500G (84X48X30)- NOW REAL !

[hahnmeister]

For the reef filler pump... I had the same problem a while back with a similar setup. I ran the pump up to a small tank hanging on the wall (actually a PVC standpipe with an open top and a couple 1/4" JG fittings at the bottom for feeding into the sump and kalk reactor) , then that tank drained into the sump.

 

[JCURRY@WESKETCH]

Why not just use a float valve to topoff w/RO water and eliminate the pump?

 

[Sanjay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8050819#post8050819 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JCURRY@WESKETCH
Why not just use a float valve to topoff w/RO water and eliminate the pump?

I have seen many a disaster where people have connected the RO directly to the sump with a float valve, and ended up dumping lots of RO water into the tank.

Having a pump limits the amount of RO that can be added (since the pump will only do about 3G per day), and hence give a longer period over which you can react in case of a failure of the float valves. Float valves are quite prone to failure, and I do not want to hook up a 100G/day RO unit diectly to my tank. I travel quite a bit and would hate to come home to a brackish tank.

sanjay.

 

[JCURRY@WESKETCH]

Sorry, I meant hook the float valve in the sump to the RO water storage tank, not directly to the RO unit. Since the storage tank is higher than the sump. The constant on & off of a an RO unit hooked up to a float switch dosen't provide the highest quality water anywaysand there is the flooding problem you mentioned as well.

 

[Sanjay]

I have been playing with the chiller settings to try to get a feel for its operation, since I have never used a chiller before.

When I set the chiller for 80 deg as the set point, and 1 degree differential, I find that the tank runs at 77 F. So I stuck in another digital thermometer in the tank, and find that it reads 79 F. So now I have 3 digital thermometer all giving me different readings.

I guess its time to get a good old fashioned thermometer and try to get some sense of which reading is correct.

Is there a way to caliberate the digital thermometers, or do I just manually work with the differences.

sanjay.

 

[hahnmeister]

I have the same problem... even with regular thermometers there is a margin of error it seems.

I had to use a lab grade thermometer to see how far off the others were.

 

[H20ENG]

Take a large tumbler and fill it with ice. Add water and stir it up good. Put your thermometers in there and see what they read. That water IS 32 degrees as long as there is ice still in the cup.

This will tell you how far off it is. You can do the same with boiling water, as it never rises above 212.

These tests are each far from the temperature we want to see on our thermometers, but unfortunately they are the constants that we can acheive at home. One thermometer may read 32 in the ice, but 215 in the boiling water- simply due to the range, and "manufacturing tolerances" . I usually use the ice method to check mine, FWIW.

Even if you cannot adjust the digitals, you'll know how far off they are.

HTH
Chris

 

[WDLV]

I keep two of the $2.00 glass thermometers that people put into freshwater tanks in my sump.
The probability of the digital and the other two being off by the same amount in the same direction is pretty slim.

Oddly, after years of sticking my hand in tanks on a nearly daily basis, I usually can tell if it's off in one direction or the other. That was the first sign the last time that my power had been out the night before. It was off by like three degrees.


H2OENG's was a great suggestion. I never considered that.

Sanjay, You have lab access. I'm certain that you could find a mercury thermometer at the University to do a comparison??? Or if the controller can be operated independantly of the Chiller, you could just take it in with you and cal it there.

 

[bbrantley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8084727#post8084727 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by H20ENG
Take a large tumbler and fill it with ice. Add water and stir it up good. Put your thermometers in there and see what they read. That water IS 32 degrees as long as there is ice still in the cup.

This will tell you how far off it is. You can do the same with boiling water, as it never rises above 212.

These tests are each far from the temperature we want to see on our thermometers, but unfortunately they are the constants that we can acheive at home. One thermometer may read 32 in the ice, but 215 in the boiling water- simply due to the range, and "manufacturing tolerances" . I usually use the ice method to check mine, FWIW.

I wouldn't use the boiling method unless you're at sea level or want to the compute the vapor point. Just use the ice; it works independent of air pressure.

Ben

 

[H20ENG]

Good point Ben!
I forgot about you 10,000 foot people

 

[Sanjay]

Is single point verification enough, to let me know how much they are off, and determine compensation I would have to apply everytime I read the temp ? Does the slope stay the same, and its just a matter of adjusting for the offset ?

I was going to get a good thermometer from the chem lab and verify the readings of all of them.

I was surprised at the variation in readings between the 3 digital readouts, each of them is a different brand. I guess you can't trust what you see without verifying.


sanjay.

 

[WDLV]

I don't know how accurate you would want it to be, but if you calibrate it using a lab grade mercury or digital thermometer in the range you want it to operate in, (70F-90F) any inaccuracy should be undetectable within those operating temperatures.
If you calibrate it at 32F and 212F you would have a much more accurate calibration, but the question is whether the excessively high temperature might damage the probe, or if the unit is even designed to detect a range that high... or low.

