Building My 375gal Glass Reef
- Thread starter GlassReef
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mflamb â€"œ thanks Mike. I’m an RO/DI newbee and I couldn’t believe how long it took to fill up my 65gal barrel. I mean I “knew†that it’s 75gals a day, but when you actually see it drip and drizzle …. It’s gonna take 6 or 7 days just to fill up my tank and sump! I was down at FAOIS a couple of days ago and John was showing me his RO/DI setup. He has two membranes connected so that he gets an amazing amount of flow. I think I’ll ask him for some details â€"œ it looked fairly straight forward. BTW â€"œ I had fully intended on using “MFLamb’s Double Barrel Solution†as the blueprint for my setup (I’ve had your schematic on my hard drive for months 
), but the Ace tanks I bought turned out to be too tall to place one above the other.
OldTimer â€"œ thanks for the compliments. When can we expect your build thread? Help yourself to any ideas you think you may be able to use - most of them aren't mine.
), but the Ace tanks I bought turned out to be too tall to place one above the other.OldTimer â€"œ thanks for the compliments. When can we expect your build thread? Help yourself to any ideas you think you may be able to use - most of them aren't mine.
I had an electrician come in and pull a new line from the main panel to the fish room. I told him I wanted two 30Amp circuits. He said he laid 8 gauge wires. I guess he pulled 4 wires â€"œ 2 hot, 1 common, and 1 ground. I think that means he brought 220V to the fish room, doesn’t it? Yesterday, I started getting little shocks â€"œ kinda like static â€"œ whenever I touched the distribution box he installed. I called them and the guys boss came out today and fixed something (he said) in the main panel. At least I’m not getting any shocks now, but I just noticed (as I was getting some pics ready to post) that the 2 breakers he installed in the distribution box say 20Amp on them. 
I guess I’ll have to call them back in tomorrow.
Anyway, here’s a pic of what they did in the fish room. The breaker on the right is just for the main tank lights. The left one will go to the other side of the room, via the open connection box (I’ll be laying those lines) and be used for the fuge, and frag tank. Everything you see here is about 7' off the floor. The room already had a GFCI protected 20Amp circuit. The little box on the lower right is a humidistat that controls a 190CFM FanTec inline exhaust fan in the attic. The fan exhausts air from the room to outdoors through the roof. I’m hoping, but not really too confident, that the fan will control the humidity problem
A close up of the distribution box. This is where I saw that the breakers are only 20Amp:
The humidistat close up. I chose it because it’s made by Ranco â€"œ the same folks that make the temperature controllers that some of us use:
I guess I’ll have to call them back in tomorrow. Anyway, here’s a pic of what they did in the fish room. The breaker on the right is just for the main tank lights. The left one will go to the other side of the room, via the open connection box (I’ll be laying those lines) and be used for the fuge, and frag tank. Everything you see here is about 7' off the floor. The room already had a GFCI protected 20Amp circuit. The little box on the lower right is a humidistat that controls a 190CFM FanTec inline exhaust fan in the attic. The fan exhausts air from the room to outdoors through the roof. I’m hoping, but not really too confident, that the fan will control the humidity problem
A close up of the distribution box. This is where I saw that the breakers are only 20Amp:
The humidistat close up. I chose it because it’s made by Ranco â€"œ the same folks that make the temperature controllers that some of us use:
My thread is in the making. I have lots of pictures, but just need to find the time to sit down and put it all together. Our 2 1/2 month old boy is getting all the attention at the moment. 
I noticed you're using Dart Gold's. I'm trying to decide whether to use a Dart Gold or a Red Dragon 12m3 for my return. It will be feeding the display, a couple fuges and a frag tank. I did all the head loss calculations and the Dart wins for flow. Do you have any experience with the Dart Gold yet? My only real concern is heat transfer to the water. The Red Dragons are said to have basically no heat transfer to the water.
I noticed you're using Dart Gold's. I'm trying to decide whether to use a Dart Gold or a Red Dragon 12m3 for my return. It will be feeding the display, a couple fuges and a frag tank. I did all the head loss calculations and the Dart wins for flow. Do you have any experience with the Dart Gold yet? My only real concern is heat transfer to the water. The Red Dragons are said to have basically no heat transfer to the water.
My only knowledge of the Gold is what I have managed to glean from a lot of questions to users here in the area. Opinion is: powerful, very quiet, little noticed heat transfer, well built. Obviously because the info is all 2nd hand, it has to be taken with a grain of salt. I do know from personal experience that the normal Dart can get so hot that it's not comfortable touching it and that the Gold stays relatively cool, in comparison.
Got a question.
I mentioned earlier in the thread that the concrete slab under the display tank is not even close to being level. This morning I took a closer look. One corner of the stand is actually 1/2" off the floor,
so quite a bit of shimming is going to be necessary. Does anyone have a suggestion as to what would be a good material to use for the shims? Or can the correct type of shims be purchased? I don't want to use wood, of course. Thanks for any suggestions.
