--75g Barebottom/Starboard Reef Project--

[SeanT]

Originally posted by arconom
I saw the topic Live Rock Cooking. What was this? Well I read a lot then more. Then I sent a PM to SeanT. Then after talking Via PM, we exchanged numbers, I talked to him on the phone. He explained everything to me in great detail. Not only on the topic of Liverock cooking but much more.

I remember those conversations.
We must have talked skimmers for an hour.
Damn we are geeks!

Originally posted by arconom
Thanks to SeanT,and Bomber for all the help in the past and continued help.

And as always...just sharing what I have learned.

Sean

[SeanT]

Originally posted by webpolk
Hopefully Bomber or SeanT will chime in at some point and tell me their opinions on the matter.

Don't worry about the temp at all.
Bacteria are extremely tough.
Now if you lived in the NE and winter was approaching I may suggest a heater for your tubs...but heat isn't a problem.

hth,
Sean

[arconom]

Pictured is my current idea for a 1" PVC that will run across the bottom. All the sections painted Blue will be ajustable fittings so I can point them up or down.

Questions:

Should I join the 2 Returns from the Pump to make one unit? Or should I break it in half?

Or suggestions? I'm totally new to best utilizing the flow from a closed loop. I know I don't plan on using Loc Line that will restrict it even more.





------------------------------------------------

SeanT!! I'm glad you finally made it here

[webpolk]

IMO, if you want to simulate a manifold and gain even distribution amongst all the ports, you will need to use option #1.

I am not sure about splitting the input into 2 inputs. I do not think it is necessary and could possibly reduce flow with the additional T you have. With a true manifold, you should get equal flow as long as you restrict the openings equally.

HTH,
Steve

[arconom]

OceanMotions

http://www.oceansmotions.com/

Has some really interesting Nozzles like Loc-Line, except theres is 1" 23.00$ and soon to be 1.5" which is perfect for my application. Well I don't know yet what I would do with them but I'm getting ideas. Maybe for returns from the CL/Closed Loop?on top or bottom?

Is the cost alone of 23.00$ per section the reason why people haven't been using this more then Loc-Line??

[NexDog]

I have 2 Darts and need to work out the plumbing. The Dart's come with thread FPT so can you tell me what the housing is referred to in this picture:

Just trying to understand why you'd put a housing on there with FPT when the Dart has FPT outlets.

[arconom]

I'm not sure of the question. You mean the black casing? The one they changed to Blue then back to black like mine? That's all factory.

I didn't add a housing to it. Everything you see in the picture on the pump, MINUS the 2 PVC fittings screwed into the housing"as I call it" came with the pump.

They are both Slip so I can glue in the pipe to each fitting.

If I didn't answer the question let me know

[NexDog]

So is there a small length of pipe in between the PVC fitting on the Dart and the Union valve? I was thinking about gluing the union straight onto some adpater or nipple that is screwed into the Dart.

[arconom]

Yes, there is a small piece.

[Travis]

Jumping in a lil late so I got lotsa anwers and a couple questions.

How much did the glass shop charge you to drill those 2 holes?

Where are your GFCI's? I don't see any. They can seriously save your tank someday, and possibly even your life.

I'd say you were pretty lucky to find those 2" true union valves at Lowes for that price. I wish we had a Lowes here, I think there are plans to build one soon.

Yes, the black housing on the Reeflo's replaces the clear housings. The clear ones sucked. I broke one before I ever used the pump and had to pay $50 for a replacement. I believe the black ones are the same as the grey on the 1000 and 750 series. You can crank and crank and then crank some more on them and they won't break. I've played with the grey, black, and clear housings and the clear ones were junk. A lot of people complained about the clear ones on a thread a few months back. A Sequence rep read the thread and that is what led to the change. That says something about their service, which is second to none.

Yes, you use regular pvc solvent with bulkheads. You probably noticed with the sch 40 bulkheads that the primer and solvent really melt down the plastic. That is a good thing.

You should place a union ball valve right at every bulkhead in the tank. This will allow you to change the plumbing in the future if you need to. For this, you only need single union valves. I like double union valves on the pump intake and output, which make it easy to take the pump offline, or take part of the plumbing offline without draining anything.

Here is another option for moving your canopy:



I've had the exact same problems with my MRC CR-6 reactor. No amount of gasket grease will ever fix it either. What I do is wrap a towel around the chamber to catch any leaked water for the first few days and let the salt creep stop the leak. I'm not sure why so many people are having these problems, but I think Andy needs to address the problem. AFAIK, there is nothing different with the new reactors.

