Austin goes Rimless - Dudester's 203g mixed reef

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Dudester,

Great job, loving the progress.

I would like to offer one suggestion on your closed loop plumbing however. A Tee with a small ball/gate valve between the OM and SUBV on the pump would allow you to draing the OM and all water between the 4 SUBVs and pump. Keeping everything nice and dry when you need to service the OM, which will require occasional service due to sand particles.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.

CAReefer
 
melev - Thanks for the tip on the PVC, better late than never! erics3000, when you plumb your tank with spa-flex, definitely use that technique and let me know how it goes for you.

invincible569 - Thanks for the compliment, Edward, means a lot coming from someone with such a keen eye for aesthetics.

Fliger - My home is your home, just let me know next time you want to tour some restaurants and/or tanks in Austin. Of course, now that I've learned your sinister side, you'll need to comply to a thorough search before you leave the premises :p .

CAreefer - Glad you like it, and your comment is brilliant! I actually thought of doing that before plumbing the 4-way, but once I got started the idea somehow slipped away. It's an easy modification to add, and I'm going to do it for sure. Thanks for the input and for following along - please chime in often.

GSMguy - :smokin:
 
I had a fairly productive weekend. I finally got around to making the wood mount for the Barracuda pump. I screwed 2x4's together for height so that the pump would rise above the drip pan, and holes were drilled for the lag bolts, which were countersunk. The wood was then treated with 2 coats of urethane. For vibration control I'm using drawer liner material between the wood and the pump, and between the wood and the pan. The pic shows the bottom and top of the wooden risers. The one without the holes is for the "inlet" side of the pump, which doesn't have holes for mounting.

pumpmount1.jpg


Fortunately my measurements were correct, as the pump was resting on a temporary mount and I didn't mark the holes with pencil. Not the smartest thing, but it worked out fine. The photo doesn't show it, but like I said, I put 3 layers of the drawer liner material between the pump and the wood.

pumpmount2.jpg


At this point I was ready to photograph the system as it stands, with the closed loop fully plumbed, including the pump. Here's the left side ...

4way-9-1.jpg


and the right side ...

4way-10.jpg


and here it is from the front.

system7-29-07-1.jpg


Here's a more detailed view of the CL strainer in its place. That's a 6" riser to help prevent sand from blowing into the CL and potentially clogging the 4-way drum.

strainer2.jpg
 
Next came the time to add some water and test my plumbing. This would have made a huge mess if there were a problem, but even though I'm a novice I still felt pretty comfortable that everything would be water tight. I have been making RO/DI for a little while and storing it in trashcans. So here's the 1st 80 gallons or so.

system7-29-07-2.jpg


Fortunately everything was dry, so it was then time to fire up the closed loop. I aimed all of the outlets sideways since I didn't know if the water would fly out of the top of the tank (wishful thinking, right?). I was psyched to finally see some flow in this bad boy!

closedlooptest.jpg


The pump mount worked wonderfully. There was no rattling, and all I could hear was the sweet hum of the Barracuda's fan. Now it's just a matter of making more water and then the aquascaping can begin.
 
wow, looking great, and all the hard work on the plumbing has paid off as you have a lot of room under the stand to work with. Good job!
 
great job on the CL, and thats what i call flow. i must haved missed it on your sand bed, also how much live rocks will be used? keep them pics coming
 
jnarowe - That was the goal, to have as much room under the stand for equipment as possible. And by the way, I don't think those fittings and hard plumbing are hurting me too much. I put my hand in front of the returns and about blew the skin right off. That barracuda's really something!

cbui - I'm going with a 1-2" sandbed, which is why the Omniflex return nozzles are as long as they are off the bottom. They should be pretty easy to conceal with the LR, of which I'll have about 180lb. I'm picking it up this weekend, and can't wait.

melev - Thanks for the banner, but I don't know if I'll ever have it up to your standards. We all need a goal though, right?

invincible569 - Thanks for the encouragement, and I'm happy to receive any pearls you may have to offer with all of your rimless experience behind you.
 
Very nice Dude! I just love it when a new install gets water tested, BIG milestone! Congratulations!!!!
 
Eric - Thanks, man, glad you like it.

Bax - Cheers, my friend. The leak test was definitely what I'd refer to as a brown trouser moment. My heart rate went up by about 100 beats/minute as soon as the water level reached the drains. It was a huge relief not to have any leaks to deal with. The tank continues to fill as I write :) .
 
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: i'm pretty sure a lot of us had plenty of heart attack when setting up a large system :D . keep those pics coming, cant wait to see your rock work.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10449196#post10449196 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dudester
My heart rate went up by about 100 beats/minute as soon as the water level reached the drains. It was a huge relief not to have any leaks to deal with. The tank continues to fill as I write :) .
Click to expand...

It ain't full until we've seen it with our own eyes! :D
 
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