joefitz
02/03/2004, 12:28 AM
Ok. Well, I'm still not done but at least I feel I've made a little bit of progress and with the encouragement of Karl Wagner and Scott Merrill I've taken a few snaps of my new setup...
FYI, the tank is 72" long by 36" wide by 30" deep.
Please ignore the mess in the background -- I still haven't completely recovered from the superbowl party yet.
First, a diagonal shot of the tank:
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/diag_low.jpg">
A few comments about the above pic...you'll notice some pvc in the tank above the sand line. Some of that is 1.5 flex-pvc which is going to be used for returns into the tank, hidden in the rockwork. The rest is a rock support framework made up of 3/4" pvc resting on 4" PVC that is placed on the bottom of the tank. I didn't have the forsite to put sand/water in the 3/4" pvc pipe though so it is currently floating in the tank. Eventually this will be hidden just below the sandline.
You can make out the EuroReef CS12-2 underneath in the sump. An MTC ProCal calcium reactor is at the far end of the tank, eventually this will be placed under the stand. In the bottom left of the pic you'll see the edges of the canopy I built.
A side pic:
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/side1_low.jpg">
This shows another angle of the pvc...and you can also see the end of the overflow compartment which runs across the entire width of the tank against the wall. An empty bag of southdown is floating at the top of the tank (it is just about full of RODI).
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/overflow_low.jpg">
A closer look at the overflow compartment. Not a good pic. There are two 2" drains and three 1.5" drains (well, one is a return in all likelihood a 2nd will be used as a return as well). You can make out the manifold at the top which takes the 1.5" return and splits it to eight 3/4" hose barb connections. I'm not sure that I'll use it but I figured I'd give it a shot.
There are four 3/4" bulkheads in the overflow wall -- two toward the bottom of the tank and two toward the top. You can make out the loc-line poking out of the sand on the left side of the overflow wall -- that is attached to one of the bottom 3/4" bulkheads. All four of these will be used to return water into the tank and may or may not be connected to SCWDs or other wavemaking devices.
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/drains_low.jpg">
This is a shot of the area under the overflow compartment. All of this plumbing is flex pvc. The outermost pipes are the two 2" drains. The 2nd in from the left is the existing return, which is coming from an Ampmaster 3000. It is teed off back to the sump so I can dial the flow back if necessary. The two pipes next to this are the other two 1.5" drains. One will most likely be converted into a 2nd return (another Ampmaster 3000).
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/loop_low.jpg">
This pic shows the two 1.5" lines going into the main portion of the tank. I am still not 100% sure how or if I will use these. I want to try to use them as returns from a surge system I am building but we'll see. They are currently capped but can be easily re-plumbed without having to do any real work...once I've decided to use them the pipe in the display tank will be hidden in the rockwork.
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/sump_low.jpg">
Here is a pic of the sump. Not really much to look at...the Euro-reef skimmer dominates the left side of the sump. Water then passes through a few baffles and then is returned to the tank. The sump has a total of six 2" bulkheads, only one of which is really currently in use.
You can also see some of the plumbing connected to the returns to the main tank I mentioned above...the flex pipe connects to a union and then a ball valve. The in-tank plumbing is pipe similar, pipe connected to a union which is capped. So, when I decide to use those returns I can just glue whatever I need to half of a union and then swap that with the union that is capped in the tank...
The sump holds the heaters, pumps for the skimmer and eventually the aquacontroller probes.
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/end_low.jpg">
A picture of the end of the tank.
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/canopy_low.jpg">
I built the canopy to hold three Diamond Lumenarc reflectors which will each house a 400W MH bulb. Karl and Scott have convinced me to add VHO to the mix, which wasn't hard to do as I definitely like the look VHO adds (I just wasn't sure I could fit it all).
If you look at the power cord coming out of the middle reflector you'll notice a pulley on the canopy. There are four pulleys which attach to a mount on the ceiling allowing me to raise and lower the canopy. I also needed to be able to have convenient access to both sides of the tank (you really can't reach from one side to the other, at least not at any depth), so I mounted the pulley mount onto rails which allow me to slide the entire canopy (when raised) two feet in either direction -- who knows if it works but I thought it was a neat idea. Here is a shot of the mounting system:
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/canopymount_low.jpg">
I plan on using my aquacontroller to turn various lights on and off over the course of the day so I will probably only have at most two of the MH bulbs on at any time.
And that about does it for now. I finally get to mix the salt in tomorrow...
Lots of work left to be done though. Karl and Scott were convincing me (successfully) to transform my current ~100g tank into a refugium for the system. I need to re-build a stand for that so that it can also support a tank above that for my surge system.
