90g is started

[busterb]

I hate this hobby. I went from a 12g and then a 40g and now a 90g. The 12g is a species tank just for a bta and 2 clowns and the 40g is getting the boot for the 90g. Actually I was only going to get a 60g long (48")but heck, If I can fit that I can fit a 90g. and here I am. I think the major problem was convincing the lady. It was a long hard begging road and I know you kn ow what I mean.
Ok the tech stuff.

tank demension

48"x18"x24" Glass
drilled for two 1" returns and 1.5" corner overflow.

Sump
36"x15"x20" is about 45g acryllic
This was a buddys tank that I'm converting over to a fuge/ sump

Stand, conopy
I wen for the tall 36" stand for the look and room. I know I need a step stool already. The conopy is 10" with and open front "L"

Pumps and plumbing, fliter.

Return will be through a poisiden p3 rated at 850gph @ 3'. so I'm guessing at zero head it's around 1000-1200. Running soft 1" lines to Y and reduced at the 2 bulk heads to 3/4". I'm gonna try running some eductors just to see what they do. If I don't like them I'll just put the flared nozzles back on. I'm guessing about 600-700gph. I'm not sure how much more flow the eductors add.

As for the skimmer I'll be running Oct 200 recirc. At 30" tall it will work great with the stand.

Lights.

2 x 250 MH 14K with a mag/ ballest. I think that will be enough for now. I do have a dual 96w pc from the 40g I can run blues in but I don't think I'll need them.

As for a chiller I'd like to get one but taking it slow right now. I'll set it up right now with out one and put one on in a month or two when it gets warmer. Thinking about the 1/4hp tower.

As for flow I'll be running 4 hydors kor. 2x #1's @400gph and 2x #3's @850gph. Also I'll have 2 maxi 900 on the far right side by side on the jbj timer set to just one switch. It will be set up like a wave box with both comining on at a set time for 90sec then off 90sec, I like to run the seio controller but I already have this one. So total flow with main will be 2900gph ish with 500gph surges at 90secs. This will give about 35-40 turn over rate at I'm hoping a very random flow.

Well enough already here are some pics.

This the tank in front of the 40g and nw200 recirc running

I split the 1.5" return and reduced them down to 2x 1". one on a gate going to the fuge area and the other going to the main sump. But I'm thinking of just making the main dump after the split just 1.5" any way. I'll have see, nois and such.

It was a tight fit but I got the 1.5" durso piping to fit.

here are the 2 eductors i'm gonna try. So I guess they are suppossed to move more water and make a wider flow.

And now the lights. To help keep thing cool I have 2x 4" holes dilled for fans an both ends. and the back of the canopy open.

any ideas and comments would be great. I'm still working this out.

 

[DarthBaiter]

Welcome to the 90s club. Looks good so far. Bet it looks better with water in it.
What tank is that? It doesn't look like an AGA or Presto, but looks good. I'm curious about how high you can keep the eductors in the water colum, as i would imagine it would create vortexes... can't wait to see...

 

[Hurley675]

Looks Awesome!

 

[busterb]

thanks. It's my first big jump. I'v had the 40g for about 2yrs now. Sad and happy at the same time.
As for the tank. It was contrated out by the LFS to a builder in San Diego, CA. I forgot the name right now but I'll post it up when I remember.

As for the eductors. Well, I don't know. I really didn't think of that. I have more loc line if it does though and I'll put it lower. I'v seen them working at some local stores and they really seen to move alot of water. I'm trying to get away from strong pinpoint currents and this seems like a good way in trying. I'll let you know.

I started gluing the sump baffles. Man what a Pita. It's an old tank so it's got some bows and shapes to it. I really had to use alot of glue and vise grips. Looks pretty hack but hey, It's a sump right? Gonna fill it with dirt,poop and sand so to say.

 

[dc_909]

Was it made by LeeMar?

 

[drummereef]

Looks awesome! Can't wait for updates.

 

[busterb]

Leemar sounds like it. I have all the papers tucked away from me right now. I should get some water in it by this week. Just have to water test the sump and then drill it for the 1" bulk head.

 

[DarthBaiter]

Looks like they did a nice silicon job. dc_909, your tank made by them too?

 

[dc_909]

Not sure. I bought it from someone 6 years ago.

 

[stereomandan]

Welcome to the 90g club! Looks great so far.

Dan

 

[chrisqueenz]

Sounds like it is going to be a great build-up!! Keep us updated

 

[busterb]

Ok.. here ar esome updates. I finally finised the sump and drilled it out. Set up all the piping and started to put some water in it. Filling it with ro/di for a test run for leaks and if clear i'll add salt mix.

