Building My 375gal Glass Reef
- Thread starter GlassReef
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edandsandy
Active member
How's the build going Tom?
yousmellsfishy
New member
Just read this thread from the beginning. Wow, Tom, Bravo!! Tagging along. Can't wait to see it with livestock:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
yousmellsfishy - thank you. Very much appreciate the kind words.
edandsandy] - Hi Sandy! Well, the build kinda slowed down a little.
I've been down with a pretty bad flu for the last couple of days. Starting to feel better today, so I'll probably finish the sump ATO this afternoon. I see yours is coming right along. I bet your glad that the leak is going to work out OK. Is this cold weather effecting you at all - or are you in a warm pocket? We're near Brooksville and it got down to 27deg last night.
edandsandy] - Hi Sandy! Well, the build kinda slowed down a little.
I've been down with a pretty bad flu for the last couple of days. Starting to feel better today, so I'll probably finish the sump ATO this afternoon. I see yours is coming right along. I bet your glad that the leak is going to work out OK. Is this cold weather effecting you at all - or are you in a warm pocket? We're near Brooksville and it got down to 27deg last night.
edandsandy
Active member
oops double post
edandsandy
Active member
Tom,
Sorry to hear that your not feeling well sounds like your on your way to recovering.
We live at the beach, so it only got down to 44 here last night.
Our build is slowing down also, waiting for this or that to finish.
We just sold all of Ed's fish, it was so sad...:sad1:
They have such a great personality.
They have a BETTER home now, they were relocated to a
1400 gallon FOWRL system!
It was like moving to the ocean for them.
We will have visitation rights :lol:
we are planning to see them this weekend
Sorry to hear that your not feeling well
sounds like your on your way to recovering.We live at the beach, so it only got down to 44 here last night.
Our build is slowing down also, waiting for this or that to finish.
We just sold all of Ed's fish, it was so sad...:sad1:
They have such a great personality.
They have a BETTER home now, they were relocated to a
1400 gallon FOWRL system!
It was like moving to the ocean for them.
We will have visitation rights :lol:
we are planning to see them this weekend
I know how it is to have to give away fish. When we left Germany I left all my fish behind. I had had some of them for close to 10 years.<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13783336#post13783336 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by edandsandy
We just sold all of Ed's fish, it was so sad...:sad1:
They have such a great personality.
They have a BETTER home now, they were relocated to a
1400 gallon FOWRL system!
It was like moving to the ocean for them.
We will have visitation rights :lol:
we are planning to see them this weekend
Well, I've been kinda lazy over the past few days so yesterday morning I decided to get something done. I finalized the setup for the two Reeflo skimmers. I built a 16" high stand to set them on. I'll use the space under the stand for the feed pumps (2X Eheim 1262) and the skimmate reservoir.
First thing I did was drill two 1 3/8" holes in the side of the sump for the bulkheads to connect the feed pumps:
Then I built a little stand for the feed pumps. I used PVC sheet and PVC baseboard. I topped it off with a rubber mat - it's from the jig saw puzzle mats you can get at the big boxes. I use it for a lot of things where vibration needs to be damped:
I found a couple of nice union valves at Tractor Supply (yes, I live in the country
):
Here I've set up the first feed pump - the second one hasn't arrived yet.
So here's what the whole thing looks like:
I connected the overflow from both skimmers to a single drain pipe. I've only tested with fresh water, but it seems to work as planned and nothing leaks.
Oh, and for those who noticed the tangle of wires - that's only temporary.
First thing I did was drill two 1 3/8" holes in the side of the sump for the bulkheads to connect the feed pumps:
Then I built a little stand for the feed pumps. I used PVC sheet and PVC baseboard. I topped it off with a rubber mat - it's from the jig saw puzzle mats you can get at the big boxes. I use it for a lot of things where vibration needs to be damped:
I found a couple of nice union valves at Tractor Supply (yes, I live in the country
):
Here I've set up the first feed pump - the second one hasn't arrived yet.
So here's what the whole thing looks like:
I connected the overflow from both skimmers to a single drain pipe. I've only tested with fresh water, but it seems to work as planned and nothing leaks.
Oh, and for those who noticed the tangle of wires - that's only temporary.
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Untamed12
New member
Now that is the kind of installation that gets me all excited about hardware. Nice.... Gosh, that is classy.
If you drain one of the skimmers to service the pump, will you be able to keep the other skimmer running?....or do you think you need a valve on the drain between the two skimmers?
Hey...I just noticed.... Those two skimmers have different top lids!
If you drain one of the skimmers to service the pump, will you be able to keep the other skimmer running?....or do you think you need a valve on the drain between the two skimmers?
