo hhooo!!!

All went like a dream except i forgot to put in my return ball gate and there was a minor dribble leak from the connection within the pipework and glass between tank and sump. nugget here forgot to load up with mounds of sealant underneath an only put some on the pipe stickin to the top of the glass in the weir. right im wafflin.

This may not seem big to you but ive been lookin at a dry tank since the end of september, so wet glass is lookin really sexy at the mo. hence the pic -sumthin to look at!!!

Obviously need to do away with some glass on the top an open up with mesh or whatever for gas exchange an put me equipment in the sump (some got some not).

But any comments would be most welcome

BTW how far from your glass at the top do you reckon you should have your water line, mines only 1-2cm an touchin some cases...hmmm ???

 

[Scouse]

......

 

[Phil]

Sorry, I can't help you with the tank, but I'd just like to say having John, Paul, George and Ringo in the background is pure class!

Excellent, an octopuses garden indeed.

 

[neptune]

scouse some tank you have there it looks great.

Love the abby rd background. 8)

Don't know if there is a golden rule, but I like the glass top, as I have one, but I would just either ajust your return so it faces down or drain just a slight bit of water out. Noticed the overflow is built in, so you are going to atleast have the water to that point since it can not me moved.

Check and make sure your return isn't blasting into the glass. You want the top surface to be active for exchange, and a lillte water is not going to hurt the glass, as long as it not hitting anything else. IE lights, etc.

Hope that helps.

 

[Colin]

scouser

does the overflow not constantly sound like a toilet??? just wondering if the overflow is fast enough to cause a syphon down the pipe???

As an ex-tank builder.. the stress bars are always ~5cm below the top of the tank and so anywhere lower than that is cool 8)

 

[neptune]

On other quick point of interest. Can't tell truly from the pics, but have you turned system off to see what overflows in to sump. Water looks high in the pics. But like I said may be an illusion, just trying to help.


Colin, are all tanks made that way. If so we should leave over two inches from the water to the top???? You have me concerned as none of my tanks are that low!!

 

[Colin]

that depends on the thickness of the glass... the rules we had were...

4mm glass up to 12"
6mm glass up to 20"
10mm glass up to 25"
12mm glass up to 30"
15mm glass to 36"
19mm up to 42"
25mm glass to 50"

Thats the guidelines that we set up for the maximum depth of water in a tank made from glass that particular thickness. The stressbars is what gives the front of the tank at the top, in the middle, its strength as thats the weakest part of the tank...

Eg my fish tank is 30" deep made from 12mm thick glass, the stress bars are 50mm down and the water level is normally about 5mm under that

hope that made sense

 

[neptune]

totally will check my measurements when I get home, but I should be in the clear! Thanks for the quick response!

 

[Colin]

yeah, i wouldnt worry about it, glass is more felxible that people think...

 

[Scouse]

Thanks for the kind comments folks

Neptune - good point on the return pointin up, i hadnt noticed it was sprayin water against the glass. Will adjust tonight when i do my ball gate. Also that was well noticed about the water levels in the sump, wondered whether anyone would comment on that, bizarre, but yeh i had turned off the pump, nice one.

Colin - To be honest mate i havnt the foggiest, with the water gushin around that mech filter without any media its soundin like a toilet anyway!! Actually i need to find a method of bein able to temp fix that colinder in place otherwise it'll just get washed out the way!

Ive got an airline on the dursal to stop the noise an if i put my finger over the end it starts garglin like mad. But once ive re-jigged the return an fixed my filter ther'll be less noise from them, so i can actually hear if im gettin mega sounds out of it, nice one.


This would all of been a lot simpler had i placed all the previously cut piping back in place prior to sticking an not just stickin willy nilly after a load of red wine!! I stood back admiring my handy work an noticed the ball gate next to my foot, the rest is history....

Other than that im amazed the sump holds water with the amount of glass partitions an shelves have been smashed out with a hammer!!!

 

[neptune]

you really are a

glad to be of help. let us know how it turns out

 

[Scouse]

ha ha, nice one neptune, will do!

Colin - you were sayin the weir might not be fast enough an ive watched the water level in there now......

it goes up an down for a while then settles for ages an then occasionally goes up an down. I think there is a problem there any ideas?

oh i also tried takin the black weir gaurd away so it was just the glass to see how much the guard my be withstricting flow, which it is, but the same happens with the level......

cheers in advance

 

[Colin]

reason i asked is because the bend at the top of your downflow pipe will ocassionally cause the water level to rise... just enough to start a syphon, i think thats a bit like how a toilet works... ceratinly like how a surge bucket works in a fish tank

http://www.planet-reef.com/surge1.htm that should make sense of what i mean??????? i hope


try removing the bend and see what it does?

 

[Colin]

also, your sump looks like quite a high water level, if you switch off the pumps can your sump hold all the excess water from your tank???

just in case you have a power cut mate

 

[neptune]

no credit....

I asked him earlier...