Greenhouse is doing well. Water temps have been steady in the 76 - 77 F range since the furnace is now running like it should.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6209479#post6209479 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ALTI
ouch! keep me updated on your heating costs.
Alti- I had my propane tank filled 9-13-05. $1108.
Had it filled again 11-30-05. $1174
The propane guy just got done filling my tank again today (12-27-05). $1,047.
'nuff said.
Sarcophyton cuttings doing well. Shown here about ten days post-op.
There are several types of zoanthids that are now in quarantine.
I have been waiting for over two months for some more of the Luft pumps. I'm at the point where they are a necessity to get any more tanks set up. My supplier says they are on manufacturer back order. I can find them all over the internet, but don't much like paying retail. I have also been finding that the Lufts are really inconsistent in quality as well. Some of them just rock and roll while others barely put out any air at all. I have been re-considering the idea of going back to a larger air pump source. Back when I tried the big Sweetwater compressor, I didn't like it because any adjustment or unhooking of one skimmer effected all of the other skimmers on the same supply. I had thought about using drip irrigators in each skimmer's supply line to keep back pressure on the system while any skimmer was unhooked, but have heard from several reliable sources that they are not very reliable because they react to changes in line pressure. I didn't think of it at the time when I had the Sweetwater compressor in hand, but I could use two of those larger air pumps and hook up one skimmer from each tank to one pump. That way, when I do the daily cleaning of one skimmer from each tank, the second skimmer wouldn't be effected. Only the ones I would be cleaning that day would be effected and that wouldn't matter since they would be getting unhooked to be cleaned anyway. I've been talking to Daniel at AES about sizing some pumps for this idea.
I made a promise to myself when I started documenting this project that I was going to "keep it real". By that, I meant that I would not be afraid to show things that I was experimenting with, knowing that the experiments might not work out. I also didn't want to be afraid to show where I had made mistakes. Several of these mistakes were compounded because I hadn't gone back and modified my original graph drawings for the floor layout. One of those issues was not re-figuring the tank layout to allow the stands to be wide enough for the tanks to be enclosed by wooden frames. We saw that back when the tanks had to be made free standing so there could be enough room for all 10 tanks down the east side.
Back when I made the original graph drawings, I laid everything out for the inside of the greenhouse with a 20' X 36' floor plan. What I didn't realize when I made the drawings was the fact that the 20' X 36' was the dimensions of the outside of the greenhouse. There are the toe boards around the perimeter, which takes 1 1/2" off all four sides (3" off the length and 3" off width). There are also the metal posts for the bows which are over 2" in diameter, losing about 4 1/2" from the width. Then the framing lumber for the two end walls loses 7" from the total length.
Since then, I have framed in the shutters to place the screens, that lost about 1 1/2" from the length. The evap pads loses about 6". (The pads are 4" thick but have to be kept a couple of inches away from the screens.) The reservoirs for the evap pads are 10" wide, but cost about 3 1/2" for the distance they protrude past the pads. Now my 20' X 36' greenhouse is 19' 4 1/2" X 33' 11 1/2".
After I laid out the original floor plan, there were more things that I just plain failed to account for. For example, when I drew the live rock vat, I just drew a circle scaled to a 5' diameter. I didn't draw in any skimmers. Since the vat was round, I figured the two rear skimmers would fit in as the vat curved away from the back wall, so the skimmers wouldn't take up any more room than if there would have been a square vat. That turned out to be flawed because the rear skimmers would have obstructed access around the vat. The skimmers had to be closer together behind the vat, but that didn't allow enough room for the size of the collection cups. When the vat was originally placed, it had to be about 8" away from the rear wall of the greenhouse to accommodate the skimmer cups and not obstruct access around the vat. So, another 8" was lost there. The drain protruding out of the front side of the vat also cost some space, especially after it had to be plumbed into the drain lines that run out to the septic pipes. I forgot to re-calculate how much space would be left after the vat was placed away from the wall and the drain lines plumbed.
The original plan was to have 18" aisles between each of the stands, and 2' between the vat and the first stand. That would have taken up 34' and I would barely have had enough room, but by this time, there is only 33' 3 1/2". The first three stands were already set up plus the one stand that I have been using as a work bench to build the tanks on. The workbench stand was originally built to 7' 7" X 4' 7" back when the plan was to enclose the tanks inside wooden walls. That stand was cut down to the 4' X 7' for the current tank design. That gained 7". When I measured the space remaining, it was about 68". There needed to be more like 84" to accommodate the last stand and an aisle on both sides.
I thought and thought about it and tried to figure any ways to get a few inches here and there, but could never have gotten enough room for another stand with adequate aisle space. I did manage to come up with another 14", but to get that, I would have to re-plumb the drain from the vat and reduce all of the aisles between the tanks to 15" with 18" between the vat and the first tank... which meant the tanks and stands would have to be moved.
Step one was to relocate the drain line from the vat. The original location is capped off and a new bulkhead drilled into the side. All that cutting and coupling back together got the drain pipe running a little crooked, but at this point, who cares. The first stand has already been moved in this photo. There is 18" between the paver that the skimmer sits on and the paver that the stand leg is on. Some of that space is taken up by the drain pipe, but still more than 16" for the aisle.
Step two was to lay out new concrete pavers for the intended location where the stand will be after the move. Each new set had to be leveled to the corresponding old set, but not necessarily to the other new pavers. The first two stands had already been moved, so I though I would document the process with the third stand (last one to be moved). I was also having to set one skimmer from each tank past the edge of the tanks, which I didn't like. As each stand was moved, I cut out all of the ball valves that were on the input. The ball valves were there because I started out with some pumps that had flow rates which were a little too high. The valves were needed as a coarse adjustment, and the fine adjustments were controlled by the gate valves on the outlets. I got the flow all figured out on the fifth tank, so the pumps were changed on the first four tanks as well, and the ball valves aren't needed anymore. Now the skimmers have plenty of room to be kept directly behind their tanks.
Step three was to get some 2" X 6" boards on the ground, a couple of 4 ton jacks, and some 4" X 4" under the stands. I put the 4" X 4" directly under the third joist in from the end, leaving 2' on each end and 3' in between the jacks.
Then drain each tank down as far as it could be drained, cut out the skimmers and pumps and set them off to the side, unhook all of the airlines going to the airlifts, and jack up the stands.
It takes some doing, but eventually they get there. With the tanks still full about half, the weight made the wheels from the jacks push into the wood, so the first initial push was the worst. I found it was easier to swing one end, then go swing the other end, and so on until (little by little) the entire stand was in it's new location.
Then fill them back up, re-do the airlines, and re-plumb the new pumps and skimmers all fitting directly behind the tank.
Viola. Nuthin' to it but to do it.
Now maybe I can dedicate some time to building tanks and getting them stocked. It seems like I keep telling myself that... but something always comes up.
It's been a great read for the past 4 hours but now my rear end aches and i have to go make a 120 gallon tank which i think i may have her talked into. Woot Woot. I'll track my progress hopefully half as well as you did. Thanks for the inspiration and i will make the drive to get frags. Lets keep our reefs alive in the wild!!! Great Job!
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:lol:
