600 gal display/900+ gal build thread in the Chicago 'burbs.

[wmilas]

There is now a 3 way manifold toff the fuge that lets me return directly back to the sump, or to the frag tank when then overflows to the sump, or to the hospital tank (for fresh salt water on startup)

The dart intake for the main display is right when the fuge and the frag tank overflow back to the sump, away from the skimmer.

I think I'll get most of the life into the tank this way. If i don't, as you mentioned its so high, I can alter the 3 way manifold to 4 way and route an overflow directly back into the tank.

 

[wmilas]

My lights just showed up. One of had one of its glass shield busted up Besides that they look to be in good condition.

 

[EnglishRebel]

Wmilas
Couple of questions.
Did you rip 2x4s down to 2x2s for the vertical legs?
Would you recommend running display tank water directly to the fuge or teed off the return from the sump to the display? I'm pondering both and someone told me that I shouldn't run display tank water directly to the fuge because it would soon need cleaning out because of all the uneaten food and other gunk that hasn't been processed by the skimmer.
Your thoughts?
Thanks

 

[wmilas]

I did not rip the 2x4's. I left them as is and turned them so that I would have more room to access the tanks from the front.

I would not T off the main display to the fuge. You really want to run it all through your skimmer and then have your fuge intake after the skimmer and dump back into the sump right where the sump pulls back to your main display, or have your fuge dump directly back into your main display.

 

[EnglishRebel]

Yes - if I look at the RH upright I can now see it's a 2x4. The LH one looked like a 2x2 because of the angle.
Thanks for the advice on the fuge.

 

[Oldtimer]

It's amazing how everything tends to look small in pictures. Like the size of a 2" TUBV. I got my first one gratis with the Dart Gold I ordered from BRS the other day. Man is that thing huge!

 

[wmilas]

Ordered an Acuacontroller 3 Pro with a 8 and 2 4 out lets, orp and ph probe and aquanotes to get me started today. Also ordered all my t5 bulbs now that the pendants are here.

I'm gone next week on business so I'm holding off ordering sand till middle of next week so it doesn't arrive when I'm gone

 

[EnglishRebel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13884088#post13884088 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wmilas
Ordered an Acuacontroller 3 Pro with a 8 and 2 4 out lets, orp and ph probe and aquanotes to get me started today. Also ordered all my t5 bulbs now that the pendants are here.

I'm gone next week on business so I'm holding off ordering sand till middle of next week so it doesn't arrive when I'm gone

I don't want to side track this great thread but did you consider the RK Elite?
Thanks

 

[wmilas]

Yes I did. The Ac3pro seems to do more for less. Its not as flashy as a rk elite, but I really don't care what it looks like On top of the the ac3 pro has a large installed user base, tons of code samples, good customer support, and most importantly appears to be stable.

I'm sure the rk3 elite is a great unit, I just think the ac3 pro is the best choice for me

 

[wmilas]

I built the skimmer stand and have the ATB XL chugging away.

I just wanted to state that customer service at ATB is first class. When I first powered up the pump I was not getting much bubble production. A nut had come lose in the pump during shipping. I called Victor and he walked me through the problem. He was even nice enough to call me back in 15 minutes and make sure things were working.

I now have a mountain of foam in my ATB already with no organics. There must be dust or something in the water that I couldn't see cause its pulling out a foul looking brown nog.

I'm away in Vegas for a little work and R&R till Friday. I promise when I get back to get my photoshop working so I can take some shots of this. Things are starting to come together

 

[PaulieWalnuts]

wow things must be tough lol in Vegas!!! nice...can't wait to see it!!!

 

[wmilas]

Back from Vegas. Working on photoshop. I have 750 lbs of sand coming tomorrow along with my bulbs and the rest of my AC Pro. I picked up bout 200 pounds of base rock to add to the 80 pounds I had. Also bought bout 75 pounds of live rock that has already been cured to seed the tank.

I hoping to get the sand in tomorrow then start aquascaping with the base rock Tuesday.

