210 Upgrade Build with LED Build

[nuclearheli]

nuclearheli,

On your return lines i notice you and I have them run the same way with the loc-line being exposed to air when it is coming over the top of your overflow. Did you ever have tiny microbubbles from this? i found that air was being sucked in throught he loc-line resulting in never ending bubbles.

No never had that problem. Do you have enough flow, or actually pressure in the return line. I can't imagine how you are sucking air through the holes. My holes are on the bottom of the riser elbow so there should always be adequate water flowing over them. If anything they should drip.

 

[psusocr]

Yes i think my flow is maxed out, so im assuming the tubes are packed with water but i can double check..

Whle i have you here. If im drainign with (1) 1 inch drain and another 2 inch drain i have about 3000 gph draining correct? So i can pump about the same amount up with handling it right?

2 inch is about 2400gph
1 inch is about 600 gph

Are these correct? thanks,

 

[extremeshannon]

Thanks Nuclearheli for answering my questions. I always end up with more. Did you end up potting with SYLGARD® 182 SILICONE ELASTOMER KIT? I am looking for a good place to buy it.

 

[nuclearheli]

Yes i think my flow is maxed out, so im assuming the tubes are packed with water but i can double check..

Whle i have you here. If im drainign with (1) 1 inch drain and another 2 inch drain i have about 3000 gph draining correct? So i can pump about the same amount up with handling it right?

2 inch is about 2400gph
1 inch is about 600 gph

Are these correct? thanks,

Yes, that is correct, that's a ton of flow but that's fine. I balanced mine between my fuge and a few reactors and still have plenty.

 

[nuclearheli]

Thanks Nuclearheli for answering my questions. I always end up with more. Did you end up potting with SYLGARD® 182 SILICONE ELASTOMER KIT? I am looking for a good place to buy it.

Ok, this question has an easy answer and a tough answer. The easy answer is the SLYGARD was purchased from McMaster Carr (www.mcmaster.com).

Now the tough part. I did not pot the LED's with the SLYGARD on the V2 build. But the reason is a lame one. I needed to finish the rail that week, for reasons which are unimportant. I could have left it alone and finished it later the next month but I wanted it done that week. I did a test with the slygard earlier the week before. The problem is it takes three days to cure and you can't touch the rig until it is.

Now, do I wish I waited, probably. What I like about the slygard is that it cures into a softer material which is easy to cut away from sensitive electronics. That's great. It is also optically clear when cured so again, if you get any under the lens it's not a problem. So those are the pros.

I used the same solid epoxy I used on the V1 build because it was proven, works very well, and cures overnight.

I wanted to try the slygard because since I built the light I needed to replace two blown LED's. To do that with the epoxy you need to use a dremel with a small router tip and round out around the hole in the G11, then using a screw driver you can just pry out the LED and remaining epoxy. It's not at all tough to do, it is just more involved.

So if you can wait the slygard will work great. But keep in mind the epoxy is also an excellent choice and very thermally conductive. The slygard is thermally conductive but the epoxy potting material is designed to actually draw heat away from the components.

When I build another bar, which I may do to again improve my design, I will probably use the slygard and try it out. Right now it is unproven but there is no reason to believe it won't work based on the specs.

 

[Snootch]

Thanks Snootch; The part number you want is:

7132K615 Chemical-Resistant PVC Heat-Shrink Tubing, 3/16" ID Before, 3/32" ID After, 25' Length, Clear, Each of 25

Post some pictures on my forum if you can some time. Love to see your build.

Will do, thanks for the help.
Regards,
KC

 

[tangtang clown]

What are you using to monitor you Ph?

 

[hottodd]

Can the McMaster Structural Framing be cut? My tank is 72" long so I'm concerned with the end pieces it will jut out. I guess I could make my canopy a little wider on top but would prefer a shorter Frame. Also how did you attach the frame to your canopy? Are the fasteners they have the best thing?

 

[nuclearheli]

What are you using to monitor you Ph?

I am using the Apex. One probe is located in the tank. I have another probe in the sump in the basement.

