zoo tank updates

[zanclus]

Push too much water through the sump and your skimmer will not skim efficiently

[nwrogers]

Originally posted by zanclus
Push too much water through the sump and your skimmer will not skim efficiently

How do you figure? The skimmer is running on its own pump. I don’t see how having more water going through the sump is going to affect the skimmers performance at all. It just doesn’t make sense. If anything it would make the skimmer more efficient since it wouldn’t be reprocessing water it just skimmed. That’s just my opinion. Also I think that pump jerry mentioned earlier should be fine. We are going to use it to feed the RDSB and if it has too much power we can always dial it back since it is a pressure rated pump.

[Blugobi]

My two cents.......

If the sump is going to be just a sump with no fuge, then the rate of tank turn over IMO should be be tween 10-15 times volume of the tank....180g + 100g sump...1900 to 2850 gph respectively. The Vortech will take care of intank flow. As far as the skimmer.....flow thru the sump will have a direct effect on its productivity...to fast and it will underskim and to slow and it will overskim, due to the amount of time water is in the sump. Personally my skimmer and return both drain into the same area in my fuge/sump so about 50% of my water gets "re-skimmed" for lack of a better term.

For arguments sake...if there was a fuge then a slower turnover is best, to give the "Macro"time to absorb some of the nutrients from the water as it flows thru.

I know there are many methods and schools of thought on rates of flow....I think everyone here has there ideas....lets ues what works...Intank flow is becoming a very hot topic and some are saying it is at least as or more important than lighting....Return flow is also in debate, but I do know my setup is working fine.

About 11 times tank turn over(sump with fuge-Chaeto) and all the intank flow I can manage.

Geo

[Piazzon12]

I dont want to get into this too much, but I've never understood this argument. I understand how too slow of flow can be inefficient, but not too fast. I'd have to agree with Nate, the logic just isn't there.

[drbronx]

Intersting debate. I guess better too much than too little. Like John and Nate says, we can always dial back if needed. I'll go ahead and request that pan world. We'll see what they say.

Ice cap is sending out the Vor-techs tomorrow. One is free and one is discounted to $265.

Nate - any changes to the plumbing list. I'll need that asap so i can get it to the zoo so hopefully they can get parts by next weekend. I sent them the Rubbermaid sump specs from Tractor Supply.

Since we have the lighting, we should start considering how to mount it. Perhaps a verry simple ceiling suspended canopy so we can vary the height for tank access etc. Do we need fans (ie., radio shack computer fans?) to cool the lights. Anyone want toi take a stab at a simple design so we can see what we'll need from Lowes?

[fatrip]

i think the easyest and simples would be a piece of plywood suspended from the cieling on little pullies so the lights can go up and down very easy. since we have indavidual parabolic reflectors we can just mount them not nessasarily in 2 rows of 4 but off set each one...just a thought...the only thing that would even need a fan would be the ballist and mine personly on my t-5's doesnt even get hot to the touch but if you would like to put one on top of each ballist i guess that would be ok. i have a little inverter i made my self in high scholl that convers 110acv to 6 or 9 switchable dcv wich would run 2 computer fans. just my thoughts on the easyest way to get at the top of the tank, pullies and nylon cord.

[fatrip]

oh and if we need fans i can get them from work...so dont go and by them..

[Piazzon12]

We could easily do something like this:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1136326 Iit could easily be hung

[fish1219]

i like the pully idea so we can adjust the height. For the design I would go with an open design. we do not need a a top as the reflectors will direct the light back in. Example: Desigh

********************** ***********************
** ** ** **
** -----SLR-------------- ** ** ----------SLR---------- **
** ** ** **
** -----SLR-------------- ** ** ------SLR------------- **
** ** ** **
** -----SLR-------------- ** ** ---------SLR------ **
** ** ** **
** -----SLR-------------- ** ** --------SLR----- **
** ** ** **
********************** ***********************

The"*****" are strips of 3/4 inch plywood
The "-----" are the SLRs.
So basically its 2 window frames so to speak with the SLRs as slat betweent the frames. I can build this if no one else want to do it.

Paul

[fatrip]

im not sure why you have the window frames, but i do think it should be open, we do not need a hood on the lights to hide them, because no one would see them any ways. if you were really inclined to have fans cooling the ends of the lights all we would have to do is put a clip on fan blowing across the lights to cool the ends and the fans over the ballists. oh and if we really wanted to get into it with pulling heat off the ballist i could get some pretty big heat sinks that could go on the with the fans...just a thought if you think they will get hott. but in my opinion i dont think we want a hood that would more or less trap heat and then have to cool the fixture. IMO. not trying to bash your idea adam.

[fish1219]

they would not be window frames. Window frames was my reference to the design. I would custom build the frames for this application.

