mpcart's 240G build
- Thread starter mpcart
- Start date
mpcart
New member
Starting the electrical plan now - I've been putting it off because electrical is something I'm not that comfortable doing myself - so I might need a little advice.
Right now I have one 20A circuit feeding the unfinished part of the basement but nothing will be on that circuit except tank equipment. I also figured out with some help that I have a 12/3 line running from my breaker box in the garage down to the basement - and neither end is hooked up to anything. So, I need to connect it to the breaker box (I'll have questions about that later) and put in the outlets in the tank room. As I understand it, that line can be made into two separate circuits.
With 3 x 20A circuits dedicated to the tank room I should be in great shape. Here is my plan - let me know what you think as that affects where I place the outlets for the different circuits.
Should I consider splitting the MH circuit up to even things out? Here's my thought process on a few other items.
Lastly, I was reading about connecting the 12/3 to the breaker box and it looks like you need a double breaker that is connected (not sure of the right term) so if one circuit goes out then both will. If true, I need to figure out which two circuits are coming from the 12/3 line.
-Mike
Right now I have one 20A circuit feeding the unfinished part of the basement but nothing will be on that circuit except tank equipment. I also figured out with some help that I have a 12/3 line running from my breaker box in the garage down to the basement - and neither end is hooked up to anything. So, I need to connect it to the breaker box (I'll have questions about that later) and put in the outlets in the tank room. As I understand it, that line can be made into two separate circuits.
With 3 x 20A circuits dedicated to the tank room I should be in great shape. Here is my plan - let me know what you think as that affects where I place the outlets for the different circuits.
Should I consider splitting the MH circuit up to even things out? Here's my thought process on a few other items.
- The return powers the skimmer and Calc Reactor so I figure those should be together.
- If the return circuit trips I still want flow in the tank so I put the powerheads on a separate circuit.
- Heater and MH separated so I can heat the tank with either.
Lastly, I was reading about connecting the 12/3 to the breaker box and it looks like you need a double breaker that is connected (not sure of the right term) so if one circuit goes out then both will. If true, I need to figure out which two circuits are coming from the 12/3 line.
-Mike
Mark...
Member
Heater on circuit 3 would even out demand, but not an issue since 6.1 is way good.
Any thoughts on LED to lower the big 11.8 number down? I see your in Ill. so the extra heat might be a good thing...
Nice thought out plan with the electric!
Can you convert those numbers into monthly electric cost?
Any thoughts on LED to lower the big 11.8 number down? I see your in Ill. so the extra heat might be a good thing...
Nice thought out plan with the electric!
Can you convert those numbers into monthly electric cost?
mpcart
New member
Believe me, I've been spending a lot of time looking at LED lighting . . . I figure it would be about $3000 for this tank. That's a lot.
I haven't converted these numbers to monthly cost as that would violate my "stick my head in the sand" policy of not tracking how much this project is costing me. If I don't know then I won't worry about it - and I have plausible deniability if my wife asks.
-Mike
I haven't converted these numbers to monthly cost as that would violate my "stick my head in the sand" policy of not tracking how much this project is costing me. If I don't know then I won't worry about it - and I have plausible deniability if my wife asks.
-Mike
Mark...
Member
Wow...you are a genius!
What do you think of the Kessil LED lights? I've been checking them out and seem reasonable. You could probably get away with 5 for less than 1500.
They run 225 each and the goose neck holders go for 35 each. 5 would run 1300 total...
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mpcart
New member
I think I'm going to stick with the MH right now but I'll keep looking at LED's as I have time. I was thinking the Radions or AI's if I went with LED.
Here are some pictures of the proposed outlet layout. Almost none of these outlets are currently in place. Each color denotes a dedicated circuit. I may need to rethink the way I'm dedicating the equipment to certain circuits as the actual equipment locations don't match exactly what I was thinking.
A work in progress . . .
-Mike
Here are some pictures of the proposed outlet layout. Almost none of these outlets are currently in place. Each color denotes a dedicated circuit. I may need to rethink the way I'm dedicating the equipment to certain circuits as the actual equipment locations don't match exactly what I was thinking.
A work in progress . . .
