Building Big Bertha: 800G - Page 4

Untamed12 · #76 08/28/2006, 11:12 AM

I happen to be at Envision on the weekend (picking up my baby...), and I had a good look at Bertha.

She's coming along beautifully. You'll love it.

It was too funny, actually...I was looking at the tank and I saw that cutout corner. Right away I said "Hey, I know this tank. This is....Bertha!"

There were a lot of similarities in our designs. Bertha is larger (mine's only 6'x4'), but otherwise very similar.

Small world.

bbrantley · #77 08/28/2006, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Untamed12
I happen to be at Envision on the weekend (picking up my baby...), and I had a good look at Bertha.

She's coming along beautifully. You'll love it.

It was too funny, actually...I was looking at the tank and I saw that cutout corner. Right away I said "Hey, I know this tank. This is....Bertha!"

There were a lot of similarities in our designs. Bertha is larger (mine's only 6'x4'), but otherwise very similar.

Small world.

Ha ha, cool! I tried looking for your tank thread, but came up emtpy-handed. Do you have one yet? (Hint, hint!

)

Ben

Untamed12 · #78 08/28/2006, 05:40 PM

No..no thread for me. I'm too busy building this thing to spend the time keeping up a discussion. Maybe soon, though.

bbrantley · #79 09/02/2006, 11:20 AM

Welp, I think Bertha's about due for a thread update. Jame at Envision says she's almost ready to ship out, which is great, except some permitting delays here at home have set us back a bit on having the floor ready in the fish room. That means Bertha will likely have to sit outside (or possibly in the garage) for at least a week until the house is ready.

My stand builder has been working up a storm; here are a few pictures of the work in progress:

I got a new RODI from AirWaterIce this week, an Eskimo, to help produce more clean water from our very cold well-water up here. It should produce maybe 150GPD, a nice step up from my 90GPD Spectrapure that actually manages to eke out about 50 with the chilly flow we get. I'll use them both in combination to fill the tank, since otherwise it will take weeks.

See ya!

jnarowe · #80 09/02/2006, 11:26 AM

Nice stand...that is coming out great. Will you have it powder-coated?

On the cold water issue, I have fairly cold water here too at about 45F so what I do is have 200 ft of 1/4" supply line coiled up inside the holding tank, which I keep at 75F. This warms up the incoming water enough to get good production.

bbrantley · #81 09/02/2006, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jnarowe
Nice stand...that is coming out great. Will you have it powder-coated?

On the cold water issue, I have fairly cold water here too at about 45F so what I do is have 200 ft of 1/4" supply line coiled up inside the holding tank, which I keep at 75F. This warms up the incoming water enough to get good production.

Nice idea on the coiled tubing; I may also have the luxury of trying this, but I'm not sure how it will work with my plans for my automated mixing/top-off/water change system. The tubing might need to be secured down to the bottom or something to prevent total chaos.

As for the stand, I'm going to have it coated with Rhino truck bed liner. Hopefully it will turn out nicely!

Ben

Untamed12 · #82 09/03/2006, 09:33 AM

I was just reading your thoughts on front access or not...

When I picked my tank up from Envision, James was very helpful in pointing out that it was structurally strong enough to lie on top of the cross braces. (Bertha is wider than my tank, so you should check this with James)

This makes it easy to reach down into the tank just about anywhere with access only from the back.

However, when you are lying on top of the tank, it is very difficult to clean/scrape the front panel. One's arms just don't bend that way.

So I've decided that I need to have front panel access and am trying to figure out a nice way to do that.

Untamed12 · #83 09/03/2006, 09:36 AM

Here's a crazy idea....run the water supply through the sump before you run it to the RO/DI. Tank gets cooled, water gets warmed before it runs into the RO/DI.

jnarowe · #84 09/03/2006, 11:42 AM

not a crazy idea at all as long as it doesn't bring tank temp down too low.

bbrantley · #85 09/03/2006, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Untamed12
I was just reading your thoughts on front access or not...

When I picked my tank up from Envision, James was very helpful in pointing out that it was structurally strong enough to lie on top of the cross braces. (Bertha is wider than my tank, so you should check this with James)

This makes it easy to reach down into the tank just about anywhere with access only from the back.

However, when you are lying on top of the tank, it is very difficult to clean/scrape the front panel. One's arms just don't bend that way.

So I've decided that I need to have front panel access and am trying to figure out a nice way to do that.

Good points, but I've got this one covered. Yes, I had James design the tank so that my crossbraces, too, are strong enough to sit on. (I think I heard something about "okay to jump on," but I'll only have maybe 3 feet above the tank, so I don't think I'll be jumping any time soon...)

I'm planning to build a longer scraper (probably 5 feet) that I can use to get the bottom two-thirds of the front pane with from a "comfortable" sitting position in the middle of the tank. I just have to take care to design my rockwork to permit easy access to the front at steeper angles, I think. We'll see if reality pans out. In any event, I definitely won't have any front access, so I'll be left to invent an alternative if that doesn't work out. Scraping is never very fun, though.

