Mike's 300 Double-D

[prop-frags]

Continuing the snow-day plumbing fun...

Once we had the spa flex drain lines coming out into the garage, we needed to join them up to the hard pvc lines that will continue the run down into the sump room. It's not exactly a straight shot, since we have to curve around slightly behind the water heater and such, so for the big honkin' 2" line, we used a 22.5 degree elbow to help take some strain off of the joint. The 1.5" line didn't have that much of a strain so we just used a standard coupler:


Here's a shot of the lines coming into the "sump shack". That hole needed to be enlarged a bit too. We spent considerable time researching the whole "rise over run" thing to ensure that we had sufficient angles on the drain lines. Not sure we ever really got a conclusive answer, but there is well over 1/4" rise per linear foot, and from what we read, that should be sufficient:


This is a bit of a wider-angle shot to show the drain lines coming across the sump. We intend to have the 2" with the swoop T feeding the skimmer and overflowing into the left most end of the sump. The 1.5" line will just dump into that same compartment:


Finally, we did some dry fitting of the combo wye fittings up in the display room under the stand. It may change a bit once the tank arrives and we actually plumb in the lines from the drain bulkheads.


This seems like just a simple little bit of the overall work, but wow was it time-consuming. Took us the better part of all day to do it. :hmm2:

Now it's time for a beer before bed. Let us know what you guys think so far!!
We just love reading your comments and your advice has been very helpful. :wavehand:

 

[RichK]

Looking good Mike. I spent the day painting and cleaning up around the house. Then I went outside to try and dig out from the 20" of snow we got. Your garage must be pretty warm to keep the sump out there.

 

[prop-frags]

Looking good Mike. I spent the day painting and cleaning up around the house. Then I went outside to try and dig out from the 20" of snow we got. Your garage must be pretty warm to keep the sump out there.

Thanks Rich!
The pump shack out in the garage is well insulated. The garage isn't all that warm. It gets down in the 50's out there, but we've got a few heaters in the tank to keep it toasty. The nights where we get down in the teens, I will sometimes put a little oil-filled space heater out there to give the tank heaters a little help.

 

[prop-frags]

A minor update:

Did a little bit of plumbing on the CL pump and OM-4.
The 2" stuff is just so large and heavy. We think the best way to handle this is to keep the union valve on the ground to keep all that weight off of the intake bulkhead. We also want to use the spa flex between the bulkheads and the pump and OM-4, to isolate the noise and vibration, and to provide a little flexibility in moving the pump around a bit. We used a 1.5" union on the outlet of the pump to the OM4. We figured since we would be putting union valves on the outlet lines and the intake, a valve between the pump and OM-4 seems like a waste.


Another cool development is we went over to the quartz supply warehouse today and picked up samples to decide on the countertop/surround for the stand. We have it narrowed to these two:


The great thing about this quartz (it's the Cambria brand) is that it's a sealed finish product so no salt messing with it, and its very resistant to staining or scratches, unlike granite or marble. What do you guys think? I'm leaning towards the darker one on the left and Terry likes the one on the right. Any preferences?

 

[teesquare]

Just a thought Mike....If you ever need to remove the OM-4 ( and - it is likely) for just maintenance, or to replace a part - whatever the reason - you may want to put another TUBV immediately below the OM-4. It looks like it will be easy for you, because the Lowes unions are compatible with the Tru Union Ball Valves that they sell.
And - the same for all of the 1'' pipes coming off of the OM-4! makes it much simpler....
Looking Good!
T

 

[Untamed12]

Just a thought Mike....If you ever need to remove the OM-4 ( and - it is likely) for just maintenance, or to replace a part - whatever the reason - you may want to put another TUBV immediately below the OM-4. It looks like it will be easy for you, because the Lowes unions are compatible with the Tru Union Ball Valves that they sell.
And - the same for all of the 1'' pipes coming off of the OM-4! makes it much simpler....
Looking Good!
T

Absolutely required to put TUBVs on the pipes coming off the OM-4.

Although I did put valves between the OM4way and my pumps, in practice I don't really use them and the valve on the pump intake is adequate. The union alone will allow for removal of the OM4way...the trick is draining the water out of the pipe before you crack open the union. There is a 1/4" drain at the bottom of the pump that you can tap into with a bit of planning.

