mpcart's 240G build

[Mark...]

The next source of noise in the equipment room is with the drain pipes. Luckily that noise doesn't work it's way into the viewing room.

I stole a couple ideas to muffle the sound and am trying 3" pipes to reduce bubbles and keep the splashing down.

The pipe on the left has two sets of holes and is much louder. You can see the bubbles escaping out the side. The pipe on the right only has holes on the top and is much quieter. I'm going to use that design on both pipes.

On this sump, the water doesn't run over the top of the baffle into the middle section, rather it escapes through a slot half way down the baffle so both of the pipe designs seem effective in keeping bubbles in the first chamber.

-Mike

I wonder if the difference in the bubbles and noise has anything to do with the flow? I see one has a 90 and the other two 45s.

Love this build!

 

[tredreef]

I wonder if the difference in the bubbles and noise has anything to do with the flow? I see one has a 90 and the other two 45s.

Love this build!

A single 90 degree elbow is roughly equal in restriction to 2 45 degree elbows of the same diameter.

 

[mpcart]

I don't know that it is a restriction issue as I had to dial the pump way back because of the design of the glass cages overflow covers. The slots are very thin and far apart. I had to dial back the pump to keep the water from going over the top of the covers vs. through the slots.

I'm going to cover the side holes and see how that changes things and I'm going to extend the drain pipe through the cap in the "muffler". Right now the pipe terminates in the cap so the drain water actually falls into the sump. If I extend the pipes down below the water surface it may eliminate the splashing sound.

-Mike

 

[mpcart]

Got the skimmer hooked up today. Bought it 6 years ago and hooked it up for the first time tonight - Reef Octopus TDNW-300. The pump fittings are leaking like crazy and are very difficult to reach. Maybe a little Teflon tape will do the trick.

The skimmer PVC is metric (50mm) but I found a metric to standard (50 mm to 1.5") coupling online that worked perfectly. Check out Flexpvc.com for all kinds of crazy PVC fittings. They even have one piece PVC manifolds.

-Mike

 

[mpcart]

Within a day of filling the tank with RODI water I got what I guess is bacteria bloom. It's still there after a couple days. There is nothing in the tank but water - no sand, rock, etc. The cloudiness started before adding salt.

Can I expect it to go away or do I need to take action - carbon?

This is a terrible picture but you can see how cloudy the water is. That's undissolved salt in the bottom.

-Mike

 

[mpcart]

It is entirely a matter of personal choice. I like to keep filters on a separate pump. I don't like the idea of adding or removing a filter affecting return flow to the tank. I really don't like the idea of losing all system functions if the one main pump fails for whatever reason. I prefer tailoring pump sizes to particular tasks.

Again, this is all a matter of personal choice.

Dave.M

Now that is have the plumbing done and have been playing around with it, I want to go back to Dave's comment from a couple months ago regarding using multiple pumps. I think I may have been better off with a separate pump feeding the skimmer and I may go that route. As I was testing the skimmer I had to keep adjusting the valves regulating the flow from the return pump, to the return lines, and to the manifold. I'm afraid that the flow is too sensitive if some equipment goes off line and I don't want the skimmer overflowing since it is external.

Getting all the flows dialed in isn't the problem. I'd just rather it be on its own line so the skimmer water level is guaranteed not to fluctuate.

-Mike

 

[Chris Abbott]

very sound thinking, seams like a whole lot of variables for a piece of equipment that likes consistent flow

 

[Reeferhead]

Look'n awesome Mike! :thumbsup: When do you think you'll be ready to host a SLASH PN?

 

[mpcart]

Thanks, Nick. I may have to get on the PN calendar for 2014 - maybe start at my place and head down the road to yours!

-Mike

 

[zotiri]

nice setup nice plans

 

[mpcart]

nice setup nice plans

Thanks.

Well, I couldn't get the cloudy water cleared up so I decided it was best to drain the tanks and start over. I emptied everything, wiped down and dried the tank and sump and refilled with new water. This time it is much clearer but still a little cloudy after adding salt a couple days ago. I expect it to clear up once sand and rock is added.

Speaking if which . . . I decided to go with 240lbs of Caribsea Seaflor Special Grade instead of my original plan of Fiji Pink. I think the bigger particles will help keep it from blowing around a little better.

