Cove's 220 Gettin under way

[Cove Beach]

Skimmer testing

Skimmer testing

Well i'm still waiting for my replacement Ocean Runner pump, so in the mean time i decided to press my Mag 9 into temp service to see what kind of bubbles this monster will make. Mike you were spot on about extending the drain riser to cup height. I didn't get it to bubble over but it was close in these pictures. It now has the full length it needs but i haven't taken new pics. I started the test with the air closed most of the way down and it puts out a cloud of very fine bubbles, and as you add air it turns the entire chamber to a milky froth. Since there is nothing in the system to load it yet i don't expect much production at this point. But i'm happy with it so far and am hoping to get the OR hooked up and get my rock in the tank. Here are the promised pictures. Oh and Jnarowe i will be getting video up when its actually skimming some real crud.

 

[jnarowe]

very nice. can't wait to see that cup fill up!

 

[itZme]

Re: Other DIY hardware

Re: Other DIY hardware

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12561315#post12561315 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Cove Beach
Also here is my standpipe setup.Hey Kevin did i get it right?

Looks like it's doing its job but if it's anything like mine those bubbles will get sucked into the strainer and end up going through your system. I ended up running the water level a bit higher so the water falling over the overflow didn't make bubbles when it hit the water already in the overflow. You might want to run it with less of a waterfall.

Glad you took the advice I offered and went for the DIY skimmer when I talked to you at Aquatic Tech :thumbsup:
How many hundreds of dollars did that save you? Probably at least $500 and maybe $1,000

-- Kevin

 

[Cove Beach]

Well it was a little bit advice and a whole bunch of budget! I'm guessing for a skimmer this size i'd be looking at $2000.00 or more depending on the manufacturer. Just for a bit of trivia the skimmer holds right around 28 gallons of water when operating. Seventeen gallons of it dumps into the sump when i shut it down. I tested my skimmer platform to see if it would hold the weight by sitting on it. It held, so i figured the skimmer would be fine.

 

[Cove Beach]

Oh also on the standpipe situation i made wood covers to match the canopy to cover the plumbing. These will be put in place when i am happy with the settings. I'll probably hold them on with Velcro for easy access.

 

[Cove Beach]

Another update

Another update

Well i got the ocean Runner hooked up and it seems to be fine. Did some wet testing and decided to give the skimmer a challenge. So i moved all the Marco rocks into the display. Here are the results.

This is a pic of what the skimmer started to produce after less than an hour! Can't wait to see what happens when the cycle really gets going!

As predicted it is very tuneable with the gate valve,ball valve and the valve on the air to the venturi.

 

[jnarowe]

sweet! :thumbsup:

 

[Cove Beach]

A quick update on skimmer performance.

The skimmate is getting darker by the day. The cup doesn't accumulate liquid since i set the drain flush with the bottom plate. I figured since i am drawing the air through the top of the cup, having it come past a gallon of putrid smelling crud couldn't be good. Plus its less weight the cup has to bear. Also i have been able to run the air wide open without overflow problems since the second day with no problems, something the Reeflo units have had problems with. Hopefully i can get some of you guys to stop out and check it out.

 

[jnarowe]

looking good. Very good. what a square head! :lol:

 

[sigs4me]

Wow! This is a great thread

 

[Cove Beach]

A little action shot for fun

A little action shot for fun

I was bored so i thought i would try a video of the skimmer in action. I had added a fresh load of carbon to the filter sock, and the skimmer started pulling black foam. Enjoy!

 

[jnarowe]

cool. looks like you have some wicked burping...how do you feel about the air volume?

 

[Cove Beach]

During the video the air is wide open, i haven't really dialed the air back but i suppose i could do some experimenting. During the first week it pulled almost 2 gallons of crud at the setting its at now!

 

[jnarowe]

yeah, I wouldn't dial it back, but it looks like you could use a little more, or maybe some kind of fix for the burping. Mine does that too, but not nearly as much as yours.

The reason why mine burps is that it is being gravity fed from the overflow and that brings some large air bubbles in. What I did to help that was to install a "T" so that the upward bound air did not accumulate in the output of the overflow.

But funny thing just came to mind...I wonder if I did away with the fitting entirely and just had the water coming through the bulkhead, that might help...

 

[Cove Beach]

It appears that air is getting trapped in the bottom box in the corner, but i don't think that is the cause. Mainly because the venturi sucks a small vortex right underneath the pocket of air so its always trying to remove it. The turbulence inside the bubble diffuser is pretty violent. I can't make the diffuser any larger around but i can make it taller and add more side holes.

 

[serpentman]

Mine burps on occasion too. Even on a stock Reeflo, some bubbles get trapped in the box.

Reef Specialty is in final testing on a mesh wheel too. Think of how much fun you could have with that too.

 

[Cove Beach]

Yeah i talked to Mike at Reef Specialty today about it. They are still testing it on Mikes skimmer.

 

[Cove Beach]

Plumbing update

Plumbing update

Here are a couple pics of some plumbing changes i made along the way that slipped through the cracks. Originally i had made a compact Durso standpipe to fit in the corner overflow of my frag tank. But when i went to do wet tests it was very noisy and not very adjustable. Some of you may have seen the thread about the Hoffer Gurgle Buster, i did and decided to give it a shot since it would easily fit in my overflow box. Here is a picture of the finished unit in operation. It was easy to adjust and produces no noise.

I was able to adjust the level of the water in the overflow so that you would need to put your ear right next to it to hear anything. Trimming the air intake to the max level you want the water to reach works great. I tested it a couple times and it goes to full siphon and keeps the tank from overflowing. Here is a pic of where i have it set at with my Mag9.5 throttled back some, and 3 ft of head pressure.

The only change i made from what the thread says to do is i used a scrap chunk of water line from my RODI unit.

 

[Cove Beach]

Next phase of construction

Next phase of construction

When i started this build i had planned on doing metal halide due to the depth of the tank and i didn't want to worry about having enough light for this or that. I wasn't sure how much wattage or what type of reflector or bulbs. I surveyed a bunch of people both local and on RC and came to my own conclusions. I decided to go with three 250 watt electronic ballasts, but was up in the air about reflectors. I built a DIY lumenarc but after a bunch of reading found that they were more effective at spreading the light far and wide. Since my tank is more deep than it is wide, i passed on the LA and decided on the new Lumenbright reflectors. They are supposed to direct the light more down than out. There are several guys on the boards who have been using the setup i was interested in and i contacted them and got their 2 cents. I tried purchasing my setup locally but unfortunately as always whatever i want to get is out of stock and will be at least a couple weeks to get even if the manufacturer is on his toes. So just on a whim i checked with some online dealers, most were out of stock except Mike at Reef Specialty. I ordered on a thursday and received a big box on friday. Upon opening the box it wasn't long before i got started. Here is a sequence of assembly pictures.

Here are the reflectors being positioned.

Here are the lights in the canopy and set in place on the tank.

Here is the bulbs wired up temp. for the first fire.
Burning in, you can see the tank still is cloudy.

Here is a picture with the door closed, i still need to add the latches to stop the light leak out the front.

Here are the ballasts with my quicky temp wiring just to see them light.

Hopefully tomorrow i will get the wires cleaned up and latches in place along with some paint on the bare wood, plus make the covers for around the return pipes. Its either that or sit and watch it cycle, and play with test kits. NOT!!!

 

[jnarowe]

that is looking sweet.