[drbronx]

I believe the ballasts came with heat sinks though I didn't open anything yet. I like the idea of an open design as well as Vinces pulley idea. Fans would help increase the lifespan of the bulbs and help blow heat away from the tank. I'm not too concerned about ballast heat. So anyway to integrate all these design features would be great pending input from others.

Looks like Euro=reef will be sending what they term a "Blemmie", a Euro RS250 with a very slight cosmetic blemish.

I also asked marine depot for the PanWorld, Aqua Controller Jr. and some Eheime-Jager heaters. I figured they are a much bigger organization tha premium Aquatics and might be in a better position to donate. They asked for a project description which I sent so we'll see. That should be it for the big ticket items. Maybe I'll ask Premium for some smaller items. I'd like to savge as much money as we can for livestock and seahorsies.

I just ordered bulkheads and tomorrow Vince and I will submit orders for discounted sand and salt.

We are getting there folks. I'm anxiously awaiting getting this baby together.

Piazzon: A Sea Clone would be fine for this. How can I get this from you?

[fatrip]

are you sure we want to go with the aqua controller jr. from what i can see it is almost the same as the reef kepper 2. but the reef keeper 2 has an expander for 2 more ac outlets and now a better computer data controller and log. not sure if marine depot sells it tho.

[drbronx]

They don't sell the Reefkeeper.

[fatrip]

gottcha ...bumer

[Piazzon12]

No offense taken.. I had just read the thread earlier so thought I would post it. How far a way can we mount the ballast, possibly to the ceiling/support beams? Thats the only issue I might see with a slatwork design, the wieght of the ballast.

Dr B. I can drop it off pretty much any time this weekend... even after 1 today. Just let me know when you're available. You could pick it up if that's easier, just let me know, or call give me a call.
Adam

[fish1219]

Hello Adam,
For mounting the ballast I was thinking above the tank against the wall. As for distance I'm not sure of the spec (guess we need to get that from ICECAP). For wiring I was thinking of using bundle wire. You can pick up at home depot. I have some 18Gauge 7 strand wire (by Carol). It meets the 18Gauge requirement but the insulation is listed at 300V. I believe ICECAP was using 600V. So we would need their engineers to confirm the use of 300V wire.

Paul

[puter]

Hi Guys!

From the length of the thread it seems like you're making lots of progress! I only had a chance to skim the thread so my comments may be completely irrelevant given how far you've progressed... they're offered just for what they're worth:

First, I saw a comment about the height of the stand. There was an existing tank at the Seneca Park zoo when we started that project and we received a lot of feedback that the existing four foot stand was much too high given that kids were the primary audience. Making the new stand much lower was a good decision.

Second, I recommend you consider enclosing the top as much as possible. It wasn't long before we began work on the SPZ tank that a tank at a LFS in Canada was poisoned killing all of the inhabitants. It's nice not having to worry about what else "might" be involved when you're chasing issues with the tank.

Sounds like you guys are doing a great job!

Again, just FWIW...

Mark

[Conesus_Kid]

I stumbled across this as well tonight.

I'm excited just hearing about your plans!!

I hope someone brings a camera Saturday.

[drbronx]

Tnak Puter and Consensus for stopping buy. Your input is always welcome Puter. As it is, our stand will be 39" so it should be easily viewable by all but the smallest toddlers who can be held up to see better. The tank will be fully enclosed with no public access.

[fish1219]

I posted on the ICECAP forum. For the ballast we have to use the 18 Gauge 600V wire. As for distance they indicated any length so mountng the ballast on the celling or wall will be fine. As for the wire I know Radio Shack sells it. Not sure about Lowes/HomeDepot. FOr the light frame we have 4 bulbs a side. Should I design the frame to support 4, 6 &/or 8 bulbs for future light if needed.

Paul

[fatrip]

i dont think we are goin to need any more light. it is goin to be for the public IE little kids, they want to see all of the soft corals imaginable and probibly wont care to much for the sps look, just because they dont move. so we probibly wont have some of the more light demanding sps, and even if we do i think it would still be fine with those lights.

[drbronx]

A design for our eight bulb set-up will be great. With that much light, we can grow whatever we want from softies to clams so their is no need to expand. Bring it along saturday if you could.

[drbronx]

Lamps arrived today. Paul (Fish1219) offered to start work on the lighting and will pick up equipment for measuring etc.

The Vortechs should be here any day as well as bulkheads and RO/DI from Melev. Vince got the float valves from E-bay. I'm still waiting on the Euro-reef skimmer and any word from Marine depot on the Panworld pump and Aqua Controller. If I don't hear soon I'll try Premium Aquatics.

Who do folks recommend I contact for cleanbing crew and what would you recommend I ask for.? I can keep a cleaning crew in the live rock tank.

[drbronx]

Also.... EWe still need substrate. The stuff we were going to order through the reptile place was too course for a remote sand bed. We need sugar sized oolithic araganite type sand. We need enough for a five gallon RSB and about 1/2 to 1" display sand. How many total lbs would that require?