210g build in TX

[afgun]

Progress!

I plumbed my saltwater to the sump:

Then I finished redoing the siphon from refugium to sump, and put some water into the tank to leak test!

But... I have a leak. ARGH! :furious:

It seems that the seal on my Dart must have dried up when it sat after the previous water testing. So I want to get a new seal kit for my Dart (I'll do the Hammerhead while I'm tearing things apart) asap. Do LFS or other places (pool repair shops?) stock them or am I stuck ordering?

I ran out of steam with all of the drilling and plumbing, so I didn't get the RODI piggyback system plumbed up yet. I'll tackle that tomorrow...

 

[afgun]

Piggyback RO cartridge installed and the water barrel is almost full. Jonesing for the new pump seal... I better pick up the phone and call Reeflo. Email hasn't been answered yet.

 

[BBLINKS]

Nice build, tagging along.

 

[afgun]

Thanks! Put the new seal in the Dart today and it doesn't leak. Found another leak from an improperly assembled SUBV and it's been rectified. All of our RODI is in the tank now, so we're just waiting for another 75 or so gallons to complete the fill.

The piggyback RO system has dropped water pressure to the point where the ASO no longer works properly... so I have to turn the system on and off manually. Trying to decide if I should invest in a booster pump or some solenoid valves...

 

[INSPECTOR]

I'm just tagging along also. looks like you do a great job. No matter how much you think about the plan, little things always seem to pop up. And plans do and always will change. Keep going and again, GREAT JOB...

 

[afgun]

AND... the TDS in the RO system is way high. Not sure why, so tomorrow I'll be pulling it apart and testing each membrane separately... if it's not one thing it's another, but I'm darned close to having the tank full of water, finally!

 

[msudawgs56]

Wow... Beautiful stand. Great looking background also!

 

[palmer373]

nice build sucks with the setbacks tho. is this a standard 72"x24"x30" 210?

 

[zaheda]

Great build, tagging along. The BB 3000 would be a great pump for that size skimmer, im sure it will work.

 

[afgun]

nice build sucks with the setbacks tho. is this a standard 72"x24"x30" 210?

Yep. It's an older (Craigslist) AGA 210.

Great build, tagging along. The BB 3000 would be a great pump for that size skimmer, im sure it will work.

Thanks; with the weather delays, doesn't look like the pump came in yesterday. Gives me something to do on Monday

THERE IS WATER IN THE TANK! I'm going to pick up some salt today and a bigger heater (I don't think that with a pair of 200W I can keep temps at 75 with nighttime temps down to 60 in the house), and start cycling the rock on the wall... oh yes, get some sand for the fuge and put my LRR in it too.

 

[afgun]

And some photos, as I know _I_ Jones for them when I'm reading someone's thread

I believe that my high TDS is due to low pressure in my RODI system, so if I can't find a booster pump locally, I'll get one on order Monday... we're off to our LFS shortly to pick up salt and other supplies.

 

[catman78]

Your lighting fixture is beautiful. Can you give more info about it?

 

[afgun]

Your lighting fixture is beautiful. Can you give more info about it?

It's a Pacific Sun Deimos fixture. They're European (Polish to be specific). A company in NY was going to be an importer, and I purchased mine through a group buy that they had. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the importer got their business off the ground, as the website is now defunct.

It was quite expensive. While very nice, for the cost, I don't think I can recommend it unless you have lots of money burning a hole in your pocket (I blew a bonus check on mine).

It has 3 panels of 160W. Each panel has white and blue LEDs, allowing for an LED color adjustment from 13000K to 23000K. It also has a pair of T5 tubes in it (I have to order bulbs this weekend). The computer allows programmed sunrise/sunset time, or a fairly large series of adjustable PAR settings. It also simulates moon cycles. Very nice. But pricey...

 

[afgun]

Can't see anything in the tank right now... added 100 lbs of sugar fine sand to the DSB in the refugium, and about 50 pounds of LRR above it. Tossed in a couple of frozen shrimp to start the cycling of the rock wall, LRR and sand! Lights are now out while we cycle...

