Matt's 5000ltr Display

[ABBS]

Hi Matt
Your like me mate and make everything to a fine tolarance, then struggle to fit things in lol.
Glad it all fitted in the end.

Yes mate I have built my refuge in my sump, im useing a 125 watt 6400K / 2700K Grow light. The agae is growing nice a green with fast growth. Im still thinking of having a seperate container once i have some room.

Cheers Martin

 

[izzy123]

Hi izzy...I am flattered, truly. Please apologise to your wife for me!

Don't worry about my wife, she has her facebook-thingy, and I have RC.:lol2:

And it was a bad movie by the way.... I think....:lmao:

You gave me something to study up on by the way, before your thread I had never heard of a surge tank.
I can't wait to see it in action.

Good luck!

 

[ccuk]

top job matt , the full build is a credit to you ,, i'am like very one else i can't wait to see it with water in ...

 

[pheenix]

Spent the morning reading this from the start, brilliant stuff....cant wait to see more

 

[miamiaquarium]

^ same here

 

[d3hree]

I feel the exact same way...What are the actual dimensions of your glass pane? I figured it would be tough to find anything thick enough to give be the 54" viewing height I wanted. I've always been a fan of glass over acrylic...Didn't think I really had a choice in this case!

Glass dimensions are 2310mm x 1000mm x 36mm. The glass company estimated the weight was 240kg...but they lied...it was waaay more heavy.

very nice

Thanks IRISSERVICE

Hi Matt
Your like me mate and make everything to a fine tolarance, then struggle to fit things in lol.
Glad it all fitted in the end.

Yes mate I have built my refuge in my sump, im useing a 125 watt 6400K / 2700K Grow light. The agae is growing nice a green with fast growth. Im still thinking of having a seperate container once i have some room.

Cheers Martin

Thanks Martin. Yes it was touch n go for a bit that the glass would go in. Once in there is a reasonable gap around the edges but having the put it in at an angle proved tricky. Glad the fuge is going well. You will have to show some pics

Don't worry about my wife, she has her facebook-thingy, and I have RC.:lol2:

And it was a bad movie by the way.... I think....:lmao:

You gave me something to study up on by the way, before your thread I had never heard of a surge tank.
I can't wait to see it in action.

Good luck!

Ha. Thats odd..its the same in our house. My wife can barely take her eyes away from Facebook...I cant stop reading reef forums!

top job matt , the full build is a credit to you ,, i'am like very one else i can't wait to see it with water in ...

Thanks Stew..not long for water hopefully

Spent the morning reading this from the start, brilliant stuff....cant wait to see more

Thanks pheenix...welcome to reef central

^ same here

Thanks miamiaquarium.

 

[d3hree]

today was the first day I had chance to get in the tank after the glass had been installed.

You can see on the pics where the silicone has been applied and squashed by the glass

I am waiting on a delivery of another 12 tubes so I can inject some more around all of the edges. I dont think its particularly needed, but with this much water an extra bit of peace of mind doesnt hurt.

I installed the 1kw ballasts. These puppies are very heavy and pretty large. This is the "compact" model...go knows what the standard size is like!

The other ballasts are mounted to the ceiling but these were just too heavy. They are also passively cooled so I need to install some additional fans to point at them to add some more air circulating around them.
I did get some fans but they proved to be too big when I assembled them so I need some smaller ones!

I installed the surge pipework (some of it) and the actuated ball valve (ABV)..excuse the messy wiring..I will tidy it up, but for now I was just testing it all worked.

The 110v ABV is wired into a transformer using a US plug, the 240v transformer is pluged into the circuit.

This is the control device that I had designed and made for me.

The white pipe will be fixed to the inside of the surge tank. As the water rises it trips the upper float switch which will open the ABV. As the water drops it trips the lower float switch and closes the ABV.

The float switches can be moved up and down the white pipe to control the timing and length of the surge.

 

[d3hree]

There will be a hole drilled through the ceiling so the pipe work can extend up to the surge tank that will be suspended about 2 metres above the display tank on an outside wall.

 

[d3hree]

here is a crappy iphone video of the ABV in action

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[dave.m]

Hi, Matt. I recognize those magnetic float valves and have had some nasty experiences with them. It is absolutely imperative that you disassemble and clean them religiously each month.

Dave.M

 

[d3hree]

Hi Dave

I know what you mean about float switch failures. Before commissioning this device i had various email communications with the designer/constructor.

