Matt's 5000ltr Display

[michael_in_nc]

I just read through your build. Excellent work. I really like your light mount system. I was thinking about doing something similar for an LED upgrade at some point. Putting them on movable fixtures so I could "point" them. I was even considering being able to control that but I'm not sure how much of an impact that makes on the overall look of the tank. Have you done anything like that before or seen it on a tank? I'm curious to see how that impacts the look of the tank. I'll be watching for that...

 

[mahogue]

Here is a drawing of how I see the surge system working.

The feed pump fills the surge tank.
When the water reaches the upper switch it opens the actuated valve.
Water drains out of the surge into the display.
As the water level in the surge tank drops it activates the lower switch which closes the actuated valve.

Now here is the technical bit.
It takes 2 seconds to open and close the valve. So the lower switch needs to be at a height above the bottom drain sufficient enough that the water level doesnt drop to the bulkhead level in the 2 seconds it takes the valve to close.

This will mean that no air enters the pipework between the actuated valve and the surge tank and no air will be between the actuated valve and the display tank.

Instead of drilling your surge tank for the float switches, consider putting them on an acrylic stick with mounting holes every inch or so so that you can raise or lower the float switch and adjust your delay time.

 

[d3hree]

I just read through your build. Excellent work. I really like your light mount system. I was thinking about doing something similar for an LED upgrade at some point. Putting them on movable fixtures so I could "point" them. I was even considering being able to control that but I'm not sure how much of an impact that makes on the overall look of the tank. Have you done anything like that before or seen it on a tank? I'm curious to see how that impacts the look of the tank. I'll be watching for that...

Thanks Michael

I have kind of changed direction with the light mount. Ever since that design I was plagued with the thought that I was making something that should be pretty simple incredibly complicated. I have since found some ceiling mounted projector brackets that will allow for swivel, tilt and rotation. I think these coupled with ceiling mounted wardrobe tracks to move the lights front to back will give me pretty good flexibility.
The idea came from a reefing mate of mine who had a single lumenarc III reflector mounted on a TV bracket, the kind that allows you to pull the tv away from the wall and turn it etc.

 

[d3hree]

Instead of drilling your surge tank for the float switches, consider putting them on an acrylic stick with mounting holes every inch or so so that you can raise or lower the float switch and adjust your delay time.

Thanks mahogue.

That was the plan. If anyone has the tunze osmolator ATO you will know the brackets that raise and lower the float switches to specify your running height in the sump. I was going to use a similar sort of thing for the surge tank float switches.

 

[michael_in_nc]

Thanks Michael

I have kind of changed direction with the light mount. Ever since that design I was plagued with the thought that I was making something that should be pretty simple incredibly complicated. I have since found some ceiling mounted projector brackets that will allow for swivel, tilt and rotation. I think these coupled with ceiling mounted wardrobe tracks to move the lights front to back will give me pretty good flexibility.
The idea came from a reefing mate of mine who had a single lumenarc III reflector mounted on a TV bracket, the kind that allows you to pull the tv away from the wall and turn it etc.

That makes sense. Should be much easier to build. Not sure that would work for LED's since I'd have more in a smaller area, but for the halides it should work out nice. I'm really interested to see how the angles impact the look of the lighting in the tank. Maybe you can post a video once it's all setup!

 

[d3hree]

I got a little more done this morning.

I have been waiting for some drill bits to be delivered that finally came last week which will allow me to get the weir finished.

I had previously marked on the ceiling where the vertical centre lines for the holes needed to be plus horizonal marks on the wall so it was just a case of drilling them using the right size bit for each bulkhead size.

I was pretty nervous about this as it was essential that the holes in the wood aligned with the previously drilled cores through the brickwork, otherwise it was going to be a labourious fix.

I started by aligning the ceiling marks and the centreline marks.

x marks the spot ( hopefully)

after the first hole was drilled 63mm for 50mm bulkhead for the surge I was a little more confident.

