|
|
|
|
#53
04/13/2005, 11:03 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
My thanks to mmgm, who started this informative thread, and to those of you who have offered suggestions that are helpful to all of us. I am designing a 400 gal display tank with at least 400 gal of sump/refugium.
My tank is going into a new house that is being renovated, and I have some flexibility. The living room and family room in the house are separated by 2 large side-by-side walk-in closets. My plan has been to create a "fish room" where the closets are and to have an in-wall tank facing the living room. In order to minimize noise and, to a lesser extent, heat, I plan to put the sump, refugium, skimmer, etc in the basement below. Now I am wondering if I should follow mmgm's format and omit the fish room, simply placing the tank on an attractive stand in the family room, with an aperture in the wall to the living room. I have some reservations, however. My current tank is a 265 gal in-wall in a dedicated fish room. I have lineoleum flooring in the fish room and a drain. A catastrophic event will not result in ruined carpets, etc. Additionally, I have a sink and refrigerator right there. I don't have to worry about splashing salt water or otherwise making any kind of mess in habitable space. Finally, I have a black screen that can be lowered behind the fish room side of the tank, so that when it is viewed from the display side, you don't look into the fish room. Any thoughts about this? |
|
#54
04/13/2005, 05:25 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
Enjoy your project and make sure to share progress on RC......  Fursphere I called the check valve company and ordered four valves..... They are not cheap but guarenteed to prevent the tank from emptying out in the event of a leak in the closed loop system..... Also purchased some heavy duty PVC ball valves that I will place near the tank in the event I have to remove the Ocens Motions 8 way for mintenence and repair..... Valves should be in by Friday so by Sunday I should be dealing with a full tank of water.......
Last edited by mmgm; 04/13/2005 at 05:39 PM. |
|
#55
04/17/2005, 09:46 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Tank Full of Water
This week I managed to install the check valve assembly that will be my insurance policy to prevent the tank from emptying out onto the floor in the event of a leak in my closed loop system..... These check valves are top quality and do not leak even when you pour a glass of water through them......
I filled the tank yesterday and powered up the pumps that circulate 4000 gph through the system...... Also, I installed the Oceans Motions powerheads. Really simple and cool devices. I'm happy to report everything seems to be working fine....... This week I plan to complete the aquascaping.... I'm not sure how the arch will look and considering removing to get a more natural look...... I will probably post a poll asking opinions on whether the arch should be removed or left in place.... After rockwork is completed I will need to wait for the lights to be delivered before moving the corals over to the new tank. I don't want to rush the move and will probably let the system sit for at least 3 weeks before attempting the move. Some issues I ran into to date..... 1. I had to install another overflow in my refugium..... Due to 4000 gph of flow the fuge was filling up faster than water leaving the fuge to sump. 2. When turning off all pumps my sump comes close to overflowing. Right now I have to make sure the sump water level is on the low end to prevent overflow.....  I'm thinking about installing additional check valves from the pump side to prevent back-flow of water when the system is shut off....3. The center chamber of my sump empties faster than water coming into the sump. I had to pump in water from sump 2 to maintain proper water level. When I disconnect the 90 gallon system this problem will go away..... 4. I lost my Batfish..... Two hours after I added about 100 gallons of new water to the system the batfish died. Also, my leather and some softies are showing signs of stress.... Just goes to show you how sensitive the life in our systems truely are....Anyway, here are some pics of the progress.... Hope this is informative and useful information...... Enjoy....... First pic shows the check valve assembly...... I truely recomend anyone with an Oceans Motions system installed UNDER your tank to consider something similar......  Next pic shows the check valve assembly installed in the tank......  Next pic shows full tank from kitchen view..... Note the OM powerheads installed from the top of the tank.....  Next pic shows close up of one of the OM poweheads....  Last pic shows full tank from family room view....... Making some progress......... 
|
|
#56
04/18/2005, 12:01 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
I am very happy the check valves were installed..... Also, the rotation motor seems to be stuck...... Will be taking apart the 8 way to determine what is wrong...... Nothing is easy until done....... 