Ben

jnarowe · #86 09/03/2006, 12:46 PM

That will be tough Ben. I am using a 1/2" PVC pipe over the end of a long Kent scraper, but there is still too much flexibility to get the tough coraline algae off. The other problem is not being able to see what you are scraping.

I have been trying out different scraper materials and bolting them to my magnet, but even with the really powerful magnet, I still cannot get a lot of the coraline off. So my quest continues.

bbrantley · #87 09/03/2006, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jnarowe
That will be tough Ben. I am using a 1/2" PVC pipe over the end of a long Kent scraper, but there is still too much flexibility to get the tough coraline algae off. The other problem is not being able to see what you are scraping.

I have been trying out different scraper materials and bolting them to my magnet, but even with the really powerful magnet, I still cannot get a lot of the coraline off. So my quest continues.

Yeah, I'm going to have to work on that one. I think at a minimum it'll have to be much thicker PVC, perhaps with some more reasonable-sized handles on the end for ease of gripping. Aluminum tube might work as well.

I play to make some acrylic pieces that clip into the openings and allow me a "window" to see what I'm doing, but I've found I can usually scrape pretty well even not seeing the front on my old tank as long as the water isn't too turbid at the top.

Ben

jnarowe · #88 09/03/2006, 10:40 PM

I am just afraid of falling in when I am conecentrating on scraping. I dropped my cell phone in about a month ago...

bbrantley · #89 09/05/2006, 12:00 PM

Howdy all,

I thought I'd toss out a few more pictures to liven up the thread for the week. Here's the stand almost finished and ready for coating. (It needs a set of diagonal cross-braces and it will be ready.)

And here's Bertha almost fully-born... she's a tall baby, huh?

JustOneMoreTank · #90 09/05/2006, 12:36 PM

Goodness ! Ohh my! This is massive. I really need to get a second job. I cant wait to see some pictures with this in place and running with water. Keep the pictures coming. Approx how much longer til the construction is done?

tedu · #91 09/05/2006, 01:44 PM

Thanks for the stand pics! I'm also drawing up plans for a stand and planning on 'cantilevering' as well so that it's flush with the front wall.

Ted

H20ENG · #92 09/05/2006, 07:38 PM

What kind of pressure drop do you get after 200' of 1/4" tubing? I'd have nothing left to power the RO at my house at 40psi

I plan to do the same, and possibly in the sump, but with 1/2" or so tubing to keep the pressure drop lower.

You guys have seen this right? You can add any kind of blade you want.
http://www.oceansmotions.com/store/p...91e19f18a6e6d2

JustOneMoreTank · #93 09/05/2006, 08:54 PM

About the link above supplied by H20ENG
I know first hand that the products made by OceansMotions are top notch. This would be a worthwhile tool for those trying to keep tanks with inaccessible areas clean.
I dont have this tool but I have great faith that it will preform really well.

jnarowe · #94 09/05/2006, 09:31 PM

H20ENG: No pressure drop since I am using a booster pump. I also have low house pressure and had to have the booster anyways. I did have to add abot 4 ft. of 3/4" PVC between the supply and the booster to stop the hammering.

That link is to a nice item but no help to us acrylic owners!! You can use all sorts of things to scrape glass. It's acrylic that is the tough one.

Fliger · #95 09/05/2006, 10:57 PM

It all looks incredible. James and Scott are both fantastic to work with - you sure do have good taste! Love the BK, is it relatively silent? I had the 300Ext and the bubbles popping were louder than the RD!

I loved your last tank. I had the thread bookmarked as I loved your cabinetry. I hate molding. ;-)

Aren't understanding wives the best?! I just remind her at least I'm at home playing with fishies and not at topless joints.

H20ENG · #96 09/06/2006, 01:08 AM

Is the pump before or after the coil of tubing? That is my scenario too. I'm going to run the coil > pump > RO

Not sure if Paul's got any plastic blades for those things yet. I know you can use UHMW.

Bax · #97 09/06/2006, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bbrantley
Howdy all,

...

And here's Bertha almost fully-born... she's a tall baby, huh?

That is one impressive looking, almost completed tank!!!

Bertha IS BIG!!!

jnarowe · #98 09/06/2006, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by H20ENG
Is the pump before or after the coil of tubing? That is my scenario too. I'm going to run the coil > pump > RO

Not sure if Paul's got any plastic blades for those things yet. I know you can use UHMW.

If you are asking me, I think I am pushing it through the 1/4" tubing but to be honest I can't remember for sure. If that is important, I can go take a look and let you know. What plastic blades?

Quote:

Bertha IS BIG!!!

Hey, big boned tanks need love too!

JustOneMoreTank · #99 09/06/2006, 11:07 AM

Instead of putting a razor blade in the magnet scraper contraption I am sure they could help you mount a plastic "blade". You could even try to use a piece of a credit card. May I suggest your wife's Macy's card?

Give them a call at OceansMotions and I am sure that they have something worked out for you acrylic guys.

jnarowe · #**100** 09/06/2006, 11:33 AM

credit cards seem like a good idea but they don't really work on coraline algae. I have tried several.

"Sorry honey, that one's no good. It's got holes in it."