 

[RichK]

Mike, I like your choices for the countertop. I like the darker one as well. Although the lighter one looks great, I think it will draw too much attention to the black frame of the tank. With the darker material, the frame will blend in and keep your attention on the contents of the tank. Either way, I think it is going to look awesome!

 

[blumoon reefers]

Mike, I vote for the darker one as well. Nice contrast to the wood finish and the colors in the tank.

 

[lhcorals]

It looking really good Mike. If you need any help just call. Dont be shy about calling. Anna said it would give her a chance to get to talk to your wife again. Cant wait until we get to see it full. After what the 180 looked like i cant imagine this one.

 

[PSU REEFER]

Liken the lighter one as it goes better w/ your stand.

 

[teesquare]

Regardless of your color choice - that is going to be one "classy chasis":wave:

T

 

[prop-frags]

Absolutely required to put TUBVs on the pipes coming off the OM-4.

Although I did put valves between the OM4way and my pumps, in practice I don't really use them and the valve on the pump intake is adequate. The union alone will allow for removal of the OM4way...the trick is draining the water out of the pipe before you crack open the union. There is a 1/4" drain at the bottom of the pump that you can tap into with a bit of planning.

Good tip on using the pump drain. We'll look into using that to neatly control the drainage when we need to take the OM4 & CL pump off line for maintenance. Did you actually plumb a drain line into that with a valve on it? On the 180, we would just put a pail under the TUBV when we cracked it open and then clean up the mess afterwords

RichK Mike, I like your choices for the countertop. I like the darker one as well. Although the lighter one looks great, I think it will draw too much attention to the black frame of the tank. With the darker material, the frame will blend in and keep your attention on the contents of the tank. Either way, I think it is going to look awesome!

blumoon reefers Mike, I vote for the darker one as well. Nice contrast to the wood finish and the colors in the tank.

PSU Liken the lighter one as it goes better w/ your stand.

teesquare Regardless of your color choice - that is going to be one "classy chasis"

Thank you all for your votes. We both really appreciate you taking the time to share your ideas. The countertop installer is coming Monday, so we had to make our choice last night. The decision was tough. We're going with the darker one. Of course, Terry wants to get rid of the formica in the kitchen - you don't think I could get away with putting quartz on the fish tank and her not getting new countertops for the kitchen do you? :love2: Good thing I'm getting a tax refund. :lol: Just so you know, we're putting both colors in the kitchen. Let us know if you want details on the whole kitchen thing

lhcorals It looking really good Mike. If you need any help just call. Dont be shy about calling. Anna said it would give her a chance to get to talk to your wife again. Cant wait until we get to see it full. After what the 180 looked like i cant imagine this one.

Lynn: thanks so much. I can only hope it looks as good as your setup. We'll definitely have you guys over!! Maybe we'll have an aquascaping party. You guys probably got 3 feet of snow up there didn't ya?

:fish2: :fish2:

Speaking of snow...
The tank is delayed again. Snow is not our friend for a tank that needs to come from New York down through mid-atlantic that has gone through one of the worst winters in recorded history. Our dealer tells us that maybe Friday, or more likely next Tuesday is when we'll get the tank.

Same goes for the LME reflectors. The UPS tracking says "weather advisory" and they are stuck in Pennsylvania somewhere... :sad2:

On the upside, the delays give us more pause, and more time to do planning and prep work. We really need to get crackin' on the aquascaping tests with the fiberglass rods. Has anyone used the fiberglass rods before? What method did you use to secure the rock to the rods? Epoxy? What kind?

 

[blumoon reefers]

Mike,

Same for us...if you need help, just let Chuck and I know. We will be glad to help.

 

[lhcorals]

On the upside, the delays give us more pause, and more time to do planning and prep work. We really need to get crackin' on the aquascaping tests with the fiberglass rods. Has anyone used the fiberglass rods before? What method did you use to secure the rock to the rods? Epoxy? What kind?

Mike, when i built my column i used 1/2" schedule 40 PVC. I put together some nice size rock and it has held up really well. As far as epoxy i have no complaints about this one:
http://www.theaquariumsolution.com/files/imagecache/279_279/products/Aquascape+Pack.jpg

It is easy to mix up and is very strong after it sets up.

