Here I come!!! Help Me, Please?

[SVTour]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10961641#post10961641 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kannin
Thats what I'm talkin' about... Like me, you are visual. My crappy pics got the ideas flowing.

I really like the raised fuge plan... I thought that I would black out the bottom half in order to keep most of the light out.

Sould not need to black out the bottom if you are putting sand in it. You will want to look for a way to isolate the lighting source from the tank

The sump already exists. It is included with the tank. It appears to be 36 x 24 and made out of acrylic. I believe the ASM G3 has a 12 x 13 foot print which is what I'm counting on but, if it is different... I can change the measurements. I am figuring that I will have to make changes to the sump.

Are you looking at a custom make, or using an glass tank that you put baffles in? Reason I ask, you may want to change how those baffles are set...we can talk about this later.

I really haven't given much thought to the top off water set up. I really just put it in the drawing to show that I plan on using the extra space in the stand for it. I am definately open to suggestions.

Currently, I'm evaporating over 15 gallons a week. Two things to think about...size of the container and how you plan on filling it.

The pumps... I can get close to 2600 gallons back to the main tank with the 2 HF32's and another 4 to 500 with the HF12 that will pump to the fuge. This will be close to 15 times turn over plus the closed loop pump which will be somewhere between 2 & 4 thousand gph depending on whether I use just the 2 returns that are installed now at the back of the tank or whether I want to add 2 more that would pump over the top of the tank.

As far as heat goes... I have central air which I have found with my current tank comes in handy... so I think along with cooling fans which will be installed in the hood and the stand... I should be able to manage the heat pretty well. But, don't think for a second that once it is set up... that a chiller won't be on the agenda as a "Complete and total after thought", if neccessary. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

If it's in your house, I'm sure you can hold the temperature better. Mine being on the porch does have some temperature swings if I'm not careful. For example, I was able to run my AC at low all summer long and held right at 80 degrees in the tank...however, we just had a cold day and I forgot to turn it off...tank temps dropped to 77 degress.

 

[Kannin]

I am planning on putting baffles in it. Over the next month or so... I will build the stand and hood and design the sump.

The tank will be in our formal living room surrounded by fancy carpet and a long ways from the nearest sink. There is a bathroom almost directly below it in the basement. I suppose I could mount the RODI unit down there.

I'm off to go pick up the tank right now.

 

[jnarowe]

One thing to keep in mind about a fuge mounted above the tank (like mine is) is that you will need to be able to have 100% access to it for maintainence...this is a big issue when designing any system and needs some real good thinking. If you cannot maintain any part of your system and have complete access to every inch of it, things will not get done. Just a word of caution.

 

[Kannin]

jnarowe... I appreciate that advice. When I first built my current system... I put my phosban reactor in a hard to reach place and I found myself neglecting it's maintenance. So I will make sure that doesn't happen again. If you will notice from the 3D drawing above, I am adding a cabinet opening on the side of the stand for easier access and I will figure out a way to have good access in the hood too.

I picked up the tank today but, I can't post the pics until monday when I get to the office.

 

[Kannin]

My wife informed me that I am building shelves next weekend for our storage room so I won't be able to start on the stand for 2 weeks.

I would really appreciate some links to some good wood stands and canopies.

 

[jnarowe]

Here's one...

Don's DIY Project

Good luck with that! :lol:

 

[Kannin]

In the store...

In my garage...

with sump...

with Guiseman 750 watt fixture...

with stand that I am rebuilding...

 

[SVTour]

Nice...

So was this one of their display units...or did one of their customers just get out of the hobby (I see you wrote consignment, but can't believe a LFS would sell for someone else when they could sell new)

Looks like she'll clean up pretty well for you...but with that light, I'm not sure how you'll get the fuge up there.

BTW, did they tell you how old the lights were?

 

[Kannin]

It was a client of theirs that they maintained the tank for. He moved to Canada and had a new tank delivered there. It's not the first tank I've seen them sell used. I think they bank on selling all of the equipment for the new set up. Which is how it will work with me. He is ordering for me... pumps, plumbing, skimmer, reactors, more pumps, T5 lighting etc.

I think (I hope) I'll be able to design a canopy that will house the fuge, MH fixture and 4 x 48 inch t5 lights.

They said the bulbs are about 6 months old and that the 2 outside ones are bluer than the middle and that the beams spread out so that it mixes well

 

[Kannin]

What do you think of this sump design? The sump that came with it is about 50 gallons and has one very short baffle in it as you can see from the pics above. I'm thinking that the other 2 baffles can be taller to create some depth. And, then have 1 chamber for the skimmer, 1 for the media reactors and one for the returns... Which hopefully, I can make deeper.

 

[ITR]

I haven't read all of the replies to your post, but some things that struck me that you need to think about are:

-Humidity - You said you have 20k worth of furniture in that room. Humidity from a 200+ Gallon tank will make that room very humid
-Accidental Floods - Again, 20k worth of furniture - Make sure you eliminate the possibility of a flood.

Good luck with the new tank

 

[Kannin]

I don't think I can eliminate the posibility of a flood if the tank breaks but... I am taking measures to prevent flooding from sump ocerflow and such. I will water proof the lower 6 inches of the stand and I will build a flood break around the sump to guard against smaller floods.

I haven't given much thought to the humidity other than possibly venting it outside.

 

[Kannin]

Here's the canopy with lighting. I can get 4 48 inch T5's on one ballast which are equal to about 400 watts to supplement the 750 watts from the MH.

 

[erics3000]

You can got www.garf.org for some plans on your stand. I built my stand from there and then tripled up each leg. You can click my red house to see my build. I have been away a little but plan to get back strong in the next couple weeks.

 

[Kannin]

I've changed from Hyperflow HF32 to Mag 18. For 50 bucks more... I get more flow, less head pressure loss and a 3 year warranty. I can get around 1500+ gph thru each overflow and I'll pump about 1300 ghp back to each side. I'll pump around 400 gph back to the raised refugium with the HF12 that will be gravity fed directly over the reef.. I'm think of using the Hofer design on my overflows.

I do have a question about penductors. With only around 300 gph from each of the 8 returns... will penductors help get more flow? Or too much? My lfs guy has never used them so he is hoping I will buy some so he can see how they work.

The closed loop has 2 returns about 10 inches above the bottom. I'll probably use a Dart which I'm told is the most quiet for the CL pump, pushing about 3000 gph. I'll split each return in two and direct one on each side around the reef and one from each side behind it.

 

[SVTour]

In your sump drawing, what is the line between the media filters and the skimmer? Are you isolating the two down pipes? Again, my only concern is how much heat you will pull of two Mag pumps, the Hydraflow, and the Sedra 5000. You might keep temps down with a fan, but then you're looking at evaporating a ton...

One thing about the gravity get fuge, as I did have one of these on my 90, you will want to separate where the plants are from where the over flow is back into the tank. I didn't do this, and occasionally ran into an issue where the plants clogged the outlet. A set of baffles would work fine.

 

[masharp1126]

Is the mag18 going to be supplying all 8 of your returns?

 

[Kannin]

2 Mags... one for each side. They pump 1800 at 0 head but lose less to head pressure than some other pumps. I expect to lose approximately 500 per pump or I will scale back the flow so that I can pump around 400 gph to my fuge... assuming that I get 3000 gph from booth overflows. I was told that I could get more.

Yes... I am thinking of isolating the two drain pipes... Channeling them to separate chambers. I am a little worried about the heat. If it is serious... I will get a chiller.

 

[SVTour]

Can't you externally plumb a Mag pump? Or does that create a noise issue...

 

[Kannin]

I woke up this morning with a few new ideas for the sump that incorporate external pumps... and yes you can plumb it externally. I'll post a drawing later today.