Addiction wins, 450 gallon system begins - Page 3

Hop · #51 07/10/2005, 02:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by kimoyo
Hey, thats my thread...cool! I haven't updated it in a while even though I should. Hopefully I should be putting up a lot of new pictures in the next few days. I actually just put water in the tank today.

Paul

Thats great to hear! Thats I great tank I was planning on reading the whole thread here shortly or in the AM.

kimoyo · #52 07/10/2005, 02:19 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hop
Thanks secrest,

This whole process has been pretty exiting and I still don't have the tank here

Well all 447 lbs of base rock arrived today and it looks even better than in the pictures that Capt. Jer sent. Now I'm sitting here debating whether I should pile about 60 or so lbs of it in with the other rock I have in the 125 right now to give it a head start on the seeding process.... Hmmm any suggestions on that or should I just leave it in the boxes until this tank is up and begin seeding it all at once?

I like that you went with dead rock from reeferrocks. They have some good stuff, I got 100lbs from them a month ago. I like the idea of starting fresh with the rock. If I were you I would still do a semi-kinda cooking process. While you wait, put the rock in a tub and wash it because its very dusty. I went with black starboard so when I put the rocks in my tank the dust came out and was really visible, this was after washing them once.

Paul

NexDog · #53 07/10/2005, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hop
I also forgot to post above the plans for the inside of the tank. I prefer a tank that does not have the "Applecart" look and really like channels and places to take your eyes. I found myself really drawn into weatherson's tank and decided to go a similar route. So I fired off an e-mail to Capt. Jer and he put together a little package of base rock for me. The basic idea is what you see here, but he added about 20-30 lbs of smaller rocks to throw in. I also plan on about 50-70 lbs of live rock to seed what you see here!

Who is Capt. Jer ? Is there a website? That looks like great base rock and might get some too.

Hop · #54 07/10/2005, 04:30 AM

The link is http://www.reeferrocks.com/
I'm very impressed with his operation!

jnarowe · #55 07/10/2005, 12:16 PM

HOP

Good point about the flow rate. I haven't seen the removable comb yet so I can't really judge how sturdy it is.

WarEagleNR88

The one I hear is: "Honey, it's just a fish." And to think I just bought her a huge LCD TV!

kimoyo
Yeah, your tank is sweet. In fact, it has spawned another would-be reefer. I sent a close friend the link to TOTM, and we ended up in a conversation about reefs. He said he has been wanting to start one for a long time but the guys at the LFS's are all telling him different stuff and he couldn't figure out what to do. I then sent him the link to your tank thread, and he reved up like the Tazmanian Devil! I also told him to avoid the LFS unless it's an emergency...not a nice thing to write I know, but he had never been on RC...I can't wait to see an update Paul.

Hop · #56 07/10/2005, 05:50 PM

Whew, Ok I got the garage cleaned up and now I have tons of room for the future shipments. Nothing major is expected over the next few weeks other that 10 buckets of salt and a few knick-knacks, like the OM 4-way. My TDS meter finally came in and as expected it's time to change my RO/DI filters. I ordered enough from Melev to keep things going through the end of the year I think. I can't find any 100gpd replacement filters within driving distance here. Everything is 20 or 60 for some odd reason. I guess that's what I get for living in the sticks.

So I guess I'm kind of at a stopping point until things get rolling in the next month. My only real to do lists are going to be to get the electrical ran under the house and maybe I'll get my RO/DI hooked up into the wetroom and the rubbermaid trash cans plumbed and working.

Maybe I'l find something to do tonight so I don't have that sort of empty/nothing to do feeling going on

jnarowe · #57 07/10/2005, 05:59 PM

Yeah? Take some pictures!

