Garage frag system build

two quick comments

1) if you could, you should move the chiller, currently its directing the heat exchanger air output in the direction of your tanks, and that warm air will add heat to your water, and in turn it will make your chiller run a bit longer.

2) If you could , I would cut a hole in the garage wall that was the size of your chiller, slip it a bit into the hole, and have the exhaust air go out side? You could use the other windows to feed fresh air into the garage.

just my thoughts..
 
You have done alot of work...well done:) Could you post a few pics on how your ATS is dumping?

Thanks.

I have it running in waterfall-only mode at the moment, but will probably restart the dumping soon.

Maybe i missed in But what are your plans, mostly softies or sps aswell ?

Starting off with mushrooms and softies until i'm confident enough of the system's stability, then most likely get heavily into sps. I'm thinking less common things like anacroporas would be fun, but probably do some common things like montipora caps and digitatas, as well as seriataporas, and some fast-growing acroporas.

1) if you could, you should move the chiller, currently its directing the heat exchanger air output in the direction of your tanks, and that warm air will add heat to your water, and in turn it will make your chiller run a bit longer.
Absolutely correct. I put up a barrier to divert the air, but it only reduced the airflow, so i took it off. The way the chiller is built, and the layout of the garage make it the only way it will work (without really screwed up plumbing loops) :/ Fortunately it's an oversized chiller, and running on 220V, so hopefully that helps.

2. The garage has no windows, and concrete block walls

I appreciate the feedback though! :)
 
build a wall that goes under your garage door.
the wall should be as tall as a normal garage door panel (18 in)
the wall should be made of something that can handle the weather. this will allow you to cut a hole to vent the chiller, and possibly add fresh air or allow outside air in. use the weather when you can and close it off when not needed.

you could also vent the intake and exhaust out through that wall.
also, you could run air hoses to your skimmer outside to allow more stable PH for the tank. (more O2, less CO2)
 
build a wall that goes under your garage door.
the wall should be as tall as a normal garage door panel (18 in)
the wall should be made of something that can handle the weather. this will allow you to cut a hole to vent the chiller, and possibly add fresh air or allow outside air in. use the weather when you can and close it off when not needed.

you could also vent the intake and exhaust out through that wall.
also, you could run air hoses to your skimmer outside to allow more stable PH for the tank. (more O2, less CO2)

This is brilliant. Love the idea. No damage to house, 100% custome to your needs.
 
just to explain, the reason for the wall to be the same height as a panel of the garage door is so the top of the door is closed land doesnt leave a gap.
(open the door a little and look at the top of the garage door. this would kind of show what im talking about.)
 
build a wall that goes under your garage door.
the wall should be as tall as a normal garage door panel (18 in)
the wall should be made of something that can handle the weather. this will allow you to cut a hole to vent the chiller, and possibly add fresh air or allow outside air in. use the weather when you can and close it off when not needed.

you could also vent the intake and exhaust out through that wall.
also, you could run air hoses to your skimmer outside to allow more stable PH for the tank. (more O2, less CO2)

I'm tossing the idea around, but the chiller's intake and outlet are both on the left hand side of the chiller, so it will require me to cut off an access route, and adds more head pressure by adding at least 2 more 90s.

As it is, I'm getting a fairly laminar flow of air under the garage door, so CO2 exchange shouldn't be a problem

@Eric yea rust is more of a concern. The temp and RH aren't going to be significantly higher than normal Florida swamp weather.

could you show us more on how the gutter system works as a return for you? How is the noise from it?

The gutter rocks! The drains are pretty quiet, so the whole thing isnt very loud... The pump is the loudest thing, and even it is on the opposite side of the house, so i don't really notice. It does splash a tiny bit, so salt creep may build up more.
 
i should have looked at your chiller more... (i have the 1/2 HP version.)\
and its close to the first tub......
you could flex duct next to the back side of the chiller (just to grab passive heat)
and just duct the output outside and with a regular vent open to the garage, it will pull the fresh air into the garage and through the chiller (passively) and thus giving fresh air and removing hot air haha)

just a thought...

i see your in FL... im in Texas and the heat is miserable, especially with the Humidity.
it may not be a big deal now, but a thought for the future when its running more often!!!

another option, is if you have windows in your garage door, you can un screw one of those and put a piece of plywood in its place and duct that way (with flex duct if you wish)
heat rises so might be better with a high output.
 
I might have missed it, but where did you get those tanks from? Also how are the lights working out for you? Very nice setup!
 
one of the things i have learned in this hobby is, miss happs happen. if there is a chance for something to go wrong it will. everything has to be idiot proff. my advice to you is hang your lighting from the ceiling because that is a dissaster waiting to happen and with kidds around its more or less a time bomb. also if i may, i have a simular set up thats been up and running for a few years. my biggest battle is moisture. its will not take long to get mold growing in your attic if thats your means of venting. as soon as the temperature is lower than the water you will be evapourating close to 7 gallons a day.
 
i should have looked at your chiller more... (i have the 1/2 HP version.)\
and its close to the first tub......
you could flex duct next to the back side of the chiller (just to grab passive heat)
and just duct the output outside and with a regular vent open to the garage, it will pull the fresh air into the garage and through the chiller (passively) and thus giving fresh air and removing hot air haha)

just a thought...

i see your in FL... im in Texas and the heat is miserable, especially with the Humidity.
it may not be a big deal now, but a thought for the future when its running more often!!!

another option, is if you have windows in your garage door, you can un screw one of those and put a piece of plywood in its place and duct that way (with flex duct if you wish)
heat rises so might be better with a high output.

No windows, but ducting is a good idea.... If i do that, ill add a duct fan to ensure good airflow.


Why not hang the lights from the ceiling? It would look a lot cleaner than the PVC mess.
Ever see how a garage door works? :p If i hung the lights from the ceiling, I would never be able to use the garage door again (which is not an option) It would have been much cheaper to hang from the ceiling as well...
 
No windows, but ducting is a good idea.... If i do that, ill add a duct fan to ensure good airflow.



Ever see how a garage door works? :p If i hung the lights from the ceiling, I would never be able to use the garage door again (which is not an option) It would have been much cheaper to hang from the ceiling as well...

lol you stick your toung out at us
 
Ok so I'm going to build a plenum box on the back of the chiller and duct the exhaust out.

Napkin math... to move 2,400 BTUs (max chilling capacity) it requires a 4" duct, and 80 CFM. A cheap 4" duct fan does 80CFM, so that, plus the chiller's fan should provide plenty of airflow.

If i duct it right next to the intake, that will defeat the purpose, so i think it will end up going into the attic. ~80% of the intake air is coming directly from outside, so the %RH increase should be minimal. The 150F+ summer attic temperatures do a pretty decent job of keeping everything dry (and hostile to microbial growth.)

Now it's REALLY going to look like a grow house :/
 
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