A Reefaholic's 1000+ Gallon Mixed Reef System Build

[Dustin1300]

I've considered some of the boosters but think I'm going to let it do it's natural thing and pick up more live rock on Saturday at Premium Aquatics. I may add bacteria later to help seed the live rock. The frag tank is not going to have rock so I will only have live rock at this point. When I set up the 600 gallon DT I might consider this as I'll be using dry rock so I can aquascape and take my time. Also considering foam back wall with some shelves coming out of it so I don't have to clean back and also adds places for frags since I'll have 4 foot of depth!

 

[Dustin1300]

Flood is coming....

Flood is coming....

:headwally: :headwally: :headwally: :headwally: :headwally:

Well, made my first fatal error in plumbing it seems. Got home and since the salinity and temperature were good on the tank figured I'd tie the refugium into the system. After opening up the valve to it and pulling the plug from the drain the tank just overflows....Seems that the back pressure from the drain that's draining the frag tank is not allowing it to push out.

The return for the fuge is 3/4" and the drain is 1" so that's not the problem....I tried dialing back the flow on the ReeFlo to ensure the 2" drain pipe was not being consumed and same problem happened...Flood 2. All and all the 'flood' was only ~5 gallons but guess it was my pride more than anything. That being said, anyone have any ideas? The "simple solution" is to add another drain but curious if any of you plumbing gurus have an idea.

Here you can see the bulkhead from the refugium is higher but the three lines coming down are from my frag tank:

Another shot showing the drains from the frag tank:

 

[Waddleboy]

if you close the frag tank lines does it work? I still think even though there is a lower portion some of the water will try to drain into the refugium. Closing the frag drain lines will take off the pressure to insure the fuge will drain on its own

 

[Dustin1300]

What if I ran something between the refugium and manifold such as the following swing/check valves? Am I just setting myself up for failure in the future? Should I just bite the bullet and run another 1" pipe for a drain? I'm open to suggestions!

http://premiumaquatics.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=WYE010&Category_Code=

http://www.lowes.com/pd_104423-33599-P32S+1_0__?productId=3354606&Ntt=1%22+check+valve&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3D1%2522%2Bcheck%2Bvalve&facetInfo=

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/review/product/list/id/391/category/152/

Do these valves have to be vertical to function? The one from PA I could pick up Saturday assuming it is in stock. I have one like it but it's 3/4" so it won't work for a try....

 

[Dustin1300]

Double Post.

 

[Waddleboy]

check valves wont allow flow to back up and overflow but it still will not allow the tank to drain because the back pressure is higher

 

[Dustin1300]

if you close the frag tank lines does it work? I still think even though there is a lower portion some of the water will try to drain into the refugium. Closing the frag drain lines will take off the pressure to insure the fuge will drain on its own

Works fine if I go that route. Once I open up the drains to the frag tank it begins to fill and ready to flood.:furious:

 

[SPotter]

Dustin, I am no plumbing expert but here is what the guy that installed my plumbing did between my wc tank and sump. The cap has a hole in it for air.

 

[Dustin1300]

How big of a hole is in that Steve? I've been wondering if if I needed to vent the drain somehow as it currently is not vented....

I've got another way which I think I could do it by running another 1" drain pipe and putting another bulkhead in the side of the sump but really not what I planned!

 

[SPotter]

its big enough to insert airline tubbing in it.

 

[Waddleboy]

Dustin I am not sure if that is your problem. Putting an airline in would slow the flow down through the tube. It breaks the full siphon. The fact that it works when your frag line is off proves that the frag tank is adding too much back pressure for the return to flow naturally and thus backs up and overflows. Can you make the fuge return go lower into another pipe. Even if you drill another drain i still think the frag tank will not allow to drain out of that pipe and keep water in the tank

 

[Dustin1300]

Now that I've cooled down a bit and went and evaluated everything this is just my screw up. I took measurements and somehow I negated this in my original design and looked over it and am about 3/4" too low on the refugium. No check valve or vent in the world is going to fix that. I'm just going to have to drill a bulkhead Saturday and plumb in a drain that will work. After that hopefully I can get all the system tied together so I can start my cycle race with Steve

***Steve, your reference still gave me a good idea on what I can do though as the drain always makes a ton of gurgling when the power goes off and then back on while I've been testing. That should help with the purging and I'd guess it might speed up drainage too.