I'm having a minor issue with my Spectrapure UHE MaxCap. Its back siphoning in a weird way. The UHE has a product line, a waste line (like all other Ro/DI's) and a third flush line. the flush line is installed with a bulkhead into the bottom of the RO/DI container. When it goes into flush mode (after the top float goes wet and it stops making RO/DI cause the container is full) it sucks RO/DI into the unit and soaks the membrane. The problem is that I think its siphoning ro/di out to the waste line.

I just ran a test and let if fill then watched it slowly drain over a few hours. I pulled the flush line and the draining has stopped. I'm going to let it fill back up then let it drain again and test the waste line's tds. If it's 0 thats the problem.

The weird part is that all the connections to the UHE are above the water line of the tank. However the waste line goes below the water line of the tank (to drain obviously) and that might be where the problem is. I'm going to test then call Spectrapure tomorrow if this is indeed the problem and see whats up.

 

[brodden]

Wow, I am so excited to see some activity inside this tank. This is going to be awesome!!

 

[Oldtimer]

Where did you end up getting the base rock from?

 

[wmilas]

Tested the waste lines TDS and it is indeed close to 0 (7). Didn't completely rinse the vessel with ro/di but its close enough. Kinda bummed Sent an Email to spectrapure and if I don't hear from them tomorrow I'll give them a ring.

I have really high TDS here. Temperature adjusted my Hanna meter reads it as 550+. It fluctuates. The inline meters on the UHE read it as 770-1100. Depends on the actual TDS and how cold it is (Its COLD here). The inlines aren't temp adjusted. Anyways After the membrane I'm seeing 7-9 tds. I've only made like 400 gallons of water and I'm already reading 5-6 tds after the first DI and 1 after the second. That doesn't seem right. I can't believe they exhausted themselves that fast. I'm wondering if it had something to do with all that Ro/DI water leaking. I was gone for a week and if it kept leaking and refilling its possible I made a whole lot more than 400 gallons

Kinda bummed because I have to get this issue fixed and get new filters before I can fill the tank now

I bought my base rock from a local distributor. Its the same stuff as Ecorox and marco. All from the same source. He ordered 2 tons and had 800 lbs left when I was there today. I was able to grab all the large stuff that was left.

He was saying there is an issue with permits and that non of the distributors will be getting any more till next spring He also said that there might be issues with live rock and cleanup crews. I hope not

 

[Oldtimer]

Thanks for the feedback on the base rock. I suspected something might be up with sourcing the rock. I also inquired with BFS and Marco and never heard back.

Your RO troubles are perplexing. Seems like you lost a lot of good water out of the waste line. I'm not familiar with this unit, maybe someone here has one and will chime in. Needless to say, I hope you get it going again. We're all looking forward to seeing water in this beast!

 

[wmilas]

Talked to Spectrapure and they agreed with me that if the flush intake on the ro/di container is higher than the brine drain than a siphon may occur. I guess not many people have their ro/di container elevated as high as mine. I need to install a siphon break. I think I'll elevate the brine drain above the tank flush input and use a piece of large clear tubing I have as a break and see if that works first. If not I'll build a T at the top of the unit.

I bought more filter replacements (which they discounted because of the problem) so I should be able to make more water again soon

 

[wmilas]

750 Lbs of Special Reef grade agramax sand went in last night. Also pumped in 65 gallons of salt water to wet the sand and get it to settle down a bit. Miztic helped. Thanks Miztic . Also hauled down 300 lbs of base rock.

Tonight I'm going to take a break from the heavy lifting and maybe play around with the AC Pro a bit. Also need to finish the photoshop installation.

 

[Oldtimer]

What's your plan for cycling the rock? Are you doing it in the display? With RO/DI water? How long, etc?

 

[wmilas]

The back loop has been running saltwater for 2 weeks now. That back loop is the 170 gal sump, the 65 gal fuge, and one of the 40 gal (frag tank). I put the live rock in that loop. I see worms, stars, and stuff live on teh rock and all happy.

The live rock was in an established sump for over a year. ITs now in the back loop with over 250 gallons of water so it seems to be very happy. I transported it submerged. There seems to be no die off and I'm not seeing any spikes. I'm not sure I'm GOING to have much of a cycle