|
|
#57
04/18/2005, 12:38 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
|
|
#58
04/18/2005, 05:03 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
As far as the Oceans Motions not rotating... I'm not sure what happened yet...... However, I will need to add a drain that will allow me to service the unit as needed..... Right now to service the unit all water in the system ends up on the floor. As far as the 8 way working currently water is flowing out of all 4 powerheads and not switching to penductors or rotating between powerheads. I'll have to pull apart to see what is going on. I'll update the thread once this is fixed. |
|
#60
04/18/2005, 07:25 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
|
|
#62
04/19/2005, 07:12 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
mmgm:
The rotational problems you are having with the 8 way is because of the backpressure from the Penductors. littlesilvermax and myself have attempted the same thing; you may have to customize your drum to utilize the eductors due to the backpresure they put on the drum. I have a flow test loop I designed to test a 4 way with 4 eductors, one per port. Paul (from OM) sent me some additional drums to perform some additional testing with. I'll PM you with a solution when I get one. In the sort term, removing your eductors will solve the problem. You can also call Paul, I talked with him for about an hour on Saturday about all this and i think we came up with a solution, I'll test it on Thursday. Bryan |
|
#63
04/19/2005, 05:53 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
I think making the Penductors work with the 8 way will make a big difference in flow patterns created in the tank..... I removed the Penductors and turned the unit on.... Rotation was good for a few minutes and then the drum seemed to jam again..... Is there something I'm missing here as far as resetting the unit to start working again? I spoke with Paul last night and seems like the 8 way was well designed and very durable...... Paul was also very helpful to speak with........ Am I missing something here? Sounds like it should be working but it is not......... 
|
|
#64
04/19/2005, 06:42 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
mmgm,
I had a few issues with the eight-way that Paul helped me with, mostly based on the fact that all of my outlets were drilled through the bottom of the tank. What was happening was this: when flow was "off" from a given outlet, sand and algae that were blowing around/off of my LR would settle down the inactive outlet. That would settle in the drum, and then the drum would jam. I'd stop the drum, clean it, and try over. Well, it kept happening. Paul sent me a second drum as a "run in" unit... I used a belt sander and sanded it down by about 1/16" (leaving a ring that wasn't sanded on the edge that the seal resides on) and all my problems went way while the tank settled in. The downside was that a little flow still came from each outlet while the drum rotated. After about a month of run time I went to the original drum and all was good. --Sean-- |
|
#65
04/19/2005, 07:08 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
mmgm,
You may also check to make sure the lubrication of the drum is okay. Additionally, I would open the drum area to make sure that the drum is not cocked against the side of the 4 way, due to the uneven back pressures created by the Penductors on the 2 lines. Bryan |
|
#66
04/19/2005, 08:12 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Thanks Guys.... I'll check out the drum...... Probably won't get to it for a few days......
pch When I added water to the system I ran a NuClear cannister filter for 24 hours...... Water seems crystal clear..... but I agree something is probably holding up the drum..... I must say to all reading this thread that Paul from Oceans Motions is fantastic to deal with...... He is constantly in touch and truely stands behind his product...... I have no doubt that we will resolve this issue shortly...... Thanks again for your help...... RC truely brings this hobby to another dimension....... I'm still having fun.....
|
|
#67
04/23/2005, 05:36 PM
|
|||
|
|||
Aquascaping near complete
Well.... I resolved the Oceans Motions issue with the help of Paul. The drum was a little snug and he is sending me a replacement that will be a little smaller than the original..... For the record Paul at OM is great to deal with and stands behind his work 100%....
 After staring at my rockwork I decided the archway looked too un-natural and removed it. When I originally put the rock frame together I thought the arch would sit lower in the tank and agree with SF that it looks like a big dinosaur head is in my tank. With the new layout there is still an archway but it now looks more natural. Also, there is more room to place corals with the new layout..... I think it looks nice...... Most of the Live Rock is in....... Except for rock coming out of my current 90 gallon tank...... What do you tyhink? Any opinions? By the way, the lights are in and Bob from Reefs Inc will be installing this week......  And Family Room view.... 
|
|
#68
04/23/2005, 09:44 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
I like it -- looks a lot more natural and less forced. Great aquascaping!