 

[Untamed12]

Good tip on using the pump drain. We'll look into using that to neatly control the drainage when we need to take the OM4 & CL pump off line for maintenance. Did you actually plumb a drain line into that with a valve on it? On the 180, we would just put a pail under the TUBV when we cracked it open and then clean up the mess afterwords

I didn't plumb a line into that 1/4" drain on the pump. I saw someone who screwed a 1/4" valve right onto the pump, replacing the drain plug. That seems a good idea to me.

You can drain the line by just cracking the union on the pump side of the TUBV on the pump intake. This is actually what I do. However, better planning than me would have placed the pump HIGHER, so that it is possible to get a tray or bucket underneath there. If you put the pump right on the floor, there isn't enough height there to do that. Key here is to learn from other's mistakes...that is one of mine.

 

[teesquare]

For easy removal of the OM-4 I still like the idea of a TUBV immediately below it.
Having the experience of removing and maintaining them - from under the tank, in the stand (can you say CHIROPRACTER...?) a few times - I can tell you it is far easier than any other way I have tried to plumb them.
You will still need a towel to catch maybe a couple of ounces of water - but what other method is completely dry?

Untamed:
I just saw in an earlier post that your OM's have a 1/4'' drain plug? I guess mine are of an earlier "vintage" - no plug, but what a good idea. I may remove mine and install one!

T

 

[crvz]

I much like the potential of this setup... keep the updates coming!

 

[Untamed12]

Untamed:
I just saw in an earlier post that your OM's have a 1/4'' drain plug? I guess mine are of an earlier "vintage" - no plug, but what a good idea. I may remove mine and install one!

T

No...not the OM's... the 1/4" drain plug is on the pump volute. In my case, the pump is so close to the ground that I can't use it to drain the lines prior to opening the unions. As is, I have to crack open the union on the TUBV and drain that way. A bit better planning and it would have worked better.

 

[teesquare]

Gotcha...Thanks Untamed!
T

 

[prop-frags]

Tee Yeah, we're putting a union between the pump and the OM4 so we can take it off for cleaning and maintenance.

CRVZ Thanks! Nice to have ya along!

blumoon reefers Milissa - that's a great offer. I know you guys put the caribsea pink in your 150... how much did you put in? We want some fat grain substrate (4-5mm) for ours...

LHCorals Lynn - appreciate that link. I've got some of the marine epoxy that I'm going to try today with my experimental aquascaping. Gonna get a couple of beers in me first, then sit down and try it out! :beer:

Untamed Once again, we really appreciate all the helpful tips. I took out the trusty sketch pad out today and played around with a few ideas on how to elevate the Dart a bit. I really want to see if I can hit two criteria: 1) reduce noise and vibration as much as possible, and 2) eliminate strain from the bulkheads. The added benefit may be a way to make the pump easier to access for maintenance and access this little drain line.

:fish2: :fish2:

How about a couple of updates!
Got a package in from Premium Aquatics:



Started looking at the new canopy and how we are going to mount the lighting. As mentioned earlier in the thread, we've been toying with the idea to put in an aluminum light rack into the canopy.

The canopy has got access doors on the sides and front, as well as a piano hinge that allows the front to flip upwards and the rail-mounted light board to slide out:
Here's a shot looking into the left side access door:


and here you can see a view of the front panel lifted up


here's what it looks like with the light board extended out


What we're thinking we'll do is build a light rack out of modular aluminum tubing and attach it to the light board. Here's the design drawing:



This is inspired by Tom's Light Rack which is a beautiful piece of work!! We've asked the EZTube people for a quote, so when that comes back, we'll see if it will fit in the budget. If not, we may be looking for some alternatives from you guys!

Another outstanding task on the project plan is getting some substrate. Recall that we picked up some live sand from the nice folks down at SeaLife Inc... very nice stuff - we're wanting some fairly chunky substrate (4-5mm), and I can't find the tropic eden reeflakes anywhere, so we're searching. Two questions for you guys. 1) how much will it take to cover the bottom of the big ol' double D with about 2" of substrate? and 2) where can we find some good chunky stuff that will look gorgeous and not break the bank? I came across this stuff on a search today, but I'm hesitant without a couple of references from the big tank folks here on this forum...