A pair of EcoWheel tanks in the making

[Putawaywet]

I was wondering if the ecowheel was made out of plastic, or some kind of "bioweel" like paper. thanks shawn

It's constructed out of a heavy (3/8"??) sheet PVC and the whole thing is about the size of a 5 gal bucket. Very sturdy and extremely heavy, especially when covered in wet algae.

This seems like a great type of system.
Has anyone converted their trickle filter/sump into a system with a lighted eco-wheel type system? You could have some of your return water go over a wheel that has a light over it. I dont have room for a refuge so using the space in the old trickle filter/sump would allow me to have some algea scrubing.

Not that I have heard of, but anything is possible. I imagine it could be made to work as a quasi-ATS type of setup. The diameter of the wheel packs a lot of surface area in a pretty moderate amount of space.

anything new happening Brett?

Not a whole lot. But I have solved my aquascaping quandry. I was going to hold off on posting anyting until I had something to show, but I realized that will be several months.

So....

I was mixing up some 2-part epoxy that my vivarium manufacturer sent me and it suddenly hit me that my rockwork in the viv looks somewhat similar to an underwater rock wall (albeit really clean and void of a any life forms) So, after a little thought I realized that I might be able to retrofit the low-light tank using some kind of modular rock similar to the ideas I had originally kicked around.

So the current plan is to fabricate textured rock panels and silicone them to the insides of the tank when finished.

Here's the interior of the viv. Try and picture something like that in a 90 gal cube encrusted with corraline, and covered in corals and inverts.

It's going to take a me a while to do all the prep work and and a few weeks for the guy to texture everything so I'm figuring it will be end of April or first of May before I can install it.

Brett

 

[Zacrifice]

Hey Brett
that will look fantastic

have you thought about using rubber that you can paint onto rocks and you can make a mold out of it, you just find something in nature you like, paint it all once its set you pull it off and fill it was your choice of filler (its made for plaster but will work perfectly fine with concreate or agrocrete stuff)

but your original idea will be great, I can't wait to see it!!!!!

 

[shaw]

thanks, wonder if a regular person (by that i mean a college kid), could make a similar eco-whell. wonder if there are any plans somewhere
thanks
shawn

 

[gwrulzmylife]

This sounds like a super project!

 

[kansas1051]

the people who make the eco-wheel have a patent on the system which fully described its operation and construction

 

[pablum]

Eco-wheel Patent

Eco-wheel Patent

Eco-wheel Patent

 

[edgarsmith]

Facinating system, but do you have to choose between bubbles & nitrate?

Could you possibly tilt & brace filter to gain enough room to remove wheel?

You mentioned siliconing prefab rock panels to side of tank. Neat idea. By accident I discovered that GE clear silicone sets underwater, and fairly quickly too. I kid you not. I have used this method a number of times to glue things to the sides of a full tank. It will raise the PH temporarily. I had no coral at the time, but it did not seem to bother the fish or little tubeworms & bugs. I used scrap plastic to brace it until it was set.

Exactly what kind of lights are on the algae filter? Do you set them on the floor when you harvest algae? Can you show some pics of the algae lighting system?

BTW, I agree with your asymetrical look. Flat would not have looked so nice.

 

[piercho]

I did have a problem with one of the CSL PC quads breaking - seems one of those little glass connectors between the main light tubes decided to fracture and kill the light.

I've made a daylight simulator for our living room using a Venture 150W 4500K DE bulb and a M102 ballast. Spectrum on the bulb is good for daylight simulation and the bulb has been dependable for 16 hour days for several months. Bulb will be cheaper than a PC 96W bulb, and last longer, I'd guess. Should be easy to clean in an aquarium DE pendant, not much to do but wipe down the pendant glass with white vinegar weekly. I'd think a good DE fixture would get tighter focus of the light down on the wheel than PC could. Nothing against PC, just think I'd prefer a compact DE pendant for that application. If your ballast to lamp lead length will run over 4', I'd go with a M81 ballast as the ignitor is better for a longer lamp cord than the M102 ignitors, which are usually only rated for 2' or 4'. I've got a good source for HID ballasts and less than box quantities of uncommon DE bulbs dropped shipped for low cost, if you are interested. Deals mostly in commercial but was willing to accommodate me.

He shared with me that when he pulled the bioballs he saw a reduction, but it came at the expense of microbubbles being returned to one of the two tanks.

I was initially leary of microbubbles from my lift, but I no longer mind them, and push my lift to the point that it returns a pretty foamy mix. For some reason, I don't get salt creep from the microbubbles. Actually got more creep when I ran with pumps and powerheads. Just a fine dust of salt near to the water level. For pictures, they really suck, but otherwise, IMO, no problems.

Your tank is interesting and I'm glad you keep up with the posts. The high nitrates intriques me. Adey tracked his nitrates + nitrites in the Carribean reef tank, and I think they ran below what a hobbyist would be able to measure without special eqt. Comparable to real reef levels. And his volume to scrubber surface area ratio was not as high as yours is, I'd guess. I wonder why you aren't N-limited like I'd expect you to be, like I think that I am without a scrubber. Interesting. I've finaly come up with plans for a scrubber for my tank that I can live with, just have to wait to grow the n*ts to drill a big hole in the tank back. Please keep up the posts.

 

[Putawaywet]

Facinating system, but do you have to choose between bubbles & nitrate?

Could you possibly tilt & brace filter to gain enough room to remove wheel?

I'm not sure yet. Morgan Lidster said one of his tanks had a problem with bubbles and one did not. I suspect I'll be ok as my tanks are somewhat deep and the incoming water has to travel upwards thru 30" deep enfluent boxes before it spills over into the tank. I would imagine what few bubbles I have remaining would most likely dissipate during that time.

