Cully's Double D's

[Capt_Cully]

Yes I'm a loser and I've been on RC all weekend. I'm off this week and was stuck home with the kiddies while my wife tended to her bestie's bridal shower. Anyway, making lots of headway while this tub cycles.

Pascal/Blurry stopped over to bring me a temporary light while the canopy is completed. 2 heads are definitely better than one. I've been building an planning this thing solo for 10 months. He was here for 10 seconds and had pointed out a few SNAFUs I was setting myself up for. I was in my own little world, so thanks for stopping by and bringing new perspective. I needed that little slap in the fatch.

Speaking of perspective, it's tough to appreciate how big these DD tanks are unless you're standing in front of it. I've tried 50 times to get a good picture of it, but it ends up looking like a 65 gallon tank. So I shot a little vid!

There's about 150# of rock in there. The scape is meant to be a bit boring with some natural caves. I wanted it wedge shaped to help propagate a gyre out into the open swimming area above and in front of the rocks. Hopefully, with time, as the SPS grows in like my old 180 there'll be plenty of swimming room and plenty of branching room. Everybody wins.

 

[pascal32]

Tank looks wicked! Rock stack is awesome and the system runs nice and quiet. That thing is HUGE! Sorry to cause you headaches. Better now than later

 

[iamwrasseman]

looks great from my house Mark ,no worries i know it will be awesome !

 

[jacksonpt]

Hey... i assume you are running some sort of ATO? Have you designed in any "compensation" in case it sticks on?

My ATO uses a 5 gal reservoir, and I'm thinking about designing my sump so it can take the whole 5 gallons in addition to the backflow from the display... But I'm wondering if there is a better option...

 

[Capt_Cully]

That's something Pascal and i discussed yesterday. I'm really not sure how I'm going to configure it. I have 2 ATO units and 2 controllers at my disposal. Still noodling with it. My sump has a connection to a drain for the excess water, BUT that wouldn't stop it from diluting the snot out of my water.

 

[jacksonpt]

My sump has a connection to a drain for the excess water, BUT that wouldn't stop it from diluting the snot out of my water.

Ah, nice... just saw that (posted earlier from my phone so I wasn't caught up on the last couple day's updates). That's pretty slick - nice idea.

 

[jeremyjoslin]

For ATO I used a combination of selenoid controlled by magnetic (shielded) float switches & controller (backup switch 1cm above main switch) which was all governed by a timer allowing two 30 minute fill sessions per day via RO/DI.

I had one failure, and it was with a cheap connector on the actual RO unit. Flooded my basement... but never a problem with the ATO system.

 

[Vadimshevchuk]

Nice journal so far! What company made the 29 gallon that you drilled? I went to ABC the other week only to find out it was tempered after Dave started drilling it.

 

[Capt_Cully]

They were Aqueon tanks (formerly All-Glass and Oceanic). They are not tempered, obviously (other than bottom pane), if I could drill them. Other brands have a strange system. Some of the common tanks are non-tempered, but their "weird ones", per the distributor, are often tempered on the sides. It is usually clearly labeled. Mine cracked from malalignment, poor planning, and over stress.

 

[dreaminmel]

Congrats on getting the bacteria rolling! I have no doubts this is going to be a stellar setup. :beer:

 

[Capt_Cully]

Thanks Mel! Good to see you around. Its basically cycled at this point. I'm giving it another week or so, then monster water change followed by fish. Being that I started with mostly clean, reincarnated, dead rock, there isn't much work for a cleanup crew just yet.

 

[Capt_Cully]

First successful test of the water change system. Nitrates and ammonia have bottomed out and nitrates are high, so time for a post cycle water change.

 

[Capt_Cully]

The Mag 5 is for mixing the fresh salt water, while the 18 actually delivers the water over to the next room. They are both wrapped in the same vibration damping padding I used under my skimmer and return pump. I'm using the 5 to mix as its lower energy than running the 18 full time. I need the juice of the 18 to get the water to where it has to go.

 

[Capt_Cully]

Here's the other end of the delivery system. Down ball valve opens and closes drain line connected to house plumbing for old water and is the emergency overflow protection line as well.

Per Blurry/Pascal's recommendation I put a union as the supply lines attachment point versus relying on a barbed hose adaptor. Makes connecting and disconnecting a snap and gives piece of mind.

Remember to leave the rubber gasket side in the permanent location so it doesn't go MIA over time and weekly useage.

 

[Capt_Cully]

This the emergency overflow bulkhead, but once turned 180 degrees it becomes the fill point.

This is how it sits normally

The "T" is to create an air vent to allow for faster water flow on its way out of the sump should there be a pump failure. Again, Pascal's call. I highly recommend a "Disaster Consultation" by him if you are doing a build before the project goes live. You wont regret it.

Also, for the first run, I emptied the volume of old water into 5 gallon buckets so I could place graduated marks on the display in a discrete area. This will allow me to empty water out of the display into the sump which will flow out through the emergency overflow. NO MORE BUCKETS! unless I am vacuuming detritus. Then I will still utilize a bucket or two.

 

[Conesus_Kid]

Suh-weet, my friend!

That's a slick setup. :thumbsup:

Are you worried about stress on that bulkhead from repeated twisting of the emergency overflow over time?

Looks great! Your patience and persistence is paying off.

 

[Capt_Cully]

Suh-weet, my friend!

Are you worried about stress on that bulkhead from repeated twisting of the emergency overflow over time?

Nah, the PVC adaptor that connects to the bulkhead is threaded and is on pretty loosely to minimize stress. Bulkhead is in firmly (finger tight) so no worries about leakage either.

 

[mr86mister]

Looks awesome Mark!

 

[solRNY]

great video Mark, looks like your water change setup executed very well
i am jealous, i still carry around buckets

 

[Henry Colf]

Lookin good Cully!!!!!!