Soon all the holes were drilled and to my relief they all lined up with the brick cores perfectly.

The surge hole is the lowest one, then left to right we have, 75mm cl intake, 63mm drain to sump, 63mm drain to sump, 63 mm skimmer feed, 75mm cl intake.

The size of the weir will be dicated by the 75mm plumbing, this will angle down through the bottom of the weir. Drilling the holes allowed be to dry fit a bulkhead to start working it all out.

I wont be using the washer rings supplied with the bulkheads as the ozone will quickly perish these. I used one in place of where the silicone joint will be to get a reasonably accurate measurement.

The final dry fitting of this plumbing means I now know how deep the wier needs to be.

 

[jjk_reef00]

Wow that surge is awesome!
It would be cool to put pellets or something in there and then watch it rush into the tank.
What are the dimensions of the surge, and what flow do you expect to get out of the pipe?

 

[theorangeacan]

Tagging along Matt tank is looking awesome mate. Loz

 

[d3hree]

Wow that surge is awesome!
It would be cool to put pellets or something in there and then watch it rush into the tank.
What are the dimensions of the surge, and what flow do you expect to get out of the pipe?

Hi jjk reef

Thanks for the compliment.
I havent decided on the physical dimensions of the surge tank. I plan to build a tank that is about 500ltrs. This tank will be as tall as possible for example 28x28x40 will mean greater surge because of the pressure build up in a 40" tall column. The tank will be as high as possible above the display tank water level again to increase the surge.

As to the actual amount of surge this will be decided when it is built, deciding factors will include, amount of additional water the weir and drain pipes can handle without overflowing the tank, velocity of surge and duration of surge. I am sure there are people that could determine all of that before construction but unfortunately I am not one of them so only time will tell. For all I know whilst I will build a surge tank capable of surging a fair amount of water the heights of the controlling switches may mean I only surge 200ltrs because the tank wont handle any more than that.

As regards to adding pellets, i am toying with the idea of adding one of the ghl 4 doser units to the surge to deliver aminos, trace elements and coral foods to the display via the surge. Nothing definate as yet though

 

[d3hree]

Tagging along Matt tank is looking awesome mate. Loz

Hi Loz,

I am sure we were just texting lol.
I cant tell you how flattered I am that you, Ush and Ash have joined RC to follow this build. Ad also popped on to say hi and he told me Alastair was planning to stop by, all very humbling. As huge as RC is there doesnt seem to be a massive contingency from the UK so its nice that you boys are stopping by.

If you want some inspiration for you new tank Loz check out the members tanks on here!!

 

[theorangeacan]

Boys from the pool matt lol. As much as you might find it humbling a lot of people really appreciate you as a person and how you have personally gone out of your way, above and beyond at times to help them with their adventures into reefing matt.

You have an awesome attitude and you are a credit to the hobby. Me, Ush, Ash n the guys are here to help support and egg you on your way to having one of the best tanks in the uk.

You have made massive strides and your knowledge has also helped me personally and many others. I know honestly Ush Ash n me deffo want you to have the tank off your dreams the amount of hard work design time and effort you have put in let alone patience will reward you for many many years to come. There will be some very hard days ahead and probably some days where you think whats the hell am i doing this for! But well we all stick together to make those days as easy as possible and keep you on the right track lol.

So thanks to you matt and i can't wait till i can nag u for a thousand frags from your big tank lol

i will check out all of the tanks on here as you advised i need ideas lol Loz


Thought for the day... hmmm why does my new upgrade 48x22x24 tank feel like a nano tank?? hmm i wonder

 

[D5HP]

I assumed you had studied design due to your obvious skill with the 3D modeling. You also seem to be a confident DIY'er, so I naturally am going to love this build and can't wait for water (though I'm sure it's nothing compared to your excitement)

You answered a few questions about the surge tank already but I have a few more. Is the only return from the fish room (not the CL returns) going to be via the surge tank?

