Chappys 90 (...just got real!)

My sand storm lasted at least 4 days!

Well, I setup my BeanAnimal without any T split. All three are draining straight to the first chamber (Skimmer/BioPellet section). So I had to fine tune the flow a little bit first, but it was straight forward for me.

Before the 90, I only had 29 with regular Glass-holes overflow, I can tell you that it is a very quiet, well thought system!

What pump are you using for the return? Im looking to upgrade to the Rio 10HF or something efficient yet quiet.

 

When tuning did you just adjust the open channel pipe?
I think I need to revisit the bean animal webpage tonight and have a look. theres a definite gurgle or gulp of air every so often.
I'm just running a cheap aquaone return that I already had right now, i think its 2000lph (around 500gph?) but would like to maybe upgrade to a tunze return when I get a chance, maybe the 1.073.020

 

I see, the gurgle sound happens when the main is too open. Close the valve a hair bit, so the water level INSIDE of the overflow box is high enough, but not too high that the secondary pipe wont kick in. (I call the lowest pipe as the main, second lowest is the secondary, the last one is the emergency. )

But once you adjust it you have to give it some time. It depends on the flow and other factors, but the system tries to even it out itself. (could take as long as 30min.)

 

ahh, without re-reading the article I'd asumed you would want the main fully open at all times. will try backing it off a bit when I get home and see what effect it has, thanks for the tip

 

Yeah, you control the flow with the main and main only. My secondary doesnt have any valve, only the siphon control 1/4" hose coming out of the top of the sanitary. Well just like this:
From left, secondary, main and emergency.

secondary hole is about 3/8" higher than other two, so the main siphons first.

After looking at your pipe setup, the height difference is a lot more than mine. So you might not need the 1/4" hose? I really dont know.

 

updates already!
I didnt end up getting a fish. Was kinda scared I would be rushing it a bit even tho the rock is all cured, and luckily the LFS didnt end up getting the fish in for me anyway, so it wasnt meant to be just yet.
I did however end up with a new appreciation for everyones wonderful aquascapes... they are REALLY hard work!
here is attemp #1

Its a crumby phone pic, but I'm sure you can tell it was horrible.
Ended up deciding alot of the small rocks I'd ended up with were as good as useless. Especially after the LFS had 3 nice big pieces of rock that looked great even sitting by them selves!
This is how much rock I had to jam into the sump...

I'm not sure if its a good idea having all that down there so may try and offload some.
here is the final scape with my awesome new LR on the left side.
fts

left side

right side

I dont think the full amount of awesome is visible in those pics, but I am very happy with it. There are alot of little caves and overhangs of all sorts and sizes. Tried taking a short video but either need to learn how to use my camera better or wait till the rocks are less blindingly white.

I couldnt stand not getting something exciting for the tank so I got a little blue shroom to test the waters with :

I'm kinda hoping it will turn these jagged rock faces into magical cushy cliffs of fishy fun!

eventually anyway...any ideas on how to encourage it onto those parts only? short of buying a heap more and glueing them on I guess lol.
Oh, have been messing with the overflow ocassionally but not quite sorted yet. Isnt bothering anyone enough to make it a problem yet tho so no hurry.
anyway, hope you all like it as much as I do! ;D

 

Nice aquascape! I'll be following along.

I really like the overflow on this tank, since it takes up no space in the actual tank.

 

WOW the fish will love that scape I think! So many little caves for them to hide I know my little kole tank would be in heaven in there. He loves finding all the little crevasses in my tank to swim through as fast as he can Following this tank. Very cool rock pieces and scape ;D
Congrats on the life at last!
Heidi

 

nice set up. I see you went with the silent overflow system. This is what I have on my tank and it very quiet.

 

Thanks!
I had alot of time to consider my overflow, after deciding on the beananimal I figured the external wouldnt take up much more space than the pipes needed back there would anyway. Its awesome knowing that theres no wasted space and am a big fan of the smooth look inside.

I cant wait to get a fish in there and see which little caves they like the best! have decided the only way to buy rock is to hand pick every piece from the LFS. It costs a little extra, but is easily worth it. Was really considering a kole tang, but think I've bumped it off my fish list something else :-/ won't say much on the list tho incase the LFS has trouble getting any of them in