370G Tank Preview

[reefboy1]

Looks like a great setup.

Thanks so much!

I had a question/concern about your 3 way valve and manifold. It appears you used pipe clamps to hold the tubing on. Are you using Stainless 316 or are those clamps only temporary? Just curious, because trace amounts of salt will corrode standard pipe clamps rapidly.

I don't know if they are stainless. I'm not too worried, I have the same clamp on my skimmer intake for about a year now and it's covered with saltcreep and rust but still holds fine. I may have to replace them every couple of years I suppose. The tubing holds itself on there pretty securely even without the clamps, but I just wanted a bit of insurance. I'll be sure to keep an eye on them.

You have a great setup, I hope mine is as clean when I am all done.

Thanks again. I've really tried hard to make it clean and open. Hopefully it'll look as nice in the tank as it does underneath it

Art

 

[gketell]

Tang_man,
The clear tubing isn't his returns. They will be used just to clean out the bottom of the overflow boxes.

Reefboy,
You can get a controller for that 3-way so that it swaps automatically once a day or something. That way you can't forget too long and have the water in the Vinyl hoses going "rancid" between clean outs.

GK

 

[reefboy1]

Greg,

Yeah, I was somewhat concerned about the rancid water in the tube...I'm hoping that the amount of water in there will be trivial compared to the 475g total water volume. If not, I'll just yank it out

The motorized ballvalve is something to consider, but definitely not cheap.

Art

 

[H20ENG]

Art,
You could tap in a little JG valve to vent / drain your "Detritus Blower" line so that it wouldnt go sour on you. Or just leave the valve cracked a hair....

 

[Bryan89]

Art,

I just bought a 1 1/2"Hayward 3 way valve for $339 brand new, with the actuator. I also bought a Natural Wave timer to perform switching and can give you any details on it that you need.

Bryan

 

[reefboy1]

Chris,

What the heck is a JG valve? How would it let the water fall out of the tubes? Also, the 3way valve doesn't allow both sides to be open at the same time (I don't think it does at least)...

Bryan,

Thanks for the info - $399 is a bit more than I'd like to spend on this particular feature at this point.

Thanks,

Art

 

[gketell]

Actually, Art, just putting a air tube at the top of your manifold with a check-valve in it so that it closes up as soon as it pressurizes might work for you. When the pressure drops the valve opens and the tubes drain down.

From working on my pools over the years, most of the three-way valves do allow (actually require) partial-switchover. Otherwise your pump would have hissy fits as the valve was switched from one port the to the other. 1-0, 3/4-1/4, 1/2-1/2, 1/4-3/4, 0-1. That sort of thing (kinda like the oceans motions does it).

GK

 

[reefboy1]

Hi Greg,

Hmmm, an airline in the top of the manifold...that's a possibility. Actually, I could probably just point the end of the line into the tank and let it squirt in there. I wish I would have thought of that before I plumbed the monstrosity in there.

Concerning the 3way - You may be right. I just remember looking in the thing while I was switching it and thinking that I could never see all the way thru. Now that it's connected, I guess I'll have to wait and see. You're probably right though and that's probably the easiest solution.

Art

 

[gketell]

ahhhh but then you are back to the "algae in the vinyl tubing" issue.

GK

 

[LittleBlueGT]

Actually, Art, just putting a air tube at the top of your manifold with a check-valve in it so that it closes up as soon as it pressurizes might work for you. When the pressure drops the valve opens and the tubes drain down.

Assuming it is salt water going through the lines a check valve would start to leak after a few months.

 

[H20ENG]

JG = John Guest.
Just a little 1/4" valve to drain the line.
How about tapping in a tube fitting just after the valve, but low in the piping & putting some 1/4" RO tubing in there. Zip tie the 1/4" tubing to the rim of the tank. When the "blower" is running, you will get a minimal amount through the tube, back to the tank. When you shut it off, the tube will drain the lines.
I did this in reverse for the anti siphon on my tank. This way, there is no hole shooting water across the tank. I set the tube depth just under normal water level, and it breaks siphon RIGHT NOW when the pump shuts off.

 

[reefboy1]

Chris,

Yep, I think zip tieing the RO tube to the rim is the ticket. It will also act as an antisiphon in case the pump fails while the ballvalve is in the blower mode.

Hmmm, do you think I can just drill a hole in the PVC and silicon the tubing in there?

Greg - I've already taped off the clear tubing so I don't think I'll get much algae growth in there. Even if there is, I'll just replace the tubing every year or so to keep it clean. I also don't think the checkvalve is really necessary - I don't mind a bit of the flow getting returned to the tank.

Thanks for all comments!

I finished up all the plumbing last night. I may be ready to do the wet test tonight!!!!
Art

 

[sidewinder770]

Looks like it's taken you just about as long as me to get to the point of wet testing- hopefully all goes well and you'll have no leaks. Awesome setup and be sure to keep the pics coming.

 

[simple_joe]

Here is a pic of 3 towers situated how I will mostly have them in the tank:

What are the heights of the three different towers? 24", 18", ... ? Thanks.

 

[nbd13]

Hey i just ordered some of that rock,

now are those the things that they call pillars?

thanks!

Nick

 

[reefboy1]

Yep, I got the pillars. The tallest is about 24" and next is around 20" and the shortest is about 18".

Art

 

[nbd13]

how tall is your tank again?

i plan on getting 3 of them 2 at 15.75 and 1 at 11.75, (to givve room above tank is 24" tall)

anyway i was planning on making them into an island like you with 2 in the back and 1 in the front....

then i got a mini-reef like the one in the IMAC tank. thats 19.75" tall..... i will make that into 1 island...

i will add some of my old LR around it to seed it....

Nick

 

[reefboy1]

Nick,

My tank is 28" tall with 2.5" for the overflow, so the top of the water will be around 26"...This puts the tallest right near the surface.

Can you take a pic of the mini-reef? I saw that one listed and was curious.

 

[UnderwaterExotic]

Where is that rock coming from?

 

[nbd13]

I actually do not have it yet....

If you check out the other site its under where Madison put puts up, the thread is intitled "Hello from Imac..." i think.....

its the pics in there that are the mini reef....

do you plan on using LR?

and when are you going to do this thing and aquascape it....haha!

Nick