Everyone here seems to demand a resume if you make a statement. To qualify myself, I can say that I maintain and repair medical devices for a living. The way a blood/fluid warmer is calibrated is using tolerances similar to those mentioned above. I would tend to think that a self regulating human is less tolerant to a .5 degree shift than a coral or a fish that deals with changing temperatures with tides and storm surges etc.

In other words I think you're splitting atoms when you could be using a carving knife. That said, I understand the obsession with perfection and accuracy. It's ultimately up to the individual to determine how accurate it needs to be. Will the fish or corals care? Probably not.

 

[hahnmeister]

"Everyone here seems to demand a resume if you make a statement" -WetSleeves

Aint that the truth. Pretty soon only those with marine biology and engineering degrees will be able to post at RC.

 

[Sanjay]

While waiting, I decided to go ahead and order the rock and have it start curing. This way I can cure the rock and be ready when the tank is done.

Here is the setup... had to tear down my reflector testing setup to extract the tub I am using for curing the rock. Plugged in my old skimmer to it, and trew in a couple of pumps for circulation.

sanjay.

 

[Sanjay]

Curing live rock - with or without lights ? What is the best way to do it. in the past I have always cured it with the lights on, to try to save any light loving stuff that may be on the rocks.. but it does tend to promote more algae growth. Also, what ever does survive the cure usually tends to be crappy stuff that I really dont care about.

So, this time I am thinking I should cure wihtout the lights.

What practice have you had best success with ?

sanjay.

 

[WDLV]

Well, why not cure it with the lights on? If algae becomes an issue, you can always turn it back off.

When I was constructing my current setup (mind you it's a bit less complex than yours) I set the whole system up with all the equipment I planned to use and threw the LR and hardier fish in the sump. After the system had been running for a few weeks I installed the main display, the return pumps and the overflows. I used my Closed Loops to mix the new SW that needed to be added to the display and kept the water level just under the overflows. It was a good time to add all my baserock to the tank too. When I was ready to add the LR to the display I simply turned the return pumps on and started aquascaping.

If you're planning on running an overflow into your skimmer, you obviously will have to leave that part dry for now. It will still give you a chance to run the equipment, sump etc. until the tank arrives.

 

[dgasmd]

I personally cannot see a single reason to use the lights at all during the curing period. If anything, it will ensure that any pest algae that needs even a tiny bit of light will thrive during this period of high nutrients. There is nothing you will save that will not be there when you turn on the lights in the main tank.

I love those containers. They are the perfect sump if one has the room for it. I wished I had a local way of getting a couple of them. I would have used them for sumps. Ordering would have been cost prohibitive for me at the time. I am lucky enough to have found a used, nearly new condition, 460g acrylic tank for pennies to use instead.

 

[steve68]

Cook the rock !
IME it is best to cure with the lights off.

 

[hahnmeister]

When I was more of a newbie, I used to consider uncured LR to be a pot luck of critters, sponges, and possibly corals that would make it through. Over the years, I have established a pretty good 'culture' for LR though, and everything else that might possibly come in, as interesting as it may be, is pretty much either destructive crap, food for something else, or just 'not worth it'. All I could care about is the bacteria and some microfauna... if that. Ill skip picking what surprises lie behind curtain one or two and just get rocks that look good. How many corals that you have found on LR have actually been worth anything or look good? How much has really survived after a year or two? How much has just been destructive (macro algaes and crabs for instance)?

I would rather just seed the new rock by combining it with my existing rock so that the worms, snails, cultures etc. can spread into the new stuff rather then the other way around.

I find doing live sand trades and swapping LR with other reefers is a good method as well. OR, if you just want a great 'boost' of worms, plankton, pods, etc.... GARF grunge.

Now, it seems morst of the LR coming in is just crappy unless you want to pay 2x as much for hand picked pieces. Id rather use aragacrete and ceramics to make rocks that have the look and dimensions I really want, and leave the natural marshall island rock to recover (Kelani, Marshall, and maybe one or two others are the only LRs that even look good to me anymore).

I say leave the light off... you arent saving anything thats worth the effort.

 

[sundevil_brian]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6314166#post6314166 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sanjay


Here is a picture of the electrical panel that was wired in last week. I have 2 X20 amp circuits feeding into it, and have the timers built into the setup. I know this will not be enough so there will be one more circuit put in. I want to put in some receptacles that are not close together.. so this way using those transformer plugs will not block adjacent receptacles from being used. Any suggestions here, on what would address the problem of big chunky transformer plugs blocking adjacent receptacles.

sanjay.

i know you posted this way at the beginning but i just bought some of those flush mount outlet timers and when i got home i read the package and it said it should just be used for incandesent lights and not apliances or florecent lighting . i just wanted to know what your running on them and if you've ran into any trouble using them.