A pair of EcoWheel tanks in the making
- Thread starter Putawaywet
- Start date
If this question is regarding the EcoWheel I have for sale, it is simply a box with the wheel in it. The wheel takes up all of the space in the box. The bottom of the box has 3 ea. holes for 2" bulkheads. The centerline of these holes runs from corner to corner. One is for the air pump which I have, and is also for sale separately. The other two holes are for getting water into, and out of the box. I also have the instruction manual. If you aren't familiar with the EcoWheel concept, I will briefly describe it. The air pump lifts water up into the box from below. The flow is approximately 25 gpm (1500gph). The part I liked best about it is the pods, etc. that grow in the wheel, and elsewhere in the system that end up going thru the box do not get exposed to the damaging affects of an pump. I hope this answered you question plus some.
salty joe said:
The overflows run anywhere from 100%-50% (depending on evap) flooded at all times. And since there is no air being sucked into the return line there is no noise such as you normally get with gravity fed sumps. Hence, no need for standpipes - regular or modified.
salty joe said:
Nothing beyond the usual thin layer of brown slime/sludge identical to what I have observed in my tanks that came before this one. That and a whole bunch of tiny limpits that use the pipes as shortcuts between the two tanks.
Brett
Do not understand last sentence.
Yes, all connections are on the bottom. The algae that grows on the wheel pulls out the bad stuff. It does the skimming. The algae byproduct is oxygen. As the algae grows you just scrape off the excess. The ideal location for the EW is above the tank water level.
Yes, all connections are on the bottom. The algae that grows on the wheel pulls out the bad stuff. It does the skimming. The algae byproduct is oxygen. As the algae grows you just scrape off the excess. The ideal location for the EW is above the tank water level.
Reefologist
New member
Do you run a calcium reactor or some type of dosing system with the eco wheel set-up?......just wondering...thank you.
If the EW is mounted above the display tank then water exits via the overflow box to the sump. Water from the sump is pushed up to the box via the air pump, and sent into the bottom of the EW box. Go to www. aquaticengineers.com for a typical plumping arrangement.
The algae growing on the wheel pulls out the junk that a skimmer would ordinarily remove. I didn't run a skimmer. You will need to provide calcium by some means.
I could not mount the EW above my tank so I have reverted to a conventional setup. I am now changing from a 25g sump under the tank to a 125g. sump external to the tank, and plan to use Miracle Mud in it. I have installed a Korallin Ca reactor. I like the way it works, and so do the corals. The principle of their design is good, but the workmanship in the assembly area needs closer supervision, or a change in supervisors. There were too many leaks. It is just as easy to make a connection right, as wrong.
The algae growing on the wheel pulls out the junk that a skimmer would ordinarily remove. I didn't run a skimmer. You will need to provide calcium by some means.
I could not mount the EW above my tank so I have reverted to a conventional setup. I am now changing from a 25g sump under the tank to a 125g. sump external to the tank, and plan to use Miracle Mud in it. I have installed a Korallin Ca reactor. I like the way it works, and so do the corals. The principle of their design is good, but the workmanship in the assembly area needs closer supervision, or a change in supervisors. There were too many leaks. It is just as easy to make a connection right, as wrong.
salty joe said:
Yes. One 2" bulkhead plumbed inside the bottom of the overflow box. The box has slots at both the top and mid level of the tank so it pulls water from high and low. There is nothing special about the overflow - it is like any other traditional overflow minus the standpipe. The only thing that probably appears uncommon is the dual grating, which isn't actually required, just something I requested after seeing it on various tanks over the years.
