Major super insane weekend. Tons of work but I finally have the new sump and Dart up and running. As with all things reef related, this is an ongoing experiment. I went from 2 1262s rated at 900gph to a single Dart Hybrid rated at 3600gph. This was an upgrade with a larger tank in mind next year so it's temporarily rigged into the old 3/4" fittings until next year. While it's overkill, it will help with the overhead chiller and the 2nd frag tank. The only downside to the sump so far (and I'm sure more will come) is that the baffle/fuge section isn't wide enough to accommodate the flow. So the emergency drain area is already getting a decent trickle of water. The fuge will be more of a display for macros than anything else due to it's small size. I'm really happy with the filter section and after discussing some ideas with a friend I think I figured out a way to make the next one better.
The beginnings of Frankensump. A bit of inspiration from Mel's Reef sump documentaries.
First 3" hole ever. I need to get new 1" and 3/4" hole cutters. This new one cut through in about 4mins.
3rd drain hole on the sump for the frag to sump bridge.
3rd hole on the frag tank to accommodate more flow and opening the bean animal up more to the frag tank. This was the first tank I have drilled with water in it and I was freaking the entire time. No biggie after a slow 15mins or so. On to the sump.
I made a quick and dirty platform for the Dart and just sprayed it white Saturday morning.
I've broken the rules and mounted the bulkhead backward to save space. This caused a leak right when it got wet. I had to pull it all apart and try reseating it after cleaning the glass and gasket thoroughly. We're leak free now. If this hadn't worked I would have had to throw away the $25 ball union and go with a straight 2" union and flipped the bulkhead around. It's a tight fit with the heater.
Here we are finished with the 1.5" getting split to dual 3/4" returns. Pathetic but temporary
Up and running, the flow is crazy. I threw all my small rock in with the mangroves until I have time this week to get this sorted out. The filter socks are getting hammered after not running them for months. The skimmer seems to be breaking in nicely. I need to build a platform and a muffler to catch micro bubbles.