Hop · #58 07/11/2005, 06:29 PM

I spent the day working a little on the wetroom. I did manage to get the hole punched through the wall and all the electrical wires are now in the crawls space. Hopefully an electrician friend can swing buy in the next few weeks and get the wetroom hardwired into the fuse panel. I also have to run one or two more circuits to the room where the tank is going to be. But after that I got the last bit of drywall done and mudded. Just a tad more sanding and then some more paint. Plus I have to cover the oopses that happened on the wall, trying to get the benches in.

Then I got the RO/DI and salt water mixing containers plumbed almost completely. I still have to hook up the RO/DI unit in the wetroom and then place a float valve/shut off system on the RO/DI container and run a RO line out to the sump with another float valve. I was planing on using a simple gravity type system for top off.

Please excuse the RO tubing in these shots, but as I mentioned the RO/DI is still in the house right now

A trial run with tap water was a success. RO water is stored in the top container, kept constant with a float valve kit. Then all I have to do is turn a couple valves and the RO/DI water flows into and fills the lower can for salt water mixing. After salt water is mixed and aged I can hook up a 1" hose at the lower section and empty it into the sump during water changes. I wanted to keep this part as simple as possible. so no fancy pumps here. During the test run it only took about 90 seconds to empty the can, so I think water changes will be pretty easy

I also began putting together the plumbing surrounding the refugium, but didn't take any pics of that. I'm trying to unwind a little before dinner... Have to work seven twelves this week

jnarowe · #59 07/11/2005, 10:14 PM

Looking good so far...7/12's...what are you, a doctor?

Hop · #60 07/12/2005, 05:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jnarowe
Looking good so far...7/12's...what are you, a doctor?

Man I would prefer the Doctor pay, but sadly no.

jnarowe · #61 07/12/2005, 09:56 AM

Around here the only people I can think of working 7/12's besides Doc's are sub-mariners, firemen, fishermen & fish processors, and tanker crews. Since you are in CO I could easily rule out some of those! I seem to remember the term "Yard Monster" applying to those giant quarry machines...

What's the difference between the blue and red valves? Is it just size?--J

Hop · #62 07/12/2005, 04:50 PM

ROFL... Actually yard monsters refer to my kids

Yeah the difference in colors on the ball valves is just that. The local hardware store only had 2 1" valves, so I decided that the impact of this particular design would be minimal, I went ahead and used 1 3/4" ball valve. I won't be doing any of that corner cutting with the system!

jnarowe · #63 07/12/2005, 06:41 PM

I thought so...local hardware stores can be a real pain. Since I cannot drive yet, I do a lot of ordering in, and there is much info. about suppliers on RC. In particular, snailman has listed on his DIY pages exact suppliers and model numbers for many plumbing items needed. His section on skimmers is one good example. You can check out his stuff at http://www.hawkfish.org/snailman/snailmandiy.htm and it may give you ideas on sourcing items for your system.--J

traip93 · #64 07/12/2005, 07:28 PM

tagging along. Thanks for the BAse Rock info, that stuff looks amazing

Hop · #65 07/12/2005, 07:45 PM

jnarowe,

Thanks for the link. I already have most of the hard to find plumbing parts that I ordered from some online vendors. I have all the bulkheads and couplings and all the 1 1/2" and 2" ball valves and such. Usually the local hardware store has 1" stuff, but tis the season for irrigation supplies

I got to tell you I'm really starting to want to work less and get the tank here! The OM 4 way shipped today and I have a few other things that are inbound.

traip93,

Thanks and no problem! I like to spread the word on quality vendors!

WarEagleNR88 · #66 07/12/2005, 08:03 PM

Yay for Rubbermaid Brutes :P Those things just make me smile everytime I see them. Especially when they have bulkheads sticking out of them.

Top ten things aquarists HAVE to own, one of them is a rubbermaid Brute.

Hop · #67 07/15/2005, 09:26 PM

Thanks WarEagleNR88! I agree with you 100%.

OK as I said before I have to work 7 12's this week and today was the hump day. So I have completed zilch...zero... nada...

But I have got a few little items from the friendly men and women in brown! Thought I would share some of the parts!!!

