Jimroth's Big Ol' Tank

[jimroth]

Was having continued problems with back-siphoning, now solved. Solution:
1)Used two 45deg elbows to zig-zag the return closer to the surface.
2)I did myself a favor when I planned the distribution manifold off the return. With a couple of the valves open, you shut off the pump, and the manifold immediately breaks the siphon on the garage side.
Plus the flow through the manifold is way more than I thought, now that the pump is cranked up all the way; I think I may be able to run enough to go through the chiller. I have to do a volume test.

More weirdness: The Dart return pump is on, drains are running quietly. I turn on the skimmer pump. One of the drains starts to slurp. What changed to make that happen? Is the lower level in the sump making the drain siphon faster? Skimmer pump making the return pump work harder? I'm bamboozeled. Maybe it's water being drawn off by the manifold.

 

[jimroth]

I added a few more gallons to the system, no more slurping intakes.

The flow rate from the manifold spigots is 15 seconds per gallon, lessee, 4GPM, 240GPH. Not enough for a chiller but plenty for carbon, fuge, etc.

 

[jimroth]

Test ran my Vortec MP40 last night. I know this will probably not happen to many people, but here goes: If you buy a Vortec, and the battery backup kit, you get TWO power adaptors. The BIG one goes to the little pump. The LITTLE one goes to the BIG battery. If you mix these up, the Vortec will try to run on 12 volts, which it can't do, but it will run a little, which will drive you nuts. I almost banged my head against the wall in frustration. Eventually a complete reading of the Vortec forum posts on RC at 12:15am revealed my mistake, and everything went better.
Another daunting problem, and I might have thought of this if I was more clever: My plumbing holds a lot of water. I have a lot of water in circulation when the system's running. If I put a baffle in the slot nearest the return pump intake, and turn the pump on, there is not enough water in that compartment to fill the system and get water going back down the drains to the sump. The pump would run dry. I have to try some stuff, maybe some small holes in the baffle, Or something trickier.

 

[Baxreefs]

I found the instruction for the VOrTech pretty slim.

As for the sump, hopefully another water level adjustment in running sump will resolve it. If that would rais the operating level too high, how are your baffles set up? A couple of 1" holes may be the solution.

Maybe a pic of the return section with final baffles running would help.

 

[jimroth]

Yeah, the vortech people would do themselves a favor if they printed ALL that Q&A stuff from their forums and email and included it with the product. It's a $400 gadget after all, not some 99-cent thermometer!

Someone convinced me of the wisdom of making the baffles out of acrylic, and then I discovered that HD sells pieces of somewhat thicker acrylic, I think it's 0.25, so that's what I'm using. I just have to run it through the saw to get it the right size. I figure if it's acrylic, I can easily adjust the height (down, anyway) and drill some holes if need be, even mount some small bulkheads and valves for fine-tuning.

Latest work:
Mounted a new pegboard on the far side of the garage, enabling me to get all the hand tools out of the workbench and reefbench areas. Much neater now.
Sorted FIVE BOXES of PVC plumbing parts into a six-drawer polyethylene storage unit. The drawers are clear so youse can see what's inside.
Washed 80lbs of Caribsea Special Reef grade aragonite. Man, do they dig that stuff out of a forest? I thought the leaves and twigs would never stop coming out.
Drilled 1/4" holes all along 10' of black PVC pipe for my rock rack. A drill stand is helpful for drilling holes in pipes.
Made final version of my return manifold in (mostly) black PVC. 1/2" LocLine was too small for the return nozzles, I'm gonna need some 3/4" and adaptors.

 

[jimroth]

Another daunting problem, and I might have thought of this if I was more clever: My plumbing holds a lot of water. I have a lot of water in circulation when the system's running. If I put a baffle in the slot nearest the return pump intake, and turn the pump on, there is not enough water in that compartment to fill the system and get water going back down the drains to the sump. The pump would run dry.

Hey look, I'm correcting myself!:

No Jim! If the power went out, the skimmer pump would come on at the same time as the main pump, and pump all that water from the first chamber to the chamber with the inlet to the chamber with the return pump intake. Here, install that baffle and I'll show ya!
(installs baffle) (shuts off power) (turns on BOTH pumps)

Wow Jim, you were right, it worked perfectly! Gosh!

 

[momof6kids]

Another daunting problem, and I might have thought of this if I was more clever: My plumbing holds a lot of water. I have a lot of water in circulation when the system's running. If I put a baffle in the slot nearest the return pump intake, and turn the pump on, there is not enough water in that compartment to fill the system and get water going back down the drains to the sump. The pump would run dry.

Hey look, I'm correcting myself!:

No Jim! If the power went out, the skimmer pump would come on at the same time as the main pump, and pump all that water from the first chamber to the chamber with the inlet to the chamber with the return pump intake. Here, install that baffle and I'll show ya!
(installs baffle) (shuts off power) (turns on BOTH pumps)

Wow Jim, you were right, it worked perfectly! Gosh!