[Lunchbucket]

i would put unioned valve where all the bulkheads are just for the reasons Travis said. if anyone knows plumbing it is Travis...he redid his 280 about 30times so i think he has it right by now

garage rails like travis has rock...very inventive IMO.

Travis - hmmm the new MRC reactors do the same...DEFINATLY Andy needs to fix this issue...VERY crappy IMO. i couldn't get it not to flow out all over for 2hrs. couldn't get the TINY o-ring to seal at all...not drips i mean this was flowing out.

Lunchbucket

[arconom]

Travis

ATM I don't have any GFI's when the system is up and going I will be buying a power strip with a GFI that can be reset.

The glass store charged 20$ for 2 holes. I was to scared at this point to drill the last 2 holes.

I only think I will be able to to fit 2 true unions on the bottom manifold in the picture. The top ones won't have any room.

I can't believe we all have the same problem with the MRC reactor. Like you said the salt creep usually stops the leaks after a few days.

So far the plumbing is going great. My Bro-inlaw gets to upset when he makes a plumbing mistake. He's to hard on himself sometimes.

In the picture you will see a small amount of PVC that came back out after we let it go. It ended up drying and the end result is bowing on the bottom manifold. On both the left and right side.


Be back in 10 minutes with more pictures.

[NoSchwag]

<--- Checks his watch..

[arconom]

Ok I'm back.

Also after people level there tank with no water how do they level it with water in it? Most people use the bottom glass to check to see if its level.

Travis, any thoughts on my flowbar? I like to get different peoples opinions.

PS sorry about picture sizes guys. This last set I was experimenting

[Travis]

Lunch, after my reactor was sitting out of use for many months I fired it up and had the constant leak (not drip) problem. I talked to Andy and he said the O-ring can get compressed over time. He sent me a new one for free with free shipping too. It helped, as the leak was reduced to a slow drip, which sealed itself after a few days, but still didn't solve the problem. Maybe you are in need of a new o-ring.

arconom, You will want to be able to get a valve on each CL outlet so you can tweak how much flow is coming out of each outlet. You will probably be ok without unions on the top outlets but I would still do it if you can fit them. As for your flow bar, I don't think it looks like a good idea. There are too many outlets for the water to exit. With that many outlets, the flow coming out of each outlet, including the other CL outlets, will have no velocity and will appear almost stagnant. IMO, 4 outlets is already pushing it. Now if you were to add an OM 4-way or 8-way then you could do it and get plenty of velocity out of those outlets. I would either do a single spray bar along the back bottom that pushes water forward or just keep the outlets as regular CL outlets.

[Lunchbucket]

arconom - put single union valves on the top outlets and put a union lower down' on the pipe. then you can at least shut them off and still remove that piece of plumbing to work on it. i would tyr to put a valve lower for each piece to. then you can shut off the flow to it w/out shutting down your whole system.

later
Lunchbucket

[arconom]

Show me on my pic Lunch. I can't visualize the idea.

[arconom]

Travis
Let me think about some more ideas and run it by you guys. I see what you mean on to many outlets and flow being disbursed.

I know the sweet way of doing it is with OMs, but money as at the negetive side atm. But in the future I had every intention on adding them.

[Travis]

Another idea if you can't fit a single union valve at each CL outlet.... At least put a union right at the bulkhead and use a bulkhead that is threaded on the side that is inside the tank. Then if you need to work on the plumbing down the road you can put a threaded plug into the bulkhead and still use the unions. Always use unions from your local hardware store if you can. When you change plumbing you lose half of the union and need the same brand and style to fit again. But still try to get a valve on each outlet if you can for flow control.

[arconom]

I will try to find some unions thgis week.

Do you have any ideas how to best utilize those 5 CL outlets?

[Travis]

You could just leave them be or maybe try the loc-line stuff that OM sells. Personally, I don't care for it from the looks of it anyways. It looks pretty big like it will take up a lot of space. But, I've never used them so I'm just going by pictures.

[arconom]

Ok, I figured it might me better just to leave them open. I just want to make sure nothing settles on the bottom in the front and back.

[toonces]

everytime i see that first post i start to laugh. i love the pic of the guy drilling the glass with his safetly glasses up on his head!

looks like a nice project!

[arconom]

Yeah thats my brother, he always does dumb like that. You should see him light off fireworks.

[arconom]

Well I found 3 more 1" true unions at Lowe's. I have a total of 4 now. I have to get my bro-inlaw to help me install them. Most likely he will do since he doesn't like me touching the plumbing

Also I leveled the tank while it was dry by putting the level on the bottom of the glass, as you see in the pictures. How do I level it when it's filled?

People say they usually level it when it's dry, and filled.

Where do I put the level when it's filled?