Can't tilt the filter forward as it hangs up on the front opening of the cabinet. It's either go straight up and try to dissassemble the wheel as I pull it out or disconnect the plumbing and slide the filter out and set it on the floor. That's a 2 man job at best.

You mentioned siliconing prefab rock panels to side of tank. Neat idea. By accident I discovered that GE clear silicone sets underwater, and fairly quickly too. I kid you not. I have used this method a number of times to glue things to the sides of a full tank. It will raise the PH temporarily. I had no coral at the time, but it did not seem to bother the fish or little tubeworms & bugs. I used scrap plastic to brace it until it was set.

I'm planning to drain the tank during the install. During installation I put in valves so I could isolate one tank from the other. This is the reason I have been holding off on stocking the low-light tank as whatever goes in, has to come back out and into a couple trash cans for the afternoon.

Exactly what kind of lights are on the algae filter? Do you set them on the floor when you harvest algae? Can you show some pics of the algae lighting system?

It's basically a CSL black plastic hood sized to fit atop the filter. It contains 2 PC quads - 96w each I believe? ballasts and a cooling fan.

When I harvest the algae I merely lift the light unit up until I can set it atop the center cabinet. This way it is out of the way but I can still use the light to see what I am doing.

Brett

 

[Putawaywet]

Hi Howard,

Thanks for the ideas and offer on the light replacement it might very well come down to something like that in the future. I just ordered a pair of PC replacements but at what they want for those things I will most likely be shopping for alternatives when their time is done.

You're right about a light salt dusting instead of actual salt spray. It's almost like a fine powder. The lid on the filter is recessed and as a result it seals reasonably well. But there is a 3/4" PVC vent on the backside that exhausts the 4cfm form the air pump. You can actually hear a steady "whoosh" from the escapig air. Pitty it is so salt laden as I'd love to direct it at my MH pendants as a repalcement for the electric cooling fans.

I'm going to attack the nitrates from a couple fronts. One thing that concerns me is the lack of mechanical filtration combined with my liquid feeding is producing a lot of detritus. So I'm planning a big cleaning party in the upcoming weeks. That combined with the removal of the bio balls will hopefully net me a bit of progress.

Also, I'm still dialing in the the algae cultivation. After more than 6 months I've still only got about 50% coverage on the wheel. However, what I do have is an abundance of corraline. I've been scraping some and leaving the rest to see it it has an effect. So far it's kinda a toss up. The stuff I leave grows algae kinda sporadically. The stuff I scrape takes the good algae with it and as a result starts the grow process anew. This works well for a month or so until the corraline gets a foot hold again. So I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

Either way, I've got another vacation in April so there will be lot's of time to work on old stuff as well as some new. Next up on the drawing board will be the backdrops, a constant drip system for my liquid food and a slide out shelf with a tray for when I'm working in the tank.

Brett

 

[salty joe]

What is CSL?

 

[firemouth4416]

You might try a bulb that will grow algea but not coraline? Maybe a different light with a low Kelvin number? I always hear that you can have an algea bloom with bad lights? Just an Idea to toss out.

 

[H20ENG]

"What is CSL?"
Custom Sea Life.
Just a brand name of compact flourescent bulbs and fixtures. No longer in business I hear...

 

[matt & pam]

So if you were just starting off with a new eco-wheel system, would you go for an alternative light source, i.e., not get the lights from aquatic engineers (or whoever it is that makes the eco-wheel now)?

 

[Putawaywet]

Last I heard Chris has a few light units left but with CSL out of the game he's currenty researching a replacement source. But I believe he intends to find something of the same or similar. Shouldn't be too big of a prob as ABS hoods with PC's are a pretty popular setup.

Then again, depending on what rumor you believe, CSL may or may not be coming back under a different name.

But to answer your question, no, I wouldn't swap. It's just that there is a pretty big gap between available surface area and currently producing surface area, and that's bothering me.

The real problem is I'm kinda genetically predisposed to constantly try and make things work better and I cant help but play with things. Sometimes it's fun and relaxing, other times it drives me to drink

Brett

 

[matt & pam]

So the light exposure is just focused mostly on the top section? What is the kelvin rating of the bulbs? The eco-wheel systems I've seen were completed covered in turf algae, I'll have to check if they modified their lights or replaced with alternative bulbs. Thanks.

Matt

 

[matt & pam]

This is a comment I received from LFS I'm planning to buy eco-wheel from. Their tank is a 180gal tank with calcium reactor.

"We have 3-65 watt 10K PC bulbs over the wheel, and 3-250 watt MH bulbs over the main tank, and 2-160 watt actinic VHO bulbs over the main tank. If you are asking about the pc bulbs, we have kept them as is for 2.5-3 years. We are finding that coraline algae is growing on the wheel and the screens. We had to clean the wheel and one of the screens b/c the weight on the wheel was slowing it too much. The tank is doing great even though we did the heavy cleaning."

 

[picture the reef]

Matt, What LFS are you planning to buy from?

 

[matt & pam]

The Aquatic Critter in Nashville. I thought about looking at a place in Indiana as well, but that store never showed any interest in contacting me back about questions. I'm convinced that Ken is the person to deal with. Now, I wish I didn't have to pay TN sales tax. You know any secrets?

 

[Dragon Wrasse]

Custome Sea Life is still around.....I beleive what occurred was that the one of the BIG BOSSES bought the company and has changed the name of it. This company will continue to provide the same quality built goods.....probably under a differnt name.....................Man I wish I could remember the name

Any how I will attempt to find the name it is under and repost.