So I am trying to think of some different mounting solutions, and one that I keep coming back to is using the drain pipes themselves as a mounting structure. So I am going to try to explain this without pictures but if it ends up needing pictures I will whip something up in SketchUp. My thought is to put a tee on the bottom of each drain, and have this rest on the bottom of the sump. Or maybe put a tee on each drain and then elbows off every new opening of the tees to make a sort of 4-legged structure that rests on the bottom of the sump. In this scond configuration I would have to notch the bottom all of the legs so water could get out. In my head this kills two birds with one stone, drain pluming and a mounting structure. I'm sure I am missing something fundamental though that makes this a bad idea...
Here's one that @iced98lx mounted from the drain pipes Supporting scrubber via the drains The issue with the mounting you describe is that it's difficult (not impossible) to control the center drain flow with a valve or the flap valve that I include - that needs to be open underneath. The secondary drain does not need to be at a specific height as that is not really intended to run as a tuned siphon So for the center drain, the idea is to have that terminate just below the water surface, then add the flapper valve under that for controlling the flow. I fyou used a gate valve, then you would want the end of the flow path to be just below the water surface (i.e. valve mounted just above surface, then either the outlet of the valve submerged 0.5-1" or a short pipe extension added to achieve that) When you bring that drain all the way down to the bottom of the sump, you have a column of water above the water surface that will entrap air. So adding a valve in there will airlock your drain, and you'll get either gurgling and flushing or just very little flow, with more flow diverted to the side drain (a lot) Also, the heat sinks are offset slightly to the side that is opposite the side drain, so your pipes would be on the wrong side of the center of gravity (but that can be overcome by turning the center T to run parallel to the scrubber, and extending it) The better solution, IMO, is to use the side drain as one "foot", then put an elbow at the bottom, then go into a cross adapter. From the cross adapter, extend 2 short pieces of pipe sideways and add end caps to create the stability side-to-side. On the last outlet, extend that a bit more then go into an elbow that is turned up, and add pipe extending up to the bottom of the scrubber base (on the end opposite the secondary drain...look at me, I'm Captain Obvious!) and this will give you the end-to-end support points and also keep the scrubber from tipping over. You might have to fiddle with it to get it exactly right, and you would want to bond the piece into the cross that is underwater so that it doesn't just rotate in the fittings and tip over HTH Bud PS here is a link for some setup instructions: QUICK START GUIDE
I had to reread this about 10 times but I think I get it now, so the main drain would come down and end, as it should, about an inch or two below the water surface. The support structure would all be made using the emergency (side) drain. You say to cap the ends but wouldn't this prevent the drain from acting as an emergency drain? I think, if I understand correctly, I could just use tome unions instead of caps, and get the same stability benefit of the end caps, but still give the water a place to escape that doesn't force it to go back up above the water?
Generally, for a tuned siphon, you want it no more than 1" below the surface. But otherwise, yes correct - you need an outlet, so a coupler would work also. I think when you say unions that is what you mean. Edit: the point was that you have to put something on the ends of the pipe that are acting as "feet" so that it doesn't rock back and forth
what I have done is design a pvc pipe with two end caps so that it rests on the inner lip of my 20 long sump. I mounted it to side (if you can imagine) and on 12 square inches grow light on the side (outside the tank of course). There is a t in the middle with a 1/2" vinyl tube extending to the pump very simple hope this helps
Here is a model I made of what I am envisioning. Not sure if it's going to work or not. Not sure what the clearance is going to be like between the 3-way elbows and the drain pipes:
That should work very well The end of the L2 base that has the secondary drain is very close to the edge, when you push on the 2" to 1.5" reducing coupler, that doesn't leave a lot of room for the scrubber to rest on the pipe going across that end. So you might take those two 3-ways and make them regular elbow. If you support the scrubber along the edge of the long dimension, or even in the 4 corners, it's very stable.
Well, that worked about as well as I could have hoped. Your suggestion to just use regular elbows on the secondary drain side was spot on. My sump is pretty cramped, but it just so happened that it fit perfectly right next to my skimmer: Pulled it out a bit to try to show the structure more in case anyone else wants to replicate this: I ended up not adding the stabilizing feet on the bottom due to space issues. It feels pretty solid without them. Going to do the plumbing tomorrow. So this is off topic for this thread, but is the Rio 1100 sized right out of the box for the L2? Or do I need to tune it down with one of the supplied valves?
With my last DIY ATS I made a scaffold/rig of plastic tube not a million miles away for what you have done. However, I wanted to utilise the area beneath my new ATS for Siporax. I understand that my new mounting idea might not suit you or everybody but it frees up the whole area beneath my ATS. I simply had 2 pieces of 3" x 3/8" glass to which I stuck a couple of white plastic angle blocks to in order to prevent the supports sliding forward and falling into the sump. The glass strips are simply placed astride the sump edges and my ATS sits on them making removal of the ATS and the glass supports very easy when needed. I can move the ATS around on top of the supports easily should I need to.
Looks good! Just FYI, you can change the direction of the interconnect so that both wires come out of the same side. Just remove the fixture, reverse the direction of the cable, then slide it back in. If both cables are going the same direction on the master fixture (the one with the dimming knob) you have to guide it a bit but you'll see what I mean. I would dial it back probably. When you first fire it up, start with the valve about halfway open, then adjust the flow until you are just getting coverage to most of the screen. If you start to get water "arcing" across the screen, back off the flow. Start with the dimmer in the 6 o'clock position and run for 9-12 hours/day. At first, you are just wanting to get growth started, you're not really aiming for active filtration. Too much flow can slow the initial attachment process, and doesn't do you any good anyways. Too much light can photosaturate whatever growth you are getting.