I mentioned earlier in the thread that the concrete slab under the display tank is not even close to being level. This morning I took a closer look. One corner of the stand is actually 1/2" off the floor,
so quite a bit of shimming is going to be necessary. Does anyone have a suggestion as to what would be a good material to use for the shims? Or can the correct type of shims be purchased? I don't want to use wood, of course. Thanks for any suggestions.
EnglishRebel
Retired Rebel Reefer
In looking at the photo of the box he installed it looks like he ran a white, black and red wire for each of your two circuits. It looks like he hooked the black to the breaker (correct) the white to the neutral bus (correct) and the red to the ground bus (not correct). If I'm seeing this correctly he is not installing per code. He should have run 10/2 Romex for your 30 amp circuits which has a black (hot), white (neutral), and a bare copper (ground) - just like he did for the 30 amp (?) main feed although it doesn't look like 6 gauge to me which is what you said he ran (check the markings on the wire to see what gauge it is). 12 gauge is for 20 amp only and 10 gauge (or higher) for 30 amp (it's okay to use a larger wire but not smaller). Using red wire for ground is not allowed because if another electrician comes in and does not check the wiring in this box and hooks the red wire in your circuit to hot then your whole house will have a hot ground. Not a good thing.
I'm surprised that a licensed electrician would do this.
Alan
I'm surprised that a licensed electrician would do this.
Alan
Thanks Alan. I think his boss was surprised also. I got their number out of the phone book and just called the first entry. I'll know better next time. I've got another firm coming out this afternoon to take a look at it. Thanks again.
Oh, the wire laid was 8 gauge.
Oh, the wire laid was 8 gauge.
EnglishRebel
Retired Rebel Reefer
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13475354#post13475354 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GlassReef
Got a question.
I mentioned earlier in the thread that the concrete slab under the display tank is not even close to being level. This morning I took a closer look. One corner of the stand is actually 1/2" off the floor,
Lowes sells plastic shims that might work but I'm not sure if they'll compress. Get the guy who welded up your stand to let you have some 1/2" plate (it that's what the gap is. If it's not exactly 1/2" then get some 3/8" plate and some 18 gauge steel sheet and use that. He should have a lot of this in his shop. The only problem with steel is that it'll rust.
One other suggestion that may be better is to buy some high strength non-shrink grout Pourock (sp?) is one brand. You mix it with water to a consistency of heavy cream. Put some material around the area of the bottom of the stand where the gap is (use would or plastic to make a form to contain the grout). Pour the grout into the form and under the frame. it'll set up pretty quickly. The beauty of this material is that it won't shrink like concrete so it'll form a firm base under the frame.
I've used this to grout under the bases of very heavy machinery and steel building columns.
Alan
EnglishRebel
Retired Rebel Reefer
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13475683#post13475683 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GlassReef
Thanks Alan. I think his boss was surprised also. I got their number out of the phone book and just called the first entry. I'll know better next time. I've got another firm coming out this afternoon to take a look at it. Thanks again.
Oh, the wire laid was 8 gauge.
I hope he fires the guy as he's a liability to his company. 8 gauge is okay for 30 amps - but overkill. It's more expensive so I'm surprised he used it. Will they change out the breakers? Why aren't you getting the first company to fix their mistakes? A second company will surely charge you. One other thing that they really should have done and that's installed a sub-panel. You can get ones that will handle as few as four breakers. They look just like your 200 amp main panel and you wouldn't have exposed hot wires when you open the door to turn off the breakers. Just my 2c worth if the second company has to rip out what's there.
Alan
I think I have the shims from Lowes under the stand now. Are you talking about the little white-ish ones. Like 1" X 2". I think they would be great under normal circumstances - just a small gap - but with that 1/2" it looks a little scary. I really like the idea of this Pourock. Sounds like just the thing. I'll google it and see what I can find.
Thanks!
Ah64av8tor
Premium Member
Tom, I have seen people use the grout with great success.
That is the way I would go.
I was thinking of having threaded adjustable feet under my stand for just this reason.
That is the way I would go.
I was thinking of having threaded adjustable feet under my stand for just this reason.
EnglishRebel
Retired Rebel Reefer
Thanks Alan! The specs look great:
Compressive Strength ASTM C109 - Plastic:
3 Hours--3000 psi (20.7 Mpa)
24 Hours--5000 psi (34.5 MPa)
7 Days--6000 psi (41.3 MPa)
28 Days--8000 psi (55.1 MPa)
I think I can probably find it at one of the big boxes. They normally carry quiye a bit of Quikrete's stuff.
Compressive Strength ASTM C109 - Plastic:
3 Hours--3000 psi (20.7 Mpa)
24 Hours--5000 psi (34.5 MPa)
7 Days--6000 psi (41.3 MPa)
28 Days--8000 psi (55.1 MPa)
I think I can probably find it at one of the big boxes. They normally carry quiye a bit of Quikrete's stuff.
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