My SPS propagation setup, in progress

scubadude, Actually I planned the raceway for a few months earlier. It just worked out that all kinds of things were happening at the same time :fun5:

SWANN, Here is a schematic on the raceway I used.

click for larger pic


I don't know where the slow flow in the refugium idea came from. Makes no sense to me. I've had high current through my refugium for two years and things grow great. I think slow flow just allows more nutrients to build up than is good for the fug.
 
I think the slow flow refugia came from an article I remember reading from I think the guy from the Smithsonian (I think it was him) on how the refugia make great place for detris to settle and Macro algae to consume it. I agree on good flow in refugia, years back I had low flow and constant problems, with higher flow my refugia is much better.
 
I noticed when i slowed my flow down too much I would smell rotten eggs, since then I sped it up and I no long have the smell.
 
flow rate

flow rate

yea, When I setup my refugium a while ago.. I had studied that you wanted a slower turnover rate for better nutrient obsorbtion or somethin.. None the less .. I have no problem with speeding up the flow.. if that seems to be working better for people.. and the raceway.

JB, Thanks for the schematics! Now.. are the walls 10" or 7" high..any forseen problems if i go with 10" high? And since you've had it setup.. do you still think 5" channels are just wide enouph? or too wide?

Thank Swann
 
The wall are 10" high, the water level is 7". The 5" channels are fine. I might try 4" if I did it again.
 
Baffels

Baffels

Alright.. one more question for me... what is the distance your using between the baffel and the bottom of the prop tank?

Thanks Swann
 
JB NY said:

Now that I have it set up, at this point I'm not really worried about the linear flow, I see the coral polyps whipping around a lot so the flow is a little turbulent.
Click to expand...

Also, I would thing once you have it loaded with frags (which is the ultimate goal :) ) I would think the frags themselves would cause some turbulence. Other than that, spend a minute or two every couple weeks and turn some of the frags a 1/4 turn. But I don't think you'd really need it.

Another idea, you could cut some acrylic pieces to wedge into the eggcrate that would act as small walls that the water would bounce off, and eddie around and over if below water line (picture sticking your hand in the channel with the palm facing the oncoming current, and watch the water run into and go around ) Does that make any sense? :rolleyes: :confused: :)
 
Very sweet. I might build one of those. Who did that for you?

Maybe I missed it, but dod you do that power off test?
 
JBNY,
I saw the algea started to build up along the walls of the race way.. would that block off your light significantly that you have to keep scrapping those algea off for better lighting.. or unless your lighting system covers all the channels???

I am thinking about building a similar system like that, but now a little concern about that algea thing..
 
I had no snails or anything about three weeks. Snails are in now, the wall have much less algae. I'm not worried about algae on the wall maybe every week or two I will need to scape the walls.
 
stranglehold said:
What about putting little 1 or 2 inch wings in the channel installed vertically and at a angle slightly greater than 90. alternate sides of the chanel with every wing. This will cause the water to bounce back and forth and create some swirling and eddies too.The downside is the arrangement of the eggcrate for holding the plugs will require several small sections rather than long strips.Thoughts? Pro's and Con's
Click to expand...

Im not sure if this was still an idea you were tossing around, but if you wanted to try, this might help. If you were to take some scrap acrylic (size would depend on what works best for the wings) and run a beveled cut up the center the thickness of the acrylic (1/4") and the length would be determined from the top of the eggcrate to the top of the raceway. You could then move them around as needed and as the water flowed down one raceway the water would be diverted. Now because of the angle cut the adjoing raceway would get the other side also positioned to divert the water.

Or you could turn the frags ... :D

Great looking setup!!
 
Pete's suggestion has merit. If you do have some scrap acrylic, you can pretty much bend it at 90 degrees, then cut a 1/4" notch in the apex. Just press this piece down over the internal walls, and watch the eddies occur. :D

Btw, I think Minfinger was talking about testing your system with the pump off to see if it held all the water without issue.
 
getting one made

getting one made

Hey guys,

I'm talking to some fabricators.. all giving me outrages prices to have a raceway made.. 1200.00! and 460.00! If I cant find one that offers me a better price.. I just might have the pieces cut for me and glue it myself.

What are the thickness's of the walls? 1/4" , 3/8"? Fabricators are telling me 1/4" will be too thin? If so, I'll just have the outside walls 3/8" t o save. how big of a gap did you leave between the baffels and the raceway floor?

Thanks, Swann
 
3/8" would be great. I just finished the fabrication of a scaled down version of joe's and I have a combination of 3/8" and 1/2" utilized. Same scale, just shorter in overall length of the "channels"

I would think $300 would be pretty fair to fabricate one similar to joe's. This is without any extra polishing of the edges.
 
Swann, mine is 1/4" I think it needs to be a little thicker. Mine bows a bit, Barr Aquatics is sending me a brace to fix this. I didn't design the baffles, so I'm not sure how much of a gap there is, I'll measure it later.
 
JB NY said:
Steve, you should post some pics of yours.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the invitation, Joe. I was planning on getting some pics online tonight.

It is still in my workshop as I am waiting on some plumbing supplies(gate valves and flex) to get it hooked up on my tank system.
 
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