not another 120 in wall walk-through! (pictures)

[xtrstangx]

Looks good. As for more flow, Seio's would be good, but I really like the Tunzes I just got. Quite a bit more money, but the controllable flow is worth it.

[mako199]

My tank in stall mode right now ...been real busy and will be working 10hrs a day 7 days a week for the next 19 days. Then will be doing it again after working only 55hrs a week for 2 weeks . So that's going to be real fun
I will get done though.

[wonk]

xtrstangx: yea, I'm going to bite the bullet and pick up at tunze to add about 2000 gph. I don't think that it will be any more noticible than the closed loop manifold plumbing parts I currently have in the tank.

I've had the chiller running for 5 days now and am very pleased with how consistant the temp is running now. The chiller will come on at 82 and the heater at 79. I've never actually seen the tank outside of the 79-80 range since the chiller went inline. I that indicates that the 1/2 hp will handle the 300 gallons I have on it. Since only 120 gallons is upstairs w/ lights on it that is expected. I'm really happy to have the heat issue taken care of at last. I wish I could of had that figured out earlier. The humidity in my basement is also much decreased now that the temp isn't getting to the mid 80's. It's remarkable how much more humidity is added by just a few degrees increase in water temp.

[Stile2]

Wonk,

It's been a while since an update. How's the tank? Would love to see some pictures.

About your Seq 4300 pump. How much actually vertical distance are you traveling?

I am building a fishroom in the garage about 15 feet horizontal, 5 feet vertical. Trying to decide on a pump.

Thanks
Keith

[richfavinger]

Burp...
Hey how about an update?

[wonk]

I'll have to take some pictures of the tank this weekend.

I've had quite a struggle getting the tank where I want it. It's been really, really frustrating--the tank is not what I had hoped for & quite honestly I'm having a difficult time working through the frustrations. If the tank wasn't in wall it might have been broken down by this time...

The problem, I believe, is in my skimmer (ASM G4x). I can't get it to skim consistently. It either doesn't skim or overflows. So my tank has not done well for the 10 months or so that I've had it. It's OK--but not at all what I'd worked so hard to create. I've attempted to host SPS frags several times with inevatable death.

Sooooo... I put off working on the project until I could find the energy to start afresh and resolve the problems. It's stable as it it goes, but it's not a thriving environment. As it happens, I just purchased what I PRAY HOPE and DREAM will be the solution to my problems: A H&S skimmer (A200-1260). It set me back $1100 but I'm certain my skimming woes will be a thing of the past.

I'll post a major update with pictures in the near future. There's a lot to report.

Thanks all for the interest.

Stile2-- the seq 4300 is pushing up my full height basement, over 5 feet, up to over the tank (6'5") and then into the wavySeas. It's putting about 800 gph into the tank, and I'm pushing the remaining flow in the basement: it supplies the chiller about 500 gph and my RDSB about 100 gph.

Oh before I forget, I put a 'fuge on line about 3 months ago which was a total desaster. I'll fill in the details later.

[wonk]

Just read my last post--should say a few things about what has worked well so far 10 months into the setup:

(1) Sequence pumps. I'll never buy a submerged pump again. TFEC designs are so superior. The Seq 4300 return has been on since day one and then never turned off (except when I turned the mains to my hose off). It's rock solid.

(2) Geo Calc reactor. Absolutely great piece of reef gear. I just switched to CRM media which makes it even better. CRM is much better than ARM.

(3) Envision Acrylics tank. Expensive but worth every penny. No doubt that it is up to the task of holding 120 gallons of water long term.

(4) WavySeas. Dependable and easy to use. Does it's job. No problems.

and I'll mention a couple of dogs:

(1) ASM G4x Simmer. Very dissapointing. The most frustrating piece of equipment I bought. Yuck.

(2) Coralife 1/2 hp chiller. I had 4(!!!) arrive to me DOA. On the positive side, they sent me brand new ones without hassle. My forth unit seems to work... we shall see this summer. Does it give me the warm and fuzzy feeling that I'll have it 2 years from now and it won't break down when it's 100 out? absolutely not...

(3) Tunze streamer. Now this will prob surprise people... I was shocked by how low quality the streamer was for how much money it is. It sucked part of a snail into it and snapped some cheap plastic ring on the impeller... then it stalled out. People rave about these units.... I'll do a MJ mod next time. :-(. For the $ they should be built to withstand the environment they are normally going to be in (like one with some smaller snails).

[jamesBS]

wonk I have a ASM G2x Simmer have the same problems with it you do wish i had not bout it.but i am not willing to spend $1100 also i wish i would have bout a better main pump. the mak4 only lasted one year good thing i had bout 2

[wonk]

I'm plumbing up my new H&S. The only problem so far with it is the metric plumbing sizes. . . Luckily it comes with nearly all the euro plumbing parts. I'm super psyched. Pictures later.

