Addiction wins, 450 gallon system begins - Page 12

kimoyo · #**276** 09/21/2005, 12:27 AM

Okay, that explains it. It won't matter how much you vary the valve unless you siphon it (which is possible since you have a second drain, check out this thread). I'm surprised your not getting air burps from the air being forced back up the drain pipe. Because your taking the water down, back up and down again you forcing the water to gather somewhere in the pipe until it has enough volume to push over the hump to clear itself. This is happening very quickly but your not going to get the flow rates I was talking about before. You could not plumb it thru the crawl space so you are taking the water only down to the sump, use the second drain as a drain, or use Herbie's SOS.

Hop · #**277** 09/21/2005, 12:53 AM

Airman: Thanks! I don't think this drain issue is going to hold anything up too long. I've got a couple ideas I'm goign to try first thing tomorrow.

And there are no vibrations that I've noticed anywhere. Infact the loudest piece of equipment is the Gen X pump. The Dart under the tank is almost silent. Once the cabinetry is done I bet you won't be able to hear it at all. I was going to run some spa-flex, but I would have had to order it. So I hard-plumbed everything and it seems to be doing pretty well.

kimoyo: Thanks again for your help! I may give that a whirl. I've got a couple additional ideas I'm going to throw at it in the morning. I really think that I'm right about where I need to be, I just think that the valve I have is horrible. I played with it and it seems to be either on or off, ne real adjustment. I guess I'll have to spend more than $0.49 for quality

Like you said, I should be getting more bubbles back, but really I only get a few every four to six minutes. But if my ideas fail I'll definately look into Herbies!

melev: Sorry I almost missed your post... I guess I was having a case of the one-track mind when you posted that. I'll make sure I read it here tonight on in the AM. Thanks again!

Hop · #**278** 09/21/2005, 01:03 AM

Oh and here are some not so great pics of the OM test last week. The pics I took tonight look like a tank with water in it

You can't see the OM working because I had zero micro buble issues!!!! But we'll see what happens when the salts running free and the skimmers a-skimmin

Hop · #**279** 09/21/2005, 11:21 AM

How I thought of this I don't know, nor why. But while getting ready for bed last night I had a bit of a vision that gave way to a little experiment today since I had a TON of extra supplies and well....It worked

First thing I did was built an exact duplicate Durso. Sorry about Durso #1 and it's dreadlock appearence, but that was from playing last night. I still need to replace the cap or build another one as I only need one hole now.

Then I T-d the 1 1/2" drain lines into a single 2" drain... I had a ton of 2" sitting around.

I then ran the 2" all the way to the wetroom and plugged it in. In the back of this pic you can see the 1 1/2" vent at the highest point of the drains return line. it goes about 6" from the ceiling making it 1' taller than the tank in the house.

And into the sump with no issues.

Why this is working, I don't know. The flushing is gone and now I can control the air/water mixture by adjusting a single valve. It's pretty quier considering. This is a huge load off my mind as I was able to crank the flow up to I would say 1200-1400 gph and still have room to spare!!!

So I guess I'm going to clean the garage and get ready for some painting today and tomorrow

Authors cautionary note: Please don't follow the authors poor electrical demonstration with wires hanging over water, wrapped around valve etc. The autor is an idiot and realized in looking at his pictures he needs to do some more cleaning before testing

jnarowe · #**280** 09/21/2005, 11:43 AM

yeah, nice wiring! I don't think you should be building yachts!

Anyway, that vent scares the crap out of me. On my system I am planning 3-2" returns, 1 to the skimmer and 2 to the sump, no vents. But I am also not going down and coming back up either. Just straight down to near floor level.

Is a foot really enough? Maybe you could build a catch around it like for a skimmer with a line going into the sump?--J

Zedar · #**281** 09/21/2005, 11:56 AM

Is there a GFI on that circuit?

Hop · #**282** 09/21/2005, 12:27 PM

jnarowe: In theory the water should never go up into the vent as it's above the sump level. It's just to remedy the backpressure I would receive with having to come back up to the sump. The only pressure in the line is from gravity pulling the water down through the pipe. The plumbing in my house is the same way, it needs to be vented for every x amount of distance traveled on a horizontal drain run. I thought I was going to need one in the crawl space too, but it seems to work pretty well now

If the vent takes on water, that would mean there was catastrophic problems elsewhere and the vent would be the last thing on my mind

Zedar: Yeah it's on a GCFI.LOL

And yes I'm fixing everyting as we speak. I'm cleaning up the shop and wetroom. I have guests coming in this weekend for my daughter's big 4th birthday. The wires you see are for the q-tank that I'm running with all my FW fish and plants until I can get the 125 converted back to a planted tank

Then I'll make a mess again sanding and painting and sanding and painting...