-Mike
Newbie Aquarist
Reefing is my middle name
I see we have another google sketch master among us. Great drawings.
mpcart
New member
The plumbing is done with 80% glued and the rest dry fit. I tried to minimize the umber of unions while still being able to disassemble things if need be. The placement of the valves and unions might look a little strange but I had some clearance issues to the drain/return bulkheads that I had to work around.
I'll be ready for a water test after the electric goes in Tuesday. I decided to get a pro in to knock that out. They'll also be puting in some room lighting so I'll be able to get some better pictures.
Return pump and manifold
The returns - ill make some adjustments here once I get some sort of bubble minimized designed.
Left side drain/returns under the tank.
-Mike
I'll be ready for a water test after the electric goes in Tuesday. I decided to get a pro in to knock that out. They'll also be puting in some room lighting so I'll be able to get some better pictures.
Return pump and manifold
The returns - ill make some adjustments here once I get some sort of bubble minimized designed.
Left side drain/returns under the tank.
-Mike
mpcart
New member
Don't know if the pictures are showing up . . . I must not know how to use tapatalk properly.
Let's try this again.
Let's try this again.
The plumbing is done with 80% glued and the rest dry fit. I tried to minimize the umber of unions while still being able to disassemble things if need be. The placement of the valves and unions might look a little strange but I had some clearance issues to the drain/return bulkheads that I had to work around.
I'll be ready for a water test after the electric goes in Tuesday. I decided to get a pro in to knock that out. They'll also be puting in some room lighting so I'll be able to get some better pictures.
Return pump and manifold
The returns - ill make some adjustments here once I get some sort of bubble minimized designed.
Left side drain/returns under the tank.
-Mike
mpcart
New member
All the electrical work was completed today. I have 3 x 20A circuits dedicated to the room with 10 total outlets on all four walls - plenty of room for expansion. Each outlet is GFCI so one tripping won't take out the entire circuit.
It's all coming together and I'm hoping to do a water test soon.
-Mike
It's all coming together and I'm hoping to do a water test soon.
-Mike
mpcart
New member
Thanks, man. Took your advice and had them do everything in PVC - even had them replace the existing boxes with PVC.
-Mike
mpcart
New member
I'm going with durso drains and ran into a problem. The bracing on the top of the tank covers the part of the overflow above the drain pipe. To make it fit under the bracing I need to lower the pipe (and thus the water level in the overflow) and/or leave the cap off the durso.
Is a 4-5" water drop in the overflow ok? I don't care about noise.
Is it okay to leave the cap off a durso? Again, noise isn't a concern but I don't know if the cap serves some purpose in controlling flow.
Any other ideas for a drain?
-Mike
Is a 4-5" water drop in the overflow ok? I don't care about noise.
Is it okay to leave the cap off a durso? Again, noise isn't a concern but I don't know if the cap serves some purpose in controlling flow.
Any other ideas for a drain?
-Mike
mpcart
New member
And on the 2,231st day (the beginning) . . . there was light! Ooops, no light since my new ballasts are on a UPS truck somewhere.
However, on that day there was water . . .
-Mike
However, on that day there was water . . .
-Mike
mpcart
New member
Did a leak test tonight and boy was I nervous.
Here's what I learned
1) A Reeflo Barracuda pump is loud, has a boatload of flow, and shouldn't be placed by the wall that separates the tank room from the viewing room.
2) Don't attach plumbing to the separation wall or the vibration will go right though. I'm going to have to put some sort of vibration dampener between the pipes/wall.
3) My gate valves are garbage - all of them leak through the gate. I don't know if I have cheap valves, ran too much pressure through them to start, or if all gate valves to that, but I'm going to have to replace them.
So far, none of the plumbing (other than the gate valves) has leaked but I'm going to have to do something else to handle the noise.
-Mike
Here's what I learned
1) A Reeflo Barracuda pump is loud, has a boatload of flow, and shouldn't be placed by the wall that separates the tank room from the viewing room.
2) Don't attach plumbing to the separation wall or the vibration will go right though. I'm going to have to put some sort of vibration dampener between the pipes/wall.
3) My gate valves are garbage - all of them leak through the gate. I don't know if I have cheap valves, ran too much pressure through them to start, or if all gate valves to that, but I'm going to have to replace them.
So far, none of the plumbing (other than the gate valves) has leaked but I'm going to have to do something else to handle the noise.
-Mike
Blacksscamaro
New member
Looks awesome!!!!!!!!!
