Also, do you think two 1 1/2" overflow pipes will keep up with the two pumps I am putting in? I know I can dial them down but I just want to make sure I can turn it over as much as I will need to. Never worked with anything near as big as this 
600 gallon acrylic tear down and rebuild or roll the dice?
- Thread starter bluehand
- Start date
Yup, they have the fast tape at home depot. Its grey colored. In a black and red container. Its not much more than the reg. stuff.
Ehh.. thats debatable also lol… im not one for high turn over rates but i am one for appropriate sized holes so the amt ur supplying is actually getting turned over. When the pumps are off you should only lose 1/4” or so of water from the tank. Alot of people blast with higher pumps and the waters not actually getting drained out. If ur losing 1”-2” of water with ur pumps off u dont have enough drains.Also, do you think two 1 1/2" overflow pipes will keep up with the two pumps I am putting in? I know I can dial them down but I just want to make sure I can turn it over as much as I will need to. Never worked with anything near as big as this
Basically what ur running in the tank will have to match up for ur sump transfer tubes as well or that 1st sump will back up.
Sadly, i do think ull need bigger drains. Its doable but not easy to open up existing holes. They make suction cup style jigs that can help. Wood underneath can help also so u can utilize the pilot bit to keep u from losing ur place. May sound crazy but two 2-3” drains should get u alot closer if u have enough room to open up ur existing holes. If not ull need 2 more 1 1/2” at least. Id try to open up ur existing holes 1st before adding more stand pipes.
Another option is utilize the 1” holes u already have for more drains. Will make for alot of pipes underneath but will solve the problem easy. 1” flex tube is pretty cheap and easy to keep clean underneath the stand. Same grey stuff u have pictured on ur 1-11/2” pipe when u did ur test fill. Even if u just cut ur returns in half thatd give u 4 more 1” holes to help the cause. Worst case scenario use all 8 lol… then run ur returns up and over the tank lip. Plenty options to play with in front of u. Only thing ull really have to do is add more transfer tubes from one sump to the next.
Wow...sumpoholics and their partitions always amaze me, especially when they sell their Escher-esque creations and the new owner has to puzzle out what the hell the first guy was thinking. 
I especially love dumb touches like those two useless compartments
wednesday13
mentioned; partitions for partitons' sake. 
I know I'd be jig-sawing all those things out in short order. And for sure it needs more connections between the two parts.
This has got to be one of my favourite threads ever on MFK. Terrific build, and amazing rate of progress. It's really making me yearn to try working with an acrylic tank. If only I were 20 years younger...and maybe single...
I've just got two questions.
First: Your worry about the inlets draining the tank...is that related to siphoning the water back in case the power goes out? If that's it, all you need to do is run the inlets right up to the top, and then back down to whatever level you wish them to be. Drill a little pinhole in each one at the elbow at the top, right at the water level. If the power dies, that hole will break the siphon as soon as the water level begins to drop.
Second (and much more important): Are you planning to build some kind of wall or partition (there's that word again... ) or other construction to protect those vertical standpipes from interference by the fish? One of the worst floods I ever experienced occurred in one of my very early tanks, a plywood job that had holes drilled in the bottom like yours for all the inlets and outlets. I used ABS pipe for the drains, and PVC for the returns. Worked great...for years...until some idiot big-assed fish decided that it needed to jam itself into the gap between a corner drain pipe and the wall of the tank. Once it got into that several-inch gap, right at the top, it was able to exert enough pressure on the pipe to crack the threaded connection at the bottom, and that wasn't fun. That was the last time I used bottom-drilled bulkheads, ever. Lesson learned.
Looking forward to further progress!
I especially love dumb touches like those two useless compartments
wednesday13
mentioned; partitions for partitons' sake. I know I'd be jig-sawing all those things out in short order. And for sure it needs more connections between the two parts.This has got to be one of my favourite threads ever on MFK. Terrific build, and amazing rate of progress. It's really making me yearn to try working with an acrylic tank. If only I were 20 years younger...and maybe single...
I've just got two questions.
First: Your worry about the inlets draining the tank...is that related to siphoning the water back in case the power goes out? If that's it, all you need to do is run the inlets right up to the top, and then back down to whatever level you wish them to be. Drill a little pinhole in each one at the elbow at the top, right at the water level. If the power dies, that hole will break the siphon as soon as the water level begins to drop.
Second (and much more important): Are you planning to build some kind of wall or partition (there's that word again...
) or other construction to protect those vertical standpipes from interference by the fish? One of the worst floods I ever experienced occurred in one of my very early tanks, a plywood job that had holes drilled in the bottom like yours for all the inlets and outlets. I used ABS pipe for the drains, and PVC for the returns. Worked great...for years...until some idiot big-assed fish decided that it needed to jam itself into the gap between a corner drain pipe and the wall of the tank. Once it got into that several-inch gap, right at the top, it was able to exert enough pressure on the pipe to crack the threaded connection at the bottom, and that wasn't fun. That was the last time I used bottom-drilled bulkheads, ever. Lesson learned.Looking forward to further progress!
I think that is a great idea to utilize some of the 1" holes as returns as well. I think I will make 4 of them return and that will still leave me with 4 inlets. Like you said, if that doesn't end up being enough then I can make all of them returns and run vinyl tubing up the back side for the inlets.
Couple fittings short that I will pick up tomorrow but this gets me shifted to all vinyl tubing 
