EnglishRebel
Retired Rebel Reefer
It's not an engineer thing it's my English (Monty Pythonesque) sense of humor. :lol:
600 gal display/900+ gal build thread in the Chicago 'burbs.
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It's not an engineer thing it's my English (Monty Pythonesque) sense of humor. :lol:
PaulieWalnuts
New member
and i thought i bought a lot for my tank...can't imagine how much you bought...and how much all those pvc parts added up to
The fishroom has two heights. (because there is some structural steel in part of the ceiling). The part above the rodi mixing is 7' 5" tall, the rest of the fishroom is 7' 10". The ceilings in the basement are 9' tall. The fishroom is lower because I added a ton of insulation and framed down the ceiling for fresh air vents, ect.
The height of the salt container with lid on, on the bottom is 31 1/2 "
The height of the shelf is 45" (leaving 13 1/2" to mix, or slightly over 15 inches with lid off.
The height or rodi water container is 37 1/2" with lid on.
Its not as much as you might think. I'm going to utter blasphemy here but *gasp* not all my pvc is schedule 80. The true union ball valves are and a few bits here and there but most is sch. 40. Why?
1) I'm an engineer and I pick the right tools and materials for the job. Its not that sch 80 costs all that much more in the scheme of things for a tank this size but I can't bring myself to use it where its not needed.
2) If i remember right good schedule 40 is pressure rated to something like 240 psi (might be 260 its been a while). We are running low flow systems with little to no pressure. Pressure isnt a concern.
3) Sch 80 can withstand alot more wear and tear and torque. This is the biggest argument for using it. However the thing is unsupported schedule 80 is going to crack/deform over time just like sch 40 would. The key here is to support it.
4) I can see having sch 80 as a "status" symbol on a smaller tank where it would look nice, ect. On a plumbing job this size its overkill. I can't imagine what 3" sch 80 pipe and bits costs... its got to be insane. Again not insane compared to the overall tank, but still insane
PaulieWalnuts
New member
yeah i use the white pvc guess thats the 40 stuff....still was a lot for me....but it was still less...my 2inch ball valve true union was the most expensive thing i bought at 37 bucks and i was feeling dumb for that lol...but i can't wait to see more of your house and tank going to be so cool.
PaulieWalnuts
New member
for one of your 3inch parts lol http://www.dtpetsupplies.com/catalog/product_info.php?language=en¤cy=USD&products_id=7507
More importantly, if you've ever looked at the head loss from a lot of sch 40 vs. a lot of sch 80, it's a huge difference. You can get away with a smaller pump using sch 40 and acheive the same flowrate as with sch 80 and a large, more costly and more costly to operate pump. Efficiency is key in large systems. 
For looks, sch 40 can still be had in grey - that's what I'm using.
For looks, sch 40 can still be had in grey - that's what I'm using.
Yea but head loss is variable based on cross sectional area. Simply go one pipe size up and you are good to go.. for alot less money. There is nothing that says, for instance, that a 1 1/2 inch outlet on a dart needs to run through 1 1/2" pipe.. simply step up right away to 2" if head is a concern on elbows and you are set.
You are right though, sch 80 does have better friction characteristics.
You are right though, sch 80 does have better friction characteristics.
Right, what I was getting at is that for the same OD PVC, you are better off with sch 40. Your post pointed out the fact that we will never see near the pressure limit of sch 40 in our application. So, the added expense is uncessary especially when you consider the flow loss. I agree that upsizing is beneficial, but all things equal, it's more costly as well - especially if you have a lot of TUBV's. I'm actually planning to use a Dart for my return with 2" on the inlet and 1.5" on the outlet. I could go to 2" on the outlet, but I don't need the extra flow so it's not worth the expense.
stunreefer
Reef Hugger
Looks awesome fantastic work!!! :thumbsup:
Where did you get the water containers for your "water tower"?
Where did you get the water containers for your "water tower"?
The containers are from: http://www.usplastic.com
I'm pretty disappointed right now. Miztic and I just spent 4 hours gluing together the return. The issue here is that there are 4 bulk heads, 2 each overflows and emergency overflows one in each overflow. All 4 fall into one large 3 inch return to ease plumbing. The whole thing was assembled and then inserted into the bulkheads and glued. The problem is that since there are so many pieces that bulkheads are VERY tight and there is torqe on them because the run is so long.
anyways we finally got everything in, cranked down, I poured water into the first overflow box and it was like Niagra Falls. I'm not talking a slow drip, I'm taking gushing.
I then tightened the bulkheads down more but it didn't solve the issue, although the leaking was less.
I'm out of town for a few days. When I come back I think Miztic and I are going to inject silicone around the gaskets from above and below and tighten everything down and see if we can get the silicone to form a thicker gasket.
The only thing else to do if that doesn't work is to start from scratch and rebuild the whole thing with new gaskets. I'll use stress reliever joints either out of spaflex or the rubery plumber couples to make sure there is no torque on the gaskets.
I'm kinda ticked off right now
anyways we finally got everything in, cranked down, I poured water into the first overflow box and it was like Niagra Falls. I'm not talking a slow drip, I'm taking gushing.
I then tightened the bulkheads down more but it didn't solve the issue, although the leaking was less.
I'm out of town for a few days. When I come back I think Miztic and I are going to inject silicone around the gaskets from above and below and tighten everything down and see if we can get the silicone to form a thicker gasket.
The only thing else to do if that doesn't work is to start from scratch and rebuild the whole thing with new gaskets. I'll use stress reliever joints either out of spaflex or the rubery plumber couples to make sure there is no torque on the gaskets.
I'm kinda ticked off right now
PuyallupReef
New member
Absolutely beautiful!!!!! Can't wait to see this system progress!
mcliffy2
New member
Sorry to hear about the plumbing problems. Plumbing is my absolute least favorite part of reefkeeping....
Not sure if it will help, but I went thru just about every plumbing problem known to man: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1271003&perpage=25&pagenumber=20
Not sure if it will help, but I went thru just about every plumbing problem known to man: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1271003&perpage=25&pagenumber=20
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