 

[nuclearheli]

Can the McMaster Structural Framing be cut? My tank is 72" long so I'm concerned with the end pieces it will jut out. I guess I could make my canopy a little wider on top but would prefer a shorter Frame. Also how did you attach the frame to your canopy? Are the fasteners they have the best thing?

You can cut the framing with a chop saw and metal cutting bade. It's quite easy. You could use any saw that has blades for metal. The aluminum cuts very easy.

My mounting is slightly more complicated and there are photos provided in the thread. The wooden box my light is in is a wood frame with a center of plywood. I cut a hole in the plywood center to reduce the weight and allow cooling from the top down.

My light bar assembly has four eye hooks that are actually used to suspend the light fixture. There are holes 1" in diameter drilled in the four corners of the center plywood of the wood frame. Then I used mounting bolts to mount the frame to the plywood but this is not the primary means of support. The suspended light frame actually acts to support the entire wooden frame.

As I said, pictures are worth a thousand words and there are many in the thread that will clarify what I just tried to describe.

 

[tangtang clown]

Quick question for Heli and Trucking regarding the CO2 scrubbers. Did yall put foam/filter media in the bottom where the barbs are? In other words, what is on the inside of the container where you drilled and tapped the hose barb hole? Air, filter media, or soda lime? Thanks.

well thanks for nuclearheli i built a CO2 scrubber and it was easy as pie waiting to see the difference in PH but if anyone is thinking about it it is very easy. the reason it is so high is because i was planning on putting more soda lime but once i put 3 lbs of it in i was like damn thats a lot i might put more i dont know yet

 

[nuclearheli]

Quick question for Heli and Trucking regarding the CO2 scrubbers. Did yall put foam/filter media in the bottom where the barbs are? In other words, what is on the inside of the container where you drilled and tapped the hose barb hole? Air, filter media, or soda lime? Thanks.

Nice Job, those toilet bowl flanges and PVC drain's come in might handy don't they. I put blue foam disks at the bottom covering the area where I tapped the hole for the suction side of the scrubber. I think I used 3"x1" foam disks, two of them. I purchased them from the LFS, they are replacement filters for some small aquarium filter.

You will know just how well it's working when you start seeing the media turn blue and purple. That's all CO2 that you didn't put into your system. It's actually quite cool as the media turns blue and purple from the top of the tube working it's way down to the bottom.

 

[tangtang clown]

I haven't built a CO2 scrubber yet, but I think I will attempt one of the acrylic variety similar to the one's you and trucking made.

While admiring your skimmer setup and its new extension, the venturi caught my eye. Did you have to make a special venturi hookup for that skimmer? The reason I ask is b/c most skimmers I have used, the air line hook up has been on the inlet side of the pump. How come water does not come out of the venturi on your skimmer being that it is the output side of your pump?
Just curious.

 

[nuclearheli]

I haven't built a CO2 scrubber yet, but I think I will attempt one of the acrylic variety similar to the one's you and trucking made.

While admiring your skimmer setup and its new extension, the venturi caught my eye. Did you have to make a special venturi hookup for that skimmer? The reason I ask is b/c most skimmers I have used, the air line hook up has been on the inlet side of the pump. How come water does not come out of the venturi on your skimmer being that it is the output side of your pump?
Just curious.

Got it, sorry trucking....

Even though the venturi is on the inlet side of the pump in other skimmers it acts the same way. The pump pulls the water through the larger cavity and pumps it out the other side. This action of water rushing across the venturi causes a mini vacuum sucking air down the hose and into the water. The same is true when the venturi is on the other side of the pump, as long as the venturi is shaped correctly the water pressure flowing down the skimmer pipe causes a vacuum on the venturi sucking air down the air line. The difference is in the pump. For arrangements that suck air in before the pump you need specially designed impella's that will mix the air and water and still allow the pump to "pump" and not cavitate. With this skimmer arrangement you can use any standard pump because the air and water are mixed down stream from the impella.

As you can see from the picture below it doesn't matter which side the pump is on, as long as you get the flow.