I also ordered 270 lbs of Fiji Premium Select from LiveAquaria to be delivered Wednesday. I haven't gotten a shipment confirmation yet so hopefully they have it in stock. That means the first signs of life in my six year project will show up by the weekend.

-Mike

 

[mpcart]

The rock arrived and I ordered way too much. I'd say maybe 40% too much which is a bummer because live rock is expensive.

Arrival this morning.



The rock is very nice with lots of holes and odd shapes. Unfortunately, I think it is more on the small/medium size and I didn't get any very large pieces to use for the foundation. That's okay - I just need to be more creative in how I aquascape.







-Mike

 

[mpcart]

I should have put the sand in the tank, done some rough aquascaping outside the tank, and then transferred the rock into the tank. The extra rock could be thrown in the sump, sold, given away, whatever.

Unfortunately, I'm too busy with work to spend the extra hours doing all that tonight so I just loaded it all in the tank and I'll pull it back out and start over this weekend. Not very efficient but I should have planned better.

In any case, I'm really happy that I now have something alive in the tank. Construction has been a long journey and now I can focus on all the live stock which is the fun part.

Here's a shot of "Mt. MPCART" in all its glory.



-Mike

 

[mpcart]

While waiting for the cycle, I've been working on getting all the equipment and controls hooked up.

I'm using an Apex controller with three EB8's and one EB4 - add the EB8 I have on the 58 and I'm running 36 outlets.

The cords are pretty messy right now but I'll figure out a way to bundle them together and keep things neat.







Got the Tunze Osmolator ATO working - just need to find a place to stash the bucket.





-Mike

 

[Pife]

It's looks a lot different then when I was over there. It looks like everything is coming around. I can't wait to see it full of coral.

 

[mpcart]

It's looks a lot different then when I was over there. It looks like everything is coming around. I can't wait to see it full of coral.

Thanks, tank is cycling and I'm going to set up my QT tank and get ready for my first fish. Corals are growing in the small tank - since this will an SPS dominated tank I'll be waiting a while before filling it up.

-Mike

 

[mpcart]

Looks like the tank might be done cycling so it's time to add sand and make something out of my rock pile.

I added an Avast Marine Skimmate Locker and Swabbie skimmer neck cleaner. The neck cleaner works really well but I'm not sure of the pressure sensor on the skimmate locker. When testing it by blowing on the tube it sometimes stops the skimmer pump and sometimes doesn't. Not sure if it is an issue with the Apex or a wonky pressure sensor - or I just don't understand how the thing is supposed to work.

Equipment shelf is getting awfully full.

-Mike

 

[mpcart]

Here is an updated equipment list

Tanks
--------

240 Glasscages (60 x 36 x 25)
Acrylic sump (24 x 24 x 48)

Lighting
-----------

4 x 250w MH w/ Lumantek adjustable ballasts
4 x 250w 20k Radiums
Supplemental and Moonlight TBD

Other
--------

Reeflo Snapper/Dart Gold return pump
Reef Octopus TDNW-300 Protein Skimmer
Avast Marine Swabbie Skimmer Neck Cleaner
Avast Marine Dave Jones Skimmate Locker (Large) with Neptune Digital connector
GEO 618 Calcium Reactor w/ Milwaukee Controller
(2) Tunze 6125 non-controllable power heads
(2) Vortech MP40es power heads (one is still on small tank)
Apex controller with (4) EB8, (1) EB4, and (1) PM1
(2) Ebo Jäger 300w heaters
Coralvue 1/3 hp chiller
Carbon and GFO media reactors TBD

-Mike

 

[mpcart]

Sorted through my giant pile of rocks and came up with this as a first shot at aquascaping. I'm pleased with the results. I mocked it up outside the tank but then had to construct it totally blind as I'd added sand and had a total whiteout. I think I had 1/2" of visibility.





And from the back of the tank . . .



I'm not going to apply any paint, vinyl, etc to the back or the tank as I have great access to it from the tank room and want to use some space on the back side of the rock to grow some corals. I plan on just having a black panel that just lays against the back of the tank.

-Mike

 

[Pife]

How much of that rock did you use? If you used it all that feat my friend. It looks fantastic.