Hey...I just noticed.... Those two skimmers have different top lids!
You notice everything, don't you?
To be honest I just didn't want to spend another $25 for another 1 1/2" valve. I figured it won't hurt the tank if there is no skimming for a couple hours. If it gets longer, I made a temp drain.
As for the skimmer cup, I just noticed it myself as I posted the pic.
Mike at Reef Specialty is supposed to call me tonight about something else. I'll hit him with it then. He's pretty good with the customer service thing. I'm sure he'll make it right.
Untamed12
New member
I've got another one for you to consider.
Since you've designed to feed both skimmers with two independent pumps...you'll be in a unique position to test flow rates on the skimmers.
By putting valves on the outputs of your skimmer feed pumps, you could run one of the skimmers at say...500 gph...and the other at 700 gph. This would create different dwell times in each skimmer, making the entire skimming process more efficient. (I believe that different dwell times will actually pull different stuff out of the water)
There would a LOT of people very interested to know how the skimmers performed in that situation.
Since you've designed to feed both skimmers with two independent pumps...you'll be in a unique position to test flow rates on the skimmers.
By putting valves on the outputs of your skimmer feed pumps, you could run one of the skimmers at say...500 gph...and the other at 700 gph. This would create different dwell times in each skimmer, making the entire skimming process more efficient. (I believe that different dwell times will actually pull different stuff out of the water)
There would a LOT of people very interested to know how the skimmers performed in that situation.
The valves are already there. You just can't see them in the pic due to the angle - they're behind the horizontal overflow pipe. I really like your idea, Untamed. If you are a skimmer expert, I'd much appreciate your feedback and advice, when I get this thing running. These are the first needle wheel skimmer I've tried. All my previous skimmers were Tunzes. Totally different concept.
Untamed12
New member
I'm really not a skimmer expert...but I did stay at a Holid...
Seriously though, I've been researching skimmers a lot lately in trying to figure out how to upgrade from my G6.
I'm looking at it like this:
1) Make as small bubbles as possible to maximize surface area
2) Allow those bubbles to interact with the water as calmly as possible (minimize turbulence)
3) Allow time (dwell time) for the interaction to occur. (Goal?: 1 - 2 minutes)
4) You have to process your system water volume some number of times per hour (Goal?: .75x to 1.5x)
I've seen that the published specs on the Reeflo suggest a flow rate of about 600 gph. Since the Reeflo has a chamber size of about 35L (about 9.25 gallons), that gives it a dwell time of a bit under 1 minute at that flow rate. I bet it works better at lower flow than that.
Anyway..with two.. you'll be able to tell us what flow rate works better. You'll have the ultimate in side-by-side comparison.
Seriously though, I've been researching skimmers a lot lately in trying to figure out how to upgrade from my G6.
I'm looking at it like this:
1) Make as small bubbles as possible to maximize surface area
2) Allow those bubbles to interact with the water as calmly as possible (minimize turbulence)
3) Allow time (dwell time) for the interaction to occur. (Goal?: 1 - 2 minutes)
4) You have to process your system water volume some number of times per hour (Goal?: .75x to 1.5x)
I've seen that the published specs on the Reeflo suggest a flow rate of about 600 gph. Since the Reeflo has a chamber size of about 35L (about 9.25 gallons), that gives it a dwell time of a bit under 1 minute at that flow rate. I bet it works better at lower flow than that.
Anyway..with two.. you'll be able to tell us what flow rate works better. You'll have the ultimate in side-by-side comparison.
edandsandy
Active member
Again Tom, your work is very impressive. 
Happy Turkey Day!
Happy Turkey Day!
PaulieWalnuts
New member
those skimmers make me so jealous...think that set up would be too big for my 110...lol total water is like 150ish. wish i had room for them also.
edandsandy - thank you very much Sandy. My wife and I wish you and Ed a very happy and peaceful Thanksgiving, also.
PaulieWalnuts - I think they'd be perfect for a 110gal. Let me know when you're ready to go - I can give you some tips setting them up. Happy Thanksgiving.
PaulieWalnuts - I think they'd be perfect for a 110gal. Let me know when you're ready to go - I can give you some tips setting them up.
Happy Thanksgiving.PaulieWalnuts
New member
hahaha i know your kidding....bet those hold like half of my water just in them.
EnglishRebel
Retired Rebel Reefer
Tom
I'm impressed with your piping (amongst other things). How is your pipe so clean with no markings visible? Do you clean it all off before installation or are they not visible?
I'm impressed with your piping (amongst other things). How is your pipe so clean with no markings visible? Do you clean it all off before installation or are they not visible?
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