500G (84X48X30)- NOW REAL !

[Sanjay]

To open and close the front lid of the tank, I finally got the gas springs working right. After several trials with different sizes, I ended up with the 40 lbs version. It works great....keep the lid shut tight when closed and in the open position when opened. It has a nice slow open just like the car trunks. Thanks for the idea moonpod.

I added some weather stripping, to soften the impact of closing, and also to keep the light from leaking out the sides of the panel.

sanjay.

 

[huff3294]

do you have any kind of PAR meter in mind. I have never heard of one mentioned and always wanted some way of measuring the light old bulbs, from new ones. So you know when to replace them....

links please lol........

 

[cobysreef]

That is one SICK TANK!!!
I would have loved a log like melee did on this job.
Now thats what I call dedication guys.:reading:

 

[dgasmd]

Looking good Sanjay. You are going to love yourself for those rails in the future everytime you have to do something in the tank. It gets old pretty quickly to try to turn into a pretzel just to feed the fish much worse to do any real work. I still would suggest you get some of those long reaching tongs.

The only suggestion I could give is to add another valve right above the T where you are going to tap for you water drain. It will increase the pressure behind it and will divert all of the water out the drain valve. I had it the way you ahve it now in my previous tank and ended up changing it because it was going kind of slow. I does put out a good amount of water, but nowhere near as much as adding the other valve there. Just a minor point really.

 

[Sanjay]

Good point about that extra valve. Did not think about that. Hence the posting of the progress.. so I can benefit from your past experiences (an so can others reading the thread).

So keep the discussion and suggestions commng.

sanjay.

 

[dgasmd]

Another small suggestion is to use a mouse pad under your pumps. The darts are very quiet pumps and will produce little vibration, but since you have everything hard plumbed as I do, it does translate any little bit of vibration through those pipes and to the walls of the tank too. The mouse pad will help. Someone had suggested to me before, I think it may have been Steve Weast but can't remember well now, to use a small piece of flex PVC on the intake side of the plumbing to help reduce vibration and noise. I just have a hard time finding 2" flex PVC, so I have never put that idea to work. Seems like most pool and jacuzzi places tend to carry them though except for the ones I lokoed at LOL...............

 

[ckuhndog77]

Looks awesome Sanjay. Looking forward to talking with you about it at MACNA-Houston

Let me know when you want me to bring copps up to aquascape your rock :lol:

 

[Sanjay]

I have the same blue styrofoam pad that the tank is sitting on, under the board that the pump is sitting on. That should take care of the vibration. If not, I will get a rubber pad under it. Right now, with my hand on the piping I cannot feel any significant vibration.

I was really amazed at how quiet the Dart pump is.

sanjay.

 

[Sanjay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7831133#post7831133 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ckuhndog77
Looks awesome Sanjay. Looking forward to talking with you about it at MACNA-Houston

Let me know when you want me to bring copps up to aquascape your rock :lol:

I have to save you DC guys for a field collecting trip once the tank is set up and running

sanjay.

 

[Chihuahua6]

dgasmd said
"The only suggestion I could give is to add another valve right above the T where you are going to tap for you water drain. "

Can I ask you or ayone a really dumb question? Can you explain exactly why you add extra valves like the one you suggested to Sanjay as well as bleeder valves etc.? I am just starting to get a grasp on my plumbing plan but I'm not sure where to add these extra things. I know you need to add disconnect valves incase you need to remove the pump but that's about it.

 

[dgasmd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7841799#post7841799 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Chihuahua6
Can you explain exactly why you add extra valves like the one you suggested to Sanjay as well as bleeder valves etc.? I am just starting to get a grasp on my plumbing plan but I'm not sure where to add these extra things. I know you need to add disconnect valves incase you need to remove the pump but that's about it.

In the image above, you can see he has a grey valve just right above the pump, and shortly after that there is a T and another valve. He put the second white valve there to be able to use the pump to drain tank water out via a hose connected there for water changes. I suggested he use another valve right above the T with the white valve to increase the pressure ni the line and drain the water faster as water will flow to the path of least resistance. That is all.

 

[H20ENG]

Dont add a valve, just move the one outlet isolation valve to the line above the tee'd valve. Its a negligible amount of water left in between the pump and the valves
May save you a buck or two...

 

[Chihuahua6]

Thanks for explaining. I have been reading up on my plumbing so I will know how to have the tank drilled. My husband is starting to build the tank this week!!! I am so excited!!!

 

[Sanjay]

I have a few chiller questions, having never used and plubmed one in before.

1) The chiller a 1 HP unit sits in my garage, one level above my basement with the tank. I am going to use an Iwaki 70 RLT to pump water to it from the sump. What is the best place to bring in the return ? in the tank ? in the sump ?.

2) If I bring it into the tank, then will the water siphon back from the tank, up through the chiller, back to the sump ? Will it need a siphon break.

3) the chiller has its own temperature controller, but I wanted to add a redundant control in case the chiller controller has a problem. I have a separate Ranco controller that I could potentially use to do this. The distance between the chiller and the sump is an issue here and I am not sure if I can run a long length of probe cable from the chiller controls in the garage to the sump in the basement. Any suggestions here. ?

4) The other problem I see with the chiller setup is that the Iwaki 70 pump feeding the chiller will have to be running all the time. is there a way to also put that on ON/OFF control.

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

sanjay.

