rick rottet
reefkeeper// propagator
It's been a rough week up here with an unexpected funeral (one of my wife's cousins), running kids to their activities, finished the living room, Christmas shopping, and running for more building supplies. Finally got to "sneak" in a few hours on the greenhouse Sunday afternoon, most of which was spent backfilling the low and exposed spots. I really was expecting to have to wait until spring but figured to get it while the weather is holding out.
A little gift received from my employer for five years of service makes a nice addition to the greenhouse. Made by Bulova, it has a clock, barometer and a temperature/ humidity gauge. I was provided a catalogue to choose from several different items and chose this because there are some studies and personal commentaries which correlate protein skimmer output to barometric pressure, temperature and humidity need to be monitored, and I also need to be able to tell what time it is- or at least my family says I do.
Finally have the lights hung in place. White lamps are being used for the time being so I can work after sundown- comes too early in winter and I have been using some halogen spotlights. When the facility construction is completed and stocking begins, these will be replaced with actinic lamps to highlight the fluorescent qualities of many corals and just because I like actinics.
Industrial air blower in place. Originally, the plan was to set it in the center of the back wall but I noticed that if it was to the right so it sits under and behind the furnace, that would free up a little space. The blower is German-made by Siemens. I looked at four manufacturer's spec sheets and this company had the tightest production clearances and were able to fit the size to my application with one phone call. One of the other manufacturers wouldn't even try to fit a blower to what I wanted. One kept calling/ emailing me to request all kinds of information like detailed drawings of my facility, what size pipe was going to be used, how long was the pipe to be, how many bubbles per second did I want, and asked me to explain the concept behind an air lift. If anyone out there has to order a blower and the representative can't tell you what you need by simply telling them "I want X number of outlets at X feet deep of water", move on to a different supplier. They should be able to tell you what size pipe to run to mach the blower output, a maximum length of pipe that can be used and shouldn't need any drawings of your building. A third company actually tried to sell me three blowers, one of which weighed 426 pounds, used enough electricity to power a small town and cost nearly ten grand. I just couldn't hold my tongue and asked the guy if he was smoking crack.
2" PVC pipe comes out the back of the blower and takes a 90 degree turn up to a double Y with 45 degree street fitting in both of the side branches. The pipe then runs out each branch of the double Y to the sides of the greenhouse, takes a 90 degree turn upwards then another 90 to turn and run all the way down both sides. Long sweep fittings were used for all turns because gentle curves make less resistance than sharper turns. The pipe can be tapped for air line outlets wherever needed for the air lifts and skimmers. Another length of 2" pipe goes straight out the top of the double Y and is fitted with a gate valve to be used for pressure relief. The blower gets started with the gate valve wide open and then the valve is closed little by little until air comes out of the deepest line. This reduces the amount of back pressure and stress on the blower. The slop sink is plumbed in place on the left side with a single supply faucet (no "hot" water here) and a sprayer.
A little gift received from my employer for five years of service makes a nice addition to the greenhouse. Made by Bulova, it has a clock, barometer and a temperature/ humidity gauge. I was provided a catalogue to choose from several different items and chose this because there are some studies and personal commentaries which correlate protein skimmer output to barometric pressure, temperature and humidity need to be monitored, and I also need to be able to tell what time it is- or at least my family says I do.
Finally have the lights hung in place. White lamps are being used for the time being so I can work after sundown- comes too early in winter and I have been using some halogen spotlights. When the facility construction is completed and stocking begins, these will be replaced with actinic lamps to highlight the fluorescent qualities of many corals and just because I like actinics.
Industrial air blower in place. Originally, the plan was to set it in the center of the back wall but I noticed that if it was to the right so it sits under and behind the furnace, that would free up a little space. The blower is German-made by Siemens. I looked at four manufacturer's spec sheets and this company had the tightest production clearances and were able to fit the size to my application with one phone call. One of the other manufacturers wouldn't even try to fit a blower to what I wanted. One kept calling/ emailing me to request all kinds of information like detailed drawings of my facility, what size pipe was going to be used, how long was the pipe to be, how many bubbles per second did I want, and asked me to explain the concept behind an air lift. If anyone out there has to order a blower and the representative can't tell you what you need by simply telling them "I want X number of outlets at X feet deep of water", move on to a different supplier. They should be able to tell you what size pipe to run to mach the blower output, a maximum length of pipe that can be used and shouldn't need any drawings of your building. A third company actually tried to sell me three blowers, one of which weighed 426 pounds, used enough electricity to power a small town and cost nearly ten grand. I just couldn't hold my tongue and asked the guy if he was smoking crack.
2" PVC pipe comes out the back of the blower and takes a 90 degree turn up to a double Y with 45 degree street fitting in both of the side branches. The pipe then runs out each branch of the double Y to the sides of the greenhouse, takes a 90 degree turn upwards then another 90 to turn and run all the way down both sides. Long sweep fittings were used for all turns because gentle curves make less resistance than sharper turns. The pipe can be tapped for air line outlets wherever needed for the air lifts and skimmers. Another length of 2" pipe goes straight out the top of the double Y and is fitted with a gate valve to be used for pressure relief. The blower gets started with the gate valve wide open and then the valve is closed little by little until air comes out of the deepest line. This reduces the amount of back pressure and stress on the blower. The slop sink is plumbed in place on the left side with a single supply faucet (no "hot" water here) and a sprayer.
