In-wall 380gal tank - cut out options

[karimwassef]

Thanks reefer54

 

[Joel_155]

That's amazing! I know you've spent a lot of time on this and it shows. Very nice work sir. Do you have pictures of the whole system?

 

[Joel_155]

Also what is the line of T fittings on the overflow for?

 

[karimwassef]

I'll take some more pics.

The T fittings is a graduated overflow inlet. I had originally planned for a beananimal overflow but the surge volume makes it worthless. The surge itself is silent, but the overflow surges and gurgles with bubbles into the sump.

So, the T connectors are actually at slightly different heights. As the surge initiates, they start to incrementally pick up the surge flow until the surge submerges them all. I think the gradual pickup of surge volume into the drains reduces the bubbles and noise significantly.

Maybe it acts as a muffler? Maybe it really helps re divert the flow into more inlets? I just know it works.

 

[karimwassef]

Here it is - sorta like the drawings.

It's a mess but it's still a work in progress... Please excuse the rubble - I didn't spend any effort making it pretty

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/4B40AA7E-E110-4391-98CA-CB195F753E16_zpsk2g9icri.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/4B40AA7E-E110-4391-98CA-CB195F753E16_zpsk2g9icri.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 4B40AA7E-E110-4391-98CA-CB195F753E16_zpsk2g9icri.jpg"/></a>

Still running freshwater, so don't worry about the bubble size in the skimmer on the right

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/BAEEC589-1DC7-45BE-8FAE-795BA773F658_zpsacoc3ctw.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/BAEEC589-1DC7-45BE-8FAE-795BA773F658_zpsacoc3ctw.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo BAEEC589-1DC7-45BE-8FAE-795BA773F658_zpsacoc3ctw.jpg"/></a>

Surge actuators and lights:

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/6F70C30E-636F-4E8E-A1AA-590171126348_zpszk4c8u5v.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/6F70C30E-636F-4E8E-A1AA-590171126348_zpszk4c8u5v.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 6F70C30E-636F-4E8E-A1AA-590171126348_zpszk4c8u5v.jpg"/></a>

Buffer sump, calc reactor, Apex and wiring I should be ashamed to show (work in progress):

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/B9E2C2D2-25A0-4709-8528-F6C2C711DF9C_zps4cg6e8p3.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/B9E2C2D2-25A0-4709-8528-F6C2C711DF9C_zps4cg6e8p3.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo B9E2C2D2-25A0-4709-8528-F6C2C711DF9C_zps4cg6e8p3.jpg"/></a>

View from the display side. Reflective Mylar will cover the back glass and most if it will be covered in rock work (when that's done):

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/3CA74449-6A8B-43EF-8668-D2C1E1013F51_zpstaivezeb.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/3CA74449-6A8B-43EF-8668-D2C1E1013F51_zpstaivezeb.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 3CA74449-6A8B-43EF-8668-D2C1E1013F51_zpstaivezeb.jpg"/></a>

I travel a lot, so I only get to take little bites at a time. If I had some help and a week, I would have been done a year ago ... Like an Amish barn raising... A Texan reef raising anyone??

 

[karimwassef]

And the clear plastic curtains pulled to the right are to isolate the tank from the rest of the garage as needed - for temp control, bug control (Texas in the summer by the lake is mosquito heaven). How much phosphate is there in a mosquito anyway?

Also thinking of running a large diameter hose from outside to the inlets of the skimmer. I'm pulling a ton of air in that thing and I don't think stale garage air is healthy for a growing reef.

 

[Lavoisier]

Great stuff, Karim. Your build is an inspiration. I have to say your DIY work is really amazing and for a non-engineer a little intimidating!! Can you talk a little more about your overflow set up. You've modified Bean's return and I would be interest to know your thinking.

I'm sorry I did not respond to your post on my thread but I do not want to post until my tank is solid. The second small glass went in today and in two weeks I'll run a water test. If all goes well I'll post pictures for the last 6 months of labor!

 

[karimwassef]

Lavoisier!!! Nice to hear from you again and can't wait to see more pics.

I didn't modify the beananimal. It's designed to optimize a steady state flow, not a surge.

So, with 5 available openings in my overflow box and an end to end weir - I needed to get my surge to be as quiet as can be.

Starting from the far right (all 2" PVC):

1. I used a submersible DC pump inside the overflow and connected the output up to my surge container inlet and my skimmer's inlet.

2. This is the normal overflow to the sump's first stage. I use a 2" elbow and turn it up or down to control the water level. I had to use a smaller circulating pump, but this is reasonably quiet now.

3, 4, and 5 are bridged with as many T connectors as would fit. Pointing upwards, gravity and buoyancy turn them into a bridge where the middle T is higher than the end Ts unless there's a surge (need a video to show this).

3 runs into the first stage of the sump

4 and 5 run into the last stage of the sump. This is because the entire surge rushing through my narrow sump created a wave that created all the bubbles I was so desperate to avoid.