jnarowe · #**283** 09/21/2005, 02:26 PM

Are you doing anythig for drainage in the wet room? I have a cement floor in mine, but building in a floor drain would be some serious added work.--J

Hop · #**284** 09/21/2005, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jnarowe
Are you doing anythig for drainage in the wet room? I have a cement floor in mine, but building in a floor drain would be some serious added work.--J

No, I started tanking to the plumber about what was involved and decided to make sure my insurance premiums are up-to-date. It was just too much added expense for a house we may be in only five more years or so...

jnarowe · #**285** 09/21/2005, 04:16 PM

That's basically what I came up with although I don't plan to move anytime soon. I am going to seal the floor and run a barrier up the wall 2 feet. It will be epoxied to the floor & wall, and I will have 3 large sump pumps set into a fiberglass tub built under the tank and sump. That is infinitely easier than installing a drain.--J

Andrew · #**286** 09/21/2005, 04:20 PM

Wow. Looks like a good project you have going there.

Hop · #**287** 09/21/2005, 06:04 PM

jnarowe: Sounds like that would work like a charm!

Andrew: Thanks! I keep hearing that it's such a relaxing hobby

melev · #**288** 09/21/2005, 06:41 PM

Quit listening to that kind of propaganda. It is an obsession, after all.

Hop · #**289** 09/21/2005, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by melev
Quit listening to that kind of propaganda. It is an obsession, after all.

No kidding. I'm thinking crack is a tad cheaper, but just as addictive

Well the good news was that the plumbing issues are resolved. The bad news is that the skimmer pump died, less than two hours on that sucker. I got a hold of the makers of Gen-X and they are really helpful, we'll see what happens. I'm really thinking of going to another pump and useing the Gen-X as a back up. Time to do some more homework

Hopefully I can get the replacement here before the tank is operational.

sellout007 · #**290** 09/21/2005, 07:40 PM

Why did the pump die? i was thinking about getting a GenX for my CL. May be rethinking that.

Hop · #**291** 09/21/2005, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sellout007
Why did the pump die? i was thinking about getting a GenX for my CL. May be rethinking that.

I'm not sure why it stopped it just hums now. And let me say that in no way am I slamming Gen-X here. Andy at MRC speaks highly of them and so far their customer service has been great. I'm just leaning toward having a back-up pump any way. Just in Case!

Zedar · #**292** 09/22/2005, 11:20 AM

Crack? Crack is candy next to this

ohioreef · #**293** 09/22/2005, 12:59 PM

At least you don't go to prison for this hobby!

Hop · #**294** 09/22/2005, 11:08 PM

Zedar: I think you may be right

ohioreefer: I'm waiting for the DEA to come and do a knock and talk about the strange glow and excessive power bills. LOL

Well I spent today doing a lil' work in the garage. I got the Lightrack mostly done, but it needs a tad more bracing. All and all it went pretty smooth though!

There are 3 MH and 8VHOs. I also installed, but still need to wire the fixtures for the moon lights. I'm planning to use 25 watt bulbs with the Aquacontroller moon light simulation!

And here we are with 6 Actinic and 2 50/50 actinic whites.

GregM779 · #**295** 09/22/2005, 11:11 PM

Lookin good, what do you mean by 25 watts for the moonlights? Do you mean 25 1 watt bulbs?

Hop · #**296** 09/22/2005, 11:14 PM

And here is everything:

And 4 actinic only... Sorry my white balance is WAY off.

Hop · #**297** 09/22/2005, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by GregM779
Lookin good, what do you mean by 25 watts for the moonlights? Do you mean 25 1 watt bulbs?

Greg: They are GE 25 watt party bulbs. They are the normal screw in type, 25 watt and my understanding is that they will work with the aquacontroller modual and the dimmer/moon cycle function. Sorry I can't describe it better, but I'm drain bramaged tonight

GregM779 · #**298** 09/22/2005, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hop
Greg: They are GE 25 watt party bulbs. They are the normal screw in type, 25 watt and my understanding is that they will work with the aquacontroller modual and the dimmer/moon cycle function. Sorry I can't describe it better, but I'm drain bramaged tonight

Interesting, I definitely need to see pics of that, that seems like a lot of wattage for the effect you try to achieve.

Hop · #**299** 09/22/2005, 11:29 PM

If I can describe this correctly the AC will control the entire lunar cycle in not only times, but intesity, full, new, summer, fall etc. It only works with a normal bulb. We'll see how it works, if it doesn't work all that hot or is a pain, out with the old, in with the new LED. But I figured I would give it a try.

melev · #**300** 09/23/2005, 12:14 AM

Very nice. It looks like they are running pretty high off the tank at the moment. How low do you plan to set them at?