salty joe said:
Like any other acrylic tank that has a built in overflow box. Just to clarify, my tanks are pretty much standard tanks built like any other - the only exception is in addition to the overflow boxes I have influent boxes in the corners - which are basically overflow boxes in reverse. Water returning from the EcoWheel comes up thru the bulkheads in the bottom of the influent boxes, then overflows into the tank like water pouring out of a bucket (similar to how water pours put of those Penguin biowheel filters if that makes it easier to visualize) The influent boxes are the ones that are a bit unique as they have a sliding peice of acrylic that can be adjusted up and down to dial in the water flow as it enters the tank. I had a good pic somewhere back at the beginning but the pics got toasted when the site admin revoked the ability for direct uploads into threads. it was retroactive to all existing pics
Reefologist said:
Ca reactor? No, not at present, I'm just dripping Kalk, which surprisingly, is working quite well in spite of the number of SPS I am keeping. Ca. runs around 390-410ppm pretty reliably. I'll admit at times it can be a little labor intensive, but apparently not so much that I have become bothered to get up off my rear and engineer an automatic topoff system. I do have a 16 gal poly tank inside the pier piling cabinet but so far it's just sitting there empty. I'm kicking around the idea of a Litermeter automatic dosing system somewhere down the road hooked to the poly tank. Perhaps something as fancy as a kalk stirrer could become a reality. However, for whatever reason, I just don't find myself excited over Ca reactors so I don't see one of those anytime in the near future.
wbburris: I certainly welcome having another fellow EW user joining in, although it sounds like your setup is quite different than mine in more ways than one. However, if you wouldn't mind I'd like to ask that you go back and skim the previous pages so you have an idea of what has already been discussed and where we are currently at. That way you won't be jumping in trying to explain things that were explained pages ago.
Brett
Ok, since I'm gearing up for another update how about I just ask everyone what they want pics of?
Put your requests in and I'll see what I can do.
Overflows?
Lighting?
Full tank shots?
Closeups of corals for growth comparisons?
Another one of my cat?
Brett
Put your requests in and I'll see what I can do.
Overflows?
Lighting?
Full tank shots?
Closeups of corals for growth comparisons?
Another one of my cat?
Brett
matt & pam
Member
Full tank shots and a shot of what your wheel looks like from the top, i.e., show the algea. Can you also show what the waste looks like after you scrape?
Just received a call, they have my tank completed and the eco-wheel is finally there too. Hope to go pick it up next week.
Matt
Just received a call, they have my tank completed and the eco-wheel is finally there too. Hope to go pick it up next week.
Matt
I'll second Matt & Pam and Salty Joe. I would also like to see some pics of the cleaning system you made.
Matt & Pam - Hope we get to see something of your setup. Think you could be persuaded to start a thread or PM/e-mail some pics?
caevan - How about yours? Sounds like it has been going for a while.
chask
Matt & Pam - Hope we get to see something of your setup. Think you could be persuaded to start a thread or PM/e-mail some pics?
caevan - How about yours? Sounds like it has been going for a while.
chask
I posted a picture early on in this thread, but you can try my Gallery
www.greatsagehabibi.com/gallery
www.greatsagehabibi.com/gallery
matt & pam
Member
It's going to be a while before I start up the tank. It's going in the basement, and the contractor is starting in March to finish it. I'll be glad to start a thread.
One question, I'm placing the stand/tank on top of tile. How far out from the stand would you recommend tiling? 2' vs 3' The rest of the room will be carpeted. Thanks...
Matt
One question, I'm placing the stand/tank on top of tile. How far out from the stand would you recommend tiling? 2' vs 3' The rest of the room will be carpeted. Thanks...
Matt
matt & pam said:
Matt, I'd recommend as far out as you think you will need for tile to be under your feet when working on the tank. For me that was 2 rows of 12" tiles for a total of 2'.
The only glitch is when I use a step stool, half of it is on the carpet and the other half is on the tile - but not a huge problem. I probably could have gone 3 tiles wide but at the time I just thought it would be a little much.
FWIW, I left a generous 4" of space between the stand and the wall and that seems to have been a good number. Just enough to make it easy if you need to dink around back there, but not too much that it looks like you didn't get it close enough to the wall.
Brett
picture the reef
New member
I have a foxface that immediately gulps down any algae that makes it back to the tank. He acts like it is a real treat.
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