Scooped out a bunch of "sand foam". Tomorrow the new bubble blaster pump for our skimmer should arrive, so I hope to have it running in the evening. Nothing worth seeing so no pics today!

 

[BBLINKS]

It's a Pacific Sun Deimos fixture. They're European (Polish to be specific). A company in NY was going to be an importer, and I purchased mine through a group buy that they had. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the importer got their business off the ground, as the website is now defunct.

It was quite expensive. While very nice, for the cost, I don't think I can recommend it unless you have lots of money burning a hole in your pocket (I blew a bonus check on mine).

It has 3 panels of 160W. Each panel has white and blue LEDs, allowing for an LED color adjustment from 13000K to 23000K. It also has a pair of T5 tubes in it (I have to order bulbs this weekend). The computer allows programmed sunrise/sunset time, or a fairly large series of adjustable PAR settings. It also simulates moon cycles. Very nice. But pricey...

Hey guys.

I am getting the same light from Poland, it's definitely not cheap, but I think it's the wave of the future. I was wondering if you had a chance to open the system up and checked out how the assembly quality is? I am really interested to know due to a very controversy topic between the us distributor and pacsun Poland, and also for myself since I dropped a good chunk of change in it. I really like your set up, I have the exact same tank, but now I am regreting not having done what you have with the overflow. I guess there is always te 300 with corner flow I can upgrade to.

Fantastic job, love to see some more pictures...
Thanks:spin3:

 

[afgun]

I have not opened the lamp. The urge to disassemble and tinker hasn't yet compelled me to crack the case.

 

[afgun]

The fans on the center module run constantly. So I discussed this with the US vendor, and I may end up opening the case sooner than I thought...

I picked up the Bubble Blaster 3000 yesterday. Plumbed it in today and squeeeeeeeeeezed the skimmer into the sump. When I fired it up... WOW that thing puts out the air! Now I need to get a valve and make a silencer for it. I don't know if it will be worth the effort to convert to recirc... it looks to me like it will do a fabulous job without.

The test kit that I bought doesn't have ammonia... doh, what an oversight. So I'll head out to the store this evening to pick one up. A nitrite test today showed 0, but I'm not really surprised as the 2 shrimp we dropped in the sump only disintegrated today. I also forgot that I had bought some stability, so I started dosing it today.

My OM-4 is leaking a little after a drum change. Paul recommended some Dow Corning 111, so that's been ordered and should arrive today or tomorrow.

I am going to order up a couple of bulbs for the Pacific Sun fixture. My RODI booster pump should arrive by the weekend, so I'll have a little fun setting that up. Otherwise, things are basically in a wait mode now until the tank cycles...

 

[afgun]

The booster pump arrived yesterday; unfortunately the mounting bracket was damaged in shipping

So... have to wait and see how BRS wants to address this before installing it and making more RODI. I got an ammonia test kit yesterday and it shows between .1 and .25... nothing on nitrites yet. Going pretty slowly, so I think I'm going to dose household ammonia to kickstart the cycle. It's off to the grocery store today!

 

[afgun]

Updates!

BRS is sending a new pump. Should be here in the next couple of days.

Frustrated with my high TDS after adding the piggyback RO cartridge and watching rejection rate basically go to 0, I determined that both membranes are somehow shot now Testing one cartridge at a time confirms the results. However, the good folks at BFS are now taking care of me, and are MUCH more helpful than my old RODI supplier, including talking to me after-hours and shipping my system that same day! New system will hopefully be here by the end of the week.

Dosed household ammonia up to 2ppm and daily dosing of bacteria. Still waiting for it to drop... I'm just anxious I guess.

Next projects:
Connect pump to drain for semi-automated water changes
Acquire/build tank for ATO to be mounted in stand above sump

 

[Editour2]

Rock Wall

Rock Wall

Can I ask where these weir panels are installed? Inside or outside of the tank? Why did you install these rather than increasing the rock wall?