Jim, you crack me up!! ;D ;D

 

[jimroth]

I drained all the "test water" out of the tank last week. I built my rock support/spraybar out of black PVC this weekend, it looks just as I had imagined it. Pictures to follow. But it still looks really unnatural, I'm glad I'm laying down some aragonite to hide it. I don't know if I will ever USE it as a spraybar, but I want to have the option, even if it's just to occasionally hook up a hose to the pipe and blow out some detritus to get it in suspension.
In reading Calfo's Coral Propagation book, I found a really good idea for making a rock overhang out of PVC (supporting live rock). So I'm going to give it a try. Since it's supporting weight, I'm going to use 1" PVC, the spraybar is 3/4". Of course, I don't HAVE enough black PVC, so it's back to Savko for yet another expensive trip. Anybody need any 1/2" LocLine? :
I had a good, tiny idea. I'm putting little plastic hooks from HD in each upper corner of the tank, hidden by the rim, for cord management and supporting things etc. Seems like it could come in handy later, and it's easy to put in now, while the tank is dry!
Did the final set-up on my (old) new RO unit, and I have started to make some water!!!

 

[Phyl]

Sounds like you're making good progress, Jim. Hurry with the pictures!!

 

[jimroth]

Re: Jimroth's Big Ol' Tank: More Photos

Okay, photo time. Here's the rock support out of the tank so you can see the shape:

Here it is IN the tank. This is how I pictured it in my head (and doodled it in a boring business meeting). It will probably be changing. For one thing, I want to attach the PVC holder for the rock shelf at one end of the tank. For another, I figure out I can put tees in one of those cross pieces and run some (black!) 1/2" PVC straight up and build some columns on it:

Looking from the other end. You can see the manifold is pretty well hidden now, I probably could have just used white PVC

Close shot of the manifold. Each of those outlets will have a short section of 3/4" LocLine when it arrives.

Moving backwards, here's the sump baffle with the skimmer pump off. As you can see, lots of water going over the top:

Ands with the skimmer pump ON, no water going over the baffle, almost all the water is going through the skimmer. That is some pump. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Some water does go underneath, since the baffle is not glued in, just slid in.

On To the rock support, as soon as the box from Savko gets here.

 

[jimroth]

Got about 100G of saltwater made so far. I figgered out you could use a traffic cone as a funnel to get salt into those little bungholes on the plastic drums. My neighbor is a town worker (and a hobbiest) so he got me a nearly-new cone. Worked like a charm. I got the idea when I heard that soldiers in Iraq were using them to fill sandbags.
Speaking of Iraq, my buddy Lt. Col. John S. is finally shipping out for a year in the sandbox next Monday. I gave him some Macanudo cigars and some DVDs to pass the time. Hope he comes back OK!
Anyhoo, I made a drum stirrer out of a plastic model boat propeller and a long steel rod. It was only a 2-blade prop and the results weren't that impressive. Hobby store didn't have a 4-blade prop.
Finished my PVC rock-support-with-cave-accessory. We'll have to see how it looks with the rock on it, the cave part looks like a high-tech nightmare, possibly due to the combination of black and white PVC.
Gonna be time to order live rock soon! What to do, what to do?

 

[Brian]

Gonna be time to order live rock soon! What to do, what to do?

Are you going to get Marco rock?

 

[jimroth]

No, I'm going to get live rock from Dr. Mac. I think. I have about 100lbs of rock from my old 90G that's been "cooking" for 2 years, so that goes in first.
Dr. Mac has Fiji LR for 2.99 a pound right now. Plus, he's 1 UPS zone away from me, so I can pay UPS ground shipping and get the rock the next day.
I get the whole Marco Rocks thing, it's just that I love to see what shows up with the live rocks! It's like turning over stones when you're a kid.
For curing, I am going to be running BOTH the AE1000 and MR-2 skimmers. I made a kind of temorary hookup for the MR2. Should be entertaining!

 

[jimroth]

Dr. Mac is now offering us in the club free UPS ground shipping, making my decision even easier!

 

[jimroth]

Despite what it said originally, rock and sand is NOT included. Boo hiss! Fie on you Dr. Mac, may a sea urchin hide amongst your Jockey Shorts.

Prolly still gonna buy my rock from him, it's one zone away and I don't have to pay sales tax.

 

[momof6kids]

Despite what it said originally, rock and sand is NOT included. Boo hiss! Fie on you Dr. Mac, may a sea urchin hide amongst your Jockey Shorts.

Thanks for the laugh, I needed it. ;D

 

[jimroth]

Awright...got all the rock from my old 90 out of the cookin' tub and into the big tank. It does look like a lot of rock. Not sure if I need a full 100lbs of new rock, I certainly don't need more. Spent some time attaching rocks to PVC on a trial basis..it's working OK, I hope the cable ties become "less obvious." I had a bunch of masonry bits lying around, so I drilled holes in some LR. It sure is easy to drill, and the holes come out quite neat. If I had realized that during my last reef experience, I would have drilled holes to mount some key frags instead of relying on putty, super glue, bubble gum, etc.
Moving the water out of 4 drums into the system was predictably a pain in the buttocks. I have cut a hole in the drums just large enough to put a 402 powerhead in, that came in handy. Started it up and ran it for a bit, one sump bulkhead leaked a bit till I tightened it.
As always, pictures to follow!

 

[jimroth]

The rock rack with new Cave Attachment.

Rock with cable tie through it.

The rock rack with attached rocks

Drilling rock with the masonry bit:

No comment:

Rock after 2+ yeasrs cooking

Here comes some saltwater!!

 

[Phyl]

*applause* Way to go! Glad to see water finally hitting the tank!

 

[camz28]

allright there cmes the water , looks good cant wait to see it fully loaded .
Great work on the rack