 

[H20ENG]

Sanjay,
#1 I'd say to the tank, but along with another inlet so that it gets mixed well. Your flow rate through your chiller shopuld be great enough that you dont get more than 1-2 degree drop through it. Adding the water next to a second jet will only help. And you are using all that power to move that water, it'd be a shame to "waste it" by letting it fall right back to the sump. May as well get some flow in the tank with it, as it'd be "free".

#2 ABSOLUTELY

#3 IIRC, you can add up to 100' of sensor wire to a Ranco, (maybe 200'). As I said, you shouldnt be getting huge temperature drops anyway, so if its mounted to sense the tank overflow temperature, thatd be fine.

#4 This could get a little sticky. You dont want your flow to stay off for very long for fear of anerobic activity, as well as thermal shock when the pump comes back on. This is due to the remainder of pressurized refrigerant on the high side equalizing to the low side, causing further evaporation, and hence cooling.
Secondly, your chiller control may sense the water temp in the chiller barrel (evaporator) and never turn on due to it seeing a low temperature. Many newer chillers have a remote sensing bulb for the chiller control, and a backup evaporator sensor to prevent freezing if the flow stopped.
Probably best to leave the pump on.

How about using some of those holes in your tank for a closed loop through the chiller. That way your pumping power would decrease. (less head)

HTH
Chris

 

[RonBuck]

Sanjay the tank looks good so far.

Some questions though,

Why are your lights so close together? Will the light sread that far across your tank? Or do you have a specific reason for the concentration of light?

Maybe you could help us with some lighting issues we have at the shop.

 

[Sanjay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7866442#post7866442 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by H20ENG
Sanjay,
#1 I'd say to the tank, but along with another inlet so that it gets mixed well. Your flow rate through your chiller shopuld be great enough that you dont get more than 1-2 degree drop through it. Adding the water next to a second jet will only help. And you are using all that power to move that water, it'd be a shame to "waste it" by letting it fall right back to the sump. May as well get some flow in the tank with it, as it'd be "free".

#2 ABSOLUTELY

#3 IIRC, you can add up to 100' of sensor wire to a Ranco, (maybe 200'). As I said, you shouldnt be getting huge temperature drops anyway, so if its mounted to sense the tank overflow temperature, thatd be fine.

#4 This could get a little sticky. You dont want your flow to stay off for very long for fear of anerobic activity, as well as thermal shock when the pump comes back on. This is due to the remainder of pressurized refrigerant on the high side equalizing to the low side, causing further evaporation, and hence cooling.
Secondly, your chiller control may sense the water temp in the chiller barrel (evaporator) and never turn on due to it seeing a low temperature. Many newer chillers have a remote sensing bulb for the chiller control, and a backup evaporator sensor to prevent freezing if the flow stopped.
Probably best to leave the pump on.

How about using some of those holes in your tank for a closed loop through the chiller. That way your pumping power would decrease. (less head)

HTH
Chris

Thanks Chris.

On #1, yes good point about not wasting the flow.

On #3, where can I get the additional wire.. is it a special wire that gets used. ? and is it as easy as splicing into the existing wire ?

On #4, Ok.. I guess I will leave the pump on all the time. Right now I am not sure how hot the tank will get with everything running. What about winter time.. if I do not need the chiller can it and the pump be turned off for extended period of time. ? Or will bio fouling be big issue in this case. I can always dump the initial few gallons out when starting up after long shut off periods.

Yes, I thought about using one of the 1" outlets in the overflow box to plumb the chiller closed loop.. the only additional gain is about 5 ft of head, I traded that off with a cleaner and less intrusinve plumbing.

Thanks,

sanjay.

 

[Sanjay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7867770#post7867770 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RonBuck
Sanjay the tank looks good so far.

Some questions though,

Why are your lights so close together? Will the light sread that far across your tank? Or do you have a specific reason for the concentration of light?

Maybe you could help us with some lighting issues we have at the shop.

Ron:

My lights are on easily moveable, so I can adjust apart as needed. Right now I have noticed that when I had the 2 end lights spread out further from the center light. I was getting a lot of light falling outside the tank. So I moved the end lights closer to let more light fall into the tank.. why waste the light. ;-)

I'll be glad to help you with the lighting issues you have.

sanjay.

 

[Phantom Phish]

Sanjay:
I have never installed or run a chiller either, so forgive me if my question is dumb. Why are you putting the chiller in your garage? In some of your previous pictures it looked you have a "daylight" basement. Couldn't you install your chiller at ground level outside your basement and run pipes through a wall?

 

[H20ENG]

Sanjay,
IIRC, you can simply use paired copper wire to extend it. Solder it or just use crimps with tape or silicone. I cant remember if the factory sensor wire is even shielded, but I dont think so.

Re chiller stagnation, You could set it up so that the entire line AND chiller would drain back to the sump, sort of like a solar collector that drains back. You'd have to mount the evaporator upside down or put a dip tube on the plumbing to be sure it siphoned out. Unless there is a drain plug that you could tee into (it'd be easy to drill and tap one in there if not).

You could also do this to save pump energy when the chiller is not running, like you talked about. BUT, you have to make sure the chiller temp sensor is in the system somewhere other than the evaporator, and that the evap has freeze protection.

I too hope that the chiller is going outside so you are not dumping its heat into the room.

If the chiller can be mounted closer to the sump, you could just return the chilled water to the sump, and save energy on pumping it upstairs.