Ben's "gettin back Into the hobby" build.

[Bent]

More pics incoming. Finished up the stand for the salt mix station.

Pretty rudimentary and probably overbuilt. But there you go.

Need a can below, a switch for a heater, plum them both together and run a pump from the salt mix can to the sump about 5 feet away.

Then I need to put together a stand for the sump and the fuge.

Getting CLOSER!!!!

 

[Bent]

So here is the fuge and the sump (which will hold around 30 gallons.)

The DT is directly on top of them.

The DT will drain through the floor into the blue sump. The return pump will have a T and a gate valve, which will feed the fuge. The fuge will drain into the sump.

The sump will have another pump that will be on a switched circuit. Turn it on and it will pump water into the drain.

The salt mix station is an arms length away. There will be another pump in the salt can that will pump fresh water into the sump.

The sump will also have a float switch which will activate a pump from the R/O container. Serving as an ATO.

 

[Bent]

Here is my completed systems map for the entire basement. Took me a while to draw it out, but at least now I have a clear goal in my head:

 

[Pife]

I know this is a minor thing but why do you need to use a gate valve coming from your ro container. Is there something wrong with using a ball valve there?

 

[Bent]

I use "gate valve" and "ball valve" interchangeably. It comes from a long use of gate valves and I guess I still haven't accepted that gates are all but obsolete these days since the ball valve is superior.

 

[Bent]

Just got a good deal on amazon for a wp60. 75 bucks shipped. Couldn't pass it up.

I may order the controller and maybe a wp25 in the future. I have a feeling that the wp60 is going to be excessive...

 

[Bent]

RO/DI and storage is completely finished!

 

[Tiki God]

Sub-ing to this! Can't wait to see it come together, nothing better than a well planned out reef! :thumbsup:

 

[Bent]

Thanks for subbing to my build! And for the kind words.

More pics incoming. Ignore the HOB overflow. I'm drilling the tank, just waiting in the bits.

 

[Bent]

Salt mix station is coming together!

Just need a few more odds and ends.

 

[Tiki God]

Sweet! Looks good! Is the tank drilled yet?

 

[Bent]

Not yet, waiting on my drill bit and suction cup guide to come in.

 

[Tiki God]

Cool, when should that get in?

 

[Bent]

I ordered before the weekend, so hopefully soon. I'm going to be drilling it for a BA overflow.

I'm currently waiting on:

Switch panel, return pump, sump, drill bit, bit guide, bulkheads, and various plumbing parts.
Hopefully some of this stuff starts making it to the door soon.

I bought a rubber maid stock tank for the sump, so I'll have to design a lid for it.

 

[Bent]

So I'm getting the overflow boxes painted up:

My plan is to silicone these two boxes together to make it long enough for the BA overflow. Then I will be siliconing these boxes to the center of the tank and then drilling the tank.

Speaking of which, I got a package today.

 

[Tiki God]

Awesome! What came in that box, some sort of spaceship?

 

[Bent]

Lol that's the bit and the guide.

 

[Bent]

More pics incoming. Installed the switch panel and siliconed both overflows together.

The switch panel will work like so:
Number one switch controls the circulation pumps for the salt mix container.
Number 2 switch will turn the heater on and off.
Number 3 switch will turn on the pump to the sump.


EVENTUALLY. I'm going to replace the manual ball valves with solenoids and the water change procedure will go like so:

1: Flip switch 1 to open solenoid from RO water container to drain into salt mix container. When desired level is reached. Flip the switch back and stop the flow.

2: dump in salt and flip switch 2 to turn on circulation pump, and flip switch 3 to turn on the heater. Watch the temp, salinity, and PH via monitors.

3: when salt mix water matches sump water, flip switch 4 to open the solenoid to drain the sump. When desired amount of water is drained, flip the switch back to stop the drain.

4: flip switch 5 to both open solenoid to the sump, and turn on pump to pump the fresh salt water into the sump. Flip switch 5 off after desired amount of water has been transferred.

Boom. No buckets, no hassle.

 

[joeyg09]

You make me wish I took the time to do all of this when setting up my tank. I can only imagine how easy it will be for you once it's all said and done. Looks great so far!

 

[Bent]

Well, that's what I'm hoping pays off.

My last reef ended up being so much work that I eventually hated it. This time around I'm really trying to streamline everything as much as possible.

No trips wal-mart for RO water, no daily filling of the sump, no buckets and getting mouthfuls of salt water.