Joe
FYI, the tank is 72" long by 36" wide by 30" deep.
Please ignore the mess in the background -- I still haven't completely recovered from the superbowl party yet.
First, a diagonal shot of the tank:
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/diag_low.jpg">
A few comments about the above pic...you'll notice some pvc in the tank above the sand line. Some of that is 1.5 flex-pvc which is going to be used for returns into the tank, hidden in the rockwork. The rest is a rock support framework made up of 3/4" pvc resting on 4" PVC that is placed on the bottom of the tank. I didn't have the forsite to put sand/water in the 3/4" pvc pipe though so it is currently floating in the tank. Eventually this will be hidden just below the sandline.
You can make out the EuroReef CS12-2 underneath in the sump. An MTC ProCal calcium reactor is at the far end of the tank, eventually this will be placed under the stand. In the bottom left of the pic you'll see the edges of the canopy I built.
A side pic:
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/side1_low.jpg">
This shows another angle of the pvc...and you can also see the end of the overflow compartment which runs across the entire width of the tank against the wall. An empty bag of southdown is floating at the top of the tank (it is just about full of RODI).
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/overflow_low.jpg">
A closer look at the overflow compartment. Not a good pic. There are two 2" drains and three 1.5" drains (well, one is a return in all likelihood a 2nd will be used as a return as well). You can make out the manifold at the top which takes the 1.5" return and splits it to eight 3/4" hose barb connections. I'm not sure that I'll use it but I figured I'd give it a shot.
There are four 3/4" bulkheads in the overflow wall -- two toward the bottom of the tank and two toward the top. You can make out the loc-line poking out of the sand on the left side of the overflow wall -- that is attached to one of the bottom 3/4" bulkheads. All four of these will be used to return water into the tank and may or may not be connected to SCWDs or other wavemaking devices.
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/drains_low.jpg">
This is a shot of the area under the overflow compartment. All of this plumbing is flex pvc. The outermost pipes are the two 2" drains. The 2nd in from the left is the existing return, which is coming from an Ampmaster 3000. It is teed off back to the sump so I can dial the flow back if necessary. The two pipes next to this are the other two 1.5" drains. One will most likely be converted into a 2nd return (another Ampmaster 3000).
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/loop_low.jpg">
This pic shows the two 1.5" lines going into the main portion of the tank. I am still not 100% sure how or if I will use these. I want to try to use them as returns from a surge system I am building but we'll see. They are currently capped but can be easily re-plumbed without having to do any real work...once I've decided to use them the pipe in the display tank will be hidden in the rockwork.
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/sump_low.jpg">
Here is a pic of the sump. Not really much to look at...the Euro-reef skimmer dominates the left side of the sump. Water then passes through a few baffles and then is returned to the tank. The sump has a total of six 2" bulkheads, only one of which is really currently in use.
You can also see some of the plumbing connected to the returns to the main tank I mentioned above...the flex pipe connects to a union and then a ball valve. The in-tank plumbing is pipe similar, pipe connected to a union which is capped. So, when I decide to use those returns I can just glue whatever I need to half of a union and then swap that with the union that is capped in the tank...
The sump holds the heaters, pumps for the skimmer and eventually the aquacontroller probes.
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/end_low.jpg">
A picture of the end of the tank.
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/canopy_low.jpg">
I built the canopy to hold three Diamond Lumenarc reflectors which will each house a 400W MH bulb. Karl and Scott have convinced me to add VHO to the mix, which wasn't hard to do as I definitely like the look VHO adds (I just wasn't sure I could fit it all).
If you look at the power cord coming out of the middle reflector you'll notice a pulley on the canopy. There are four pulleys which attach to a mount on the ceiling allowing me to raise and lower the canopy. I also needed to be able to have convenient access to both sides of the tank (you really can't reach from one side to the other, at least not at any depth), so I mounted the pulley mount onto rails which allow me to slide the entire canopy (when raised) two feet in either direction -- who knows if it works but I thought it was a neat idea. Here is a shot of the mounting system:
<img src="http://216.235.242.49/sump/canopymount_low.jpg">
I plan on using my aquacontroller to turn various lights on and off over the course of the day so I will probably only have at most two of the MH bulbs on at any time.
And that about does it for now. I finally get to mix the salt in tomorrow...
Lots of work left to be done though. Karl and Scott were convincing me (successfully) to transform my current ~100g tank into a refugium for the system. I need to re-build a stand for that so that it can also support a tank above that for my surge system.
Joe