[reefinmike]

wow... youre serious about this arent you?

i love it when tank's filtration systems are larger than the tank its self. i had to lower my sump due to the formation of salt-cicles on the rim of my rubbermaid tub.

i love the basement... the rest of your house is ok... but the basement... WOW.... lol

[wonk]

H&S skimmer upgrade!

finally! I can replace the bane of my existence: the crappy ASM G4x is getting replaced with and H&S.



The only prob setting it up is the euro sized plumbing parts. I discovered a 3/4 will fit in to the *inside* of a 40mm well enough for a non pressure application, so I plumbed euro 40mm (the grey) to english sized 3/4 inch:



in place:

[IMG]http://home.comcast.net/~tristan1132/DSCF0067_t.JPG
[/IMG]

It took a few minutes to glue the parts, then after letting the glue dry It took 20 minutes to hook up and adjust. Insta skim.

[wonk]

lets try last image again:

[hatfielj]

wonk, this is the first time I've seen this thread. Nice set up. I just started up a 120gal recently and I also use an H&S skimmer. However, mine is the non-recirc. version of yours. So far, I'm actually kind of frustrated with it because I've found it hard to dial in properly. I'm wondering if its more of an issue with the standard non-recirc. skimmers to not skim consistenly? It works really well if I can get it dialed in, but if I mess with it too much it doesn't skim properly for awhile. Anyway, let us know how your new skimmer starts working for you as I'm very interested to see what kind of gunk its able to pull out on your system.

[zach0660]

Nice skimmer, killer set up!

[wonk]

hatfielj: is your skimmer in an open sump that could have variations in water height? I belive that responsible for a portion of my problems with the ASM. I also have heard that ASM can be difficult to setup. . . So I'll take the high road and say that ASM didn't work for my particular setup instead of blaming the skimmer.

For my next skimmer, I wanted one external and recirculating. I also was willing to pay to get top quality and be done with it--having been burned with cheaper gear previously. Because of my basement setup, space is not a problem so I think having the skimmer exernal would help with the maintenance. You can see from the picture in post above that the skimmer is sitting in front. I have to reach over the 150 gal rubbermaid to get to it, but besides that it's easy to reach. The one problem is the skimmer feed pump will need to be turned off to clean the cup otherwise the skimmer will overflow onto the tabletop. So yet another DIY project!

If had the H&S on-line for about 3 hours and it's pulling better than the ASM ever did. . .

[wonk]

Here's an updated image of my basement:

[wonk]

I'm running two skimmers at the moment. the crappy ASM will go away soon.

Here's what the H&S is pulling after three hours on line:



and another image of the chaos:

http://home.comcast.net/~tristan1132/DSCF0067.JPG

The Black box on the post is a o3 generator. It's not on line. I don't notice any difference in water clarity when running o3. That might have to do with the fact that I don't have a 'fuge on line at the moment.

[wonk]

let's try that second image again:

[hatfielj]

Yeah, my skimmer is in an open sump and there are minor variations in water height, but I have an osmolator hooked up to keep the level relatively constant. I'm sure thats at least part of the problem though. I kind of wish now I would have went for the recirc. model too. But, the tank is still young (2 weeks) so I have to be patient for a little while and see how it does in the long run.

[justinm0424]

Why didn't you get an aquacontroller or some other type of controller. I figured if you spent all the money on ph and orp monitors wouldn't a controller be easier?
Also I love your setup using one large pump to power everything but are you going to buy another 4300 incase the other dies? I would set it up to have to 4300's run inline and keep the other just for redundancy. Unless your LFS has the 4300's in stock.

[wonk]

I debated the aquacontroller--there is still a decent price diffrence if you add in all the stuff you need to really run the aquacontroller. I actually don't even use the OHP monitor or the ozone generator. I don't notice any difference in water clarity so I d/c'd it.

The 4300 is about as stable a pump as you are likely to come across, but I at this point do not have any redundancy which is asking for it. My plan is to buy a second in a few months. the 4300 has never been down for maintenance (doubt it needs any honestly), and having the second up would allow for the first to get a true overhaul.

The H&S is skimming like a champ. The only thing so far as it started to overflow when I was vaccuuming out the sump. I'll keep an eye on it to see what makes that happen...

[reefinmike]

so... any updates...

[wonk]

Quick update-- I *promise* to post some pictures to go along... anyway, I'm fighting a nitrate issue. I'm currently somewhere between 5-10 ppm. I'm doing 90 gph weekly water changes to try to get them down, but it's a slow process to get all these silly nitrates out of the water. groan.

I have started slowly adding some easy sps back into the tank to see if it's going the right direction. I have some pociliporia frags that are starting to grow, so I'm hopeful

[jknecht]

I fought the nitrate battle for a long time. I ended up buying a nitrate reactor and it worked great. Haven't had a issue since. Good luck