This setup is typicall of skimmers with external pumps and the design you are use to seeing is typicall of skimmers that have their pumps submerged in the sump.


Both work great.

 

[tangtang clown]

Excellent. Thanks. The slope of the pipe on the left side must be key.

 

[psusocr]

nulcearheli,

I just read through this whole thread and noticed your running a lifereef sump/refugium and skimmer. Im also running the combo except i have the larger sump for 500 gallons and the 72" skimmer. I also noticed you run your skimmer differantly than i do..I inject my water from the bottom instead of coming through the top . Im currently instaling some bubble traps in my refugium since i dont think lifereef did the best job for bubble control, but im also runnign some incredble flow through my sump so its not there fault.

Im also pretty inspired to build a c02 scrubber now myself but im not sure how big mine would have to be and where to drill the suction line from my skimmer.

 

[tangtang clown]

So exactly a month ago (Post 579) I built a new CO2 Scrubber out of PVC pipe, a toilet flange and a shower drain. I liked it until I saw TRUKINGNY (Post 651) who built one out of clear acrylic. I had to have one like that. So I ordered some clear acrylic tubing, a base, a flange, modified it all and made myself another new CO2 scrubber. Here it is:

A few things I like about this one over my other one. The biggest improvement is it's clear like TRUKINGNY's so I can see the color changing. It also looks nicer. Second, I tapped and used thumb screws on the top plate so it's easy to take off. Lastly, I used a quick disconnect on the hose so I can easily disconnect it from the system and change the Soda Lime.

Had the parts for a while now, finally got around to building it.

Heli, do you mind mentioning where you found the acrylic for your CO2 scrubber. I found a place with the tubing, but as for the bases, did you cut them out of a sheet or did they come like your finished scrubber?

 

[psusocr]

This was on page 34 i beleive



I might consider it. I ordered most of the parts from www.avastmarine.com.

Code: GROOVED-BASE Price: $8.00
Keyhole Flange Set KEYHOLE-FLANGE-BLANK-Sz=3.5 Price: $30
Code: ACRYLICTUBE-3.5 12 Inch Length Price: $10.90
The metal grate at the top I got from Lowes and I think I paid about 2 dollars
The barbed fitting I also got from Lowes and paid less than 3 bucks.
The blue filter disks I got from my LFS and I purchased two boxes, each had two filters and they were $5.50/box.

Now if your really good with acrylic, and I am not, the keyhole flange blank is really cool and you can take the top part and drill your own vent holes. It took me an hour to lay out perfectly spaced holes in the flange. Started drilling and screwed up the holes so badly I threw it away and improvised using the shower grate. I like it better. But if you know what your doing and can drill acrylic that would be cool also.

Building it was easy.

 

[nuclearheli]

nulcearheli,

I just read through this whole thread and noticed your running a lifereef sump/refugium and skimmer. Im also running the combo except i have the larger sump for 500 gallons and the 72" skimmer. I also noticed you run your skimmer differantly than i do..I inject my water from the bottom instead of coming through the top . Im currently instaling some bubble traps in my refugium since i dont think lifereef did the best job for bubble control, but im also runnign some incredble flow through my sump so its not there fault.

Im also pretty inspired to build a c02 scrubber now myself but im not sure how big mine would have to be and where to drill the suction line from my skimmer.

I am running the skimmer as it came. There is a long tube that comes from the water intake at the top directly to an acrylic cup at the bottom. I guess your running from the bottom because at 72" it must be difficult to push the water down to the bottom, and in 72" you get plenty of bubble formation.

I don't have any bubble issue with my fuge.

You don't have an air intake for your skimmer? Where is your skimmer getting it's air supply from? It's all just how often you want to change out your media and how much CO2 you have. My small canister expires in about 30 to 60 days, not bad at all. In a previous post you see a rather large CO2 scrubber, over 3 pounds of media. It really has nothing to do with capacity, just how often you are going to change the media.

 

[nuclearheli]

Page 31, but your quote is right on. Running strong and I wouldn't run a skimmer without one.