 

[Dustin1300]

Dustin I am not sure if that is your problem. Putting an airline in would slow the flow down through the tube. It breaks the full siphon. The fact that it works when your frag line is off proves that the frag tank is adding too much back pressure for the return to flow naturally and thus backs up and overflows. Can you make the fuge return go lower into another pipe. Even if you drill another drain i still think the frag tank will not allow to drain out of that pipe and keep water in the tank

I'd have to agree that I'm not going to find a way around that. Will post pics in a few with what I'm proposing I'll do and don't see any problem with it...

 

[Dustin1300]

Here is what was throwing me off originally as I saw that the water was not that high. It tricked me as I pull the plug and then it purges the air and then starts draining to the fuge and not the direction I want it to!

The bulkhead to drain will be drilled on the side of the sump right below the filter socks on the side. The highest level of water in sump has no way of draining to the refugium this way

Wish I would have realized this earlier but who cares?! Can't change it now or until I can pick up a bulkhead Saturday.:wildone:

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I was going to post that but I couldn't quite figure out how you had it plumbed. Basically you airlocked your line? I can't picture how you have one tank positioned in relation to the other...Anyways, glad you figured it out.

 

[Dustin1300]

I was going to post that but I couldn't quite figure out how you had it plumbed. Basically you airlocked your line? I can't picture how you have one tank positioned in relation to the other...Anyways, glad you figured it out.

Yeah, Looking back at my pics it's not easy to relate...That's my fault. I can't expect sound advice if I don't provide good pictures This will give you a better idea for future perspective.

I really don't think I'm getting the full potential out of the drain on my 2" drain from the frag tank. I currently have the Dart throttled 1/2 way back and two 1" standpipes fully utilized with a spare emergency standpipe at higher height that is only used when it's purged the air. Would it help to vent the drain pipe or make one of the two stand pipes vented by tapping it and going beananimal style?

 

[Dustin1300]

Refugium drain in place/More fun toys to integrate!

Refugium drain in place/More fun toys to integrate!

Today I got the plumbing drains ran for the refugium so I could get this thing finally running. Glad to say it's up and running after running 1" pipe and drilling a bulkhead that feeds to the sump. I also picked up 40+ pounds of live rock at Premium Aquatics today and have ~120 pounds of live rock in the refugium.

Here you can see I capped original drain and got new drain in place.

Three pipes that run to frag tank area. Upper 2" pipe is for return, lower 2" pipe is for drain, and lowest 1" pipe is the new one for draining the fuge.

New toys! Picked up GFO, refillable DI container since I've burnt through a cartridge of DI (Working on seeing if I can make RO/DI more efficient), and 2 MP 40s for the frag tank. Awaiting two GEO 420 Media Reactors that were backordered and should get next week that I'll use for GFO/Carbon!

 

[david00061]

Things are really coming together. Looks really cool

 

[Dustin1300]

Things are really coming together. Looks really cool

Thanks David. Things take quite a bit longer on a large system like this but you know all about that. It just takes time and we all know this hobby is about patience.

 

[Dustin1300]

First round of testing...

First round of testing...

Got my first round of testing done and expected the numbers to be on the higher end since it is all new saltwater. Have not yet added ammonia but the refugium has been up and running since December with two 25-30% water changes so I'm not sure what type of cycle to really expect.

Temp: 78.2
Salinity: 1.026
PH: 8.2 (Should have more accurate once PH probe is calibrated tomorrow)
Alk: 12.0
Ammonia: <.25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 2.50
Phosphate: .12
Calcium: 500
Magnesium: 1425

***Phosphate was taken with Hanna Checker, SG with refractometer, and the rest were tested with Salifert Test Kits.

Nitrate makes me think I won't have much of a cycle but we'll see once I start adding ammonia. Once I add the GFO to reactor let's hope the phosphates drop quickly and the rocks not leaching it. (I'll start working on ATS soon)