"i have used in the region of 400 of this type of switch and aware of only 2 failures, the right angle float switches are another matter and wouldn't recommend them. failure of a magnetic (reed) type float can nearly always be explained by misuse, simply the load they can carry is limited usually to around 500mA, so long as this is interfaced and not used to directly drive a load exceeding this there should not be an issue and this is where a failure can occur as the contacts internally can weld together - basically driving a pump or similar direct from the float will fail, sooner rather than later.
the other issue that can result in failure is close proximity to a magnetic field - like pumps, so long as there is a minimum 6" distance then there should not be a problem.

any float switch can fail, even optical ones, if used correctly following the required specifications of the device then the risk of this occurring is minimal."

I will be periodically cleaning them...but it wont be monthly. If they fail for whatever reason I will know straight away as the surge wont be firing and the water will be returning to the return vat via the overflow.

 

[dave.m]

The manufacturer I was in contact with admitted that they are only good for a couple of years' use and then they should be replaced. They are fairly inexpensive.

Dave.M

 

[izzy123]

I thought this was going to be a "clarkson" surge device, but this looks so much better.

I can't wait to see how this is going to work, and especially if the bubbles are going to be an issue (as they are with the "conventional" surge devices)

If you don't mind me asking, where did you find the ABV? because I seem to have limited succes finding them.

Oh, just so you know, if I build a surge device, I'll be copying your float switch idea, if you don't mind off course

Great and well thought out design!

 

[d3hree]

Hi Izzy

I wanted a surge but I didnt want the bubbles...nor the toilet flush noise.
However I cant take any credit for the design, I came across the idea whilst researching surges on a forum in Michigan. I have to credit the guy on there, cmpenney...maybe he is on here too?

You can see his videos on youtube

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These videos and his design were my inspiration...I hope he wont mind me posting them for you.

As regards to the ABV...here is an amazon link. This is the version I have and I paid about the same for it, but i got mine from ebay.

http://www.amazon.com/Hayward-EATB1200STE-Actuated-Union-Valve/dp/B003JJ941K

You are welcome to copy my float switch idea...it isnt really mine anyway. I contacted a UK company, reefloat, who specialise in aquarium control devices like ATO units and automatic water change units. Their expertise in float switches made them an easy choice to design the surge control for me. I knew what I wanted and how I wanted it to work but had no idea of how to go about it.

So as far as the surge goes, I am standing on the shoulders of giants and the credit should go to them. Heres hoping mine works as well as cmpenney's does.

 

[SeattleReef]

This is a great thread and been following for some time!

A couple of questions about the surge...

Are you going to have more flow than the ones in the video's and how much volume of water are you going to move?

Cheers!

 

[kentrob11]

I'm digging the surge and have a very similar system in mind as well. A buddy of mine has a surge system like that on his 20,000g tank using a 6" main surge line with a pneumatically actuated butterfly valve, a 200+ gallon surge tank and multiple 3" lines branching off to several different outlets in the tank. There are actuated ball valves on those 3" lines alternating the surge around the tank. It's pretty stinkin impressive! His tank is 10 feet deep and The surge coming from one of the 3" outlets on the bottom corner of the tank is enough to boil the entire surface 10 ft up! I have a video I took somewhere...I'll have to look it up. You're gonna love that surge

 

[RGibson]

Hi Hamish.

I can fit through the gap between the top of the tank and the ceiling. The lights can either be pushed to the back out of the way or disconnected entirely and removed.

...a couple more pics from yesterdays activities.

wHAT IS THE NAME OF THE FANS THAT YOU USED

 

[d3hree]

Nice Build dude, very interested to see how it all turns out.

Thanks ClustaAZ!

This is a great thread and been following for some time!

A couple of questions about the surge...

Are you going to have more flow than the ones in the video's and how much volume of water are you going to move?

Cheers!

The surge in the videos shifts a fair amount of water. If you watch the last video where he deliberately allowed air into the line you can see the bubbles travel the entire length of the tank.

I will be surging more water from a greater height above the tank so I hope that I can acheive the same sort of ratio of surge. My surge tank is about 100 gallons so this is the most I will surge. I will have to fine tune the amount surged to ensure neither the weir nor the sump is overflowed. I hope to be able to surge as near to the 100 gallons as possible

wHAT IS THE NAME OF THE FANS THAT YOU USED

Hi RGibson

The fans are just PC fans. I looked for the quietest Db level of fans. I have made the aluminium frame and the acrylic mounting face to sit them in.

Hey kentrob11...that is some surge!!...I bet its amazing!...please dig out the video, I would love to see it!

 

[d3hree]

It's been a long time coming.....

 

[Aquanist]

Mmmmm-moist!

About bleeding time too. :dance: