~450G Display (~1000G system) documentary starting

[kwl1763]

Ok I decided to go with pure XMs. 3 SE 250W 10k and 2 DE 20k.

I like it because it gives me both blue and violet spikes.

10k SE and 20k DE 250W XM bulb spectrum

Another question for you guys. My original idea was to run the return from the final sump to the pump then to the chiller then to the tank. In thinking about that I worry that I will be sending super cold water directly into the tank. It might be diluted quick enough (especially since I'm using penductors) but maybe not. Opinions?

If I end up not doing that I'll have yet another pump to add dedicated to the chiller

I built most of the chiller "doghouse" tonight. I'll finish that up tomorrow hopefully. Then the ballast shelf Friday night and I'll be ready to get in a couple rounds of golf this weekend. The weather has been awesome here for 7 out of the last 8 weeks!

Roland there is just no practicle way for me to do that. The tank itself will be less then 2 ft from the ceiling for one. For 2 I'm using the penductors which need the pressure associated with the return pumps.

Tractor supply company was having a 20% off sale but they are only $65 normally so they are a great deal!

 

[Roland Jacques]

You have 4 penductor in your tank right? Only have 1 of them used for the chiller water( that would be 300 gph though your chiller), point that one into open water area. Should work fine. I would only be concerned with that if you had that output pointed directly at some corals.

what size pump are you using with the penductors?

 

[kwl1763]

2 penductors, Iwaki 55 I ran that setup on a closed loop on my 135 for over a year, worked great and flow was amazing!

The problem is the chiller needs between 1000 and 1800 GPH!

btw I never got your pm about local tank makers

 

[Roland Jacques]

i did send it. they were not glass tanks. MY Reef Creations is 5 mile or so from Dacula he make great tanks, kind of on the over kill level, but you can sleep at night with his tanks. thiers others also that i buy from. ill try to pm you again

your only going to get 700 gph max (more like 600) out of two .3" nozzles with that pump. total flow 3000gph.

what size is your chiller?

 

[Roland Jacques]

Keith
on a closed loop you could add a third .3" penductor on that pump, no problem with some to spare. that would put you about 1000 gph line flow and work for your chiller. i just played with a 1 hp chiller and checked the temp coming out. with the 1 to 5 dilution of the penductor the temp drop should be around 1 degrees 18" from the penductor. you could point them anywhere you want IMO.

ive found that the penductors work great down to 6 psi and good down to 5psi =12 feet head. for reef tanks application a 4th on that pump would still increase your overall flow. 1500 x 3 = 4500 or 1200 x 4 = 4800gph. for what it worth.

 

[kwl1763]

Sounds good Roland,

I'll probably split the return 4 ways then and get a couple extra penductors just to make sure there is enough through the chiller.

In other news, mission accomplished!!!

I finished the shelf for the ballasts and did the chiller housing. I took lots of pics which I'll post within the next couple days.

Other exciting news, In my 20G that I've had setup for about 2.5 years my clowns (which I've had for 1.5 years) finally decided to spawn! She laid a pretty good amount on the back wall! He looks clueless but it's his first time. My wife says just like real life

 

[tigershark4]

I am thinking about purchasing a 350 acrylic I have checked out tenecor, and James from Envision. I also purchased my skimmer and cr from mrc. I did not get a price from mrc. May be cheaper to ship to Maryland. Any thoughts Roland?

 

[Roland Jacques]

tigershark4

yeah, i would contact email them. top quality tanks good prices. he tends to make them thicker than most.

 

[alien9168]

i cant wait to see those pics, i bet the stup looks really clean and put together!

 

[schwaggs]

Keith,

Before you run your penductor return through your chiller, you should check your chiller to make sure it can handle the back pressure. Some I have seen do not like back pressure at all...

 

[kwl1763]

That's a good point schwaggs

Well I'll start with the chiller house. This is going to go outside and be run through the wall. It will be under a deck so I left a gap for venting. I also made the roof and sides easily removable. It didn't need to be super tight. Just enough to keep any splashes off.

Here is the frame. You can see a bunch of screws sticking out. These are what I used to hang the sides and roof on!

Here it is completed (I gave it another coat after the pic)

Here is a close up of the bottom of the roof. Before I put the shingles on I drilled holes and inserted screws so the roof just sits on the top and is easy to take off. The roof is 5/8" ply so it's pretty heavy!

This next pic is obviously early on in the painting process but it will give you an idea of the gaps I left at the top for ventilation.

The sides are 3/8" ply and just hang on two screw with 2 holes at the top of them.

 

[kwl1763]

Other major thing was the ballast shelf. All the stuff to complete the lighting came in so I spent a couple hours rewiring things (cutting off the sunlight connectors from the sockets and splicing in the PFO connectors) and now it's complete.

The shelf itself is 1/2 inch ply. What I did was take 3 hook and eyes to connect it to the ceiling and then also used some construction T's under to support the back. I wanted to make sure this thing was solid as those magnetic ballasts are super heavy!

Some of these pics don't have everything pained but rest assure dit all now has a heavy coat of waterproof paint (including the metal T's!

I hope everyone is having a great Easter and you spent time with family and your faith!

 

[melev]

Nice! I'm planning to install a vent fan in the ceiling of my fishroom, directly over the ballasts. Might as well draw out the heat from the lights and ballasts - the source.

 

[kwl1763]

The tank is in town The movers are picking it up from the warehouse and moving it in Friday morning! I'm pumped!!!

Marc, you can't see it here but I have 2 AC returns just to the sides and the above these. I probably will add a fan up there also since it won't hurt anything.

I hooked all the lighting stuff up today and tested it out to make sure it worked.

I also added 1.5" of foam padding for under the tank. I siliconed the corners in place so that it wouldn't move while they are moving it up and onto the stand

Here was the result.

You can probably guess but from top to bottom it's just the 20ks on, then both the 20 and the 10ks on, then just the 10ks.

Keep in mind the foam is pink in the next sequence. I put a piece of white paper down to hopefully give you a sense of the color difference since the pink messes with it a little. 20k only on left, then both, then 10k only on right.

It's a little deceiving because the 10k looks more blue then combined. The reality is it's not of course. The white/yellow though washes the pink right out so it doesn't look quite right but it's OK.

I still think I'm going to run a little bit of actinic probably across the tank. Probably 4 3 footers running across the tank. It's not that I need the blue as much as I want to be able to run actinics like 14 hours a day so I can look at the tank more. I'll probably run the 20ks 10 hours and the 10ks 8 hours.

 

[TCU Reefer]

This is such a sweet project Keith. I can't wait for the tank to get in this Friday. Keep us updated.

 

[Cutiewitbooty]

i just skimmed throught your thread and i have to say good job! Your fish room is super nice. I like they way you set up the three tubs, that kinda what i wanted to do when i get to the point where i can get a tank that big

 

[elephen]

Looks really nice man, I like the room you built too for viewing the tank, that'll be very relaxing and comfortable when its all done!

 

[kwl1763]

Well a little issue! The cross braces on the tops were busted. There is evidently a triangular shaped piece broken out of both of them. I should have pics tommorow. I'm going to go ahead and move it in and they are going to send me some new cross braces and I'll take the old ones ofgf and replace before the water goes in.

Thanks for the compliments everyone and Amber very nice first pic in your gallery

 

[kwl1763]

What a broken 450G looks like

What a broken 450G looks like

Well this issue was a little bigger then originally thought. It has a pretty significant crack on the left side bottom near the front.

The braces were all kinds of busted!

The pallet was all kinds of messed up!

I've emailed all the pics and stuff to Aquarium Obsessed and am waiting on next steps! Man does this suck!

 

[Chrisrush]

They did a number on that Keith. Looks like they may have rammed it with something. Was the tank wrapped in anything? Foam? Who shipped it?

Chris