220 Inwall - Plan

[bheron]

Part III

Finally, I made the big move! I moved my livestock from their first temporary home in my 75g tank, sitting on the floor:

And into their "new" temporary home. My 20g QT on the one new stand:

The process was relatively easy as I already had the tank and just had to move them about 20 feet from one room to the other. I used the same water and live rock, so there was no need for acclimation. Just the stress from draining the 75g, removing all the rock, and catching the livestock was the hard part on them.

I checked this morning and they all look good. They ate last night. Hopefully they only need ot be in there for 4-6 weeks. I am planning on doing a healthy dose of water changes while they're in there.

 

[melev]

I just used pure silicone, not silicone caulk. Silicone is water proof. I don't believe Great Stuff is water proof, and may soften if water gets on it. It might even allow water to permeate it, but that is just a guess. You could apply a thin coating of silicone over it to make the water pour right over it and onto the floor in the fishroom.

Does your doorway have a threshold? If so, I'd put silicone there, and remove the rubber baseboard. I'm afraid someone will trip over it and odds are something will be damaged in the process.

 

[bheron]

Marc - thanks. The silicone caulk is the type used in tubs and showers, so i assumed its waterproof. What do you think?

The Great Stuff says its waterproof, or something like that. I dont have the can. Its in the car b/c i have to return it. Defective can! But, I'll put a layer of silicone over it just in case.

About the doorway - no threshhold. Didnt think of that when I was putting it in. So, I put in a standard 2x4 and then the baseboard in front of it. Yes! I am worried about people tripping over it too. But if I want several inches of protection, what are my choices!?

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[dougchambers]

Bryan - How big is the room and how many gallons do you want to contain? A typical 10'x13' room at 1" of water should hold ~80gallons. I see you tripping over the baseboard and ripping it from the wall before long.

-Doug

 

[bheron]

Doug - good point. Never through of it that way. The room is 8x8 which I think will hold, at 1", 40 gallons. I guess I was just thinking - worst case scenario.

In reality, i'm worried about the tripping, but not the ripping!

 

[weatherson]

Hmm... A motorized, flip up, water tight, water detection device actuated door threshold water detainment apparatus. Hmm.

 

[Kreeger1]

I'd really consider something else infront of the door walk way, Probably one of the worst ideas I've seen. Not trying to be mean but really its a bad idea

Erik

 

[conda]

I haven't read back in these posts to refresh my memory, but does you floor slope?

I have a family room adjacent to my fish room and the fish room slopes into a sump pit where I am placing a sump pump. Then I caulked the perimiter of my fish room with silicon so that no water can get out, but can flow into the pit. Unless the tank explodes, or something major like that, the water should flow perfectly into the sump pit.

I'm flood paranoid like you.

 

[bheron]

Weatherson - exactly! When can you have it built and installed? This weekend would work best.

Erik - no problem. all feedback is good feedback. why does it look so bad? There wont be too much traffic through there, besides myself. I'm hoping it'll become a habit for me. I'll already be limiting traffic from others. What other alternatives are there?

Conda - yes, thought about that. There is a sump pit in the basrement but its all the way on the other end, about 75' away! The floor does not slope in any general direction, unfortunately. The good thing is that two sides of the room are against the basement wall which has a small slit between the wall and the floor. Not a true french drain, but I'm hoping in an emergency i can direct water there.

With that said, any ideas are open right now since its so easy to install and remove the baseboard. I didnt even secure the piece of wood in the doorframe - figured it could be a breakaway piece.


Also, while where on this topic, last night I finall hooked up my RODI and started producing water since the move a few months ago. And isnt it a coincidence that it just so happens last night I had my first "water mess???" Yep, I was going to post it later to get suggestions, but it seems relevant now, so here goes...


I hooked up my RODI to the colod water inlet under my sink. There is a ribbed hose that goes from the copper pipe to the sink. I used sort of a "T" that splits off of the hose and to my RODI inlet. I used this before in my previous house and it works fine. And I think that was the problem - a bit old.

Here's what the hose looks like:

And this is something like device i have to split it off:

Anyway, I installed this "T" split and hooked up my RODI. Everything was going great - producting my first water quickly. I even contemplated leaving it on over night since I have a shut off valve. Well, after a few hours I saw a small leak coming from one of the RODI filters. As I went to move the unit I mustve tugged on it too hard. The result: the unit became disconnected from the "T" and I have water flying out, directly from the pipe and all over the floor. I quickly shut off the valve on the pipe itself, but withing about 10 seconds a few gallons spilled on the floor!

Cleanup was easy but I can't even begin to think if that came apart while I was asleep. We wouldve had about a foot of water in our new basement.

- So, is it possible to be even MORE flood paranoid?

- How can I connect my RODI with better assurance?

- Or, is the answer not to connect it at all unless I'm using it?

 

[Kreeger1]

It just to me seems like its more of a hassel and eue sore to set over everytim you enter the room. I well designed setup should not leak ever, I no it happens more than often though so I can understand your concerns.
If I can think of a better solution than the foot trap I will post ofr you
Erik

 

[conda]

Cleanup was easy but I can't even begin to think if that came apart while I was asleep. We wouldve had about a foot of water in our new basement.

- So, is it possible to be even MORE flood paranoid?

- How can I connect my RODI with better assurance?