Yipee a years supply of salt. I just couldn;t pass up the free shipping offer at Dr. Fosters

And yes I had to pay for the agramax sand because non-silica based sand is more expensive here than this stuff...

A small grouping of some of the plumbing...

Ok finally... On to the fun stuff. Here is the OM 4-way with drum version 3 and the new 1" flexible nozzles. Four are for the 4 way and two are for the sump return.

And last: the RO float valve, tubing and parts for the auto top off

Sorry that the update is not much for excitment, but this will be the highlight until next week

Thanks Again!!!!

AcroSteve · #68 07/16/2005, 04:38 AM

What's the deal with free shipping? Did you have a special offer?

Hop · #69 07/16/2005, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by AcroSteve
What's the deal with free shipping? Did you have a special offer?

Nope, I think it's still going on for a few days, but I'm not certain. If you go to their site it's on the specials list. I get their e-news letter and that how I found out about it!

Hop · #70 07/16/2005, 07:58 PM

Well the past week even though I've been working too dag-on much, I completed a bit of an experiment with the wetroom. The temps here have been soaring to about 104 during the day and the wetroom has maintained it's temp from 69-76 degrees with out the ventilation I have planned. Today the wife left the garage open and let it heat up to about 100 inside and the room stayed cool. So that's a huge load off my mind as to some of the cooling issues I had thought about. We'll continued to monitor things as pumps and lights are added to the room. Not much of an update, but it sure eases some questions that I had during the planning stages of the system!

NexDog · #71 07/16/2005, 08:37 PM

What ventilation have you done or are you planning? I'm planning a small fishroom and worried about the heat too. Do you think one air conditioning unit will be enough or do you also have exhaust fans?

jnarowe · #72 07/16/2005, 08:44 PM

I think that once you add lights that situation will change. My fish room has no windows and is below ground level. It's the coolest room in the house, but once any halides are on in there, it gets hot. You might ask how I vent it without windows: There is a utility sink and below that is a cleanout for the toilet venting system. I just attached some dryer vent hose to a thermastat controlled fan, and push the air out the vent above the roof. Works great and virtually no cost. Nyuk, Nyuk, Nyuk!

Hop · #73 07/16/2005, 08:46 PM

My goal is to use a small three inch fan on the inside of the room with a duct running into the house, on a thermostat to keep the room at a similar temp as the house. If the calculations are right, this should be pretty easy to do and will aid in both heating and cooling. Then I'm looking at running a seperate fan on a humidistat vented outside to keep the humiduty down. I'm hoping that this will be enough with out HVAC air exchange and such. A room air conditioner will be the last resort in the room, but as hot as it was this week, along with the temprate consistency in the room, I don't think it will be necessary.

And the space above the tank is going to be sealed off from the air space in the room as much as possible and vented outside. Still doing some work on this one. But I have the 125 in the wall now and with very similar lighting and I have no trouble keeping the temp at 78.9-79.6.

But even with this, I'm hoping for the best and planning for the worst

jnarowe · #74 07/16/2005, 08:58 PM

PS. NexDog

Trying to air condition a room that is producing heat is extremely inefficient. You have to spend so much energy it's not worth it. Like a restaurant owner near my store who put AC in the kitchen, but it can't do the job and costs too much.

The best thing to do is evacuate the hot air. You devise a simple system to remove the air, while allowing the supply side to draw from and air conditioned house. You are already using the AC, and just pulling some of that air to replace the hot air that is leaving the fish room.

NexDog · #75 07/16/2005, 09:06 PM

I don't think a 3" fan is going to be that effective for me. It was 38 degrees celsius here yesterday and my tank hit 32 degrees with just strip lights on. I do have a big fan on it 24/7. With 400w MH bulbs cooking things up and around 5 external pumps, it's going to get HOT in there. I'm thinking that if I have the air con on I can't have any venting because I'll be venting cool air out too. Hmmm....more issues to solve....