The refugium mesures to 12g

Tanks side by side

Row of tanks.. sadly I have to take down the 40 and 12. don't know what to do with the bta in the 12 yet?

And finally some water.. Man Its gonna take along time filling this. I have a 100gpd ro/di too.

 

[drummereef]

Very nice. Boy, that is going to take a while.

 

[melev]

The drainlines in that sump only need to be submerged about 1", no more.

 

[roader247]

Very Nice so far Did you build the sump if not were did you get it

Mark

 

[DarthBaiter]

Sell the BTA. A rose BTA goes for a lot of money.

 

[floridagator]

if you're leaving it where it's sitting you might want to think about painting the right side of the tank black like you did with the back.

 

[busterb]

THe sump was a used 45 gal tank I got from my buddy for free . So I spent about $50 in cut acrylic and glue and now I have a "custom" sump.

As for the drain pipes. I have them guess ta mated.( is that an actual word?) to be about 1"-1 1/2 into the water line. they are not glued in yet so I'll see where they are at when i get water through the system.

As for painting the right side I was thinking that too but when I move out down the line I don't want to be stuck with the tank being just two sided. So I might just get some black backing and just tape it there.

Well as for the bta is just a green/brown one.. about 8-10inches. I nursed it back from being bleached and 4" from the lfs. I don't know if the lfs will take him back.

 

[sjj80]

Nice Setup! I think you did a great job building the sump, I just built mine for my 90g a few weeks ago and it looks pretty ghetto compared to yours. Nice job!

As far as filling the tank some LFS sell RO/DI fresh and saltwater. My LFS charges fifty cents/gal for fresh, $2.00/gal for Tropic Marin. It may cost more than making your own RO, but even buying a little bit of the water can help speed things up.

I'll be looking for updates!

 

[busterb]

Ok.. some new updates. I went with a tap water flush instead of running derect ro/di right away so I emptied it out saving as much ro/di as I can. And since this is the hobby that allows you to tinker I decided to go with hard lines instead of the soft lines. I'v never done hard lines before so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Results, good and bad.

the good- It was cheap and easy to cut with a pipe cutter. Looks really clean too.

the bad- puzzle fitting the pieces after glue each joint was a liitle pita.

So here it is.

I went with 1" line also. I know 1 1/4 gives you alot less resistance but in my case I don't think it would have mattered that much. Also I know I have an albow right in front of the pump but I didn't have the space for a straight line out.

I also ran a check valve. I know alot of people don't care for them but I like thme alot. Also this one is double unioned so I can take it out and clean it.

I came across a really big snag. After the initial run to check for leaks I decided to try out the ball valve unions. well it went really bad. I closed the top union line from the return before the split and proceded to open it. as I did the close ball shot right out and began spilling water everywhere! I managed to push the union back up and screw it back together. I' after darining the top 1/4 of the tank and opened everything back up. I saw that the ball/ union was not designed to open wet. Argh! Is there a ball/union that is made to close and open wet? That was the whole reason I got these put in.
As of now I'll just leave it that way.

Ok.. for the flow with the posieden ps3 850gph@3feet. It's way to much flow. Even with the 45g sump the water is ripping through the sump. I'm having to close the the ball valve almost 2/3 of the way. I'm hoping with a chiller plumed inline with the return it will slow it down enough to manage with out having to close the valve. If not i'll have to go with the ps2 which is rated at 650gph@3feet. I feel that it so much of a waste of energy if I have to close the valve. The chiller I'm looking at is the current usa prime tower 1/4hp. It has a 3/4-5/8 input/out. So ruducing the 1" line to 3/4 for the chiller and back out to 3/4-1" bushing, I'm wondering how much this will slow the water down.

here are the curves.
PS2 rated 650gph@3feet

PS3 rated 850gph@3feet

These pumps are stated as pressure pumps and are designed to push over 25'. So I'm not sure if this had any thing to do with it being too much flow for me at least. One thing though. this thing is whisper quiet. My Oct 200 recirc makes way more noise then this. The only thing bad even though it's external is thats it's water cooled. But running only at 98watts and having a chiller I don't see to much of a problem.

Ok.. now for the fun pics.. WATER!
:rollface:

I'm switching between the eductor and fan out put to see what the back pressure is like.

I'm getting alot of big bubble burbs from the 1 1/2 line droping into the sump. I going to take out the elbow and add a tee fitting to relieve the air/ water pressure.