- Or, is the answer not to connect it at all unless I'm using it? [/B]

Here is something for you to chew on, check this link out and read my second post under the title "The Flood". Then scroll to the bottom of that second post and read "What have I learned from all this".

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=681968

After what happened to me, noone could be more paranoid! :eek1:

 

[melev]

I can tell you this: Every time someone goes into my fishroom to see the setup, more often than not they almost always 'fall' into the room because they don't see to step down (as this is part of the garage area). I always warn them, but I'm going to do something. I may even build a small ramp to soften the degree of the stumbling lurch.

Your rubber flap will definitely be an obstacle. Someone will trip over it, and may fall against plumbing, the tank, or drop what they are carrying (skimmer collection cup, brand new coral / fish....)

If you put a 2x4 threshold there, then just seal it with floor paint and then fill the joints with silicone. You'll have a solid 1.5" tall barrier, without the rubber baseboard. You may need to paint or apply yellow & black stripes (no-skid tape would be smart) to make them see the potential hazard.

Regarding the RO/DI unit, you can get safety clips from various online vendors. What they do is fit snugly on each JG fitting to hold the collet out properly so the tubing can't pop off.

 

[bheron]

Erik - please post anything you can think of. Conda's story is the kind of disaster i'm tlaking about. Until then, I'm assigning a greater risk to a large spill and my new $20k basement ruining than to someone tripping. Just preference. Thanks.

Conda - wow. That is a truly amazing and sad story!! Thats might nightmare and exactly what I'm afraid of. Before, with my RODI, I figured worst case was the 3GPH spilling onto the floor. But, after last night and now reading yours, worst case is exactly what happened to you. I CANNOT have that happen. So, I'm gonna follow your really good reccomendations in that post as well as some others (Marcs). Your situation is EXACTLY what I was thinking of. Cant beleive it happened to someone on this site. Thanks so much!!!


Marc - first, funny story about your fish room. and not so funny b/c it could be a bad accident waiting to happen. you think a 1.5" barrier will both be enough to stop water and also not be a danger? Right now its a 2x4 on its side, so its a 3.5" barrier with a 4" rubber baseboard.

Also, Marc, your fitting is what I was hoping to find. Any online vendors you can think of off hand? I'm going to MArine Depot first.

Thanks all!

 

[melev]

I'm sure someone will give you a link. Those little clips are like .5 each, maybe less. You may have to buy a bag full, and have a bunch left over to sell to RC members in the For Sale forum.

There is a device that I'm aware of that you can hook up before the RO/DI unit. A sensor goes on the floor, and if it gets wet it closes a solenoid valve to stop any water from coming out of the RO/DI unit - it just shuts it down.

Now that gizmo will do the job, but if your tank is flooding the floor for some reason, all it will do is turn of the RO/DI unit... which may be totally unrelated as you might only be making new top off water in a storage barrel. The tank will continue to make a mess but at least the RO unit won't add to the problem. If the flood is coming from the RO unit, it would be turned off and that would be good.

 

[bheron]

Marc, I see some things on marine depot but I'll have to call them to be sure. Maybe they can tell me the exact name.

Yes, like youre saying, I need to protect from a leak in the RODI but also from the copper pipe itself.

I'll have to go home and see if I can come up with some ideas .

thanks!

 

[melev]

I was going to send you a PM, but your box is full (clear your sent folder too). Then I was going to email you, but you don't have that option available (not filled in your profile).

So you'll never know what I was going to tell you.

 

[bheron]

Hey Marc, sorry. Didint realize that. Left the office early for the w'end and now I'm home! Got all weekend to mess with my project.

Ok, my PM box should be clear now. roger. over. under.

 

[conda]

Originally posted by melev Regarding the RO/DI unit, you can get safety clips from various online vendors. What they do is fit snugly on each JG fitting to hold the collet out properly so the tubing can't pop off. [/B]

I'm not up on proper terminology here. Are you talking about something that holds the rubber flexible tubing into the plastic elbow things that the water flows through?

If so, that is what I need because that what poped out and caused my flood.

And bheron, I wish I had better pictures of the flood, the ones I posted were after I cleaned alot of it up. But the last thing I was thinking of when it flooded was taking pics. :mad2:

 

[melev]

Yes, they are little plastic clips that look like a horseshoe. Once you have the tubing inserted into the John Guest fitting, tug slightly to seat the collet. You should see a tiny gap between the fitting and the collet and the horseshoe clip is inserted to fill that void. Now the fitting is 'locked' and the tubing can't burst out.

 

[bheron]

Thanks for the info Marc. I think it sounds like those gadgets youre talking about would be great to have. As soon as I find out more and get some, I'll post an update with pics here on the thread!

UPDATE:

Ok, a quick update from the weekend, and a mess of a story to close it out...


- I installed my bulkheads and built my durso standpipes this weekend

- hooked up my RODI, somewhat successfully, and made about 25 gallons of water for both my cooking process and for WC for my 20 gallon QT tank.

Here's some shots of my dursos -- I didnt realize a) how big these things would wind up being b/c of a 30" high tank and b) how much fun it was to make them!!!

This is the Durso assembled (did NOT use any glue at this time - thanks Doug Chambers, Tyler Gunn and others!). You can see the bulkhead that it will screw into.

Here its installed in the overflow

And here's a shot of both of 'em

So, this part worked like a charm. I made sure not to tighten the bulkheads too much as so many people said they've broken them b/c of overtightening. I hand tightened and, I think, this lead to my problem (next).