You already stated that you're not sure how low you'll be able to place the second 'close valve' float switch, which will in turn alter the regularity of your surge. However, do you have an idea of how often this surge will occur? What pump are you using to feed the tank?

Hope this week allows you a few hours of work on the tank.

 

[d3hree]

Hi Dustin

I enjoy DIY, it is so very different to what I do day to day that I get a lot of pleasure out of it ( it also stops my hands getting too girly!) For me DIY is just the williness to learn and make mistakes until you get to a point where you dont make as many mistakes.

Is the only return from the fish room (not the CL returns) going to be via the surge tank?

No. The surge will possibly be part time, turned off after lights out. The main sump return will be 32,000 lph divided into two seperate pumps that terminate tank side in two calfo loops. 32,000lph is a little strong at 7x tank volume but I doubt I will get that sort of flow tank side. There will be a uv, heater, canister filter all fed by the retuns and with the frictional loss of all that plumbing I dont expect to get 32,000 lph tank side.

I will be able to divert some flow back to the return section if I feel it is a little too strong, although the skimmer needs 6000lph which I hope to gravity feed.

You already stated that you're not sure how low you'll be able to place the second 'close valve' float switch, which will in turn alter the regularity of your surge. However, do you have an idea of how often this surge will occur? What pump are you using to feed the tank?

As you say the valve placement will dictate amount and length of surge the feed pump will dictate regularity. The head height could be as much as 3-4 meters so the pump will need to accomodate that. Ideally I would like the surge to fire once every 20 - 30 mins so I will have to look at some pump curves and decide on which one is best. The return pumps and CL pumps are Laguna which are outstanding value for the lph vs wattage and sticker price. IMO they cant be beaten and I have looked into a huge amount of pumps. Therefore I expect the pump that feeds the surge will be another laguna.

Thanks for your post, I am very happy to have you tagging along.

 

[d3hree]

I managed to get a little time today to make a start on the weir.

Having drilled the holes and dry fitted the plumbing i could work out how big the weir needs to be

Battons screwed and glued to the side and back allowed me to screw the base of the wier from the underside

The notch at one end is where the surge will come into the tank. The notch is so i can have the surge as close to the waters surface as possible whilst still having a full surface skim on the wier.

Another dry fitting to make sure I had worked it out right.

 

[dave.m]

You need to get a rubber stamp "Matt Made Me" and an inkpad; to be applied when a segment is completed. Then you could say it is "glued, screwed and tattooed".

Yeah, okay, I'll go away now ...

Dave.M

 

[d3hree]

lol Dave...you have waaaay too much time on your hands mate.

 

[theorangeacan]

Looking good matt Glad all the holes lined up with the wall core holes or could of been an utter nightmare but you are doing a grand job.

Looks like you are enjoying the build a lot. we should start calling it matts therapy lol. So what are your next few plans get the weir done what's next?

loz

 

[d3hree]

Hi Loz

The rest of the wier shouldnt take too long, hopefully will finish it over the weekend if I can get out of the office.

Then its just the support frame for the glass and drilling holes for 25mm cl pipework.

Finally, lots and lots of filling and sanding.

 

[D5HP]

Love the full length weir. Things are looking great so far. I wish I was over to help and see how massive this thing is in real life.

I have done a LOT of reading in the past few days about these plywood tanks and I have changed my plans for my 8' rimless tank towards a 12' plywood tank with a single 10' viewing pane. This seems so much more cost effective and I love the satisfaction of doing it yourself.

Thanks for documenting this so well I hope I get to use it as a template in a year or so.

 

[d3hree]

Thanks D5HP

Plywood tanks are good fun. If my tank wasnt surrounded on 3 sides by walls I would have gone with glass but there seemed little point after a bit of research.
A 12' tank with 10' viewing pane will be amazing especially if you can get a good front to back size too, I look forward to reading your thread!