The first stage is also where the skimmer exits.

The last stage is where the buffer sump is plumbed in.

 

[Joel_155]

Awesome detail. I wouldn't worry about the wiring.....with the detail in the bails I'm confident that it will be super tidy by the time it's done. I understand about work...it can take me a month to do a small project...work gets in the way of reefing...lol

 

[karimwassef]

Thanks.

The first concrete branches are dry and self suspended.

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/1A9F6471-ABC6-4712-90F7-C82E81897DE9_zpss9m6bfqv.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/1A9F6471-ABC6-4712-90F7-C82E81897DE9_zpss9m6bfqv.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 1A9F6471-ABC6-4712-90F7-C82E81897DE9_zpss9m6bfqv.jpg"/></a>

I did notice that the bottom PVC didn't get enough coverage, but I don't know if I'll go back to cover it. The fish and pods will know, but that's ok...

 

[chrismhaase]

Karim - I understand how you are making the PVC structures for the rock, but what is the rock material made of? Are you crushing oysters and doing a cement mixture?

 

[karimwassef]

I take fabric (terry cloth or gauze) and wet it in a cement slurry, then run it through a concrete mix (cement, sand, oyster, pumice) and wrap the PVC/eggcrate with it.

There I drizzle some concrete mix to hide the fabric texture and give it an aragonite dusting.

It's my own method since I wasn't going to create inverse molds for all these pieces. Everyone insisted that was the only way but that is way too much work.

 

[karimwassef]

I drill it so I can use solid airline tubing later to attach coral. It's essentially a concrete skin only with a void or plastic interior. The PVC and eggcrate keeps it super light but rigid.

 

[muttley000]

Karim, I think your build looks amazingly like the renderings, and I enjoy reading updates to your thread. I have to sneak time in to work on my projects too! Thanks for all the documenting you do on your experiments, I suspect more of us are following than you think!

 

[karimwassef]

Thanks Muttley. With so many moving parts in such a small space, I model almost everything I do before actually doing it. It's no so much that the rendering matches my build, it's that I'm trying to build to the rendering.

The tool is pretty easy to use and I have an engineering background. The one thing it can't do well is the rock scape - I gave up on that one. Lavoisier did the best job with that but it's pretty hard.

I know there are viewers but I like to incorporate other people's good ideas too.

 

[Joel_155]

I'll take some more pics.

The T fittings is a graduated overflow inlet. I had originally planned for a beananimal overflow but the surge volume makes it worthless. The surge itself is silent, but the overflow surges and gurgles with bubbles into the sump.

So, the T connectors are actually at slightly different heights. As the surge initiates, they start to incrementally pick up the surge flow until the surge submerges them all. I think the gradual pickup of surge volume into the drains reduces the bubbles and noise significantly.

Maybe it acts as a muffler? Maybe it really helps re divert the flow into more inlets? I just know it works.

This is pretty cool. The biggest issue with surge devices is how they cause fluctuations in the water level of the sump throwing all kinds of issues into the filtration systems and you pretty much solved it. The line of T fittings creates a secondary overflow ( within the overflow ) and diverted it to a seperate section of the sump. This way it doesn't interfere with the normal water flow through the sump. Very cool.

 

[Joel_155]

Have you thought about going towards a modified durso for your system? The biggest issue with dursos ( or any air assisted drain ) is that balancing the water flow with the air to silence the system. The idea of the drilled hold at the top of the durso works but the issue is that you would need a way to adjust the amount of air going into the drain to silence the whole system.


If you added a poet on the back of the tank that connected to an host barb to a valve you could control the air going into the system and silence it.

I don't know of this is an issue since the whole system is in the garage but it was a thought on the system.


Again I love the surge overflow manifold.

 

[karimwassef]

It's usually silent except during the surge. The water level increases by about 2.5" in 5 seconds. I'll take another look at the durso, but the ideal system would be one that starts silently - not one that reaches steady state silently.

A surge is essentially like starting a system for the first time.

My original plan was to have an actuated drain that was always submerged (like the surge lines) and opens when the surge initiates. I just got cheap and my DIY actuated PVC valve is a little large for a sump pipe.

 

[karimwassef]

So... Remembering how a durso works and reviewing my original bean design and combining it with my idea of an actuated valve.....

Maybe, instead of a passive system that depends on a calibrated air valve (durso steady state), or a high water level response siphon (bean's bent airline to above the waterline), I use a dedicated vacuum pump that is initiated when the surge valves turn on to create a water-full chamber in the pipe?

If it works, the few seconds lead it has could initiate a full siphon (or a few of them) just as the surge raises the water level! I'll model it out first.

See? This is innovation inspired by collaboration... Maybe

 

[Joel_155]

That could work but it seems complicated. It would have to actuate based on the surge itself. With your surge system I don't think it would be too much to add this into the system.