John
__________________
John |
|
#70
04/24/2005, 11:27 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Suggestion:
I really like the pvc work. Caves are very cool. You may have something in mind for this but think about laying figi branch rock along the top of the main arch. This would break up the repeating pattern of adjacent rocks. Nature never repeats itself like that but it would be an easy problem to fix. Very cool system. Travis |
|
#71
04/29/2005, 08:03 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Project checkpoint
Guys:
One thing nice about these threads is that you share the good, bad, and UGLY with everyone to prevent others from making the same mistakes when they initiate similar projetcs..... The UGLY: Long story short I have a major concern at this point..... If my power goes out my sump will overflow...... There are 2 reasons for the overflow... 1. Left over water from pipes will flow back into the sump. This is a lot of water if you are running pipes from room to room..... 2. Due to 4000 gph flow rate the lowest drain points on the fuge and display are about 1.5 inches above these lowest points. Bottom line is when the power goes out there is a lot of water that flows back to the sump..... When I turn off one of the Iwaki 2000 pumps all is normal..... However, this will be a SPS tank and I need the circulation. The only way I can think to solve this issue is to install solenoid shut off check valves at the source of my Iwaki 2000s going into the display..... With these valves when the power goes out all flow to sump is stopped..... I'm wondering if anyone else has run into this type of issue...... The solution is a bit expensive..... One more item to add to lessons learned for this project..... By the way, I start installing lights tomorrow...... |
|
#72
04/30/2005, 07:23 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
mmgm,
I love the use of PVC for supporting your rock work. I might have to incorporate that into my 375 to make ledges etc....
__________________
Greg Over time science has shown that the simplest answers are usually the correct ones....... |
|
#73
04/30/2005, 07:23 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Bummer the only easy solutions are to lower the volume of your sump, if it's possible. Or get a bigger sump, or an additional sump
Check valves on the input and output to the sump will work but are likely to fail at some point
__________________
Derek It's a small world........But I wouldn't want to paint it. |
|
#74
04/30/2005, 10:13 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
I have had good luck with a swing type check valve from custom aquatics. Install it vertically, at the lowest point near the pump, and you will have less problems.
Even if you do have trouble with it, it will be a slow leak back to the sump. Nothing at all close to not having one at all. This should buy you lots of time before things start to overflow.
__________________
**************** Get crazy with the cheez whiz... I didn't mean to take up all your sweet time Give it right back to you....One of these days |
|
#75
04/30/2005, 12:40 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Let there be light
Tplummer/John/Beaver/Travis/RCman - Thanks for the compliments.... The rock work is starting to shape up.....
Derek/AcroSteve - Thanks for the suggestions... I think I will go with the custom aquatic check valves or something similar..... I can't see spending $400 on solenoid valves.... Especially since that money is slotted for the Anthias I plan to stock in the new tank...... Even if I need to replace the check valves once a year it is still worth doing compared to the solenoid option....... I will also install an overflow on the sump that will allow excess water to collect on a stock tank in case the check valves fail..... Remember Murphy and water...... If only I would have made the sump 2 inches taller all this would have been avoided (Lessons Learned)On the lighter side of things.... (Pun intended) My lights are in..... I went with Sun System Blue Wave 2 Dual Magnetic Ballasts. Three of these puppies will power up 6 400 Watt HQI Lighting..... I am using Reef Optic 2 Retrofit reflectors to house the lights and will be adding T5s along the entire length of the tank allowing me to limit use of the HQIs to 10 - 12 hours per day.....I'm installing the Ballasts in my attick and plan on spending the weekend running electricity to run the lights..... Lucky for me my brother in law is an electrician....... For fun I plugged in two of the ballasts and started up 4 of the 6 HQIs...... SWEET!!!.....  I took some pictures for fun..... Hope you enjoy...... Off to work I go.... Maybe I'll be transfering some coral from the old tank by Sunday afternoon...... First two pics are Kitchen view..... Rock work really stands out..... I can see the micro bubbles coming from my sump...... Another set of baffles need to be installed in sump..... (Lessons Learned)....  and Two..... Notice the bluer lighting in the center.....  Family room view..... Your eyes hurt looking at these lights..... 
Last edited by mmgm; 04/30/2005 at 12:56 PM. |
|
|
Linear Mode
